Fuente: © European Parliament
http://www.europarl.eu.int/

EU: Environment Committee wants tougher EU-wide water quality standards

/noticias.info/ Environment Committee says that a further 31 water pollutants, including dioxins and PCBs, should either be considered for the Commission's proposed list of those that must meet EU water quality standards by 2015, or even, if classified as hazardous, be banned from EU surface waters by 2025. In Tuesday's vote on a draft directive on surface water quality standards, the committee adopted several amendments that should serve as a basis for negotiations with the Council.

The draft directive fixes environmental quality standards (EQS) for 33 pollutants (pesticides, heavy metals and others), likely to be found in rivers, lakes and coastal waters. These substances may endanger the survival of ecosystems, and via the food chain, human health. These so-called "priority substances" were earmarked for early attention under the Water Framework Directive (WFD).
The proposed directive is the final major piece of legislation needed to support the WFD.

Member states would have to meet the water quality standards, which take the form of maximum allowable concentrations and annual average values, by 2015. Twelve of the 33 pollutants are already classified as "priority hazardous substances", to be phased out by 2025.

More substances to be controlled by 2015 and more to be banned by 2025

In the second reading report by Anne Laperrouze (ALDE, FR), adopted today with 51 votes in favour, none against and 4 abstentions, MEPs call on the Commission to examine further 31 substances (e.g. dioxins or PCBs), with a view to adding them either to the proposed list of pollutants that have to meet the quality standards by 2015 or even to the list of those to be phased out by 2025.

Furthermore, MEPs call on the Commission, in addition to classifying 12 of the 33 substances as hazardous, to make a proposal as to whether 10 more of these substances should be classified as hazardous and phased out completely.

Mixing zones - best available water techniques need to be ensured

Close to pollution sources, it will not be possible to comply quickly with environmental quality standards. In these 'mixing zones', pollutant concentrations may exceed the limits, provided that they do not prevent the rest of the body of surface water from meeting the standards. MEPs want to guarantee that Member States ensure the best available water treatment techniques when they establish "mixing zones".

Call for separate standards for living organisms and sediments

MEPs ask the Commission to table a new legislative propose on standards for all pollutants affecting biotas (living organisms) and sediments once Member States have listed emissions and pollutants in their waters. This contrasts with the stance taken by the Council and the Commission, which sought to limit checks to surface waters, except for three substances that are more hazardous than others when they accumulate in the food chain: mercury, hexachlorobenzene, and hexachlorobutadien.
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