§ Lord Gainfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
If the Department of the Environment's study into the costs of implementing the European Commission's proposed revision of the Bathing Water Directive has been completed.
§ The Minister of State, Department of the Environment (Viscount Ullswater)The consultant's cost study commissioned by the department has now been completed. It shows the estimated costs of meeting 71WA the standards in the Commission's proposed revision of the Bathing Water Directive and a number of other possible outcomes of the forthcoming negotiations. Any such expenditure would be in addition to the estimated costs of implementing the existing Bathing Water and the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directives.
72WADiscussion of the Commission's proposal in the Community is still at the initial stages and the UK's cost study should help to inform future negotiations.
Copies of the cost study will be placed in the House Libraries.