Aquatic Environment 1999

6. Objectives and measures

Protection of the aquatic environment, especially the marine areas, requires a coordinated effort both nationally and internationally. Denmark participates actively in the international cooperation to protect groundwater and drinking water resources as well as inland and marine waters. Denmark has ratified a large number of binding agreements on protection of the aquatic environment at the regional, European and global levels - international agreements that form the foundation for Danish legislation and regulation of pollution and hence for protection of the Danish groundwater and surface waters.

This chapter presents the Government's overall political objectives and policy measures for the Danish aquatic environment. The Danish reduction targets for nutrients and hazardous substances etc. are outlined, and the central planning of Danish water body quality is examined.

6.1 Pure water

The quality and protection of the groundwater and the aquatic environment - both nationally and internationally - continues to be accorded high priority in the Government's work, as is apparent from the Government's Policy Statement of March 1998.

The Government's overall goal is to ensure that the water in Denmark is clean. The Government's endeavours in this respect are described in the Environmental Policy White Paper (Ministry of Environment and Energy, 1999). This states that the Government will work towards ensuring:

	that Danish watercourses, lakes and marine waters are clean and of a satisfactory quality as regards health and hygiene,
	that exploitation of the water bodies and associated resources takes place in a sustainable manner,
	that the groundwater resource remains unpolluted, and
	that groundwater abstraction and groundwater recharge balance.

In addition, the Government will fulfil the objectives of relevant international agreements, i.e. the objectives that aim to prevent and remove pollution of the aquatic environment in the long term, especially the objectives aiming at a progressive reduction of discharges and losses of pollutants to the aquatic environment.

The Government's objectives entail that only insignificant or minor anthropogenic changes in the state of the aquatic environment can be accepted. Unfortunately, though, some water bodies currently have an environmental state that does not live up to these objectives. In special situations and in particularly vulnerable areas, a poor or very low environmental state sometimes has to be accepted.

Groundwater

With regard to groundwater in Denmark, the Government's objectives entail:

	that groundwater has to comprise a safe and permanent source for the drinking water supply,
	that drinking water quality and the drinking water resource must not be deteriorated by pollution and water abstraction, and
	that the quality of groundwater swell has to be of such a quality as to ensure a good environmental state in watercourses and lakes.

Commercial and other types of groundwater exploitation thus have to be conducted in a manner that respects environmental and natural wealth and is sustainable. Further detail can be found in "Denmark's groundwater and drinking water" (Danish EPA, 1994) and in the Environmental Policy White Paper (Ministry of Environment and Energy, 1999).

Watercourses

With regard to Danish watercourses, the Government's overall objectives as stated among other places in the Watercourse Act (Ministry of the Environment, 1992) and the Environmental Policy White Paper (Ministry of Environment and Energy, 1999) entail:

	that water flow has to be adequate,
	that obstructions must not be present that hinder the dispersal of fish and macroinvertebrates,
	that the watercourses have to exhibit physical variation and have good oxygen conditions, and
	that the watercourses have to contain a varied and natural fauna and flora.

Commercial exploitation, i.e. fishery, navigation, drainage, etc. and recreational activities such as pleasure boat sailing, angling and bathing and other uses of watercourses have to be conducted in a manner that respects environmental and natural wealth and is sustainable - both in the watercourses themselves and on the adjacent land.

Lakes

With regard to Danish lakes, the Government's overall objectives as stated among other places in the Environmental Policy White Paper (Ministry of Environment and Energy, 1999) entail:

	that animal and plant communities have to be natural and in equilibrium, and
	that the water has to be clear and submerged macrophytes have to be present in the shallow parts of the lakes.

Commercial exploitation, recreational activities and other uses of the lakes also have to be conducted in a manner that respects environmental and natural wealth and is sustainable.

Marine waters

The Government's overall objectives for the environmental state of Danish marine waters are based among other things on the 1992 Helsinki Convention on Protection of the Marine Environment in the Baltic Sea Region, the 1992 Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR Convention) and the 1995 Declaration of the 4th International Conference on the Protection of the North Sea (Esbjerg Declaration) (Danish EPA, 1995). This means:

	that the fauna and flora may only be insignificantly or slightly affected by anthropogenic pollution and human activities,
	that nutrient levels have to be at a natural level, the clarity of the water has to be normal, unnatural blooms of toxic planktonic algae or pollution-dependent macroalgae must not occur, and oxygen deficiency may only occur in areas where this is natural, and
	that the levels of hazardous substances have to be at background levels in the case of naturally occurring substances and close to zero in the case of hazardous substances.

Commercial exploitation such as fishery, navigation, offshore industry, minerals extraction, marine dumping of seabed material, etc., and recreational activities such as pleasure boat sailing, angling and bathing, and other uses of the sea have to be conducted in a manner that respects environmental and natural wealth.

6.2 Nutrient reduction targets and measures

The primary means of achieving the objectives for both groundwater and surface waters is a reduction in nutrient discharges and emissions. This section briefly examines the strategic targets for preventing and combating nutrient pollution.

6.2.1 Strategic reduction targets for nutrients

Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment 1987

In the January 1987 Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment and the April 1987 Report on the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment, the reduction targets for nitrogen and phosphorus were 50% and 80%, respectively. This corresponds to a reduction in annual discharges and losses from a level of around 283,000 tonnes nitrogen and 9,120 tonnes phosphorus at the time the plan was adopted to a level of approx. 141,600 tonnes nitrogen and approx. 1,820 tonnes phosphorus. As agriculture, municipal wastewater treatment plants and separate industrial discharges are the main sources of nutrient pollution of the aquatic environment, only these three sources are included in the calculations of whether the reduction targets stipulated in the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment have been met, cf. Table 6.1.

Table 6.1
Sector-specific reduction targets for annual discharges etc. (in tonnes) of nitrogen and phosphorus to the aquatic environment (Ministry of the Environment, 1987 and Danish EPA, 1990). The reductions and target levels are described in detail below in the section on agriculture, municipal wastewater treatment plants and separate industrial discharges.

1) Encompasses the farmyard load i.e. does not include loss of phosphorus from fields. 2) See Section 6.2.2 for explanation.

