§ Mrs. MahonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he is proposing further designations of nitrate vulnerable zones in England; and if he will make a statement. [101592]
§ Mr. MullinFollowing a reference to the European Court of Justice, the Government have now widened their interpretation of the EU Nitrates Directive, beyond monitoring nitrate levels in drinking water sources, to include monitoring in non-drinking water freshwaters. It is expected that this extended testing will lead to the 281W designation of new Nitrate-vulnerable Zones, in which Action Programme measures will help to reduce nitrate levels in water. Nitrate levels in non-drinking surface waters are already being monitored by the Environment Agency and parallel work will be undertaken to establish nitrate levels in groundwater not used as a source of drinking water.
Technical assessment of the extended monitoring as a result of this change is already under way, and completion of the associated mapping of areas proposed for designation is expected next year. The Government will then publish a consultation paper, detailing their designation proposals, which will set out the exact number and location of the new Nitrate-vulnerable Zones. It is expected that, as with existing Nitrate-vulnerable Zones, the majority of any new designations will be in central and eastern England.