The Nutrient Action Programme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019

These Regulations may be cited as the Nutrient Action Programme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019 and come into operation on 11th April 2019.

These Regulations shall apply to the whole territory of Northern Ireland as required under the Protection of Water Against Agricultural Nitrate Pollution Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004 M5.

The purpose of these Regulations is to give effect to Northern Ireland's Nutrient Action Programme for the protection of waters against pollution caused by agricultural sources. The measures in these Regulations provide a basic level of protection against possible adverse impact to waters arising from potential agricultural expansion.

The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 M6 applies to these Regulations as it applies to Act of the Assembly.

In these Regulations—

• “action programme” means measures regarding the protection of water against pollution caused by nutrients from agricultural sources as set out in these Regulations;

• “adequate effluent collection facilities” means effluent collection facilities that meet the requirements of regulation 17(4);

• “agricultural area” means any land suitable for agricultural activities, including any common land used for grazing and excludes area under farm roads, paths, buildings, woods, dense scrub, rivers, streams, ponds, lakes, sandpits, quarries, areas of peat cutting, bare rock, area of forestry and areas of fenced off or inaccessible other than forests where the use of the same is ancillary to the farming of land for other agricultural purposes;

• “agricultural land” has the same meaning as in the Agriculture Act (Northern Ireland) 1949 M7;

• “anaerobic digestate” means a stable, sanitised material resulting from the mesophilic and thermophilic biological decomposition and stabilisation of biodegradable waste carried out under controlled anaerobic conditions, and which can be applied to land for the benefit of agriculture or to improve the soil structure or nutrient in land;

• “anaerobic digestate fibre” means the solid material separated out of anaerobic digestate;

• “Appeals Commission” means the Water Appeals Commission for Northern Ireland as constituted in accordance with Article 292 of the Water and Sewage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 M8;

• “appropriate person” means—

  1. a

     the controller;

  2. b

     any person, whether or not permitted by the controller to carry out any activity described in these Regulations;

  3. c

     the owner of any storage facilities for storage of livestock manure, silage and silage effluent; and

  4. d

     any person using such storage facilities for storage of livestock manure, silage and silage effluent;

• “authorised person” means a person authorised by the Department in accordance with Article 72 of the Order;

• “available nitrogen” means forms of nitrogen that can be taken up by a crop immediately or within a short period;

• “available phosphorus” means forms of phosphorus that can be taken up by a crop immediately or within a short period, the proportion of which contained in fertilisers is set out in Table 3 of Schedule 3;

• “chemical fertiliser” means any fertiliser in which the declared plant nutrients are in the form of minerals obtained by extraction or by physical or chemical industrial processes;

• “chemical nitrogen fertiliser” means any fertiliser containing one or more nitrogen compounds which is manufactured or blended by an industrial process;

• “chemical phosphorus fertiliser” means any fertiliser containing one or more phosphorus compounds which is manufactured or blended by an industrial process;

• “Code of Good Agricultural Practice” means the “Code of Good Agricultural Practice for the Prevention of Pollution of Water, Air and Soil” published by the Department (as may be amended from time to time);

• “construct” includes install;

• “controller” means in relation to a holding, the person charged with management of the holding for the calendar year in question and will be taken to be the person claiming direct agricultural aid payments for the agricultural area or, where direct agricultural aid payments are not being claimed, the person who enjoys the decision making power, benefits and financial risks in relation to the agricultural activity carried out on the land;

• “crop requirement” means the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and other plant nutrients in fertiliser which is reasonable to apply to land in any year for the purpose of promoting the growth of the crop having regard to the foreseeable nutrient supply to the crop from the soil and from other sources, including any previous applications of livestock and other organic manure and any chemical fertilisers estimated as described in the fertiliser technical standards and, with regard to nitrogen, regulations 9, 10, 11 and 12;

• “Department” means the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs;

• F1“derogated holding” means a grassland holding for which a derogation has been granted;

• “derogation” means a derogation from the limit of livestock manure that can be applied to land each year, granted by the Department in accordance with regulation 39;

• “derogation application” means an application for derogation submitted by the controller to the Department in such manner as it may require;

