§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the chairman of the National Rivers Authority Wales region and Welsh Water plc concerning the implementation in Wales of the EC municipal waste water treatment directive; when he expects to publish firm proposals on the definition of218W sensitive waters, treatment standards, dilution factors and other relevant criteria for compliance; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Gwilym JonesConsiderable progress has been made within the United Kingdom towards implementing the urban waste water treatment directive—UWWTD. A working group, whose membership includes representatives from the National Rivers Authority, the water companies and the relevant Government Departments, including the Welsh Office, is drawing up a national implementation programme to be established by the end of 1993. The directive's provisions have, wherever possible, been incorporated into the on-going investment programmes being undertaken by the water companies, including Dwr Cymru, to improve those sewage discharges adversely affecting EC identified bathing waters. Interim advice on applying UWWTD standards in consents to discharge to coastal and territorial waters has been issued by Government to the National Rivers Authority. The UWWTD requires member states to identify sensitive and less sensitive areas also by the end of next year: the Welsh Office, jointly with Department of the Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, issued a consultation paper last March about the criteria and procedures to be used to identify those areas, and the responses received are now being considered.