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Towards a Cleaner Marine Environment 5. Stricter environmental requirements and monitoringMuch has been done to improve the Danish marine environment over the last couple of decades. Large sums have been invested in modern sewage treatment plants, which means that the waste water from our urban areas is now effectively purified. The environmental requirements set on industry are significantly more stringent, e.g., in the form of stricter requirements on discharges and stricter controls, and the most dangerous substances are now totally banned. Other measures used in the struggle against undesirable substances are, e.g., taxes, ecolabels and voluntary agreements with industry on phasing out the use of substances harmful to the environment. With respect to agriculture, special efforts have been made to limit nitrogen leaching in an attempt to prevent the frequent occurrence of oxygen depletion. The Folketing (Danish Parliament) adopted Action Plan for the Aquatic Environment I in 1987. This plan was intended to limit nitrogen leaching to 50 percent before 1993. The target was not attained. The Folketing therefore adopted Action Plan for the Aquatic Environment II in 1998. Monitoring of the aquatic environment Continual monitoring of the marine environment is decisive in determining whether current environmental action is sufficient or whether new initiatives are necessary. The environmental authorities launched a very extensive national monitoring programme in 1988, focusing on nutrients in all parts of the aquatic environment (groundwater, watercourses, lakes and the sea). NOVA 2003 (Danish acronym for "National Programme for Monitoring of the Aquatic Environment"), was extended in 1998 to include heavy metals and substances harmful to the environment. The results obtained in 1999 show that, in exposed areas, the occurrence of individual substances that are harmful to the environment and continuing nitrogen leaching give reason for concern.
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