Programmes of Measures

1
Programmes of Measures Standards Co-ordination
Group Outcomes Workshop

• SERBD Advisory Council
• May 2008

2
POMS CG Workshop

• Technical POMS Studies
• Nine technical POMS studies,
• On-site Wastewater Treatment Systems
• Forest and Water
• Freshwater Morphology
• Municipal Industrial Regulation
• Dangerous Substances
• Marine Morphology
• Abstraction Pressures
• Groundwater Risk from Diffuse Mobile Organics
• Urban Pressures.

3
POMS CG Workshop

• Pro Forma
• Monitoring of water bodies e.g. criteria used
  in RAT for freshwater morphological impacts.
• Classification of water body status and
  establishing default objectives e.g.
  environmental standards for river flow to
  maintain sustainable abstractions, environmental
  quality standards for relevant substances.
• Setting objectives
• What are the risks to achieving the default
  objective by 2015?
• What will relevant basic measures contribute to
  objective?
• How should relevant basic measures be
  modified/optimised?
• With regard to new obligatory regulations/controls
  what is the required scope? What thresholds
  are needed?
• What types of additional supplementary measures
  are judged necessary for each pressure type to
  achieve the default objectives?
• What is the technical feasibility of putting
  technical solutions in place to meet default
  objectives by 2015? If not by 2015, when will
  achievement be feasible?
• What are the rough costs of putting the various
  technical solutions in place?
• What is the combined impact of all identified
  measures likely to be on achieving objectives?

4
POMS CG Workshop

• On-site Wastewater Treatment Systems
• Amend Building Regulations
• Implement targeted programme of inspection and
  enforcement
• (applying codes of practice and other
  legislation) for both existing and new systems,
• supported by risk mapping,
• registration system and certification by
  qualified assessors.
• Use the GIS risk mapping /decision support system
  to prioritise the locations to be targeted for
  work on inspections and maintenance and on
  assessment of new planning applications
• Prepare a register of OSWTS and apply a database
  and action tracking system, with quality
  controlled certification of septic tank system
  functionality
• Establish certified panel of experts for site
  investigation and certification of installed
  system
• Grants for system upgrades.

5
POMS CG Workshop

• Forest and Water
• Forestry Act requirement to replant should be
  altered
• Aerial Fertilisation regulations needs to be
  referenced into Forestry and Aerial Fertilisation
  Guidelines
• Updating acid sensitive areas map and boundary
  conditions
• Existing forestry- new Guidance for Harvesting of
  older forestry
• Coup felling size
• Timing of operations
• Establishment of buffer zones
• Guidance document for sensitive areas
• Suite of 38 measures to be used for existing
  forested catchments will form basis of new
  guidance document

6
POMS CG Workshop

• Freshwater Morphology
• Licensing/authorisation system necessary
• Morphology measures tool kit
• Enhancement schemes for channelisation
• Removal of barriers (identified by expert
  judgement)
• Enhancement schemes for over-grazing (identified
  by expert judgement)
• Voluntary initiatives wetlands projects
• Education campaigns

7
POMS CG Workshop

• Municipal Industrial Regulation
• UWWT Regs and WWTP licensing
• Regulations should be aligned with arrangements
  put in place to implement the requirements of the
  WFD
• i.e. monitoring requirements in the UWWD Regs
  should refer to water bodies at risk
• Management systems should be implemented and
  audited
• The use of decision tools to inform planners and
  regulators i.e. SIMCAT

8
POMS CG Workshop

• Dangerous Substances
• IPPC, PPP and Dangerous Substances Regs
  transposing EC leg
• New EQS
• License review
• National Dangerous Substances Awareness Campaign
  septic tank advise, support for environmentally
  friendly products, better labelling schemes
• Effluent characterisation to investigate the
  treatment of dangerous substances in WWTP
• Further investigations into leachate constitution
  and its treatment
• Further study on background levels is also
  required
• Continued Pesticide usage surveys better access
  to DAFF databases

9
POMS CG Workshop

• Marine Morphology
• Complex legislative framework recent transfers
  of responsibilities between government
  departments
• ICZM
• Good environmental practice guidance containing
  mitigation measures

10
POMS CG Workshop

• Abstraction Pressures
• SW
• Modern abstractions law - comprehensive
  abstraction register/planning structure
  (roles/responsibilities)/licensing
  program/thresholds for registration and
  licensing/thresholds for abstraction volume
• Plumbing code for water conservation
• Water charging?
• Water conservation - residential/commercial/indust
  rial/water re-use
• Reduce unaccounted for water loss (leaks)
• Rainwater harvesting
• Alter abstraction timing
• Conjunctive use of water resources
• New storage tanks/reservoirs
• Alternative sources (and infrastructure)
• Restrict development
• GW
• New legislation (e.g., Water Resources Act)

11
POMS CG Workshop

• Groundwater Risk from Diffuse Mobile Organics
• Registration/surveys/inventories local
  authorities, national institutions, industry,
  golf courses
• Reporting, auditing of sales and usage
• Use and disposal of pesticides within Source
  Protection Zones
• GW monitoring
• Mapping of cropping patterns
• Research
• Degradation rates in Irish soils
• Bypass flow
• Poorly productive aquifers

12
POMS CG Workshop

• Urban Pressures
• Soft Measures
• Change design codes design constraints, source
  protection zones, SUDS
• Enforcement (staffing)
• Complete qualitative status assessment
• Work is needed to document and quantify urban
  pollution, involving
• Monitoring (existing, new)
• Targeted studies (e.g., road runoff, SUDS, sewer
  exfiltration)
• Hard Measures
• Change infrastructure - rehabilitation/replacement
  needs are considerable
• Long-term (decades) implementation

13
POMS CG Workshop

• Other Supporting Studies
• High Status Sites
• Water Balance Model Flow Duration Curve Tool
• Setting Chemical Water Quality Standards
• Heavily Modified Water Bodies Artificial Water
  Bodies
• how does the study assist
• the technical work undertaken on pressures by the
  POMS studies
• monitoring / classification / objective-setting

14
POMS CG Workshop Outcomes

• Outcomes report - all POMS studies to populate
  pro forma
• This will feed into the Economics Study
• Presentations circulated
• Measures table - template structure and terms
  agreed and tables to be populated by all POMS
  studies
• Many of the studies are recommending follow-up
  actions as well as measures
• Risk assessment updates of Art 5 tests - table
  circulated, to be populated and decisions to be
  agreed at next POMS CG meeting
• A database needs to be populated to assist with
  the plan development