This Directive concerns the quality of shellfish waters and applies to those coastal and brackish waters designated by the Member States as needing protection or improvement in order to support shellfish (bivalve and gasteropod molluscs) life and growth and thus to contribute to the high quality of shellfish products directly edible by man.
The parameters applicable to the waters designated by the Member States are listed in the Annex.
1.Member States shall, for the designated waters, set values for the parameters listed in the Annex, in so far as values are given in column G or in column I. They shall comply with the comments contained in both columns.
2.Member States shall not set values less stringent than those given in column I of the Annex and shall endeavour to observe the values in column G, while taking into account the principle set out in Article 8.
3.For discharges of effluents falling within parameters ‘organohalogenated substances’ and ‘metals’, the emission standards laid down by the Member States pursuant to Council Directive 76/464/EEC of 4 May 1976 on pollution caused by certain dangerous substances discharged into the aquatic environment of the Community(1) shall be applied at the same time as the quality objectives and the other obligations arising from this Directive, in particular those relating to sampling.
1.Member States shall, initially within a two-year period following the notification of this Directive, designate shellfish waters.
2.Member States may subsequently make additional designations.
3.Member States may revise the designation of certain waters owing in particular to factors unforeseen at the time of designation, taking into account the principle set out in Article 8.
Member States shall establish programmes in order to reduce pollution and to ensure that designated waters conform, within six years following designation in accordance with Article 4, to both the values set by the Member States in accordance with Article 3 and the comments contained in columns G and I of the Annex.
1.For the purposes of implementing Article 5, the designated waters shall be deemed to conform to the provisions of this Directive if samples of such waters, taken at the minimum frequency specified in the Annex, at the same sampling point and over a period of 12 months, show that they conform to both the values set by the Member States in accordance with Article 3 and the comments contained in columns G and I of the Annex, as regards:
100 % of the samples for the parameters ‘organohalogenated substances’ and ‘metals’;
95 % of the samples for the parameters ‘salinity’ and ‘dissolved oxygen’;
75 % of the samples for the other parameters listed in the Annex.
If, in accordance with Article 7 (2), the sampling frequency for all the parameters in the Annex except ‘organohalogenated substances’ and ‘metals’ is lower than that indicated in the Annex, the abovementioned values and comments shall be complied with in the case of all the samples.
2.Instances in which the values set by Member States in accordance with Article 3 or the comments contained in columns G and I of the Annex are not respected shall not be taken into consideration in the calculation of the percentages provided for in paragraph 1 when it is the result of a disaster.
1.The competent authorities in the Member States shall carry out sampling operations, the minimum frequency of which is laid down in the Annex.
2.Where the competent authority records that the quality of designated waters is appreciably higher than that which would result from the application of the values set in accordance with Article 3 and the comments contained in columns G and I of the Annex, the frequency of the sampling may be reduced. Where there is no pollution and no risk of deterioration in the quality of the waters, the competent authority concerned may decide that no sampling is necessary.
3.If sampling shows that a value set in accordance with Article 3 or a comment contained in columns G or I of the Annex is not respected, the competent authority shall establish whether this is the result of chance, a natural phenomenon or pollution and shall adopt appropriate measures.
4.The exact sampling point, the distance from this point to the nearest point where pollutants are discharged and the depth at which the samples are to be taken shall be fixed by the competent authority of each Member State on the basis of local environmental conditions in particular.
5.The reference methods of analysis to be used for calculating the value of the parameters concerned are set out in the Annex. Laboratories which employ other methods shall ensure that the results obtained are equivalent or comparable to those specified in the Annex.
Implementation of the measures taken pursuant to this Directive may on no account lead, either directly or indirectly, to increased pollution of coastal and brackish waters.
Member States may at any time set more stringent values for designated waters than those laid down in this Directive. They may also lay down provisions relating to other parameters than those provided for in this Directive.
Where a Member State considers designating shellfish waters in the immediate vicinity of a frontier with another Member State, these States shall consult each other in order to determine the stretches of such waters to which this Directive might apply and the consequences to be drawn from the common quality objectives; these consequences shall be determined, after formal consultations, by each State concerned. The Commission may participate in these deliberations.
The Member States may derogate from this Directive in the event of exceptional weather or geographical conditions.
Such amendments as are necessary for adapting to technical and scientific progress the G values for the parameters and the methods of analysis contained in the Annex shall be adopted by the Committee set up by Article 13 of Directive 78/659/EEC in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 14 thereof.
For the purpose of applying this Directive, Member States shall provide the Commission with information concerning:
the waters designated in accordance with Article 4 (1) and (2), in summary form,
the revision of the designation of certain waters in accordance with Article 4 (3),
the provisions laid down in order to establish new parameters in accordance with Article 9.
Where a Member State applies the provisions of Article 11, it shall forthwith notify the Commission thereof, stating its reasons and the periods anticipated.
More generally, Member States shall provide the Commission, on a reasoned request from the latter, with any information necessary for the application of this Directive.
[F1At intervals of three years the Member States shall send information to the Commission on the implementation of this Directive, in the form of a sectoral report which shall also cover other pertinent Community Directives. This report shall be drawn up on the basis of a questionnaire or outline drafted by the Commission in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 6 of Directive 91/692/EEC (2) . The questionaire or outline shall be sent to the Member States six months before the start of the period covered by the report. The report shall be sent to the Commission within nine months of the end of the three-year period covered by it.
The first report shall cover the period from 1993 to 1995 inclusive.
The Commission shall publish a Community report on the implementation of the Directive within nine months of receiving the reports from the Member States.]
Textual Amendments
1.Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive within two years of its notification. They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
2.Member States shall communicate to the Commission the texts of the main provisions of national law which they adopt in the field governed by this Directive.
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.