Pollution of the sea is transboundary in nature and the countries in the North Sea and Baltic Sea regions have therefore adopted similar reduction targets:

	At the North Sea Conference in London in November 1987, the countries of the North Sea region excluding the United Kingdom adopted the goal of reducing nitrogen and phosphorus inputs to the sea by 50% over the period 1985-95 in areas where these could cause pollution. At the conferences in The Hague (1990) and Esbjerg (1995), these reduction targets were reiterated and the need to take action against wastewater discharges and losses from agriculture was specified.
	In June 1988, the Paris Commission adopted a 50% reduction target for nutrient inputs to marine waters susceptible to eutrophication and also adopted a programme to achieve the reductions. In 1992, it was decided to integrate the Oslo and Paris Conventions, both of which aimed to prevent marine pollution from dumping and land-based sources of pollution. The objective of the successor - the OSPAR Convention - is to protect the marine environment of the Northeast Atlantic region. In 1989, the reduction target was specified in relation to the specific sectors. As a follow-up on the 1988 decision, the 1998 OSPAR Ministerial Meeting adopted a strategy to combat eutrophication.
	At a ministerial meeting in February 1988, HELCOM adopted a declaration specifying a 50% reduction target for discharges of nutrients etc. over a 10-year period. In the Communiqué from the ministerial meeting in 1998, the ministers confirm that they have committed themselves to attaining the strategic goal from 1988 and to defining specific objectives that have to be achieved before the year 2005.

The sections that follow examine the measures that Denmark has decided to employ to achieve the reduction targets - both for the three sectors encompassed by the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment I (i.e. agriculture, industry and wastewater treatment plants) and for a number of other sectors for which specific reduction targets were not specified in the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment.

6.2.2 Sector-specific reduction targets

Specific reduction targets for the agricultural sector

Since agriculture is one of the main sources of pollution of the aquatic environment, Parliament has adopted goals for reducing nitrogen pollution from agricultural sources. Since the mid 1980s, a number of action plans and strategies have been adopted to regulate development of the agricultural sector and its impact on the aquatic environment:

	The NPo (Nitrogen, phosphorus and organic matter) Action Plan (1985),
	The Action Plan against Pollution of the Danish Aquatic Environment with Nutrients (Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment) (1987),
	The Action Plan for Sustainable Agriculture (1991),
	Parts of the Government's 10-Point Programme for Protection of the Groundwater and Drinking Water (1994),
	Follow-up on the Action Plan for Sustainable Agriculture (1996), and
	The Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment II (1998).

The reduction targets for nitrogen and phosphorus stipulated in the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment I are an approximate halving (49%) of nitrogen losses and the elimination of the phosphorus farmyard load. Nitrogen losses are to be reduced from around 260,000 tonnes to a level of approx. 133,000 tonnes per year, corresponding to a reduction in losses of 127,000 tonnes nitrogen per year, cf. Tables 6.1 and 6.2. The Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment I further stipulates the magnitude of the nitrogen and phosphorus reduction necessary to avoid unintended pollution of the aquatic environment. The reduction targets were to be attained by 1993 through the following measures:

	The agricultural sector has to establish sufficient capacity to store 9 months of manure production (6 months on certain farms) so that the manure can be stored until the crop growth season starts.
	The agricultural sector has to establish crop rotation and fertilization plans to ensure that the nitrogen content of the fertilizer is optimally exploited.
	Fields have to have green cover during the winter period so that nitrogen can also be taken up during the autumn.
	Manure has to be ploughed in or in some other way deployed into the soil within 12 hours.
	Limits on how much livestock manure may be applied to fields.

It soon became clear that it would not be possible to attain the reduction targets by 1993 (Ministry of Agriculture, 1991). The measures stipulated in the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment I were therefore tightened in 1991 in the Action Plan for Sustainable Agriculture. The reduction target was maintained but the time frame was extended to the year 2000. The measures were:

	Fertilization accounts so that fertilizer application can be documented.
	More stringent and fixed requirements on utilization of the N content of livestock manure.
	All farms must establish sufficient capacity to store 9 months of manure production (6 months for certain farms).
	Ban on the application of liquid manure between harvest time and February except on fields cultivated with winter rape or grass.

After the Action Plan for Sustainable Agriculture there have been a number of follow-up plans for reducing the impact of the agricultural sector on the aquatic environment, including the Government's 1994 10-Point Programme for Protection of the Groundwater and Drinking Water in Denmark. Among other things this entails the selection of areas of the country on which the water supply is to be chiefly based.

The need to further tighten the regulation of agricultural losses of nitrogen has become even more necessary because Denmark has to comply with the EU Nitrates Directive by the year 2003. The directive restricts the application of livestock manure to 170 kg N per hectare per year. In the case of some types of farm this is less than the levels currently permitted. Denmark has sought permission to derogate from the 170 kg N per hectare rule on cattle holdings so as to enable the application of up to 230 kg N per hectare per year on a small number of these holdings.

In February 1998, Parliament adopted several new instruments aimed at achieving the reduction targets stipulated in the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment I. As a supplement to the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment I, the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment II will reduce nitrogen leaching by a further approx. 37,000 tonnes N per year so as to enable the reduction target of 100,000 tonnes N per year to be achieved no later than the end of the year 2003. The following measures have been implemented under the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment II:

