84/491/CEE - - - I
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COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
of 9 October 1984
on limit values and quality objectives for discharges of hexachlorocyclohexane
(84/491/EEC)
(OJ No L 274, 17. 10. 1984, p. 11)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
Council Directive of 23 December 1991 (91/692/CEE) L 377 48 31. 12. 1991Agreement on the European Economic Area (2 94 A 0103(70)) L 1 495 03. 01. 1994
84/491/CEE - - - I
ICOUNCIL DIRECTIVE
of 9 October 1984
on limit values and quality objectives for discharges of hexachlorocyclohexane
(84/491/EEC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMU-
NITIES,
Having regard to the T reaty establishing the European
Economic Community, and in particular Articles 100 and
235 thereof,
Having regard to Council Directive 76/464/EEC of 4 May
1976 on pollution caused by certain dangerous substances
discharged into the aquatic environment of the Commun-
ity(1), and in particular Articles 6 and 12 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission(2),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parlia-
ment(3),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee(4),
Whereas, in order to protect the aquatic environment of
the Community against pollution by certain dangerous sub-
stances, Article 3 of Directive 76/464/EEC introduces a
system of prior authorizations laying down emission stan-
dards for discharges of the substances on List 1 in the
Annex thereto; whereas Article 6 of the said Directive pro-
vides that limit values shall be laid down for such emission
standards and also quality objectives for the aquatic envi-
ronment affected by discharges of these substances;
Whereas hexachlorocyclohexane (hereinafter referred to as
HCH) is an organohalogen compound and is included in
List I in view of its toxicity, persistence and bioaccumula-
tion;
Whereas the Member States are required to apply the
limit values except in the cases where they may employ
quality objectives;
Whereas, since the pollution caused by direct discharges of
HCH into water is caused, to a large extent, by the estab-
lishments which produce, treat and, as a subordinate activ-
ity, formulate it on the same site, limit values should be
set for discharges from such establishments and quality ob-
jectives laid down for the aquatic environment into which
HCH is discharged by such establishments;
Whereas the impact of other direct industrial sources of
HCH pollution is also important; whereas, in the case of
such discharges for which it is not possible, for technical
reasons, to lay down limit emission values at Community
level, Member States should independently fix emission
standards taking into account the best technical means
available;
Whereas Member States should ensure that the measures
taken pursuant to this Directive do not have the effect of
increasing soil and air pollution;
(1)OJ No L 129, 18. 5. 1976, p. 23.
(2)OJ No C 215, 11. 8. 1983, p. 3.
(3)OJ No C 127, 14. 5. 1984, p. 138.
(4)OJ No C 57, 29. 2. 1984, p. 1.
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IIWhereas a specific monitoring procedure should be laid
down to enable Member States to demonstrate that the
quality objectives are being complied with;
Whereas provision should be made for the monitoring by
Member States of the aquatic environment affected by the
aforesaid HCH discharges with a view to effective imple-
mentation of this Directive;
Whereas it is important that the Commission report to the
Council every five years on the implementation of this Di-
rective by Member States;
Whereas since groundwater is the subject of Directive
80/68/EEC(5), it is excluded from the scope of this Direc-
tive,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
(5)OJ No L 20, 26. 1. 1980, p. 43.
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1Article 1
1. This Directive:
— pursuant to Article 6 (1) of Directive 76/464/EEC,
lays down limit values for emission standards for
HCH in discharges from industrial plants as defined
in Article 2 (g) of this Directive,
— pursuant to Article 6 (2) of Directive 76/464/EEC,
lays down quality objectives for HCH in the aquatic
environment,
— pursuant to Article 6 (4) of Directive 76/464/EEC,
lays down the time limits for compliance with the
conditions specified in the authorizations granted by
the competent authorities of Member States in re-
spect of existing discharges,
— pursuant to Article 12 (1) of Directive 76/464/EEC,
lays down the reference methods of measurement en-
abling the concentration of HCH in discharges and inthe aquatic environment to be determined,
— pursuant to Article 6 (3) of Directive 76/464/EEC, es-
tablishes a monitoring procedure,
— requires Member States to cooperate with one
another in the case of discharges affecting the waters
of more than one Member State.
