COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1091/94 of 29 April 1994 laying down certain detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3528/86 on the protection of the Community's forests against atmospheric pollution
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3528/86 of 17 November 1986 on the protection of the Community's forests against atmospheric pollution (1), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2157/92 (2), and in particular Article 3 thereof,
Having regard to Resolution No 1 of the first ministerial conference on the protection of forests in Europe (3) and its follow-up,
Whereas, pursuant to Article 2 (1) indent 3 and 4 of Regulation (EEC) No 3528/86, the purpose of the Community scheme is to help the Member States to:
- conduct intensive, continuous surveillance of forestry ecosystems,
- establish or extend, in a coordinated and harmonious way, a network of permanent observation plots required for such intensive, continuous surveillance;
Whereas, pursuant to Article 2 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 3528/86 the Member States shall forward to the Commission the data gathered by the network of observation plots for intensive, continuous suveillance;
Whereas this network of observation plots is installed in order to obtain detailed data on the evolution of forest ecosystems in the Community; whereas this approach allows correlations to be established between the variation of environmental factors, especially atmospheric pollution and the reaction of forest ecosystems; whereas the data it provides, allows a better interpretation of the findings derived from the systematic network of observation plots as specified in Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1696/87 (4), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 836/94 (5);
Whereas applications for aid submitted under Regulation (EEC) No 3528/86 for the purpose of carrying out an intensive, continuous surveillance referred to in Article 2 (1) should contain all the information needed for an examination of these measures in the light of the objectives and criteria of that Regulation; whereas this information should be presented in a standardized form to facilitate examination and a comparison of applications;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Forestry Committee,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. A network of permanent observation plots shall be installed by the Member States. By 30 June 1994, the selection of the plots shall be completed and over 50 % of the plots shall be installed, according to the common methods for the establishment of a network of permanent
observation plots for intensive, continuous monitoring (see Annex I). The last plots shall be installed before 30 June 1995. For all plots the Member States shall forward to the Commission by 15 December 1994 a review of the selection criteria and a complete list of the selected plots, including basic information such as location (longitude, latitude, altitude) and species, as well as the general plot information for each installed observation plot in a standardized form as specified in Annex VIIa.
2. On the permanent observation plots intensive and continuous surveillance of the forest ecosystems shall be carried out. This contains the continuous inventory of the crown condition, the inventory of soil and foliar condition and measurements on increment changes, deposition rates and meteorology in accordance with objective sampling methods and analysed in accordance with established methods.
3. By 31 December 1996, Member States shall forward to the Commission in a standardized form the data collected from the diffferent surveillance undertaken between 1991 and 1996 for each permanent observation plot together with an interpretation of the results as specified in Annex VII.
4. Technical details pertaining to the provisions of this Article are set out in Annexes III to VI.
Article 2
1. Applications for aid from the Community:
- to establish or extend the network of permanent observation plots for the intensive and continuous surveillance,
- to carry out the inventory of crown condition,
- to carry out the soil inventory,
- to carry out the foliage inventory,
- to carry out the increment measurements,
- to carry out the deposition measurements, and
- to carry out the meteorological measurements,
within the meaning of Article 2 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 3528/86 shall contain the information and documents specified in Annex II to this Regulation.
Applications shall be submitted in triplicate and in accordance with Annex II.
Member States shall submit applications to the Commission before 1 November each year in respect for the following year.
2. Applications not meeting the requirements set out in paragraph 1 of this Article shall not be considered.
Article 3
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 29 April 1994.