	Re-establishment of wetlands. This will help reduce nitrogen leaching to the aquatic environment due to their ability to convert nitrate to free nitrogen. Assuming that one hectare of wet meadow can remove an average of approx. 350 kg nitrate per year, the re-establishment of 16,000 hectares of wet meadow will reduce nitrogen leaching to inland and marine waters by about 5,600 tonnes N per year.
	Afforestation in Denmark. Among other things this is founded on the idea that in general, little nitrate is washed out of forest soils. Planting 20,000 hectares forest before the year 2002 is expected to reduce nitrogen leaching by around 1,100 tonnes N per year.
	Agri-environmental measures. Financial support to farmers willing to cultivate sensitive agricultural areas in a more environmentally sound manner, among other things by using less fertilizer or by completely refraining from cultivating the land. There has hitherto been very little interest in this scheme. Conversion of 90,000 hectares to the scheme is expected to reduce nitrogen leaching by 1,900 tonnes N per year.
	Improved fodder utilization. The agreement on which the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment II is based assumes that fodder utilization will be improved. Changes in feeding practice are expected to reduce nitrogen leaching by 2,400 tonnes N per year.
	Stricter harmony criteria. Implementation of stricter harmony criteria governing livestock density is expected to reduce nitrogen leaching by a further 300 tonnes N per year.
	Stricter requirements on utilization of the N content of livestock manure. It should be possible to get the crops to use even more of the nitrogen in livestock manure than is presently the case. This is expected to reduce nitrogen leaching by 10,600 tonnes N per year.
	Organic farming. Organic farming can help reduce total nitrogen leaching from the agricultural sector. If 170,000 hectares are converted to organic farming, nitrogen leaching will be reduced by 1,700 tonnes N per year.
	Catch crops on a further 6% of a farmer's land. Catch crops can take up nitrogen in the autumn. The additional acreage with catch crops is expected to reduce nitrogen leaching by 3,000 tonnes N per year.
	Nitrogen norm reduced by 10%. A new element in the regulation of the agricultural sector is that farmers may now only apply nitrogen in amounts corresponding to 90% of the economically optimal level. The reduced nitrogen norm is expected to reduce nitrogen leaching by 10,500 tonnes N per year.

The requirement for the 10% reduction in the nitrogen norm entered into force on 1 August 1998. The requirement for catch crops on a further 6% of each farmer's land entered into force in autumn 1998. The requirement for improved utilization of livestock manure is being implemented in two steps: 5% from 1 August 1999 and a further 5% from 1 August 2001.

The harmony criteria (number of LU/ha) have been tightened for cattle holdings as per 18 August 1998. The criteria for all livestock holdings will be further tightened in the year 2002 (1.4 LU/ha for pig holdings and 1.7 LU/ha for cattle holdings).

If the measures in the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment II are implemented as changes in agricultural practice, 20 years of nitrate policy (1985-2003) will result in a 100,000 tonnes N per year reduction in leaching from agricultural land. Moreover, nitrogen consumption in the form of commercial fertilizer will decrease from approx. 400,000 tonnes N per year in 1985 to approx. 200,000 tonnes N per year in 2003 (Iversen et al., 1998).

The measures and targets for reducing nitrogen pollution from agricultural sources are summarized in Table 6.2. In connection with the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment I it was estimated that nitrogen losses could be reduced by a total of 127,000 tonnes N per year by 1993. The reduction targets were approx. 100,000 tonnes N per year for the nitrogen load from fields and approx. 27,000 tonnes N per year for the farmyard load. In the Action Plan for Sustainable Agriculture it was estimated that by the year 2000, the measures stipulated in the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment I would only have reduced nitrogen losses by 50,000 tonnes N per year and that further measures were therefore needed to achieve the total reduction of 127,000 tonnes N per year. The existing measures and targets under the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment I and the Action Plan for Sustainable Agriculture were re-evaluated in 1998 in connection with the preparation of the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment II and it concluded that by the year 2003, the existing measures will reduce nitrogen losses by 89,900 tonnes N per year. Together with the expected reduction under the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment II, it was concluded that nitrogen losses would be reduced by 127,000 tonnes N per year by 2003. Not all the measures in the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment II will have taken full effect by 2003, however.

	1993	2000	2003
1. Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment I (1987):
I. Optimal utilization of livestock manure
A.  NPo Action Plan	55,000
B.  NPo Subsidy Act	5,000
C.  Further initiatives	10,000
II. Programme for improved utilization of fertilizer
A.  Systematic fertilization plans	15,000
B.  Improved application methods	5,000
C.  Winter green fields – catch crops and ploughing down of straw	20,000
D.  Winter green fields – further initiatives	8,000
III. Structural measures	9,000
Total	127,000	50,000
2. Action Plan for Sustainable Agricultural Development (1991):
Improved utilization of livestock manure		20,000-40,000
Reduction in commercial fertilizer consumption		8,000-15,000
Protection of groundwater in particularly vulnerable areas		1,000-2,000
Reduction in agricultural acreage		17,000-20,000
Structural development, other measures		15,000
Total		77,000	89,900
3. Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment II (1998):
Wetlands			5,600
Sensitive agricultural areas			1,900
Afforestation			1,100
Improved fodder utilization			2,400
Stricter harmony criteria			300
Stricter requirements on utilization of N content of manure			10,600
Organic farming			1,700
Catch crops on a further 6% of the land			3,000
10% reduction in N norm			10,500
Total			37,100
Total:	127,000	127,000	127,000

Table 6.2 is also an example of strategic environmental planning, i.e. the process whereby a target is set, measures are implemented, the effects are monitored and evaluated and supplementary measures are implemented if - as in the present case - the original target is not attained as expected.

Conversion to organic farming has hitherto been taking place faster than presumed in the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment II. Thus in 1998 and 1999, the area under organic farming increased by a net 90,000 hectares corresponding to just over 50% of the target of 170,000 hectares. With respect to the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment II's target for conversion of farmland to agri-environmental measures, more acreage needs to be converted. It is estimated that new agreements have been signed covering 21,000 hectares while agreements on 23,000 hectares are soon to run out. The total area of farmland encompassed by the agri-environmental measures scheme has thus decreased.

With regard to the establishment of wetlands under the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment II, a large number of project applications have been submitted during the first half of 1999. As of 1 October 1999, funds had been allocated to enable full implementation of 6 projects encompassing a total of 650 hectares and for pilot studies on a further 3,700 hectares. This corresponds to the average number of hectares that need to be converted to wetlands annually to reach the target of 16,000 hectares.

With regard to afforestation under the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment II, private afforestation, which accounts for the majority of the 20,000 hectares planned, is progressing according to plan. Expectations as to state afforestation are currently lessened.

The Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment II also encompasses so-called regional measures. These represent implementation of the recommendations of the Drinking Water Committee concerning the protection of groundwater resources considered particularly vulnerable to nitrate pollution.