2. This Directive applies to the waters referred to in Ar-
ticle 1 of Directive 76/464/EEC with the exception of
groundwater.
Article 2
For the purposes of this Directive:
(a) ‘HCH’
means the isomers of l, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6- - -hexachlorocyclo-
hexane;
(b) ‘lindane’
means a product containing at least 99 % of the y-iso-
mer of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6- - -hexachlorocyclohexane
(c) ‘extraction of lindane’
means the separation of lindane from a mixture of
hexachlorocyclohexane isomers;
(d) ‘limit values’
means the limit values specified in Annex I;
(e) ‘quality objectives’
means the requirements specified in Annex II;
(f) ‘treatment of HCH’
means any industrial process involving the production
or use of HCH, or any other industrial process in
which the presence of HCH is inherent;84/491/CEE
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2(g) ‘industrial plant’
means any plant at which HCH or any other sub-
stance containing HCH is treated;
(h) ‘existing plant’
means an industrial plant which is operational on the
date of notification of this Directive.
(i) ‘new plant’ means
— an industrial plant which has become operational
after the date of notification of this Directive,
— an existing industrial plant whose capacity for the
production or treatment of HCH has been sub-
stantially increased after the date of notification
of this Directive.
Article 3
1. The limit values, the time limits by which they must
be complied with and the monitoring procedure for dis-
charges are laid down in Annex I.
2. The limit values shall normally apply at the point
where waste waters containing HCH leave the industrial
plant.
If waste waters containing HCH are treated outside the
i n d u s t r i a lp l a n ta tat r e a t m e n tp l a n ti n t e n d e df o rt h er e -
moval of HCH, the Member State concerned may permit
the limit values to be applied at the point where the waste
waters leave the treatment plant.
3. The authorizations provided for in Article 3 of Direc-
tive 76/464/EEC must contain provisions at least as strin-
gent as those in Annex I to this Directive, except where a
Member State is complying with Article 6 (3) of Directive
76/464/EEC on the basis of Annexes II and IV to this Di-
rective.
Authorizations shall be reviewed at least every four years.
4. Without prejudice to their obligations arising from
paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 and to the provisions of Directive
76/464/EEC, Member States may grant authorizations for
new plants only if those plants apply the standards corre-
sponding to the best technical means available when that is
necessary for the elimination of pollution in accordance
with Article 2 of the said Directive or for the prevention
of distortions of competition.
Whatever method it adopts, the Member State concerned
shall, where for technical reasons the measures envisaged
do not correspond to the best technical means available,
provide the Commission, before any authorization, with
evidence in support of these reasons.84/491/CEE
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3The Commission shall forward this evidence to the other
Member States immediately and shall send all Member
States a report, as soon as possible, giving its opinion on
the derogation referred to in the second subparagraph. If
necessary, it shall at the same time submit appropriate pro-
posals to the Council.
5. The reference method of analysis to be used in deter-
mining the presence of HCH is given in Annex III(1).
Other methods may be used provided that the limits of
detection, precision and accuracy of such methods are at
least as good as those laid down in Annex III(I). The accu-
racy required in the measurement of effluent flow is given
in Annex III(2).
6. Member States shall ensure that the measures taken
pursuant to this Directive do not result in an increase in
HCH pollution in other media, notably air and soil.
Article 4
The Member States concerned shall be responsible for
monitoring the aquatic environment affected by industrial
discharges.
In the case of discharges affecting the waters of more than
one Member State, the Member States concerned shall
cooperate with a view to harmonizing monitoring pro-
cedures.
Article 5
1. At intervals of three years Member States shall send
information to the Commission on the implementation of
this Directive, in the form of a sectoral report which shall
also cover other pertinent Community Directives. The re-
port shall be drawn up on the basis other (SIC! either) of
a questionnaire or outline drafted by the Commission in
accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 6 of
Directive 91/692/EEC(6). The questionnaire or outline
shall be sent to the Member States six months before the
start of the period covered by the report. The report shall
be made to the Commission within nine months of the end
of the three-year period covered by it.
The first report shall cover the period 1995 to 1997 inclus-
ive.
The Commission shall publish a Community report on the
implementation of the Directive within nine months of re-
ceiving the reports from the Member States.
