1 Programme of Measures for achieving water protection objectives within the Nemunas River Basin District Annex 2 RATIONALE FOR THE MEASURES OF THE PROGRAMME DESIGNED FOR ACHIEVING WATER PROTECTION OBJECTIVES WITHIN THE NEMUNAS RIVER BASIN DISTRICT CHAPTER I. GENERAL PROVISIONS 1. The Programme is designed for the Nemunas RBD which consists of the Lithuanian part of the Nemunas River Basin, the Lithuanian Coastal Rivers Basin (with the exception of the Šventoji River Basin and the Bartuva River Basin), the Lithuanian part of the Prieglius River Basin, the Lithuanian part of the Curonian Lagoon ( Kurši ų marios ), as well as the plume of the Curonian Lagoon in the Baltic Sea and coastal waters of the Baltic Sea within the territory of the Republic of Lithuania. The Programme was drawn up upon analysis of the status of water bodies within the Nemunas RBD and assessment of impacts of anthropogenic activities on water bodies. The development of the Programme took account of the programmes currently implemented on the national level as well as technical feasibility of the measures and economic resources, including recovery of costs related to the provision of water services. Pursuant to the requirements of the Lithuanian water legislation, a programme of measures must be established for each river basin district in order to achieve water protection objectives. Each programme of measures comprises basic measures which are the mandatory requirements under the Lithuanian laws regulating the water sector and the EU directives (construction of wastewater treatment facilities and manure storage facilities, balanced soil fertilisation, crop rotation, etc.). Where the assessment of the effect of the basic measures reveals that they are sufficient for achieving water protection objectives, the programme is limited to these measures. If, however, the basic measures are not sufficient for a water body to achieve water protection objectives, supplementary measures are then chosen as may be necessary in order to achieve the set water protection objectives. These measures must be inter-coordinated so as to adopt the most effective set of instruments which will enable attainment of the set objectives at the lowest cost. Supplementary measures are chosen on the basis of a socio-economic impact analysis: the assessment of the efficiency of the measures and the cost-benefit assessment of the achievement of water protection objectives. A wide range of measures can be available. Some of them are purely engineering measures, e.g. construction of domestic and industrial wastewater facilities, installation of protection belts for water bodies, renaturalisation of straightened river beds, etc. Other instruments are legal (e.g. permits for carrying out economic activities, impoundment of rivers or construction of hydropower plants, etc.), economic (taxes and charges, sanctions, incentives, subsidies and the like), information (seminars, events, public education through the press, on the internet), etc. Legal acts provide for possible exceptions in respect of the achievement of certain water protection objectives. One of them is the extension of the deadline (until 2027 at the 1 2 latest) for achieving the set objective, provided that the objective cannot be achieved in time for reasons of technical feasibility, disproportionate costs or natural conditions. Another exception is the establishment of less stringent objectives that must also be justified by technical feasibility, natural conditions or disproportionate costs, as well as when the achievement of good status would lead to far-reaching negative socio- economic consequences that cannot be avoided by any significantly better environmental option. These exceptions can be applied only in rare cases, subject to the economic analysis and reasoned arguments for the necessity of the exception. The present document on the Programme of Measures for the Nemunas RBD gives a description of the basic and supplementary measures, as well as specifies the costs of their implementation. CHAPTER II. BASIC MEASURES FOR ACHIEVING GOOD WATER STATUS WITHIN THE NEMUNAS RBD 2. Pursuant to Part A of Annex VI to the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC, basic measures are those which must be implemented in order to meet the requirements of the following directives: 2.1 Directive 2006/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the management of bathing water quality and repealing Directive 76/160/EEC; 2.2. Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the conservation of wild birds; 2.3 Council Directive 98/83/EC on the quality of water intended for human consumption; 2.4. Council Directive 96/82/EC on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances as amended by Directive 2003/105/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2003; 2.5. Council Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment as amended by Directive 2009/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2003; 2.6. Council Directive 86/278/EEC on the protection of the environment, and in particular of the soil, when sewage sludge is used in agriculture as amended by Council Directive 91/692/EEC of 23 December 1991; 2.7. Council Directive 91/271/EEC concerning urban wastewater treatment as amended by the Commission Directive 2010/42/EEC of 27 February 1998; 28. Council Directive 91/414/EEC concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market as amended by the Commission Directive 2010/42/EU of 28 June 2010; 2.9. Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources; 2.10. Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora as amended by the Council Directive 97/62/EC of 27 October 1997; 2.11. Directive 2008/1/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning integrated pollution prevention and control as amended by Directive 2009/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 Aril 2009. 2 3 Seven directives out of the eleven ones listed above the implementation of which also means introduction of the basic measures are related to high costs. The largest investments are required for the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive and the Nitrates Directive therefore these directives are addressed on a first priority basis in the sections below. The implementation of the remaining directives – the Birds Directive, Environmental Impact Assessment Directive, Plant Protection Products Directive, and the Habitats Directive – is mainly related to the establishment of relevant legal, institutional, procedural and other “soft” measures with a lower investment demand. SECTION I. MEASURES PROVIDED FOR IN THE COMMUNITY WATER LEGISLATION AND TRANSPOSED INTO THE LITHUANIAN ACQUIS Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC) 3. The measures required for the implementation of this Directive are one of the most important and investment-intensive basic measures which usually result in improvement of surface water quality. According to the data provided by the Environmental Protection Agency, there were 1 412 wastewater dischargers emitting 256 million m 3 of wastewater per year in the Nemunas RBD in 2007. Wastewater from 1 342 dischargers was emitted into rivers and lakes, from 65 – into the Curonian Lagoon, and from 5 – into the Baltic Sea. The number and designation (according to the type of effluents) of the dischargers identified in the basins and sub-basins of the Nemunas RBD are given in Table 1 and point pollution loads are provided in Table 2. Table 1. The number of dischargers and type of discharges in basins and sub-basins of the Nemunas RBD of which the number of dischargers with the following Number of Basin/sub-basin designation (code): dischargers 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Žeimena 45 10 4 0 2 13 10 6 Šventoji 138 47 8 0 9 44 24 6 Neris Small Tributaries 210 80 7 3 12 50 36 22 Merkys 35 5 4 0 3 16 6 1 Nev ÷žis 177 63 5 0 4 71 33 1 Šešup ÷ 149 62 10 0 4 33 39 1 Dubysa 23 4 2 1 0 12 4 0 Jūra 91 32 6 1 4 24 23 1 Minija 63 18 4 1 0 27 13 0 Coastal Rivers 119 67 6 2 6 6 32 0 Nemunas Small 292 170 12 5 12 53 39 1 Tributaries Prieglius 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Curonian Lagoon 65 39 1 0 2 1 21 1 Baltic Sea 5 2 1 0 0 0 2 0 Total in the Nemunas RBD 1 412 599 70 13 58 350 282 40 * Designation (codes) of the dischargers: 0 – Untreated effluents; 1 – Urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) (municipal services); 2 – WWTP which are included in the balance of industrial enterprises and which also treat urban wastewater; 3 – WWTP of industrial enterprises; 4 – WWTP in rural areas, except for WWTP of industrial enterprises; 5 – Storm water (surface) runoff treatment facilities; 3 4 6 – Other WWTP. Table 2. Point pollution loads in basins and sub-basins of the Nemunas RBD according to 2007-2008 data (having filled data gaps) Number of Annual wastewater BOD , TN, TP, Basin/sub-basin 7 dischargers volume, million m 3 t/year t/year t/year Žeimena 45 8.42 62.04 32.42 6.00 Šventoji 138 15.47 107.53 88.43 12.48 Neris Small Tributaries 210 77.91 465.42 738.83 56.12 Merkys 35 8.38 128.21 64.30 10.41 Nev ÷žis 177 23.06 145.23 229.45 19.64 Šešup ÷ 149 15.67 82.14 105.11 12.25 Dubysa 23 2.76 6.07 10.44 1.79 Jūra 91 5.05 32.84 60.20 12.79 Minija 63 6.10 60.91 50.78 6.39 Coastal Rivers 119 14.50 186.39 167.07 20.77 Nemunas Small 292 51.38 938.05 627.55 72.90 Tributaries Prieglius 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Curonian Lagoon 65 24.12 329.05 248.45 17.89 Baltic Sea 5 3.26 12.21 43.83 3.30 Total: 1 412 256.08 2556.1 2466.9 252.7 National legislation transposing the Directive: 1) Law No.