Specific reduction targets for municipal wastewater treatment plants

In general, discharges from municipal wastewater treatment plants are regulated by the Environmental Protection Act, the Urban Wastewater Directive and derivative statutory orders and official guidelines.

Council Directive 91/271/EEC of 21 May 1991 concerning Urban Wastewater Treatment as amended by Commission Directive 98/15/EU of 27 February 1998 - commonly referred to as the Urban Wastewater Directive - is one of the most important legal documents in the EU legislation on the aquatic environment. The purpose of the directive is to protect the environment against the negative effects associated with the discharge of inadequately treated urban wastewater and discharges of biologically degradable industrial wastewater from enterprises within the food processing industry. The directive therefore requires that Denmark implement regulations on the collection and treatment of these forms of wastewater. According to the directive, wastewater discharges have to be subjected to a level of treatment appropriate to the environment at the place in question and the use to which the recipient water bodies in question are put. Denmark implemented the provisions of the directive in Danish legislation in 1994.

The Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment's reduction targets for municipal wastewater treatment plants were adjusted in 1990 on the basis of the results of the Nationwide Monitoring Programme (Danish EPA, 1990). In the case of nitrogen, annual discharges in treated wastewater are to be reduced from approx. 18,000 tonnes N to approx. 6,600 tonnes N. Phosphorus discharges are to be reduced from approx. 4,470 tonnes P to approx. 1,220 tonnes P. The reduction in nitrogen discharges from municipal wastewater treatment plants corresponds to all new or upgraded plants exceeding 5,000 PE and all existing plants exceeding 1,000 PE having to implement biological treatment with nitrogen removal down to an annual average of 8 mg N per litre. In 1987 this was considered as low as it is practically possible to reach with biological nitrogen removal. As regards phosphorus, municipal wastewater treatment plants exceeding 5,000 PE have to remove phosphorus down to an annual average of 1.5 mg phosphorus per litre.

The Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment's reduction targets for discharges from municipal wastewater treatment plants should originally have been met within three years, i.e. by 1 February 1990 at the latest. A number of plants were granted a deadline extension for technical reasons, however. The reduction target for nitrogen of 6,600 tonnes N per year was achieved in 1996, as was the reduction target for phosphorus of 1,200 tonnes P per year.

Specific reduction targets for separate industrial discharges

In general, separate industrial discharges are regulated by among other things the Environmental Protection Act and the EU Directive on Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC Directive) and derivative statutory orders and official guidelines.

The IPPC Directive aims at integrated prevention and control of pollution by major industrial companies. The directive specifically regulates the energy industry (power stations and refineries, etc.), production and processing of metals, the mineral industry, the chemical industry, waste management plus a number of other activities such as paper manufacturers, textiles pre-treatment and dyeing, slaughterhouses and dairies, as well as installations for intensive rearing of poultry and pigs exceeding a certain capacity. The IPPC Directive contains measures designed to prevent or, where that is not practicable, to reduce emissions to the air, water and land from the above-mentioned activities.

As with the reduction targets for municipal wastewater treatment plants, the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment's reduction targets for separate industrial discharges were revised on the basis of the results of the Nationwide Monitoring Programme (the forerunner of NOVA-2003). Back in 1986/87, industrial discharges of phosphorus were largely attributable to a few individual enterprises that had already planned treatment measures to reduce discharges to a total of 350 tonnes P per year. It was therefore considered that the implementation of the best available technique (BAT) could reduce industrial discharges of phosphorus to a level below the original target of 600 tonnes P per year. The original starting point was 3,400 tonnes P per year, but this has now been adjusted to 1,125 tonnes P per year. As the percentage reduction has remained unchanged, the new target is a total annual discharge of approx. 200 tonnes P per year.

Because of the large differences between the individual enterprises and their discharges of wastewater, the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment I did not stipulate general discharge requirements for industry as for the wastewater treatment plants. Industry was to reduce its discharges through the application of BAT understood as the level of treatment that is technically attainable and economically viable for the industry in question.

Discharges of nutrients via separate industrial discharges should originally have been reduced within three years as stipulated in the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment, i.e. by 1 February 1990 at the latest. The reduction targets for nitrogen (2,000 tonnes) and phosphorus (200 tonnes) were attained at the end of 1995.

Specific reduction targets for other sectors

The Action Plans on the Aquatic Environment focus on the major sources of nutrient pollution. A number of other sectors and types of source also contribute to pollution of the aquatic environment, including freshwater fish farms, mariculture, transport, combustion plants (heat and power production), sparsely built-up areas and stormwater outfalls. The plans did not specify specific reduction targets for these sectors and types of source but instead describes a number of other measures.

Freshwater fish farms

As regards freshwater fish farms, the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment presumed that a statutory order would be issued stipulating detailed guidelines for the design and operation of the farms. The statutory order was to ensure a satisfactory water quality in the associated watercourses and to considerably reduce nutrient loading. On 5 April 1989 the Ministry of Environment thus issued the Statutory Order on Freshwater Fish Farms. The statutory order provided for general regulation of the industry with guidelines for the county authorities to stipulate the maximal permitted feed consumption at the individual fish farms, minimum requirements as to treatment measures on the fish farms as well as minimum requirements as to utilization and quality of the fish feed.

Mariculture

As regards mariculture (seawater-based fish farming), a 1-year moratorium was placed on the establishment of new farms and the expansion of existing farms. The moratorium was raised in connection with issuance of Statutory Order No. 640 in 1990 on mariculture. This stipulated general regulations on feed quality and consumption as well as consumption of feed relative to production. In addition, upper limits were placed on nutrient discharges to the surrounding aquatic environment from each individual farm. However, in early 1996, the Danish EPA requested the Counties not to issue any permits for new sea-based or land-based mariculture farms or for extensions of existing farms. The Counties were simultaneously urged to assess whether environmental or operational benefits could be obtained by moving or merge the existing farms.

Emissions to the air

When the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment was adopted in 1987, the Danish EPA was instructed to prepare a report containing a specific reduction programme for power station NO_x emissions. This was done in continuation of earlier reports on limitation of NO_x emissions from power stations. In connection with the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment I in 1987 it was also decided to investigate the possibilities for promoting the use of catalytic converters through changes to the car taxation system.

