The Department of Agriculture announced plans to radically shake up the way it grants nitrates derogations as it said the European Commission wants evidence that Ireland complies with the Habitats Directive when granting farmers derogations.

The Department expects that it will have to conduct an appropriate assessment on every catchment or sub-catchment with derogation applicants before granting derogations to farmers into the future.

There are 46 catchments in the country with an average size of 150,000ha and 483 sub-catchments averaging 12,000ha.

A change in approach is needed to help the State’s bid to secure another nitrates derogation before the current one expires at the end of the year.

Court ruling

Central to the change in approach is a European Court of Justice ruling on the Netherlands’ nitrates policy that deemed livestock grazing and fertiliser application to meet the threshold of being classed as a ‘project’ in the context of the Habitats Directive.

Any ‘project’ with the potential to impact a site designated as a Natura 2000 area – areas which include lands and waterways – are subject to assessment requirements of the Habitats Directive.

The Department has said that Brussels is looking for it to treat the granting of nitrates derogations as it treats other projects in the context of the Habitats Directive.

It must be proven that granting a derogation would not “adversely affect the integrity of the site” under the approach put forward by the Department.

Appropriate assessment process

The screening of projects under the Habitats Directive generally covers a 15km radius around these sites.

A project deemed after screening to not look like it will have a “significant effect” on Natura 2000 sites can proceed.

A project deemed likely to have an effect - or if it is unclear what the effect might be- during screening requires a detailed impact assessment based on the best available scientific evidence and methods.

Additional measures may be included into the project plan to mitigate potential risks.

The exact approach taken to conducting these assessments “will require further refining” and engagement with stakeholders, other Departments, state agencies, researchers and consultant experts on the Habitats Directive, according to the Department.