The Nutrient Action Programme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019

Regulation 8(2)(f)

SCHEDULE 4 N.I. Risk assessment for fertiliser application to steeply sloping land

[F1 PART 1] N.I.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in Sch. 4 inserted (Sch.4 renumbered as Sch. 4 Pt. 1) (15.10.2019) by The Nutrient Action Programme (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019 (S.R. 2019/183), regs. 1, 19(a)

1.  If an application of organic manure (including livestock manure) or chemical fertiliser to steeply sloping land is proposed, a risk assessment must be undertaken in addition to meeting all relevant requirements of these Regulations. The factors set out in Table 1 shall be considered in making this risk assessment. Table 2 shall be consulted to ascertain whether fertiliser application is permitted. N.I.

Table 1

Fertiliser application to steeply sloping ground – risk assessment factors

Factor	Risk	Liquid organic manures	Solid organic manures	[F2 Chemical fertiliser]
Distance from spreading area to waterway other than lake	High	less than 20 metres	less than 20 metres	less than 5 metres
	Medium	20 – 30 metres	20 – 30 metres	5 – 10 metres
	Low	greater than 30 metres	greater than 30 metres	greater than 10 metres
[F3 Distance from spreading area to lake	High	less than 30 metres	less than 30 metres	less than 10 metres
	Medium	30 – 40 metres	30 – 40 metres	10 – 15 metres
	Low	greater than 40 metres	greater than 40 metres	greater than 15 metres]
Level of fertiliser applied	High	more than 25m3/ha	more than 25 tonnes/ha	greater than 120 kg/N/ha
	Medium	15 – 25m3/ha	15 – 25 tonnes/ha	80 – 120 kg/N/ha
	Low	less than 15m3/ha	less than 15 tonnes/ha	less than 80 kg/N/ha
Soil conditions	High	very wet, compacted soil	very wet, compacted soil	very wet, compacted soil
	Medium	wet, poached soil	wet, poached soil	wet, poached soil
	Low	dry, firm trafficable soil	dry, firm trafficable soil	dry, firm trafficable soil
Forecast weather conditions for next 48 hours	High	heavy rainfall (more than 4 mm per hour)	heavy rainfall (more than 4 mm per hour)	heavy rainfall (more than 4 mm per hour)
	Medium	moderate rainfall (0.5 – 4 mm per hour)	moderate rainfall (0.5 – 4 mm per hour)	moderate rainfall (0.5 – 4 mm per hour)
	Low	low rainfall (less than 0.5 mm per hour)	low rainfall (less than 0.5 mm per hour)	low rainfall (less than 0.5mm per hour)
Arable land only – time to incorporation	High	more than 48 hours	more than 5 days	n/a
	Medium	12 – 48 hours	3 – 5 days	n/a
	Low	less than 12 hours	less than 3 days	n/a

Table 2

Risk assessment determination

Risk level	Number of factors applicable	Is the land application of fertiliser permitted
High Risk	One or more factors	No
Medium Risk	Two or more factors	No
	One factor	Yes
Low Risk	One or more factors	Yes

Textual Amendments

F2 Words in Sch. 4 substituted (15.10.2019) by The Nutrient Action Programme (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019 (S.R. 2019/183), regs. 1, 19(b)(i)

F3 Words in Sch. 4 substituted (15.10.2019) by The Nutrient Action Programme (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019 (S.R. 2019/183), regs. 1, 19(b)(ii)

[F4 PART 2 N.I. Risk assessment for fertiliser application to land other than steeply sloping land

Textual Amendments

F4 Sch. 4 Pt. 2 inserted (15.10.2019) by The Nutrient Action Programme (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019 (S.R. 2019/183), regs. 1, 19(c)

1.   If an application of organic manure (including livestock manure) or chemical fertiliser to sloping land is proposed, a risk assessment must be undertaken in addition to meeting all relevant requirements of these Regulations. The factors set out in Table 3 shall be considered in making this risk assessment. Table 4 shall be consulted to ascertain whether fertiliser application is permitted. N.I.

Table 3

Risk assessment for fertiliser application to land other than steeply sloping land

Factor	Risk Level	Organic Manures		Chemical Fertiliser
		Grassland	Other land	Grassland	Other land
Slope percentage incline	High	20% or more (See Part 1)	15% or more (See Part 1)	20% or more (See Part 1)	15% or more (See Part 1)
	Medium	10 to less than 20%	10 to less than 15%	10 to less than 20%	10 to less than 15%
	Low	Less than 10%	Less than 10%	Less than 10%	Less than 10%
Distance from spreading area to waterway other than lakes	High	Less than 10 metres (see Note 1)		Less than 2 metres
	Medium	10 to 20 metres (see Note 2)		2 to 5 metres
	Low	More than 20 metres		More than 5 metres
Distance from spreading area to lake	High	Less than 20 metres		Less than 10 metres
	Medium	20 to 30 metres		10 to 15 metres
	Low	More than 30 metres		More than 15 metres
Amount applied per hectare per application	High	More than 50m3 (liquid) or 50 tonnes (solid)		More than 150kg Nitrogen
	Medium	25 to 50m3 (liquid) or 25 to 50 tonnes (solid) (see Note 2)		120 to 150kg Nitrogen
	Low	Less than 25m3 (liquid) or 25 tonnes (solid)		Less than 120kg Nitrogen
Soil conditions at time of proposed slurry application	High	Very wet, compacted soil		Very wet, compacted soil
	Medium	Wet, poached soil		Wet, poached soil
	Low	Dry, firm trafficable soil		Dry, firm trafficable soil
Forecast weather conditions for next 48 hours	High	Heavy rainfall (more than 4mm per hour)		Heavy rainfall (more than 4mm per hour)
	Medium	Moderate rainfall (0.5 to 4mm per hour)		Moderate rainfall (0.5 to 4mm per hour)
	Low	Low rainfall (less than 0.5mm per hour)		Low rainfall (less than 0.5mm per hour)
Arable land only – time to incorporation		Liquid	Solid
	High	More than 48 hours (see Note 3)	More than 5 days	Not applicable
	Medium	12 to 48 hours	3 to 5 days	Not applicable
	Low	Less than 12 hours	less than 3 days	Not applicable

Note 1: If regulation 8(5)(f) applies, for risk level “high” substitute “medium”.

Note 2: During the month of February and the period of 30th September to 15th October each year the distances and quantity in regulation 8(9) apply: spreading must not be done within 15m of a waterway or 5m if regulation 8(5)(f) applies, 30m of a lake and the application rate must not exceed 30m³ or 30 tonnes per hectare.

Note 3: Where organic manure is applied to an established crop, incorporation is not required, for risk level “high” substitute “medium”.

Table 4

Risk Assessment Determination

Risk Level	Number of factors applicable	Is the land application of fertiliser permitted?
High	One or more factors	No
Medium	Three or more factors	No
	One or two factors	Yes
Low	One or more factors	Yes]