• “direct agricultural aid payments” means the Basic Payment Scheme as referred to in Title III of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 M9 or payments to areas facing natural or other specific constraints as referred to in Article 31 of Regulation EU No 1305/2013 M10;

• “dirty water” means water contaminated by organic manure, urine, effluent, milk and cleaning materials with a Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) no greater than 2000 mg/litre and total nitrogen and dry mater contents no greater than set out in Table 2 of Schedule 2;

• “environment” means any or all of the following media, namely the air, water and land;

• “farmyard manure” means a mixture of bedding material and animal excreta in solid form arising from the housing of cattle, sheep and other livestock, excluding poultry manure, but including spent mushroom compost and the stackable solids fraction from mechanical separation of slurry excluding pig slurry;

• “fertilisation plan” means a plan prepared in accordance with regulation 16;

• “fertiliser” means any substance containing plant nutrients utilised on land to enhance growth of vegetation and may include livestock manure, the residues from fish farms and sewage sludge;

• “fertiliser technical standards” means—

  1. a

     the “AHDB Nutrient Management Guide (RB209) January 2019” (as may from time to time be reissued) and any supplementary guidance;

  2. b

     with regards to phosphorus recommendations for grassland, Tables 1 and 2 of Schedule 3; and

  3. c

     any other publication by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs or the Department substituting any of the standards referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b);

• “forage crop” means any crop grown as food for animals;

• “grassland” means any land on which the vegetation consists predominately of grass species;

• “grassland holding” means a holding where 80% or more of the agricultural area available for manure application is cultivated with grass;

• “grazing livestock” means cattle (with the exclusion of veal calves), sheep, deer, goats and horses;

• “heavy rain” means more than 4 mm of rain per hour;

• “holding” in relation to a controller means all the agricultural area managed by that controller;

• “lake” means a body of standing inland surface water;

• “land application” means the addition of materials to agricultural land whether by spreading on the surface of the land, injection into the land, placing below the surface of the land or mixing with the surface layers of the land but does not include the direct deposition of manure onto land by animals;

• “livestock” means any animal kept for use or profit;

• “livestock enterprise” means any enterprise where livestock are kept;

• “livestock manure” means waste products excreted by livestock, or a mixture of litter and waste products excreted by livestock, even in processed form;

• “livestock unit of cattle” has the meaning given in Schedule 1;

• F1“low emission slurry spreading equipment” means equipment which is used to spread slurry by bandspreading, dribble bar, trailing hose, trailing shoe, soil incorporation or soil injection methods;

• “midden” means a storage facility with an impermeable base for solid, stackable organic manure;

• “nitrogen compound” means any nitrogen-containing substance except for gaseous molecular nitrogen;

• “nitrogen fertiliser” means any substance, including chemical fertiliser, containing one or more nitrogen compounds utilised on land to enhance growth of vegetation;

• “notice” means notice in writing;

• “the Order” means the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 M11;

• “organic manure” means—

  1. a

     livestock manure; and

  2. b

     fertiliser, not being livestock manure or chemical fertiliser, derived from organic matter, and includes anaerobic digestate, sewage sludge, residues from fish farms and other organic wastes;

• “phosphorus fertiliser” means any substance, including chemical fertiliser, containing one or more phosphorus compounds utilised on land to enhance growth of vegetation;

• “pig enterprise” means any enterprise with more than 10 breeding sow places or 150 finishing pig places;

• “poultry enterprise” means any enterprise with more than 500 places;

• “poultry litter” means a mixture of bedding material and poultry manure arising from the housing of poultry and with a dry matter content not less than 55%;

• “public” means such persons as appear to the Department—

  1. a

     to be representative of those carrying on any business which—

     1. i

        is, or is likely to be, directly affected by the action programme; or

     2. ii

        relies upon the water environment; or

  2. b

     to have an interest in the protection of the water environment;

• “reception pit” means a pit used for the collection of slurry before it is transferred into a slurry storage tank or for the collection of slurry discharged from such a tank;

• “scientific case” means a reasoned case, as set out in guidance issued by the Department, designed to demonstrate that the proposed deviation from the values set out in Tables 1a to 1c or 2 of Schedule 2 will have no worse effect on the environment than that caused by using those values;