Regulation of NO_x emissions in Denmark has concentrated on improved combustion technology and flue gas abatement at power stations (cf. Statutory Order No. 885 of 18 December 1991 on Limitation of Emissions of Sulphur Dioxide and Nitrogen Oxides from Power Stations), enhanced use of natural gas and renewable energy (cf., the Government's 1990 Energy Action Plan) as well as implementation of the requirement for catalytic converters on cars (cf. Ministry of Justice Statutory Order on Detailed Regulations for the Motor Vehicle Design and Equipment from 1990).

Under the EEC Convention on Transboundary Air Pollution, Denmark has entered into an international agreement to reduce emissions of NO_x by 30% over the period 1986-98. However, the measures needed to meet this goal are inadequate in Europe as regards acidification and eutrophication. In June 1999, the EU Commission therefore issued proposals for two directives on acidification and ozone formation at ground level (Proposal for a Directive on National Emission Limits for Certain Polluting Substances and Proposal for a Directive on the Ozone Content of the Air). These two directives stipulate national limits for emissions of NH₃ and NO_x, etc. In the case of Denmark, the proposed directives will limit ammonia (NH₃) emissions to 71,000 tonnes per year and nitrogen oxide (NO_x) emissions to 127,000 tonnes per year from 2010.

Sparsely built-up areas

In step with the reduction in discharges from wastewater treatment plants and industry over the past 10 years, the relative impact of sparsely built up areas (see Section 3.1.4) and stormwater outfalls (see Section 3.1.3) on watercourses and lakes has increased.

It can be assumed that the expected future improvements in the treatment of wastewater from sparsely built-up areas resulting from the initiatives in connection with the amendment of the Environmental Protection Act concerning wastewater treatment in rural areas (Ministry of Environment and Energy, 1997) will have a positive effect.

According to state instructions to the Counties concerning revision of the Regional Plans in 2001 (Ministry of Environment and Energy, 1998), the County will have to specify in the Regional Plan or an annex to it the areas in which the treatment of wastewater from properties in rural areas is to be improved. In consultation with the municipal authorities, the County Council has to stipulate quality objectives for the individual recipient waters in its Regional Plan. The County Council has to identify watercourses and lakes that are vulnerable to pollution and based on its knowledge of the environmental state and pollutional load on the individual recipient waters, has to assign each individual recipient a maximal environmentally permissible level of pollution.

The Danish EPA estimates that there are approx. 67,000 properties in rural areas nationwide that currently have individual discharges and which will have to improve wastewater disposal in the near future. The remaining properties can maintain the existing means of wastewater disposal without further improvement.

Stormwater outfalls

As mentioned above, stormwater outfalls are one of the contributory reasons for the failure of many watercourses and lakes to meet their quality objectives as stipulated in the Regional Plan. Knowledge of how best to regulate stormwater overflows is lacking, however. The Wastewater Committee under the Danish Engineering Association has established a working group to investigate how to draw up appropriate discharge requirements for stormwater overflows. The Danish EPA is participating in the Working Group's work, which is intended to result in proposals for guidelines that can be incorporated in official Danish EPA Guidelines. The Working Group is expected to complete its task at the end of 2001.

The overall objective of reducing pollution of the groundwater and surface waters by hazardous substances is to be attained through a progressive reduction in discharges and emissions.

An important breakthrough in the efforts to reduce pollution of the aquatic environment with hazardous substances came in 1995 at the North Sea Conference in Esbjerg. At the beginning of the 1990s it was acknowledged that measures need to be directed at a greater range of substances than had hitherto been in focus. The Esbjerg Declaration therefore reiterated the objective of reducing discharges, emissions and losses of hazardous substances by 50% but at the same time emphasized the application of the precautionary principle in order to ensure a sustainable, sound and healthy North Sea ecosystem. Part 17 of the Esbjerg Declaration (Danish EPA, 1995) expresses this as follows:

The Esbjerg Declaration concomitantly identifies the need for an overall strategy to implement this goal. By involving competent national and international authorities, the strategy should contain a number of more closely specified elements. OSPAR and the EU Commission are specifically invited to undertake the follow-up work.

At ministerial meetings in 1998, OSPAR and HELCOM adopted a corresponding objective and more specific strategies to follow up the initiative. The European Community and OSPAR are presently cooperating on concretizing prioritized endeavours against the substances that are of greatest significance as regards pollution of the marine environment. With the adoption of the UNEP's Global Action Plan for the Sea in Washington in 1995, the initiative has been taken for global regulation of the persistent organic pollutants (POPs).

The Danish objectives regarding prevention and control of pollution of the aquatic environment with hazardous substances, including pesticides, chemicals and oil pollution, are briefly described in the following three sections.

6.3.1 Strategy for reducing pesticide consumption

Action Plan for reducing consumption of pesticides

The purpose of the 1986 Pesticide Action Plan was to reduce pesticide consumption in order:

	to protect human beings from the health risks and harmful effects associated with the use of pesticides – both users of the substances and the population in general – and in particular to protect the latter against the intake of pesticides in foods and drinking water, as well as
	to protect the environment - i.e. both harmless organisms and useful organisms among the flora and fauna in the terrestrial and aquatic environments.

The Pesticide Action Plan therefore stipulated that total consumption was to be reduced and consumption steered towards the use of less harmful pesticides.

Main objectives

One of the two main objectives of the Pesticide Action Plan was that total pesticide consumption should be halved by 1 January 1997. The halving of pesticide consumption was to encompass both 1) the amount of active substances and products sold, and 2) the spraying intensity expressed in terms of treatment frequency. The second main objective was to ensure a switch to the use of less harmful pesticides.

