Amendment of regulation 24
In regulation 2 (interpretation)—
a
in paragraph (1)—
i
after the definition of “authorisation” insert—
“background level” means the concentration of a substance or the value of an indicator in a body of groundwater corresponding to no, or only very minor, anthropogenic alterations to undisturbed conditions;
“baseline level” means the average value measured at least during the reference years 2007 and 2008 on the basis of monitoring in accordance with a programme prepared under regulation 9 of The Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003;
ii
after the definition of “groundwater” insert—
“groundwater quality standard” means an environmental quality standard expressed as the concentration of a particular pollutant, group of pollutants or indicator of pollution in groundwater, which should not be exceeded in order to protect human health and the environment;
iii
after the definition of “river basin district and international river basin districts” insert—
“significant and sustained upward trend” means any statistically and environmentally significant increase of concentration of a pollutant, group of pollutants, or indicator of pollution in groundwater for which trend reversal is identified as being necessary in accordance with regulation 10;
iv
after the definition of “starting point” insert—
“threshold value” means a groundwater quality standard established under regulation 8;
b
delete paragraph 3.