From Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
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The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien, T.D., invites submissions, observations and comments on the additional measures for the Fifth Nitrates Action Programme and the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA).
Ireland’s Nitrates Action Programme is given effect by European Communities (Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters) Regulations 2022 (S.I. No. 113 of 2022) , as amended. The regulations contain specific measures to protect surface waters and groundwater from nutrient pollution arising from agricultural sources. The additional measures for the Fifth Nitrates Action Programme have been developed following an interim review, which identified that more action is needed to achieve improved water quality.
The purpose of this consultation is to seek the public’s view on the following documents:
This document outlines the proposed measures for the Fifth Nitrates Action Programme. An interim review of the Fifth NAP was undertaken by the Nitrates Expert Group. The interim review identified that additional measures were required to achieve improvements in water quality. The Nitrates Expert Group made recommendations on the additional measures to both the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine sought feedback from the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine Agriculture Water Quality Working Group on the proposed additional measure. The proposed additional measures are separated into two groups, those that require amendments to the Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) Regulations ( S.I. No. 113 of 2022 , as amended) and those measures that can be implemented without regulatory amendments.
The purpose of this SEA Report is to inform the development of the additional measures for the Fifth NAP, identify describe and evaluate the likely significant effects of the implementation of the proposed additional measures and its reasonable alternatives; and provide an opportunity for the statutory authorities and the public to offer views on any aspect through consultation.
This SEA Report complies with the requirements of the Directive 2001/42/EC on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment (the SEA Directive) as implemented in Ireland through the European Communities (Environmental Assessment of Certain Plans and Programmes) Regulations (S.I. No. 435/2004) as amended.
The SEA process has been, and will continue to be iterative, and assist in making the additional measures for the Fifth NAP more robust by fully integrating wider environmental considerations into the programme.
The Minister is inviting members of the public to make submissions, observations and comments on the proposed additional measures for the Fifth Nitrates Actions Programme and the Strategic Environmental Assessment until 5pm 24 January 2025.
A copy of:
and
are all available for public inspection online and at the Custom House during office hours 9am – 5pm Monday to Friday excluding public holidays during the consultation period.
If you wish to view these documents in person please email wau@housing.gov.ie with the subject SEA Nitrates Consultation to make an appointment.
Submissions or observations on the proposed additional measures and the Strategic Environmental Assessment can be made either to wau@housing.gov.ie with the subject SEA Nitrates Consultation or by post to:
All submissions and comments submitted to the Department for this purpose are subject to release under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2014 and the European Communities (Access to
Information on the Environment) Regulations 2007-2014. Submissions are also subject to Data Protection legislation.
Personal, confidential or commercially sensitive information should not be included in your submission (other than your name or contact details). It will be presumed that all information contained in your submission is releasable under the Freedom of Information Act 2014.
The information provided by respondents will be used in order to refine and finalise the additional measures for the Fifth Nitrates Action Programme.
Please note that submissions and observations received will be made available on the Department’s website, unless otherwise requested. In any event, all submissions received will be subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, Access to Information on the Environment Regulations and Data Protection legislation. See also the Privacy Statement under the Documents link above.