3. In the event of a change in scientific knowledge relat-ing principally to the toxicity, persistence and accumulation
of HCH in living organisms and sediments, or in the event
of an improvement in the best technical means available,the Commission shall submit appropriate proposals to the
Council with the aim of reinforcing, if necessary, the limit
values and the quality objectives or of establishing addi-
tional limit values and additional quality objectives.
(6)OJ No L 377, 31. 12. 1991, p. 48.84/491/CEE
91/692/CEE
84/491/CEE
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4Article 6
l. Member States shall bring into force the measures
necessary to comply with this Directive by 1 April 1986 at
the latest. They shall forthwith inform the Commission
thereof.
2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission
the text of the provisions of national law which they adopt
in the field governed by this Directive.
Article 7
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.84/491/CEE
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5ANNEX I
LIMIT VALUES, TIME LIMITS FOR COMPLIANCE
WITH THESE VALUES AND PROCEDURE FOR MONI-
TORING DISCHARGES
1. Limit values and time limits
Industrial
sector(a)Unit o f
measure-Limit values (d)
to be complied with from
sector(a)ment1 April 1986 1 October 1988
1. Plant for
the pro-ductionof HCHgrams ofHCH pertonne ofHCH pro-duced (b)3 2
milligramsof HCH perlitre dis-charged (c)3 2
2. Plant for
the ex-tractionof lin-danegrams ofHCH pertonne ofHCHtreated (b)15 4
milligramsof HCH perlitre dis-charged (c)8 2
3. Plant
wherethe pro-ductionof HCHand ex-grams ofHCH pertonne ofHCH pro-duced (b)16 5
tractionof lin-dane iscarriedout milligramsof HCH perlitre dis-charged (c)6 2
(a) The limit values in the table also include any discharges re-
sulting from lindane formulation on the same site.
The Council will, as necessary, determine limit values andappropriate measures later for industrial sectors treatingHCH which are not mentioned in this table, and in particu-lar for industrial plants for lindane formulation producingprotective agents for plants, wood and cables. Meanwhile,the Member States will independently fix emission stan-dards for the discharges from such plants, taking into ac-count the best technical means available.
(b) Limit values by weight (monthly average).
(c) Limit values by concentration (monthly flow-weighted av-
erage concentration of HCH).
(d) Limit values applicable to the total quantity of HCH pres-
ent in all discharges of water containing HCH coming fromt h es i t eo ft h ei n d u s t r i a lp l a n t .84/491/CEE
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62. Limit values expressed as concentrations which in
principle must not be exceeded are given in the above
table. In no instance may limit values expressed as maxi-
mum concentrations be greater than limit values expressed
by weight divided by water requirements per tonne of
HCH produced or treated.
The limit values by weight given in the above table, ex-
pressed in terms of the quantity of HCH discharged in
relation to the quantity of HCH produced or treated, must
be complied with in all cases.
3. The daily average limit values are, when monitored in
accordance with the provisions in points 4 and 5 below,
twice the corresponding monthly average limit values given
in the above table.
4. A monitoring procedure must be instituted to check
whether the discharges comply with the emission standards
which have been fixed in accordance with this Directive.
This procedure must provide for the taking and analysis of
samples and for measurement of the flow of the discharge
and the quantity of HCH produced or treated. Should the
quantity of HCH produced or treated be impossible to de-
termine, the monitoring procedure may, at most, be based
on the quantity of HCH likely to be produced or treated
during the period in question, taking into account the pro-
duction plants in operation, and within the limits on which
the authorization was based.
5. A sample representative of the discharge over a
period of 24 hours will be taken. The quantity of HCH
discharged over a month must be calculated on the basis
of the daily quantities of HCH discharged.
However, a simplified monitoring procedure may be insti-
tuted in the case of industrial plants which do not dis-
charge more than 3 kg of HCH per annum.84/491/CEE
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7ANNEX II
QUALITY OBJECTIVES
For those Member States which apply the exception pro-
vided for in Article 6 (3) of Directive 76/464/EEC, the
emission standards which Member States must establish
and ensure are applied, pursuant to Article 5 of that Di-
rective, will be fixed so that the appropriate quality objec-
tive or objectives from among those listed below is (are)
complied with in the area affected by discharges of HCH.
