Proposed Negative
Published: 04 December 2018
Sift end date: 20 December 2018
The Water (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 ensure that water legislation will continue to be operable in the United Kingdom after the UK leaves the EU. The instrument addresses deficiencies in the retained EU law arising from the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.
The function of the EU law in this area is to protect and improve the water environment from various sources of pollution e.g. from agriculture and urban sources. It is also about protecting human health by preventing contamination of drinking water and bathing waters.
This instrument amends the transposing legislation of key EU water Directives. The main directive is the Water Framework Directive (WFD) (2000/60/EC). It is the cornerstone of EU water policy. Through a system of integrated planning, it establishes a framework for the protection of inland surface waters (rivers and lakes), transitional water s, coastal waters and groundwater, in order to prevent and reduce pollution, promote sustainable water use, protect the aquatic environment, improve the status of aquatic ecosystems and mitigate the effects of floods and droughts. It requires Member States to assess the condition of water and devise accurate ways to classify, measure and monitor water quality and to introduce appropriate measures to improve it where technically feasible and not disproportionately costly. It has been principally transposed i n Northern Ireland by the Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2017.
Return to List
|
