CELEX: 51998PC0388
Language: en
Date: 1998-07-08
Title: Re-examined proposal for a Council Directive on the quality of water intended for human consumption

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                          Brussels, 08.07.1998
                                          COM(1998) 388 final
                                          95/0010(SYN)
                     Re-examined proposal for a
                      COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
on the Quality of Water Intended for Human
                        Consumption
     (presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 189 c (d)
                         of the EC Treaty)
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                            EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
 On 4 January 1995, the Commission adopted a "Proposal for a Council Directive on the
 Quality of Water intended for Human Consumption" (COM(94)612 final - 95/0010
 SYN).
 On 28 April 1995 (OJ C 131, 30.5.1995, p.5) (co-operation procedure pursuant to Article
 130S1) the proposal was presented to the Council.
 The Economic and Social Committee gave its opinion on 21 December 1995 (OJ C 82,
 19.3.96).
 The Committee of the Regions gave its opinion on 19 September 1995 (OJ C 100,
 2.4.1996).
 The European Parliament gave its opinion (first reading) at its sitting of 12 December
 1996 (OJC 020, 20.1.1997).
The Commission adopted the amended proposal (COM(97)228 final - 95/0010 SYN of
4.06.1997; OJ C 213, 15.7.1997).
At its meeting on 16 October 1997, the Council reached a political agreement with a view
to adopting a common position.
The Council's common position was adopted on 19 December 1997 (OJ C 91, 26.3.98)
The European Parliament gave its opinion (second reading) at its sitting of 13May 1998.
The Commission has examined the amendments proposed by Parliament at its second
reading and has included a number of them in this re-examined proposal. In this
memorandum the Commission's position on each of the amendments approved by
Parliament at its second reading is explained.
In general the Commission cannot accept the amendments which are, in its opinion,
unworkable, or which will make implementation unduly onerous. On the other hand the
Commission can accept amendments which improve the clarity of the text and which
remove any possible areas of ambiguity or doubt. The Commission can also accept those
amendments which improve still further the transparency of the Directive.
Therefore, the Commission can accept amendments: 6, 8, 15 and 19 without reservation
as all these amendments improve the text of the Directive, through textual changes or
through improvement of the transparency; amendments 12 and 29 can be accepted in
part with some necessary redrafting for reasons of coherence with the other provisions of
the Directive.
In addition the Commission can accept in principle amendments: 13, 26 and 30. The
following comments are represented on these amendments:
Amendment 13
Amendment 13 refers to disinfection of water and proposes to add "that there is no new
 contamination from disinfection degradation products". A redrafting is necessary to make
 it factually correct.
 ---pagebreak--- Amendment 26
Amendment 26 proposes the addition of a parameter for radioactivity in Annex 1, part B.
 The Commission following the advice given by the Group of experts under Article 31
 EURATOM Treaty Committee accepts to include radioactivity parameter in Annex 1,
 part C (indicator parameter), gross a and gross \\ activity should for the time being only
 be included but not quantified. For tritium a value of KM) Bq/1 is proposed, the total
 indicative dose is 0.1 mSv/y The Commission undertakes to provide further guidance, on
 how the indicative dose parameter shall be translated in practical terms. The appropriate
 values for total a and total (3 and the monitoring frequencies under Annex II will be
 defined in due time.
Amendment 30
Amendment 30 refers to a study to be carried out into the issue of endocrine disrupters on
which to base a proposal on the basis of Article 189b. The Commission welcomes the
idea. It should not, though, be put into a Directive as within some time it will be
irrelevant.
Amendment 12
The Commission is of the opinion that the reference is indeed better placed in Article
6(2) than in Article 2(2) as it makes the text more comprehensible. The text can be
transferred as it is in the Common Position.
The second issue of amendment 12 refers to a report to be produced by Member States on
the incidence of lead piping and on plans to replace this lead. In principle the
Commission can agree with the idea of plans that Member States should present within
five years to explain how Member States will comply with the lead-related provisions.
Amendment 29
Amendment 29 calls for Member States to produce a report on areas with high THM
values. The Commission can accept the concept of such a report to be produced by
Member States.
The Commission cannot accept the remaining amendments, namely: 1, 3, 4, 5, 9, 11,14,
16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28 and 31.
Amendments 1,3,4,5,9,11,14,21,23
These amendments either do not add anything new to the text, or are irrelevant in this
Directive or are already covered by thé Treaty.
Amendment 16 and Amendment 22
 Amendments 16 and 22 seek to change the derogation provisions under Articles 9(1) and
 15(1). Acceptance of these amendments could put at stake the adoption of the Directive
 as the Council reached a very difficult agreement on this point. The Commission believes
 that the main concerns of the Parliament have been taken into account as derogations can
 be granted only when there is no potential human health risk and the water supply cannot
 be maintained by any other reasonable means. Additionally the derogations are limited in
 time and the Commission remains involved.