Status in 1997

The Danish EPA published a status report on the Pesticide Action Plan in 1997. The conclusions were:

	that the action plan objective of tightening the approval procedure has been achieved,
	that total sales of active substances have been falling steadily throughout the whole period encompassed by the action plan and as of 1997 have been reduced by approx. 36% relative to the reference period 1981-85. The agricultural sector accounts for 90% of the total consumption of active substances. The reduction achieved in the agricultural sector is approx. 40%. Part of the reduction is due to the fact that the area of agricultural land under crop rotation has decreased by approx. 11% while some of the remainder is due to increasing use of more high-potency products,
	that the treatment frequency within the agricultural sector has not decreased as expected in the action plan, cf. Figure 3.12. The total application frequency is largely unchanged relative to the reference period. The average crop-specific treatment frequency has fallen by 15-20% in recent years, but this is counterbalanced by an increase in the acreage of crops that are sprayed frequently. The decrease in the crop-specific treatment frequency is largely attributable to a marked fall in the application of fungicides,
	that the impact factor (consumption weighted by the substance's toxicity) has decreased markedly as regards acute and chronic toxicity towards mammals. The impact factors for acute toxicity to birds and crustaceans have also fallen, while that for fish is unchanged. Sales of pesticides suspected of being carcinogenic lie at the same level as during the reference period,
	that the use of pesticides entails pollution of the environment and that pesticides can be detected in the groundwater, surface waters and precipitation. Set-aside has resulted in a reduction in the environmental impact of pesticides.

Bichel Committee

Prompted by the detection of a number of pesticides in the groundwater, Parliament adopted Motion D105 of 15 May 1997 urging the Government to establish an independent committee to assess the overall consequences of a phase-out of agricultural use of pesticides. The committee, named the Bichel Committee after the Chairman, was established in autumn 1997 and submitted its report in March 1999.

Follow-up on the Bichel Committee

On the basis of the Bichel report a parliamentary discussion of the Committee's work was held on 20 May 1999. This resulted in the adoption of Resolution V88 of 21 May 1999 urging the Minister for Environment and Energy to submit a proposal at the beginning of the next parliamentary year implementing the Bichel Committee's work or part thereof, including proposals for a new pesticide action plan.

The Pesticide Action Plan II is currently being drawn up. The Bichel Committee has recommended the following three-pronged strategy to reduce pesticide consumption:
1. A general reduction in the use of pesticides.
2. Protection of certain areas.
3. Enhanced conversion to organic farming.

The Bichel Committee also recommends establishing pesticide-free border zones alongside watercourses for which a quality objective has been set, and around lakes exceeding 100 m² in area. To the extent that the border zones are established in connection with set-aside they will be both pesticide-free and fertilizer-free, which will further enhance the positive effect on the environment.

In December 1996, the Danish EPA submitted the Discussion Paper "Chemicals - Status and Perspectives" for hearing and in May 1997, the Minister for Environment and Energy submitted a report to Parliament on coming initiatives in the chemicals area. In addition, the Government's March 1998 Policy Statement highlighted the necessity to enhance efforts to deal with the problems posed by hazardous chemicals. It was emphasized that both control measures and regulations need to be tightened.

Government strategy for intensified action in Denmark, the EU and globally

In January 1999, as a follow-up on its Policy Statement, the Government published a strategy for intensified action in the chemicals area in Denmark, the EU and globally. The background for this three-tier subdivision of the strategy is that the chemical problem is dealt with and regulated at these three levels, and that Denmark therefore has to assess at what level it will be possible and relevant to attempt to influence the decision-making process.

Overall strategy objectives

The overall objectives of the strategy are to limit the consumption of hazardous chemicals to the greatest extent possible and to ensure that the production, use and disposal of chemical substances do not cause unacceptable effects on man and the environment. The strategy therefore argues that more specific objectives should be specified for the efforts in the chemicals area. Moreover, efforts should be made to ensure that special consideration is shown to children and other vulnerable groups such as expectant mothers, allergy sufferers and the chronically ill, as well as to particularly vulnerable ecosystems. The efforts should be graduated according to how hazardous the chemical substances are. Greatest attention should be paid to substances that are persistent or highly bioaccumulable, i.e. can accumulate in the environment, as well as to substances that cause irreparable damage (carcinogenic and mutagenic effects, reproductive damage, hormonal disturbances, etc.). With other substances the action taken will depend on a specific assessment of the substance's toxcicity, its uses and dispersal in the environment.

Strengthened efforts at the national level

At the national level, there are plans to tighten the regulations requiring producers and importers to submit information documenting the risks associated with the use of a product.

One of the Annexes to the 1996 Discussion Paper "Chemicals - Status and Perspectives" was a blacklist of approx. 100 undesirable substances or groups of substances. The list does not represent a ban but rather a signal to companies and product developers indicating substances whose use should be limited. The Danish EPA published the final list in 1998 and in this connection also identified 26 of the substances or groups of substances selected for special attention. Since the information on chemicals classification and registered consumption in the Chemical Products Register has probably changed, a proposal for a revised list of undesirable substances is currently being drawn up.

On the basis of new computer calculations of the hazard posed by 165,000 chemical substances, the Danish EPA also plans to publish an official Danish EPA Guideline on the classification of chemical substances that do not have an official EU classification, i.e. are not on the list of hazardous substances.

Special efforts are to be made to limit the use of the priority substances on the list of undesirable substances. Apart from bans, the means to regulate their use will encompass economic instruments, voluntary agreements, ecolabelling, environmental guidelines, etc.

In order to improve our knowledge about the use and dispersal of chemical substances in Danish society, the strategy proposes to extend the duty of companies to submit information to the Chemical Products Register so as to also encompass chemical substances used in consumer products. Control of the chemicals area is to be strengthened through information to the pertinent companies and effective control of compliance with the regulations. In addition, the strategy points out the need to strengthen the control activities. Finally, efforts are to be made to improve the provision of information on the chemicals area to the general public.

MTBE Action Plan

In 1998, the Danish EPA drew up an action plan for MTBE. MTBE is added to petrol in order to raise the octane rating as a replacement for lead, which was phased out at the end of the 1980s. At present no environmentally more sound alternatives to MTBE are available. The problem with MTBE is that it can rapidly disperse in the soil and groundwater from leaky petrol station installations. A central element in the action plan is stricter environmental regulations for petrol stations aimed at preventing spillage of petrol - and hence MTBE - or other oil products.