The competent authority will determine the area affected
in each case and will select from among the quality objec-
tives listed in paragraph 1 the objective or objectives that
it deems appropriate having regard to the intended use of
the area affected, while taking account of the fact that the
purpose of this Directive is to eliminate all pollution.
1. The following quality objectives(1),w h i c hw i l lb e
measured at a point sufficiently close to the point of
discharge, are hereby laid down pursuant to Article 2
of Directive 76/464/EEC with the object of eliminat-
ing pollution within the meaning of that Directive(2).
1.1. The total HCH concentration in inland surface waters
affected by discharges must not exceed 100 nano-
grams per litre.
1.2. The total concentration of HCH in estuary waters and
territorial sea waters must not exceed 20 nanograms
per litre.
1.3. In the case of water used for the abstraction of drink-
ing water, the HCH content must conform to the re-
quirements of Directive 75/440/EEC(3).
2. In addition to the above requirements, HCH con-
centrations in inland surface waters must be deter-
mined by the national network referred to in Article 5
of this Directive and the results compared with a total
HCH concentration of 50 nanograms per litre.
If this concentration is not complied with at any one
of the points on the national network, the reasons
must be reported to the Commission.
3. The total concentration of HCH in sediments and/or
molluscs and/or shellfish and/or fish must not increase
significantly with time.
(1)The concentrations indicated in 1.1 and 1.2 are the minimum
requirements necessary to protect aquatic life from pollutionwithin the meaning of Article 1 (2) (e) of Directive76/464/EEC.
(2)With the exception of quality objective 1.3, all concentrationsrelate to the arithmetic mean of the results obtained over oneyear.
(3)Directive 75/440/EEC concerns the quality required of surfacewater intended for the abstraction of drinking water in theMember States (OJNo L194,25.7.1975,p.26).It providesfora mandatory ‘total pesticides’ value (including HCH).84/491/CEE
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84. Where several quality objectives are applied to waters
in an area, the quality of the waters must be sufficient
to comply with each of those objectives.84/491/CEE
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9ANNEX III
METHODS OF MEASUREMENT
1. The reference method of analysis for determining the
concentration of the substances in question in dis-
charges and in waters will be gas chromotography
with electron capture detection after extraction by
means of an appropriate solvent and purification.
The accuracy(1)and precision(1)of the method must
be ± 50 % at a concentration which represents twice
the value of the limit of detection.
The limit of detection(1)must be:
— in the case of discharges, one-tenth of the con-
centration required at the point of sampling;
— in the case of waters subject to a quality objec-
tive:
(i) for inland surface waters, one-tenth of the
concentration indicated in the quality objec-tive;
(ii) for estuary waters and territorial sea waters,
one-fifth of the concentration indicated in
the quality objective;
— in the case of sediments, l μg/kg dry weight;
— in the case of living organisms, 1 μg/kg, wet
weight.
2. Effluent flow measurements must be carried out to an
accuracy of ± 20 %.
(1)The definitions of these terms are given in Directive
79/869/EEC of 9 October 1979 concerning the methods ofmeasurement and frequencies of sampling and analysis of sur-face water intended for the abstraction of drinking water in theMember States (OJ No L 271, 29. 10. 1979, p. 44).84/491/CEE
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10ANNEX IV
PROCEDURE FOR MONITORING QUALITY
OBJECTIVES
1. For each authorization granted pursuant to this Direc-
tive, the competent authority will specify the detailed
rules monitoring procedure and time limits for ensur-
ing compliance with the quality objective(s) con-
cerned.
2. In accordance with Article 6 (3) of Directive
76/464/EEC, the Member States will, for each quality
objective chosen and applied, report to the Commis-
sion on:
- - - the points of discharge and the means of disper-
sal,
- - - the area in which the quality objective is applied,
- - - the location of sampling points,
- - - the frequency of sampling,- - - the methods of sampling and measurement,
- - - the results obtained.
3. Samples must be sufficiently representative of the
quality of the aquatic environment in the area af-
fected by the discharges, and the frequency of sampl-
ing must be sufficient to show any changes in the
aquatic environment, having regard in particular to
natural variations in the water regime.84/491/CEE