• “silage” means any forage crop which is being, or has been, conserved by fermentation or preservation (including the use of additives), or both;

• “silage effluent” means—

  1. a

     effluent produced from any forage crop which is being made, or has been made, into silage; or

  2. b

     a mixture consisting wholly of or containing such effluent, rain or water coming from a silo, silage effluent collection system or drain;

• “silo” means any structure used for making or storing silage;

• “slurry” means—

  1. a

     excreta produced by livestock whilst in a yard or building;

  2. b

     a mixture of such excreta with bedding, rainwater, seepage, washings or any other extraneous material from a building or yard used by livestock or in which livestock manure is stored; or

  3. c

     any other organic manure or any combination of these, of a consistency that allows it to be pumped or discharged by gravity at any stage in the handling process and includes dirty water that is stored with slurry or mixed with slurry;

• “slurry contractor” means a person who, in the course of a business, spreads slurry on an agricultural area and who is not claiming direct agricultural payments on that agricultural area;

• “slurry storage system” means—

  1. a

     a slurry storage tank;

  2. b

     any reception pit and any effluent tank used in connection with the slurry tank; and

  3. c

     any channels and pipes used in connection with the slurry storage tank, any reception pit or any effluent tank;

• “slurry storage tank” includes a lagoon, pit (other than a reception pit) or tower used for the storage of slurry;

• “soil phosphorus index” means the index number (0 to 4) assigned to the soil in accordance with Schedule 5 to indicate the amount of phosphorus available from the soil to the crop;

• “steeply sloping land” means land which has an average incline of 20% or more in the case of grassland or 15% or more in the case of other land;

• “total nitrogen” means the sum of all nitrogen forms including nitrate, ammonia and organic nitrogen;

• “underground strata” has the same meaning as in Article 2(2) of the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 M12;

• “Waste Regulations” means the Waste Management Licensing Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 M13;

• “water pollution” means the discharge, directly or indirectly, of nitrogen or phosphorus compounds from agricultural sources into the aquatic environment, the results of which are such to cause hazards to human health, harm to living resources and to aquatic ecosystems, damage to amenities or interference with other legitimate uses of water;

• “waterlogged” means soil where water appears on the surface of the land when pressure is added ; and

• “waterway” has the same meaning as in Article 2(2) of the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999.

A requirement in these Regulations for a silo or slurry storage tank to conform to a British Standard (in whole or in part) is satisfied if the silo tank conforms to a standard or specification that provides an equivalent level of protection and performance and is recognised for use in a Member State, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Turkey.

The Department shall record all exemptions under this regulation.

The land application of chemical nitrogen fertiliser and chemical phosphorus fertiliser to grassland shall not be permitted from 15th September in any year to 31st January of the following year.

The land application of chemical fertiliser to any land shall not be permitted from 15th September in any year to 31st January of the following year for crops other than grass unless there is a demonstrable crop requirement between those dates.

The land application of organic manure, excluding farmyard manure and dirty water, to any land shall not be permitted from 15th October in any year to 31st January of the following year.

The land application of farmyard manure to any land shall not be permitted from 31st October in any year to 31st January of the following year.

The land application of fertiliser shall be done in an accurate and uniform manner and in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (13).

The land application of fertiliser shall not be permitted on any land in a location or manner which would make it likely that the fertiliser will directly enter a waterway or water contained in any underground strata.

Subject to paragraph (6), the land application of chemical fertiliser shall not be permitted within 2 metres of any waterway.

The maximum land application of solid organic manure shall be 50 tonnes per hectare at any one time provided this does not exceed the limits set out in regulation 9(1) and a period of at least 3 weeks shall be left between such land applications.

Subject to paragraph (9), the maximum land application of slurry shall be 50 cubic metres per hectare at any one time provided this does not exceed the limits set out in regulation 9(1) and a period of at least 3 weeks shall be left between such land applications.

The maximum land application of dirty water shall be 50 cubic metres per hectare at any one time and a period of at least 2 weeks shall be left between such land applications.

