Current legislative framework

Other related directives

Laws designed to protect groundwater against pollution and deterioration are part of a larger regulatory framework that can be traced back to the 1990s. The concept of groundwater protection is now fully integrated into the basic measures of the Water Framework Directive.

The need to ensure the proper integration of the various legal instruments is illustrated in the figure below:

The different legislations illustrated in the figure are directly linked to the Water Framework Directive and the new Groundwater Directive. They are part of the set of measures that need to be operational to achieve the "good environmental status" objective by the end of 2015. They all seek to prevent or limit pollutants reaching groundwater. Their main features are summarised below:

• The Nitrates Directive (96/676/EEC) (pdf ~ 166KB) aims to reduce and prevent water pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources. It obliges Member States to designate vulnerable zones of all known areas in Member States whose waters – including groundwater – are or are likely to be affected by nitrate pollution. Vulnerable zones are defined as those waters which contain a nitrates concentration of more than 50 mg/l or are susceptible to contain such nitrates concentration if measures are not taken. The link with groundwater policy is clear in this respect, i.e. nitrate contamination levels should not be over the trigger value set at 50 mg/l. The measures for action of the nitrates directive are also listed in the Water Framework Directive (Annex VI) and the Groundwater Directive (Annex IV, part B).
  
  
• The Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC) aims to protect the environment from the adverse effects of discharges of urban waste water and waste water from certain industrial sectors. In this context, the identification of “sensitive areas” relates essentially to freshwater, estuaries or coastal waters which are found to be eutrophic, lakes and streams reaching lakes/reservoirs with poor water exchange, and surface freshwater intended for drinking water which could contains more than 50 mg/l nitrates.
  
  
• The Plant Protection Products Directive (91/414/EEC) concerns the authorisation, placing on the market, use and control within the European Union of commercial plant protection products. Regarding groundwater, authorisation is only granted if plant protection products have no harmful effect on human health or on groundwater and that do not have undesirable affects on the environment, particularly on the contamination of water, including drinking water and groundwater.
  
  
• The Biocides Directive (98/8/EC) (pdf ~378KB) deals with the authorisation and the placing on the market of biocidal products such as pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides. Like the Plant Protection Products Directive the authorisation of biocidal products may only be granted if the products have no harmful effect on human health, or groundwater and that do not have undesirable affects on the environment, particularly on the contamination of water such as drinking and groundwater.
  
  
• The Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive (96/61/EC) lays down measures designed to prevent or reduce air, water, or ground pollution. The directive applies to a significant number of mainly industrial activities with a high pollution potential such as the energy sector, the production and processing of metals, the mineral and chemical industries, waste management facilities, food production and non-industrial activities such as livestock farming. It establishes provisions for issuing permit for existing and new installations. The permits include requirements to ensure the protection of soils and groundwater and set emission limits for pollutants.
  
  
• The Landfill Directive (99/31/EC) (pdf ~108KB ) seeks to prevent or reduce the negative effects of landfill waste on the environment, including groundwater. Like the IPPC Directive the directive establishes provisions for issuing permits based on a range of conditions including impact assessment studies. For each site the groundwater, geological, and hydrogeological conditions in the area must be identified. The sites must be designed so as to prevent groundwater from entering landfill waste, collect and treat contaminated water and leachate, and prevent the pollution of soils, groundwater or surface water by using the appropriate technical precautions such as geological barriers and bottom liners. The directive establishes criteria for waste testing and acceptance taking into consideration the protection of the surrounding environment, including groundwater.
  
  
• Other directives have indirect links to the groundwater regulatory framework. These include the Waste Framework Directive (2006/12/EC) (pdf ~ 387KB) which requires waste to be recovered or disposed of without endangering the environment and groundwater; the Construction Product Directive (89/106/EC) provides provisions for regulating construction products that could pose a threat to the health of future occupants or neighbours as a result of pollution or poisoning of water or soil.

back to the current framework | link to The new Groundwater Directive (2006/118/EC)