S.I. No. 277/2016 - European Union Environmental Objectives (Standards for Monitoring of Quality Elements) Regulations 2016.

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 27th May, 2016.

I, SIMON COVENEY, Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) and for the purpose of giving effect to Directive 2014/101/EU of 30 October 2014¹ amending Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy hereby make the following Regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Union Environmental Objectives (Standards for Monitoring of Quality Elements) Regulations 2016.

2. In these Regulations—

“Agency” means the Environmental Protection Agency;

“Water Framework Directive” means Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy.

3. The Agency, and any other person or body as appropriate, in undertaking the monitoring requirements of the Water Framework Directive as laid out in the European Communities Environmental Objectives (Surface Waters) Regulations ( S.I. No. 272 of 2009 ), as amended, shall employ the standards for monitoring of quality elements listed in Schedule 1.

4. Methods used for the monitoring of type parameters shall conform to the international standards listed in Schedule 1 in so far as they cover monitoring, or to such other national or international standards as will ensure the provision of data of an equivalent scientific quality and comparability.

Schedule 1: Standards for monitoring of quality elements

Standards for sampling of biological quality elements:

Generic methods for use with the specific methods given in the standards relating to the following biological quality elements:

EN ISO 5667-3:2012

Water quality — Sampling — Part 3: Preservation and handling of samples

Standards for phytoplankton:

EN 15204:2006	Water quality — Guidance standard on the enumeration of phytoplankton using inverted microscopy (Utermhl technique)
EN 15972:2011	Water quality — Guidance on quantitative and qualitative investigations of marine phytoplankton
ISO 10260:1992	Water quality — Measurement of biochemical parameters — Spectrometric determination of the chlorophyll-a concentration

Standards for macrophyte and Phytobenthos:

EN 15460:2007	Water quality — Guidance standard for the surveying of macrophytes in lakes
EN 14184:2014	Water quality — Guidance for the surveying of aquatic macrophytes in running waters
EN 15708:2009	Water quality — Guidance standard for the surveying, sampling and laboratory analysis of phytobenthos in shallow running water
EN 13946:2014	Water quality — Guidance for the routine sampling and preparation of benthic diatoms from rivers and lakes
EN 14407:2014	Water quality — Guidance for the identification and enumeration of benthic diatom samples from rivers and lakes

Standards for benthic invertebrate:

EN ISO10870:2012	Water quality — Guidelines for the selection of sampling methods and devices for benthic macroinvertebrates in fresh waters
EN 15196:2006	Water quality — Guidance on sampling and processing of the pupal exuviae of Chironomidae (order Diptera) for ecological assessment
EN 16150:2012	Water quality — Guidance on pro rata multi-habitat sampling of benthic macro-invertebrates from wadeable rivers
EN ISO 19493:2007	Water quality — Guidance on marine biological surveys of hard-substrate communities
EN ISO 16665:2013	Water quality — Guidelines for quantitative sampling and sample processing of marine soft-bottom macro-fauna

Standards for fish:

EN 14962:2006	Water quality — Guidance on the scope and selection of fish sampling methods
EN 14011:2003	Water quality — Sampling of fish with electricity
EN 15910:2014	Water quality — Guidance on the estimation of fish abundance with mobile hydroacoustic methods
EN 14757:2005	Water quality — Sampling of fish with multi-mesh gillnets

Standards for hydromorphological parameters:

EN 14614:2004	Water quality — Guidance standard for assessing the hydromorphological features of rivers
EN 16039:2011	Water quality — Guidance standard on assessing the hydromorphological features of lakes

Standards for physico-chemical parameters:

Any relevant CEN/ISO standards.

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GIVEN under my Official Seal,

19 May 2016.

SIMON COVENEY,

Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation)

These Regulations give effect to Directive 2014/101/EU, which amends Annex V of the Water Framework Directive.

Annex V of the Water Framework Directive set out the parameters and criteria required to help ensure that the monitoring and assessment of water across all Member States was uniform and consistent. It established a number of international standards for monitoring of the quality elements related to macroinvertebrates used to classify water quality.

Since the adoption of the Water Framework Directive, a number of new standards have been published, which address sampling of phytoplankton; macrophytes and phytobenthos; benthic invertebrates; fish and hydromorphological standards. Directive 2014/101/EU updates section 1.3.6 of the Water Framework Directive to include these standards and removes some of the standards listed which are now obsolete.

Ireland had not previously transposed section 1.3.6 of Annex V of the Water Framework Directive and these Regulations now transpose that section as amended by Directive 2014/101/EU.

1 O.J. No. L311/32, 31 October 2014