31. 12. 85 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 351/33 
Proposal for a Council Directive on water quality objectives for chromium 
COM(85) 733 final 
(85/C 351/11) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, and in particular Articles 100 
and 235 thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social 
Committee, 
Whereas, in order to protect the aquatic environment of the 
Community from pollution by certain dangerous subst­
ances, Article 7 of Council Directive 76/464/EEC (]) 
provides for the establishment by the Member States of 
programmes to reduce pollution by the substances in List II 
in the Annex thereto; whereas Article 7 (7) provides for 
comparison of the national programmes for the purpose of 
coordinating their implementation and for Commission 
proposals in this connection; 
Whereas chromium is included in List II; 
Whereas the national programmes to reduce pollution 
must include quality objectives for water and set deadlines 
for their implementation; 
Whereas it is necessary to specify a reference method of 
measurement for chromium to ensure sufficient compar­
ability of the results of these programmes communicated to 
the Commission; 
Whereas the Commission should report regularly on the 
implementation of this Directive by the Member States; 
Whereas the quality objectives for water intended for 
human consumption and for surface water intended for the 
abstraction of drinking water have already been laid down 
in Council Directives 80/778/EEC (2) and 75/440/EEC (?) 
respectively; whereas these waters can therefore be 
excluded from the scope of this Directive; 
Whereas groundwater is the subject of Council Directive 
80/68/EEC (4) and can therefore be excluded from the 
scope of this Directive; 
Whereas the Treaty has not provided certain of the 
necessary powers, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: 
Article 1 
1. This Directive, in pursuance of Article 7 of Directive 
76/464/EEC, lays down the procedures for coordination of 
(•) OJ No L 129, 18. 5. 1976, p. 23. 
(2) OJ No L 229, 30. 8. 1980, p. 11. 
(3) OJ No L 194, 25. 7. 1975, p. 26. 
(4) OJ No L 20, 26. 1. 1980, p. 43. national programmes to reduce chromium pollution of 
water. 
2. This Directive shall apply to the waters referred to in 
Article 1 of Directive 76/464/EEC, with the exception of 
groundwater, water intended for human consumption and 
surface water intended for the abstraction of drinking 
water. 
Article 2 
For the purposes of this Directive, 
(a) 'chromium' means: 
— elemental chromium, 
— any chromium compound; 
(b) 'dissolved chromium' means water containing 
chromium able to pass through a 0,45 micrometre 
pore-size filter; 
(c) 'programmes' means the programmes established by 
the Member States to reduce chromium pollution of 
water, as provided for by Article 7 (1) of Directive 76/ 
464/EEC. 
Article 3 
1. The national programmes must contain quality 
objectives which are at least as strict as the requirements 
listed in Annex I. 
2. The reference method of measurement to be used in 
determining the presence of chromium is given in Annex II. 
Other methods may be used provided that the limits of 
detection, precision and accuracy of such methods are at 
least as exacting as those laid down in Annex II (3). 
Article 4 
Member States shall adapt their programmes in accordance 
with this Directive by 15 September 1986. Implementation 
of the programmes shall be completed by 15 Sep­
tember 1991. 
Article 5 
1. Member States shall communicate to the Commis­
sion summaries of programmes pursuant to Article 7 (6) of 
Directive 76/464/EEC with respect to chromium by 
15 September 1986. 
2. Member States shall communicate to the Commis­
sion the results of the implementation of the programmes 
pursuant to Article 7 (6) of Directive 76/464/EEC with 
respect to chromium by 15 September 1992. 
3. The Commission shall examine the implementation 
of national programmes on the basis of the information 
No C 351/34 Official Journal of the European Communities 31. 12. 85 
received and shall make periodic reports to the Council and 
the European Parliament beginning in 1993 and at nine-
yearly intervals thereafter. If it sees fit, the Commission 
may submit relevant proposals to the Council in the light of 
these reports. 2. Member States shall communicate to the Commis­
sion without delay the text of the provisions of national law 
which they adopt in the field governed by this Directive, 
Article 6 Article 7 
1. Member States shall take the measures necessary to 
comply with this Directive by 15 September 1986. This Directive is addressed to the Member States. 
ANNEX I 
The programmes to reduce chromium pollution of water shall include quality objectives for the waters 
specified below: 
The competent authority shall select from among the quality objectives listed in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 the 
objective or objectives that it deems appropriate having regard to the intended use of the area in question. 
1. The concentration of dissolved chromium in fresh water capable of supporting fish life and other aquatic 
fauna and flora shall not exceed the following values, depending on water hardness: 
Water hardness 
(mg/1 CaC03) 
Dissolved Chromium (ug/1) Up to 50 
5 50 to 100 
10 100 to 200 
20 Over 200 
50 
2. In order to protect marine fauna and flora, the concentration of dissolved chromium in seawater must not 
exceed 15 ug/1. 
3. The content of chromium in fresh water and/or seawater sediments and/or shellfish must not increase 
significantly in the course of time. 
With the exception of the quality objective indicated in paragraph 1, all concentrations relate to the 
arithmetic mean of the results obtained over one year. 
ANNEX II 
Reference method of measurement 
The definitions included in Council Directive 79/869/EEC concerning the methods of measurement and 
frequencies of sampling and analysis of surface water intended for the abstraction of drinking water in the 
Member States (]) shall apply in the framework of this Directive. 
The reference method of measurement used for determing the chromium content of waters is atomic 
absorption spectrophotometry after preservation and suitable treatment of the sample. 
The limits of detection shall be such that the chromium concentration can be measured to an accuracy of 
30 % and a precision of 20 % at a concentration of 5 ug/1 or one-tenth of the chromium concentration 
specified in the quality objective, whichever is the greater. 
(!) OJ No L 271, 29. 10. 1979, p. 44.