§ Mr. AingerTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will list those areas of the Welsh coastline that have been designated(a) less sensitive and (b) high natural dispersion areas under the urban waste water treatment directive, 91/27 I/EEC; and if he will make a statment; [25991]
(2) what criteria has been used to designate those areas of the Welsh coastline as less and high natural dispersion areas under the urban waste water treatment directive, 91/271/EEC; and if he will make a statement; [25993]
(3) what plans he has to reclassify the Severn and Afan estuaries as coastal waters under the urban waste water treatment directive, 91/271/EEC, and what practical effect reclassification will have on existing or future sewage discharges in these estuaries [25992]
§ Mr. Gwilym JonesI refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 18 May 1994 by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Environment and Countryside, columns511–12.
The criteria for identifying high natural dispersion areas—otherwise known as less sensitive areas—are set out in annex II B of the urban waste water treatment directive. A map showing all the areas identified in England and Wales as high natural dispersion areas was placed in the Library of the House. Maps defining, for the purposes of the directive, the outer limits of estuaries, including the Severn and Afan, are available for inspection at the National Rivers Authority's principal offices. The Government have no plans to redefine these limits.