Efforts at the European level

As Danish chemicals legislation is largely based on EU directives, efforts will have to be made at the European level to introduce regulations placing clear responsibility on the producer/importer to ensure that a substance or product does not comprise any risk under normal use.

Assessment of the 100,000 substances that may currently be used on the European market is a comprehensive and extremely time- and resource-consuming task. In order to promote the process, Denmark will work towards an understanding and acknowledgement of the fact that particularly hazardous substances should not be used at all. Examples are substances with irreparable health effects or substances that are bioaccumulable and persistent. In addition, Denmark will work for greater use of group classifications based on computer model assessments in the work on classifying and labelling hazardous substances. Correspondingly, consideration will be given to how the work on risk assessment of existing substances can be simplified and rendered more pragmatic so as to be able to facilitate more rapid decisions on whether the use of a substance should be limited.

Efforts at the global level

Denmark will work actively to strengthen global efforts in the chemicals area in international decision-making fora with the participation of countries from all parts of the world, it being important that all countries contribute to the phase-out of the substances that are most harmful to health and the environment. Among other things, this encompasses phase-out of the use of ozone-depleting substances and the so-called persistent organic pollutants (POPs), the introduction of procedures committing the exporting industrial nations to inform the importing developing countries about the nature of the chemical substances being imported, and support for the Baltic countries to meet the reduction targets stipulated in the Helsinki Convention.

In the aid area, aid is to be given to facilitate the build-up of expertise among the authorities in the recipient countries so as to establish a foundation whereby they can draw up and enforce their own legislation in the chemicals area and comply with international conventions.

Since 1991, a ban has been in effect in Denmark on the sale of TBT-containing hull paints for use on boats shorter than 25 metres (cf. Statutory Order No. 1042 of 17 December 1997). In the International Maritime Organization (IMO) under the UN it has been agreed to adopt a convention in 2001 prohibiting the application of TBT-containing hull paints from 1 January 2003 and the presence of TBT-containing hull paints on ship hulls from 1 January 2008.

The Biocide Directive contains a special transitional scheme for antifouling agents. Until 2008, Member States will be able to permit the use of antifouling agents (e.g. TBT) irrespective of whether or not the active substances meet the conditions for inclusion on the directive's positive list. During the transitional period, Member States have to comply with IMO resolutions and recommendations.

6.3.3 Strategy for prevention and control of oil pollution

Effective efforts to counter oil pollution at sea need to encompass both preventative efforts at the national and international levels and specific measures to combat the oil pollution that occurs in the open sea and along the coasts.

The efforts to counter oil pollution are based on an overall assessment of all relevant elements such as national and international regulations, reception facilities for waste oil from ships, monitoring of whether ships comply with regulations in the Marine Environment Act, etc., and enforcement of regulations, including penal and compensation cases. In addition, there is a need for a contingency task force to combat oil pollution at sea and to clean up the oil that washes ashore.

Danish initiatives

Prompted by increasing awareness of oil pollution in Danish marine waters, the Government and Parliament have initiated a number of new initiatives aimed at ensuring that the Danish Oil Pollution Contingency Task Force remains satisfactory and on full par with that of our neighbouring countries. Among other things, the political and financial responsibility for the Danish Oil Pollution Contingency Task Force was transferred to the Ministry of Defence from 1 January 2000.

In addition, an intensified information campaign directed at ship traffic has been initiated concerning the delivery of waste oil to port reception facilities and concerning the duty to notify oil pollution incidents, etc. The objective has been to make sure that everyone is aware of oil pollution and that they notify such incidents to the relevant authorities.

Finally, the procedures for collection of evidence in connection with oil pollution in Danish marine waters will be tightened, and coordination between the various authorities will be strengthened.

In June 1998, in addition, a legislative working group was established to examine the possibilities for introducing administrative fines and to submit concrete proposals for legislation in the area. In its report, the working group recommends that the Marine Environment Act and Safety at Sea Act are amended to encompass the powers:

	to impose administrative fines for unlawful discharge of waste oil and for failing to or inadequately keeping oil, cargo and waste records, and
	to detain a ship as surety for the fine, legal costs and confiscation value until other surety is posted.

The report also proposes higher fines.

International initiatives

International preventative efforts are the most important step in the fight against oil pollution. Denmark therefore works actively in the international fora to strengthen preventative efforts against oil pollution.

International agreement has been reached on the implementation of a total ban on discharges of oil in the North Sea with effect from August 1999. A corresponding international complete ban on the discharge of oil from ships has been in effect in the Baltic Sea region since 1983. In July 1999, in addition, Denmark established an exclusive economic zone around the country and in May 1999, extended the Danish marine territory from 3 sea miles to 12 sea miles. With the new international regulations, the possibilities to prevent pollution and to implement sanctions against future oil polluters have been considerably improved.

Denmark has also worked actively to ensure adoption of regional regulations on obligatory delivery of waste oil at all ports in the Baltic Sea region. These regulations enter into force in mid 2000.

In addition, a proposal has been drawn up for an EU directive on port reception facilities that – upon the urging of Denmark and the other Baltic Sea nations – contains similar regulations on obligatory delivery of waste oil at all EU ports.

Discharges from offshore activities

The Esbjerg Declaration urged OSPAR to implement measures to considerably reduce discharges of PAHs, including those accompanying oil discharges from offshore activities. Denmark is working in OSPAR for a reduction in discharges of oil in production water so that the measured and expected growth in the amount of oil discharged to the sea from this source can be limited and preferably stopped.

The objective is to ensure that prior to being discharged into the sea, production water in the offshore industry is treated using the best available technique (BAT). To promote the use of BAT, efforts are being made to ensure a reduction in the current limit level of 40 mg oil per litre water.

6.4 Water body quality plans - now and in the future

Quality objectives for watercourses, lakes and the sea

A central aspect of Danish planning of water body quality is the setting of quality objectives for the individual water bodies. Quality objective systems have been in operation for watercourses, lakes and coastal waters since 1983. In principle, these are based on a three-tier system encompassing stringent quality objectives, basic quality objectives and eased quality objectives, as stipulated in the Danish EPA's Guidelines on Recipient Quality Planning. The basic quality objectives for watercourses and lakes are based on EU Directive 78/659/EEC on the Quality of Fresh Waters needing Protection or Improvement in order to Support Fish Life, while the basic quality objectives for coastal waters cover the requirements in EU Directive 79/923/EEC on Crustacean Waters.

