The Protection of Water Against Agricultural Nitrate Pollution (Scotland) Regulations 1996

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires–

“action programme” means an action programme established in accordance with regulation 6;

“chemical fertiliser” means any fertiliser which is manufactured by an industrial process;

“the 1991 Directive” means Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources(1);

“the 1980 Directive” means Council Directive 80/778/EEC relating to the quality of water intended for human consumption(2);

“the 1975 Directive” means Council Directive 75/440/EEC(3) concerning the quality of surface water intended for the abstraction of drinking water in Member States, as amended by the 1980 Directive and the 1991 Directive;

“eutrophication” means the enrichment of water by nitrogen compounds, causing an accelerated growth of algae and higher forms of plant life to produce an undesirable disturbance to the balance of organisms present in the water and to the quality of the water concerned;

“fertiliser” means any substance containing a nitrogen compound or nitrogen compounds utilised on land to enhance growth of vegetation, and may include livestock manure, the residues from fish farms and sewage sludge;

“freshwater” means naturally occurring water having a low concentration of salts, which is often acceptable as suitable for abstraction and treatment to produce drinking water;

“groundwater” means all water which is below the surface of the ground in the saturation zone and in direct contact with the ground or subsoil;

“land application” means the addition of materials to land whether by spreading on the surface of the land, injection into the land, placing below the surface of the land or mixing with the surface layers of the land;

“livestock” means all animals kept for use or profit;

“livestock manure” means waste products excreted by livestock or a mixture of litter and waste products excreted by livestock, even in processed form;

“nitrate vulnerable zone” has the meaning given in regulation 3;

“nitrogen compound” means any nitrogen-containing substance except for gaseous molecular nitrogen;

“the Objectives” means the objectives specified in Article 1 of the Directive, that is to say–

(a)

reducing water pollution caused or induced by nitrates from agricultural sources; and

(b)

preventing further such pollution;

“pollution” means the discharge, directly or indirectly, of nitrogen compounds from agricultural sources into the aquatic environment, the results of which are such as to cause hazards to human health, harm to living resources and to aquatic ecosystems, damage to amenities or interference with other legitimate uses of water;

“SEPA” means the Scottish Environment Protection Agency;

and other expressions used in the 1991 Directive have the same meaning as in that Directive.

(2) Any reference in these Regulations to a numbered regulation or Schedule is a reference to the regulation or Schedule so numbered in these Regulations.

(1)

OJ No. L375, 31.12.91, p.1.

(2)

OJ No. L229, 30.8.80, p.11.

(3)

OJ No. L194, 25.7.75, p.26.