D10: Impact of Contaminants - Hydromod

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Integrated Water Resource Management for Important Deep European Lakes and their Catchment Areas EUROLAKES D10: Impact of Contaminants FP5_Contract No.: EVK1-CT1999-00004 Version: 4.0 Date: 25/07/01 File: D10-vers.4.0.doc Page 10 of 136 The communication COM (1999) 706 final points at the financing of several research works aimed at the development and validation of test methods for the identification of endocrine disrupters by the Commission. Last but not least there is also a need to develop and validate appropriate environmental monitoring tools. Existing Community provisions of law on environmental and human health aspects of chemicals are based on a three-stage approach. This approach is also described in COM (1999) 706 final. In the first stage, the hazard identification, a substance's inherent capacity to cause adverse effects on human health and the environment is identified, on the basis of the intrinsic properties of a substance. The second stage is a risk assessment where the risks in conjunction with the exposition of a chemical substance are evaluated. In the third stage, the risk management, strategies for the management of risks are developed. The directives being the basis for the hazard identification, the risk assessment and the risk management are listed in Annex I of COM (1999) 706 final. The Water Framework Directive Concerning the EDC Problem It is beyond the scope of this chapter to give a comprehensive view of the WFD and the authors have attempted to identify and focus on the key issues of the WFD that are related to chemicals, analyse its provisions, point out weaknesses and ambiguities and derive from them a number of political options which are crucial for the improvement of European waters. In September 2000, after a decade of political struggle, the European Parliament and Council adopted the Water Framework Directive (WFD). There is no doubt that this new framework for EU water legislation is a most complex package of objectives, instruments and obligations. Two of the main goals of the Water Framework Directive are the protection and improvement of the aquatic environment and the contribution to sustainable, balanced and equitable water use. The Directive should also contribute to achieving the objectives of relevant international agreements (e.g. OSPAR, BARCELONA and HELCOM). This is important since some of the objectives laid down by these international agreements are far-reaching and might ask for more stringent measures than those currently required under the WFD. New instruments are introduced in the EU water policy to protect and improve all European waters: an ecological and holistic water status assessment approach; river basin planning; a strategy for elimination of pollution by dangerous substances; public information and consultation and finally, financial instruments. Despite these important additions to EU water policy instruments, a number of problems are emerging from the directive. They need to be dealt with as soon as possible to achieve clear and consistently positive results for EU waters. Some of the main weaknesses identified are: - complicated and wide-ranging exemption and derogation conditions for the environmental objectives for ‘heavily modified’ waters or for new physical modifications for example;
Integrated Water Resource Management for Important Deep European Lakes and their Catchment Areas EUROLAKES D10: Impact of Contaminants FP5_Contract No.: EVK1-CT1999-00004 Version: 4.0 Date: 25/07/01 File: D10-vers.4.0.doc Page 11 of 136 - new implementation problems, also due to legal uncertainty - for example the situation before and after the repeal of existing water legislation; - a shift of important decisions to subsequent political processes – like the criteria for assessing groundwater quality, or the environmental quality standards and emission limit values for surface waters. One may say that the WFD follows a two-level approach, which differs from existing EU water legislation: - Co-ordination of measures at national or Community level (with the WFD). - The definition of exact objectives, guidelines and measures is left to subsequent political processes (through daughter directives, experts' committees). The success of this approach will strongly depend on political will and future hard work, on the full participation of all stakeholders as well as on the exploitation of synergies between the various legislative instruments provided for under the WFD. Chemicals Policy under the WFD With respect to the regulation of water pollution, the Water Framework Directive requires action at Member State level and Community-wide uniform standards for certain chemicals. At Member State Level: Environmental quality standards (EQSs) for all pollutants ‘identified as being discharged in significant quantities’ into bodies of surface water have to be set at Member State level (an indicative list of the main pollutants is provided in Annex VIII). Compliance with these EQSs is required for the achievement of the objective of ‘good ecological status’ (defined in Annex V) by Dec 2015. For ‘High Status’ surface water bodies, Member States must with regard to the non-deterioration provision (article 4.1.a.i): - prevent non-synthetic pollutants discharged in significant quantities from reaching concentrations in the water body above the range normally associated with undisturbed conditions; - and prevent synthetic pollutants discharged in significant quantities from reaching concentrations above the limits of detection. At Community Level: EU sets Community-wide standards, which have to be met as part of the objective of achieving ‘good chemical status’. The more stringent standards described above apply to high status waters. The existing Community standards (laid down in the daughter directives to the Dangerous Substances Directive (76/464/EEC)) are listed in Annex IX. For bodies of surface water, environmental objectives established under the first River Basin Management Plan required by this Directive shall, as a minimum, give effect to quality standards at least as stringent as those required to implement Directive 76/464/EEC. However, the
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D10: Impact of Contaminants - Hydromod

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