2006/189/EC: Commission Decision of  28 February 2006  granting a derogation requested by Austria pursuant to Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources  (notified under document number C(2006) 590)
Date: 2006-02-28
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Austria, chemical salt, derogation from EU law, pollution control, pollution from agricultural sources, soil conditioning

L 66/44

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

8.3.2006

COMMISSION

COMMISSION DECISION

of 28 February 2006

granting a derogation requested by Austria pursuant to Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning
the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources

(notified under document number C(2006) 590)

(Only the German text is authentic)

(2006/189/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Council Directive 91/676/EEC of 12 De-
cember 1991 concerning the protection of waters against
pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources (1), and
in particular the third subparagraph of paragraph 2 of Annex III
thereto,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

If the amount of manure that a Member State intends to
apply per hectare each year is different from the one
specified in the first sentence of the second subparagraph
of paragraph 2 of Annex III to Directive 91/676/EEC and
in point (a) thereof, that amount has to be fixed so as
not
the objectives
specified in Article 1 of that Directive and has to be
justified on the basis of objective criteria, such as,
in
the present case, long growing seasons and crops with
high nitrogen uptake.

to prejudice the achievement of

Austria submitted to the Commission a request for a
derogation under the third subparagraph of paragraph
2 of Annex III to Directive 91/676/EEC.

The requested derogation concerns
the intention of
Austria to allow the application of 230 kg nitrogen per
hectare per year from livestock manure on specific cattle
land available for manure
holdings with agricultural
application cropped by grass, grass catch crops or beet
or other crops being undersown by grass with low
nitrate leaching potential. Approximately 2 000 farms
and 60 000 livestock units corresponding respectively
to 3 % of farms and 4 % of livestock units are potentially
encompassed by the derogation.

(1) OJ L 375, 31.12.1991, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Regulation
(EC) No 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council
(OJ L 284, 31.10.2003, p. 1).

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

The Austrian
implementing Directive
91/676/EEC has been adopted and applies equally to
the requested derogation.

legislation

The Third Report on the implementation of the Nitrates
Directive 2000-2003 in Austria shows that the average
winter nitrate concentrations in surface waters were
below 25 mg/l at all monitoring points. The average
concentration of all sites was 5,8 mg/l NO3. Average
nitrate concentration in groundwater was 19,6 mg/l. In
74 % of the sites the average concentration was lower
than 25 mg/l. None of the Austrian lakes is euthrophic.
Trend analysis shows that water quality is stable in the
majority of the sampling points.

The number of livestock and the utilisation of mineral
fertiliser decreased substantially in the period 1990-2003,
with a reduction of 21 % in cattle, 12 % in pig and 6 %
in poultry number. In the period 2000-2002 nitrogen
application was on average,
respectively 47,8 kg per
hectare and 35,4 kg per hectare per year from livestock
manure and from chemical
fertilisers, which represent
figures in the EU, with a trend
among the lowest
towards
of 7 % and 5 %
respectively
reduction
compared to the period 1996/1999.

Austria,
in conformity with Article 3(5) of Directive
91/676/EEC, applies an action programme throughout
its whole territory.

The supporting documents presented in the Austrian
notification show that the proposed amount of 230 kg
per hectare per year of nitrogen from cattle manure is
justified on the basis of objective criteria such as long
growing seasons and crops with high nitrogen uptake.

The Commission after examination of Austrian’s request
considers that
the proposed amount of 230 kg per
hectare per year nitrogen from cattle manure will not
prejudice the achievement of the objectives of Directive
91/676/EEC, subject to certain strict conditions being
met.

8.3.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 66/45

(10)

(11)

This Decision should be applicable in connection with
the present action programme expiring by the end of
2007.

in this Decision are in
The measures provided for
accordance with the opinion of the Nitrates Committee
set up pursuant to Article 9 of Directive 91/676/EEC,

Article 5

Application of manure and other fertilisers

1.
The amount of livestock manure applied to the land each
year on cattle farms, including by the animals themselves, shall
not exceed the amount of manure containing 230 kg of
nitrogen per hectare, subject to the conditions laid down in
paragraphs 2 to 8.

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The derogation requested by Austria by letter of 3 November
2005, for the purpose of allowing a higher amount of livestock
manure than that provided for in the first sentence of the
second subparagraph of paragraph 2 of Annex III to Directive
91/676/EEC and in point (a) thereof, is granted, subject to the
conditions laid down in this Decision.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purpose of this decision, the following definitions shall
apply:

2.
The total nitrogen inputs shall comply with the nutrient
demand of the considered crop and the supply from the soil.
Total nitrogen application from fertilisers shall not exceed
280 kg per hectare per year.

3.
A fertilisation plan shall be kept for each farm describing
the crop rotation of the farmland and the planned application
of manure and nitrogen and phosphate fertilisers. It shall be
available in the farm each calendar year by 1 March at the latest.