 ---pagebreak--- Amendment 24
Amendment 24 seeks to lower the parametric value lor TMM to 80 ug/l.The Commission
is of the opinion that the value retained in the Common Position represents an
appropriate balance between health and practical considerations.
Amendment 25
A reference to endocrine disrupters is added to Article 4(1 )a (amendment 8), but at
present it is thought to be premature to introduce a parameter in Annex I, B.
Amendment 27
 Even though it is desirable to use the same sampling method all over the European
Union, this might not always be possible due to various factors.
Amendment 28
Amendment 28 proposes 10 years to comply with the lead standard. The Commission
cannot accept such a timetable. The proposed compliance period is 15 years, and this is
based on what the Commission believes to be the best balance between the protection of
human health, and the economic consequences of achieving such a standard.
Amendment 31
Amendment 31 calls for copper to be moved from Annex I, Part B (chemical parameters)
to Annex I, Part C (indicator parameters). As is explained in the explanatory
memorandum WHO guideline values for drinking water quality have been used as a
basis for the proposed Directive. The Commission has followed the WHO's health-based
guideline on copper. In the rolling revision, which took place in Geneva in April 1997,
this value did not change. The Commission will review the parametric value for copper
and its classification following the revision of the WHO guidelines.
 ---pagebreak---                Re-examined proposal for a
                 COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
on the Quality of Water intended for human consumption
 ---pagebreak---          Text of the Common Position                           Re-examined proposal
                                           Article 2(2)
"domestic distribution system" shall mean         "domestic distribution system" shall mean
the pipework, fittings and appliances which       the pipework, fittings and appliances which
are installed between the taps that are           are installed between the taps that are
normally used for human consumption and           normally used for human consumption and
the distribution network but only if they are     the distribution network but only if they are
not the responsibility of the water supplier, in  not the responsibility of the water supplier, in
its capacity as a water supplier, according to    its capacity as a water supplier, according to
the relevant national law, except in premises     the relevant national law.
and establishments where water is supplied to
the public, such as schools, hospitals and
restaurants.
                                         Article 4(1 )(a)
(a) is free from any micro-organisms and           (a) is free from any micro-organisms and
parasites and from any substances which, in        parasites, endocrine disrupting chemicals
 numbers or concentrations, constitute a           and from any other substances which, in
 potential danger to human health, and             numbers or concentrations, constitute a
                                                   potential danger to human health, and
                                           Article 6(2)
 2. In the case of water covered by paragraph      2. In the case of water covered by paragraph
  1(a), Member States shall be deemed to have       1(a). Member States shall be deemed to have
 fulfilled their obligations under this Article    fulfilled their obligations under this Article
 and under Articles 4 and 8(2) where it can be     and under Articles 4 and 8(2) where it can be
 established that non-compliance with the          established that non-compliance with the
 parametric values set in accordance with          parametric values set in accordance with
  Article 5 is due to the domestic distribution    Article 5 is due to the domestic distribution
  system or the maintenance thereof.                system or the maintenance thereof, except in
                                                    premises and establishments where water is
                                                    supplied to the public, such as schools,
                                                    hospitals and restaurants.
                                                    Member States must produce a report and
                                                    forward it to the Commission, in accordance
                                                    with Article 13 (5), on the incidence of lead
                                                    piping in households and come forward
                                                    within live years of the entry into force of
                                                    this Directive, with a plan of practical
                                                    measures to be taken, such as lead pipe
                                                    replacement or other measures under
 ---pagebreak---                                                    paragraph (3), to fulfil their obligations.
                                           Article 7(1)
 1. Member States shall take all measures           I. Member States shall take all measures
necessary to ensure that regular monitoring of     necessary to ensure that regular monitoring of
the quality of water intended for human            the quality of water intended for human
consumption is carried out, in order to check      consumption is carried out, in order to check
that the water available to consumers meets        that the water available to consumers meets
the requirements of this Directive and in          the requirements of this Directive and in
particular the parametric values set in            particular the parametric values set in
accordance with Article 5. Samples should be       accordance with Article 5. Samples should be
taken so that they are representative of the       taken so that they are representative of the
quality of the water consumed throughout the       quality of the water consumed throughout the
year. In addition, Member States shall take        year. In addition, Member States shall take
all measures necessary to ensure that, where       all measures necessary to ensure that, where
disinfection forms part of the preparation or      disinfection forms part of the preparation or
distribution of water intended for human           distribution of water intended for human
consumption,       the   efficiency    of     the  consumption,      the     efficiency    of    the
disinfection treatment is verified.                disinfection treatment is verified, and that
                                                   any contamination from disinfection by-
                                                   products is kept as low as possible without
                                                   compromising the disinfection.
