More farm inspections and follow-up enforcement is needed to reduce the risk of agricultural activities negatively impacting on water quality, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has said.
In 2022, the number of local authority farm inspections carried out under the Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) Regulations increased to over 2,200 inspections of 1,600 farms.
However, local authorities need to further increase the number of farms inspected, the Focus on Local Authority Environmental Enforcement – Performance Report 2022 published today (Tuesday, November 14), found.
Agriculture has been identified as a significant pressure in over 1,000 waterbodies, causing excess levels of nitrogen and phosphorus to enter Ireland’s waterways, the EPA said.
Local authorities
Local authorities are responsible for enforcing much of the environmental protection legislation in Ireland, director of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement, Dr. Tom Ryan said.
In many areas, local authorities are not delivering the necessary environmental outcomes such as improved water and air quality and waste segregation, Dr. Ryan said.
Over 520 local authority staff handled almost 70,000 complaints and carried out over 197,000 environmental inspections in 2022, according to the EPA.
Local authority inspection and enforcement activity is low, with 26% of environmental staff assigned to water monitoring and enforcement in 2022. Of all environmental inspections, 21% are water inspections.
Over 41,000 water-related inspections were undertaken by local authorities last year. The number of water complaints received by local authorities decreased by 22% to 2,800 in 2022.
Water quality actions required by local authorities:
- Increase the number of farm inspections and follow-up enforcement in areas of greatest risk to water quality;
- Increase the level of inspection activity on farmlands to monitor that there is no spreading of soiled water, slurry or fertiliser in the closed season or under unsuitable weather or soil conditions;
- Make sure that all private drinking water supplies are registered and monitored. Investigate supplies that fail to meet drinking water quality standards and take necessary enforcement action;
- Increase enforcement actions, including prosecution where warranted, to resolve faulty domestic waste water treatment systems so that the environment and public health is protected.
A priority for this winter is that local authorities monitor that there is no spreading of soiled water, slurry or fertiliser on farmlands in the closed season or under unsuitable weather or soil conditions.
Water quality findings
Each local authority’s performance was assessed against each of 20 national enforcement priorities (NEPs), concerning waste, water quality, air and noise, and governance processes.
Water quality NEPs include pressures from farm yards and farmland (slurry, soiled water, fertiliser), domestic waste water treatment systems (septic tanks), and misconnections.
NEPs are scored as either “excellent”, “strong”, “moderate” or “limited”, the first two of which demonstrate that a comprehensive system is in place to detect and follow up environmental enforcement activities.
The water NEPs on agriculture were not applicable to Dublin City Council or Galway City Council, while the septic tanks NEP was not applicable to Dublin City Council.
Local authorities in Carlow, Fingal, Kildare and Meath achieved the required standard in all five water NEPs. Dublin City achieved the required standard in the two NEPs applicable.
Five local authorities achieved the required standard in four of the water NEPs. These were Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Louth and Monaghan, the EPA said.
Local authorities in Kilkenny and Waterford failed to meet the required standard in each of the five water NEPs, according to report findings.
Waste and air quality
Poor waste segregation remains an ongoing problem, with households and businesses still putting most of their waste in the wrong bin, according to the report.
Local authorities need to enforce the roll-out and use of three-bin systems, in which waste is segregated into general, recycling and organic, the EPA said.
This is essential if Ireland is to turn waste into a valuable resource and reduce the amount of waste sent to incineration and landfills, programme manager of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement, David Pollard said.
While air quality met the standards in the Cleaner Air for Europe Directive in 2022, there are concerning localised issues relating to fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide that impact negatively on people’s health.
Continued focus is required by local authorities to ensure that only approved solid fuels are available for sale to reduce air pollution from the combustion of solid fuels for home heating, the EPA said.