The fertilisation plan shall include the following:

(a)

the number of livestock, a description of the housing and
storage system,
including the volume of manure storage
available;

(a)

‘cattle farms’ means holdings with more than three livestock
units, where at least two-thirds of livestock are cattle,

(b) a calculation of manure nitrogen (less losses in housing and

storage) and phosphorus produced in the farm;

(b) ‘grass’ means permanent or temporary grassland (generally

temporary lies less than four years),

(c)

the crop rotation and acreage for each crop,
sketch map indicating location of individual fields;

including a

(c)

‘crops being undersown by grass’: silage cereals, silage maize
to be undersown before (maize) or after harvest, by grass
which will act as a catch crop, for biological retention of
nitrogen residual during winter,

(d) ‘beets’ means forage beets.

Article 3

Scope

This Decision applies on an individual basis and subject to the
conditions set out in Articles 4, 5 and 6 to cattle farms where
the crop rotation includes more than 70 % of particularly
nitrogen consuming crops, with a long growing season.

Article 4

Annual authorisation and commitment

Farmers who want

1.
to benefit
submit an application to the competent authorities annually.

from a derogation shall

(d) the foreseeable nitrogen and phosphorus crop requirements;

(e)

the amount and the type of manure delivered outside the
farm land;

(f) nitrogen and phosphorus application from manure over
the farm homogeneous regarding

each field (parcels of
cropping and soil type);

(g) application of nitrogen and phosphorus with chemical and

other fertilisers over each field.

Plans shall be revised no later than seven days following any
changes in agricultural practices to ensure consistency between
plans and actual agricultural practices.

4.
Fertilisation accounts shall be prepared by each farm. They
shall be submitted to the competent authority for each calendar
year.

Together with the annual application referred to in
the

2.
paragraph 1 they shall undertake in writing to fulfil
conditions provided for in Articles 5 and 6.

5.
Each farm benefiting from an individual derogation shall
accept that the application referred to in paragraph 1 of Article
4, the fertilisation plan and the fertilisation accounts can be
subject to control.

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Official Journal of the European Union

8.3.2006

Periodic nitrogen and phosphorous analysis in soil shall be
6.
performed for each farm which benefits from an individual
derogation at least once every four years for each homogeneous
area of the farm, with regard to crop rotation and soil char-
acteristics. At least one analysis every five hectares of land shall
be required.

7. Manure shall not be spread in the autumn before grass
cultivation.

Fertiliser shall not be applied to land within 30 m of a

8.
lake.

Article 6

Land cover

70 % or more of the acreage available for manure application
on the cattle holding in question shall be cultivated with grass,
grass catch crops or beets and other crops being undersown by
grass with low nitrate leaching potential. Farmers benefiting
from an individual derogation shall carry out the following
measures:

(a) Grass catch crops shall not be ploughed before 1 March in
order to ensure permanent vegetal cover of arable area for
recovering subsoil autumn losses of nitrates and limit winter
losses.

(b) Temporary grassland shall be ploughed in spring.

(c) Crop rotation shall not include leguminous or other plants
fixing atmospheric nitrogen. This will however not apply to
clover in grassland with less than 50 % clover and to barley
and pea undersown with grass.

Article 7

Monitoring

1. Maps showing the percentage of
farms, percentage of
land covered by indi-
livestock and percentage of agricultural
vidual derogation in each municipality, shall be drawn by the
competent authority and shall be updated every year.

or more of farms benefiting from individual derogations over
the total number of farms.

3.
Survey and nutrient analysis shall provide data on local
land use, crop rotations and agricultural practices on farms
benefiting from individual derogations. Those data can be
used for model-based calculations of the magnitude of nitrate
leaching and phosphorus losses from fields where up to 230 kg
nitrogen per hectare per year from livestock manure is applied.

4. Monitoring sites shall be established to provide data on
nitrogen in water leaving the root zone and entering the
groundwater system and on nitrogen losses by surface and
subsurface runoff, both under derogation and non derogation
conditions.

Article 8

Reporting

1.
The competent authority shall submit the results of the
monitoring every year to the Commission, with a concise report
on water quality evolution and evaluation practice. The report
shall provide information on how the evaluation of the imple-
mentation of the derogation conditions is carried on through
controls at
farm level and include information on non
compliant farms based on results of administrative and field
inspections.

2.
The results thus obtained will be taken into consideration
by the Commission with regard to an eventual new request for
derogation.

Article 9

Application

This Decision shall apply in the context of the Third Austrian
Action programme 2004-2007. It shall expire on 31 December
2007.

Article 10

This Decision is addressed to the Republic of Austria.

Those maps shall be submitted to the Commission annually.

Done at Brussels, 28 February 2006.

A monitoring network for

2.
surface and
shallow groundwater shall be established and maintained to
assess the impact of derogation on water quality. The existing
monitoring network shall be reinforced in the districts with 3 %

sampling of

For the Commission

Stavros DIMAS
Member of the Commission