                                           Article 8 (2)
 2. If, despite the measures taken to meet the     2. If, despite the measures taken to meet the
 obligations imposed in Article 4(1), water        obligations imposed in Article 4(1), water
 intended for human consumption does not            intended for human consumption does not
 meet the parametric values set in accordance       meet the parametric values set in accordance
 with Article 5, and subject to Article 6(2), the   with Article 5, and subject to Article 6(2). the
 Member State concerned shall ensure that the       Member State concerned shall ensure that the
 necessary remedial action is taken as soon as      necessary remedial action is taken as soon as
 possible to restore its quality, having regard     possible to restore its quality and shall give
 inter alia to the extent to which the relevant     priority to their enforcement action, having
 parametric value has been exceeded and to          regard to the extent to which the relevant
 the potential danger to human health.              parametric value has been exceeded and to
                                                    the potential danger to human health.
                                             Article 10
  Member States shall take all measures              Member States shall take all measures
  necessary to ensure that no substances or          necessary to ensure that no substances or
  materials for new installations used in the        materials for new installations used in the
  preparation or distribution of water intended      preparation or distribution of water intended
  for human consumption or impurities                for human consumption or impurities
  associated with such substances or materials       associated with such substances or materials
  for new installations remain in water              for new installations remain in water
  intended for human consumption                in   intended    for   human consumption            in
 ---pagebreak--- concentrations higher than is necessary for         concentrations higher than is necessary for
the purpose of their use and do not, either         the purpose of their use and do not, either
directly or indirectly reduce the protection for    directly or indirectly reduce the protection for
human health provided for in this Directive,        human health provided for in this Directive,
without prejudice to Council Directive              whereby the interpretative documents and
89/106/EEC of 21 December 1988 on the               technical specifications pursuant to Article
approximation of laws, regulations and              3( 1 ) and Article 4( 1 ) of the Council Directive
administrative provisions of the Member             89/106/EEC of 21 December 1988 on the
States relating to construction products (1).       approximation of laws, regulations and
                                                    administrative provisions of the Member
                                                    States relating to construction products (1)
                                                    •shall respect the requirements of this
                                                    Directive.
                                       Annex I, Part B. note 10-
Note       10:    Where      possible,    without   Note       10:   Where       possible,   without
compromising disinfection, Member States            compromising disinfection, Member States
should strive for a lower value.                    should strive for a lower value.
The specified compounds are: chloroform, The specified compounds are: chloroform,
bromoform,              dibromochloromethane, bromoform,                     dibromochloromethane,
bromodichloromethane.                               bromodichloromethane.
 For the water referred to in Article 6(1 )(a),     For the water referred to in Article 6(1 )(a) ,
(b) and (d), the value must be met, at the          (b) and (d), the value must be met, at the
 latest, ten calendar years after entry into force  latest, ten calendar years after entry into force
of this Directive. The parametric value for         of this Directive. The parametric value for
 total THMs from five years after entry into        total THMs from five years after entry into
 force of this Directive until ten years after its  force of this Directive until ten years after its
 entry into force is 150 ^ig/1.                     entry into force is 150 (.ig/l.
 Member States must ensure that all                 Member States must ensure that all
 appropriate measures are taken to reduce the       appropriate measures are taken to reduce the
 concentration of THMs in water intended for        concentration of THMs in water intended for
 human consumption as much as possible              human consumption as much as possible
  during the period needed to achieve               during the period needed to achieve
  compliance with the parametric value.             compliance with the parametric value.
  When implementing the measures to achieve          When implementing the measures to achieve
  this value, Member States must progressively       this value, Member States must progressively
  give priority to those areas where THM             give priority to those areas where THM
  concentrations in water intended for human         concentrations in water intended for human
  consumption are highest.                           consumption are highest.
                                                     Member States must produce a report and
                                                      forward it to the Commission, in accordance
                                                      with Article 13(5), on areas with high THM
                                                      values and come forward within 5 years with
                                                      a plan of practical measures to be taken,
                                                      necessary to comply with the THM related
                                                      provisions.
 ---pagebreak---               Annex I, Part C, entry 11 a (new), (after "oxidizability")
                            Parameter         Parametric       Unit          Note
                                              value
                            Radioactivity:
                            tritium           100             becquerel/1    Note 11
                            total a activity no value at becquerel/1         Note 8, 11
                                              present
                            total P activity no value at becquerel/1         Note 9, 11
                                              present
                            total indicative 0,10              mSv/year      Note 10, 11
                            dose
Note 8:   Total a: except radon and short-lived radon decay products.
Note 9:   Total P: except 40K, tritium and short-lived radon decay products.
Note 10:  Further guidance on the assessment of the annual individual effective
          dose, in comparison with the total indicative dose, will be provided in due
          time.
Note 11 :  the monitoring frequencies under Annex II, will be defined in due time.
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                                                                   ISSN 0254-1475
                                                           COM(98) 388 final
                                              DOCUMENTS
EN                                                            14 05   10 15
                                    Catalogue number : CB-CO-98-403-EN-C
                                                             ISBN 92-78-37360-5
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