Until 1989, the quality objectives were binding for the administration of cases under the Environmental Protection Act. Until the Act was amended in 1992, the quality plans for water bodies had to include quality objectives and state when the quality objectives and associated quality requirements were expected to be met. The official remarks accompanying the amendment state that it is only the formal requirements on planning that are rescinded while it is presumed that the county authorities will continue to undertake comprehensive charting and planning as preventative environmental measures, including ensuring the foundation for administration of the Environmental Protection Act according to the previously described principles.

The official guidelines for the Regional Plans still require the Counties to set objectives for the quality and use of water bodies, just as their Regional Plan has to be accompanied by a review of the assumptions on which it is based, including the presumed order in which the plan is to be implemented.

Quality objectives for groundwater

With regard to groundwater there are presently no corresponding regulations requiring the setting of quality objectives. Indirectly, though, the general objective applies that groundwater has to be of a quality that renders it suitable for the production of drinking water following the simple level of water treatment that is usual in Denmark.

Based on the Danish EPA's Guidelines No. 4, 1995, all the Danish Counties and Frederiksberg and Copenhagen Municipalities have identified areas of high, low and normal value for the drinking water supply. The Counties have thereby set objectives for the use of the groundwater resource, and hence indirectly also for the groundwater’s quality.

Identification of these areas provides the Counties with the possibility to impose restrictions on future land use within the framework of the Regional Plans. The subdivision into areas of different value as drinking water resources and the associated requirements on protection of the groundwater correspond to the quality objectives known from recipient waters such as watercourses. The objectives for - and protection of - the groundwater are to be described in greater detail on the basis of new geological surveys. This will enable very specific protection, for example of areas that are vulnerable to nitrate pollution.

With regard to drinking water, the quality criteria are stipulated in the 1998 EU Drinking Water Directive, which has to be implemented in Danish law no later than December 2001. The directive solely concerns drinking water (as opposed to groundwater), and stipulates quality criteria regarding the concentration of various substances and microorganisms.

Future water body planning

There has long been a general wish for a revision of the existing guidelines on water body planning. Technical/scientific development has improved the knowledge base for water body planning and the quality objective definitions that the Counties have drawn up on the basis of the guidelines are far from as operational and unambiguous as could be wished. They involve a considerable element of judgement and hence heterogeneity when the state of a given water body is assessed relative to the quality objective. It is therefore necessary to link a qualitative and operational description of the determining parameters to each quality objective in order to be able to indicate what anthropogenic impacts are acceptable.

In this connection, efforts will be made to develop an operational quality objective system in connection with the implementation of the coming EU Directive Establishing a Framework for Community Action in the Field of Water Policy (the Water Framework Directive).

The forthcoming Directive establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy

The overall purpose of the Water Framework Directive is to establish a framework for the protection of inland surface waters, transitional waters, coastal waters and groundwater which a) prevents further deterioration and protects and enhances the status of aquatic ecosystems and b) promotes sustainable water use based on long-term protection of available water resources. The directive thereby contributes to the provision of the sufficient supply of good quality surface water and groundwater to achieve the objectives in international agreements, including targets aimed at preventing and eliminating pollution of the marine environment, and to the progressive reduction of emissions of hazardous substances.

According to the Water Framework Directive, water bodies have to be managed at the river basin level within River Basin Districts encompassing one or more neighbouring river basins together with their associated groundwaters and coastal waters. Appropriate administrative arrangements have to be made, including the designation of appropriate competent authorities to coordinate and oversee the application of the directive's rules. For each River Basin District a comprehensive River Basin Management Plan has to be drawn up on the basis of an analysis of the characteristics of the River Basin District, a review of the impact of human activity on the status of the surface waters and groundwater and an economic analysis of water use within the River Basin District.

The directive requires the identification of all significant bodies of water which are presently or may in future be used for the abstraction of water intended for human consumption. In addition it requires that following treatment, the water has to meet the requirements of the Drinking Water Directive.

The Water Framework Directive also contains provisions on monitoring of the aquatic environment. The monitoring programmes have to ensure the establishment of a coherent and comprehensive overview of water status within each River Basin District as well as for the adjoining maritime areas.

Within each River Basin District the necessary measures have to be implemented to achieve the following environmental objectives:

	to prevent deterioration in the status of the surface waters and groundwater,
	to restore surface waters and bodies of groundwater with the aim of achieving good water status,
	to improve heavily modified and artificial water bodies with the aim of achieving good ecological potential and good surface water chemical status,
	to reverse any significant and sustained upward trend in the concentration of any pollutant in groundwater resulting from the impact of human activity in the direction of an insignificant level of anthropogenic pollution, and
	to comply with all standards and objectives relating to protected areas.

The preliminary general deadline of 16 years for achieving the environmental objectives can only be extended under special circumstances. Less stringent objectives can be established if the water body is severely affected by human activity and improvements in status are proven to be impossible or prohibitively expensive.

In order to achieve the environmental objectives, programmes of basic and (if necessary) supplementary measures have to be designed and implemented within the River Basin Management Plans.

The basic measures are compulsory and shall among other things ensure implementation of existing legislation of relevance to water policy. Among other things, pollutant emissions have to be reduced using a combined approach including emission controls based on best available techniques and the setting of environmental quality objectives or environmental quality standards. The basic measures also include implementation of the principle of full cost recovery, controls over the abstraction of fresh surface water and groundwater, a prohibition on the direct discharge into groundwater of certain pollutants, and a requirement for prior authorization of pollutant discharges and all activities having a potentially adverse impact upon the aquatic environment. Supplementary measures can be implemented if the basic measures alone cannot ensure achievement of the objectives.

It is expected that agreement on the Water Framework Directive will be reached between the European Council and the European Parliament during 2000 such that the directive can be adopted before the end of the year. Implementation of the directive in national legislation must take place within a period of three years thereafter.