The Nutrient Action Programme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019 No. 81

SCHEDULES

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)