House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee Implementation of the Nitrates Directive in England Seventh Report of Session 2007–08 Report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed 22 May 2008 HC 412 Published on 10 June 2008 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £0.00 Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and its associated bodies. Current membership Mr Michael Jack (Conservative, Fylde) (Chairman) Mr Geoffrey Cox (Conservative, Torridge & West Devon) Mr David Drew (Labour, Stroud) Mr James Gray (Conservative, North Wiltshire) Patrick Hall (Labour, Bedford) Lynne Jones (Labour, Birmingham, Selly Oak) David Lepper (Labour, Brighton Pavilion) Miss Anne McIntosh (Conservative, Vale of York) Mr Dan Rogerson (Liberal Democrat, North Cornwall) Sir Peter Soulsby (Labour, Leicester South) Dr Gavin Strang (Labour, Edinburgh East) David Taylor (Labour, North West Leicestershire) Paddy Tipping (Labour, Sherwood) Mr Roger Williams (Liberal Democrat, Brecon & Radnorshire) Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative, Shrewsbury & Atcham), was a Member of the Committee during this inquiry. Powers The Committee is one of the departmental select committees, the powers of which are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No. 152. These are available on the Internet via www.parliament.uk. Publications The reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the Internet at www.parliament.uk/efracom Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Chris Stanton (Clerk), Nerys Welfoot (Second Clerk), Sarah Coe (Committee Specialist—Environment), Marek Kubala and Joanna Dodd (Inquiry Managers), Andy Boyd and John-Paul Flaherty (Committee Assistants) and Mandy Sullivan (Secretary). Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 5774; the Committee’s e-mail address is: [email protected]. Media inquiries should be addressed to Laura Kibby on 020 7219 0718. Implementation of the Nitrates Directive in England 1 Contents Report Page Contents 1 Summary 3 1 Introduction 5 2 Background 7 The purpose of the Nitrates Directive 7 The terms of the Nitrates Directive 7 Nitrate Vulnerable Zones 7 Action Programmes 8 The initial implementation of the Nitrates Directive in England 9 The terms of the 1998 Action Programme 10 European Commission legal action 10 Trends in nitrate levels in surface and ground waters 12 3 Defra’s proposals 15 Defra’s consultation and the implementation timetable 15 The extent of NVZ coverage 15 The proposed new Action Programme 18 Limiting the amount of nitrogen applied to the land 18 Controlling where and how nitrogen is applied 20 Cover crops 21 Controlling when nitrogen is applied 23 Provisions for the storage of livestock manure 25 Anaerobic digestion 27 Financial support and advice 29 Record keeping 30 4 Conclusion 32 Conclusions and recommendations 33 Formal Minutes 37 Witnesses 38 List of written evidence 38 List of Reports from the Committee during the current Parliament 39 Implementation of the Nitrates Directive in England 3 Summary The implementation of the Nitrates Directive in England might appear to be a technical and specialist subject, but its importance to the 195,500 farmers who could be affected, and its wider significance in terms of the water quality that we all enjoy, are considerable. The Directive was adopted in 1991 to reduce water pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources. It requires member states to designate as Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) areas of land that drain into polluted waters and to set up Action Programme in these zones. The European Commission is still not satisfied with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ (Defra’s) implementation of the Directive. The Directive is flawed. Unlike more recent legislation, such as the Water Framework Directive, it imposes prescriptive rules to achieve its aim. Moreover, the scientific basis for some of the figures mentioned in the Directive is at best unclear. However, despite its shortcomings, it appears to be here to stay and Defra must convince the Commission that it is complying with the Directive’s terms, especially as other member states have managed to do so. In the summer of 2007, Defra launched a consultation on the Nitrates Directive and proposed a number of changes. We conclude that there is insufficient evidence to asses how effective the current Action Programme in England has been in reducing nitrate pollution. However, in the light of the Commission’s legal action against Defra, we agree that changes need to be made to bring England into compliance with the Directive. Some of Defra’s proposals are welcome and sensible. Others, such as those relating to the storage of manure, need further refinement. The proposal to require farmers to sow cover crops on land that would otherwise be left bare over winter should be dropped from the Action Programme altogether. Cover crops are not required under the Directive, would have a negative impact on biodiversity, and are not suitable for all soil types. The proposed new Action Programme will place a considerable financial burden on livestock and dairy farmers at a time when they are ill-equipped to meet these costs. The Report recommends that Defra should make representations to the Treasury on the need for support in the form of tax relief for the construction of slurry storage facilities. Implementation of the Nitrates Directive in England 5 1 Introduction 1. In a Westminster Hall debate on 8 January 2008, the Minister for the Environment, Mr Phil Woolas MP, told the House that he was receiving more letters on the Nitrates Directive than on any other matter in his portfolio “including international climate change”.1 The implementation of the Nitrates Directive in England might at first glance seem like a specialist subject, but its importance to the 195,500 farmers who could be affected, and its wider significance in terms of the water quality that we all enjoy, are considerable.2 2. With this in mind, the Committee decided to inquire into the changes proposed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in its consultation document of August 2007 on the Nitrates Directive. Defra’s proposed changes reflect the fact that the European Commission does not believe that the Directive was properly implemented in the first place. The proposals would have a significant impact on farmers in the affected zones, requiring them to alter practices for storing and spreading livestock manure and for applying chemical fertiliser. The financial outlay would be considerable. Against this there is the necessity of complying with the terms of the Directive and the understandable desire to keep nitrate levels in surface and ground waters to a safe level. Our terms of reference were framed to cover the key issues raised by Defra’s proposals. Terms of reference for the Committee’s inquiry a) Has Defra’s implementation of the 1991 Directive been adequate? b) How have levels of nitrate pollution changed since the Directive came into effect c) How effective has the current Action Programme been in reducing nitrate pollution? d) Defra says that the area designated as Nitrate Vulnerable Zones needs to increase from 55% to 70% of England: is it right? e) Whether the proposed Nitrates Action Programme measures should apply throughout the whole of England, rather than only on land designated as Nitrate Vulnerable Zones. f) What should be the timetable for introducing any changes in the way the Nitrates Directive is implemented? g) What are the costs and benefits of Defra’s individual key proposals for the revised Action Programme, namely: • Whole farm manure nitrogen loading limit • Closed period (organic manures) • Manure storage • Closed period (manufactured nitrogen fertilisers) • Crop nitrogen requirement limit • Spreading locations • Spreading techniques • Record keeping • Cover crops h) What advice and support farmers will need from Defra to implement a revised Action Programme. i) How can Defra encourage greater adoption of anaerobic digestion as a way of managing manure? j) How the proposed new Nitrates Action Programme is affecting those with existing Entry Level Stewardship agreements in existing Nitrate Vulnerable Zones. 3. On 18 December 2007, we issued an invitation to submit written evidence. We received submissions from 16 organisations and individuals, spanning both agricultural and 1 HC Deb, 8 January 2008, col 45WH 2 HC Deb, 17 December 2007, col 988W 6 Implementation of the Nitrates Directive in England environmental interests. There were some points of contention between the different submissions, but, interestingly, opinion was not always split along agricultural and environmental lines, and, on the key issues, it was usually possible to detect a majority view, if not a consensus. On 5 March 2008, we held an oral evidence session with the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) and the Minister at which we were able to explore in greater depth the