Amendments to the European Union (EU) Good Agricultural Practice for Protections of Waters Regulations (GAP) have yet to be finalised according to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
Earlier this year the Department of Housing together with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) and the Nitrates Expert Group undertook an interim review of the Fifth Nitrates Action Programme (NAP).
According to the Department of Housing, a “suite of proposed additional measures” that also fulfil the requirements of the European Commission’s Implementing Decision on the Nitrates Derogation have now been developed.
All of these measures were “screened in” for Appropriate Assessment (AA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA).
The department told Agriland: “Public consultation on the proposed amendments arising from the interim review, the AA and the SEA will commence shortly.
“This public consultation follows a significant period of engagement with the Agriculture Water Quality Working Group, both internal and inter-departmental coordination and preparatory steps for the environmental assessment processes, all of which is nearing completion.”
GAP
The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien, had previously told the Dáil that before the interim review of the Fifth Nitrates Action Programme can be published, a number of steps had to be completed.
These included:
- That a full Natura Impact Statement (NIS) under the Habitats Directive and a SEA be drafted;
- That the draft NIS was submitted for an AA Determination by the Ecological Assessment Unit (EAU) of National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS);
- A 30 (calendar) day public consultation of the proposed measures, the draft NIS and SEA would be undertaken;
- Consultation responses would then be collated and inform the final measure.
According to Minister O’Brien, once these four steps were completed he would be “in a position to finalise the measures and sign the amended GAP regulations”.
The current GAP regulations dictate a number of crucial measures for farmers including on slurry storage and management, soiled water storage and management, chemical fertiliser controls and also crude protein in concentrated feeds.