Legal provisions of COM(2003)847 - Pollution caused by certain dangerous substances discharged into the aquatic environment of the EC (Codified version)

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dossier COM(2003)847 - Pollution caused by certain dangerous substances discharged into the aquatic environment of the EC (Codified version).
document COM(2003)847 EN
date February 15, 2006


Article 1

Subject to Article 7, this Directive shall apply to:

(a)inland surface water;

(b)territorial waters;

(c)internal coastal waters.

Article 2

For the purposes of this Directive:

(a)‘inland surface water’ means all static or flowing fresh surface water situated in the territory of one or more Member States;

(b)‘internal coastal waters’ means waters on the landward side of the base line from which the breadth of territorial waters is measured, extending, in the case of watercourses, up to the fresh water limit;

(c)‘fresh water limit’ means the place in the watercourse where, at low tide and in a period of low fresh water flow, there is an appreciable increase in salinity due to the presence of sea water;

(d)‘discharge’ means the introduction into the waters referred to in Article 1 of any substances in List I or List II of Annex I, with the exception of:

(i)discharges of dredgings;

(ii)operational discharges from ships in territorial waters;

(iii)dumping from ships in territorial waters;

(e)‘pollution’ means the discharge by man, directly or indirectly, of substances or energy 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.

Article 3

Member States shall take the appropriate steps to eliminate pollution of the waters referred to in Article 1 by the dangerous substances in the families and groups of substances in List I of Annex I, hereinafter referred to as ‘List I substances’, and to reduce pollution of the said waters by the dangerous substances in the families and groups of substances in List II of Annex I, hereinafter referred to as ‘List II substances’, in accordance with this Directive.

Article 4

With regard to List I substances:

(a)all discharges into the waters referred to in Article 1 which are liable to contain any such substance, shall require prior authorisation by the competent authority of the Member State concerned;

(b)the authorisation shall lay down emission standards with regard to discharges of any such substance into the waters referred to in Article 1 and, where this is necessary for the implementation of this Directive, to discharges of any such substance into sewers;

(c)authorisations may be granted for a limited period only. They may be renewed, taking into account any changes in the emission limit values laid down by the Directives referred to in Annex IX to Directive 2000/60/EC.

Article 5

1. The emission standards laid down in the authorisations granted pursuant to Article 4 shall determine:

(a)the maximum concentration of a substance permissible in a discharge. In the case of dilution, the emission limit value laid down by the Directives referred to in Annex IX to Directive 2000/60/EC shall be divided by the dilution factor;

(b)the maximum quantity of a substance permissible in a discharge during one or more specified periods of time, expressed, if necessary, as a unit of weight of the pollutant per unit of the characteristic element of the polluting activity (e.g. unit of weight per unit of raw material or per product unit).

2. For each authorisation, the competent authority of the Member State concerned may, if necessary, impose more stringent emission standards than those resulting from the application of the emission limit values laid down by the Directives referred to in Annex IX to Directive 2000/60/EC, taking into account in particular the toxicity, persistence and bioaccumulation of the substance concerned in the environment into which it is discharged.

3. If the discharger states that he is unable to comply with the required emission standards, or if this situation is evident to the competent authority in the Member State concerned, authorisation shall be refused.

4. Should the emission standards not be complied with, the competent authority in the Member State concerned shall take all appropriate steps to ensure that the conditions of authorisation are fulfilled and, if necessary, that the discharge is prohibited.

Article 6

1. In order to reduce pollution of the waters referred to in Article 1 by List II substances, Member States shall establish programmes in the implementation of which they shall apply in particular the methods referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3.

2. All discharges into the waters referred to in Article 1 which are liable to contain any List II substances, shall require prior authorisation by the competent authority in the Member State concerned, in which emission standards shall be laid down. Such standards shall be based on the environmental quality standards, which shall be fixed as provided for in paragraph 3.

3. The programmes referred to in paragraph 1 shall include environmental quality standards for water; these shall be laid down in accordance with Council Directives, where they exist.

4. The programmes may also include specific provisions governing the composition and use of substances or groups of substances and products and shall take into account the latest economically feasible technical developments.

5. The programmes shall set deadlines for their implementation.

6. Summaries of the programmes and the results of their implementation shall be communicated to the Commission.

7. The Commission, together with the Member States, shall arrange for regular comparisons of the programmes in order to ensure sufficient coordination in their implementation. If it sees fit, it shall submit relevant proposals to the European Parliament and to the Council to this end.

Article 7

Member States shall take all appropriate steps to implement measures adopted by them pursuant to this Directive in such a way as not to increase the pollution of waters to which Article 1 does not apply. They shall in addition prohibit all acts which intentionally or unintentionally circumvent the provisions of this Directive.

Article 8

The application of the measures taken pursuant to this Directive may on no account lead, either directly or indirectly, to increased pollution of the waters referred to in Article 1.

Article 9

Where appropriate, one or more Member States may individually or jointly take more stringent measures than those provided for under this Directive.

Article 10

The competent authority shall draw up an inventory of the discharges into the waters referred to in Article 1 which may contain List I substances to which emission standards are applicable.

Article 11

1. At intervals of three years, and for the first time for the period 1993 to 1995 inclusive, Member States shall send information to the Commission on the implementation of this Directive, in the form of a sectoral report which shall also cover other pertinent Community Directives. This report shall be drawn up on the basis of a questionnaire or outline drafted by the Commission in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 6 of Council Directive 91/692/EEC of 23 December 1991 standardising and rationalising reports on the implementation of certain Directives relating to the environment (7). The questionnaire or outline shall be sent to the Member States six months before the start of the period covered by the report. The report shall be sent to the Commission within nine months of the end of the three-year period covered by it.

The Commission shall publish a Community report on the implementation of the Directive within nine months of receiving the reports from the Member States.

2. Information acquired as a result of the application of paragraph 1 shall be used only for the purpose for which it was requested.

3. The Commission and the competent authorities of the Member States, their officials and other servants shall not disclose information acquired by them pursuant to this Directive and of a kind covered by the obligation of professional secrecy.

4. The provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 shall not prevent publication of general information or surveys which do not contain information relating to particular undertakings or associations of undertakings.

Article 12

The European Parliament and the Council, acting on a proposal from the Commission, which shall act on its own initiative or at the request of a Member State, shall revise and, where necessary, supplement Lists I and II of Annex I on the basis of experience, if appropriate, by transferring certain List II substances to List I.

Article 13

Directive 76/464/EEC is hereby repealed, without prejudice to the obligations of the Member States relating to the time limits for transposition into national law of the Directives set out in Part B of Annex II.

References to the repealed Directive shall be construed as references to this Directive and should be read in accordance with the correlation table in Annex III.

Article 14

This Directive shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 15

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.