The land application of dirty water shall be permitted only by spreading close to the ground using inverted splash plate spreading, bandspreading, dribble bar, trailing hose, trailing shoe, soil injection, soil incorporation or irrigation methods.

From 1st February 2020, the land application of anaerobic digestate shall be permitted only by spreading close to the ground using bandspreading, dribble bar, trailing hose, trailing shoe, soil incorporation or soil injection methods.

F7Except where regulation 39 applies, the amount of total nitrogen in livestock manure and anaerobic digestate containing digested livestock manure applied to the agricultural area of a holding, both by land application and by the animals themselves, shall not exceed 170 kg of nitrogen per hectare per year when calculated in accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3).

The total nitrogen from livestock manure from animals kept on the holding is calculated in accordance with Table 1 of Schedule 2.

The total nitrogen from imported livestock manure and other fertilisers is calculated in accordance with Table 2 of Schedule 2.

The amount of nitrogen available to a crop from organic manure or chemical fertiliser, in the year of application of that fertiliser, is the percentage specified in Table 3 of Schedule 2.

Any controller wishing to deviate from the values set out in Tables 1 or 2 of Schedule 2 must present a scientific case in order to obtain prior approval from the Department, and the Department shall grant such approval only where it is satisfied that a scientific case has been established.

A controller may appeal the decision by the Department in paragraph (5) in accordance with the procedure set out in regulation 31.

For each holding, the total amount of available nitrogen in organic manure and chemical fertiliser applied to land other than grassland or land under cultivation for the crops set out in Table 5 of Schedule 2 both by land application and by the animals themselves each year shall not exceed the recommendations contained in the fertiliser technical standards for crop requirement for nitrogen when calculated in accordance with regulation 9.

For each holding, the total amount of available nitrogen in organic manure and chemical fertiliser applied to land under cultivation for crops set out in Table 5 of Schedule 2 both by land application and by the animals themselves each year shall be applied in accordance with the recommendations contained in the fertiliser technical standards for crop requirements for nitrogen when calculated in accordance with regulation 9 and shall in no case exceed the limits set out in Table 5 of Schedule 2, adjusted in accordance with the notes to the table.

The controller shall not apply or permit the application of anaerobic digestate to the land unless he has in his possession the nutrient content analysis, containing the percentages of those substances listed in paragraph (5).

Where the controller applies anaerobic digestate to the land that application shall not exceed the recommendations contained in the fertiliser technical standards for crop requirements for phosphorus taking into consideration soil phosphorus index, the recommended soil phosphorus index for the crop and the supply of phosphorus available from the application of livestock manure and other fertilisers.

Where anaerobic digestate is applied, the controller must prepare and retain a fertilisation plan.

This regulation applies from 1st January 2020.

The controller of a holding shall ensure that the total amount of available phosphorus in chemical phosphorus fertiliser applied each year to grassland and to land other than grassland shall not exceed the recommendations contained in the fertiliser technical standards for crop requirement for phosphorus taking into consideration soil phosphorus index, the recommended soil phosphorus index for the crop and the supply of phosphorus available from the application of organic manures.

From 1st January 2020, where chemical P fertiliser is applied to grassland, the controller shall prepare and retain a fertilisation plan.

The application limits set out in Table 2 of Schedule 3 shall have effect from 1st January 2020.

Where an organic manure contains more than 0.25 kg of total phosphorus per 1 kg of total nitrogen calculated in accordance with Table 2 of Schedule 2 it shall not be applied to land unless the controller of a holding can demonstrate that the total amount of available phosphorus applied does not exceed the recommendations contained in the fertiliser technical standards for crop requirement for phosphorus taking into consideration soil phosphorus index, the recommended soil phosphorus index for the crop and the supply of phosphorus available from the application of other fertilisers.

From 1st January 2020, where paragraph (1) applies, the controller shall prepare and retain a fertilisation plan.

From 1st January 2020, where there is significant risk of pollution to any waterway, supplementary feeding sites shall not be located within 20 metres of any waterway.

From 1st January 2022, where there is a significant risk of pollution to any waterway, supplementary livestock drinking points shall not be located within 10 metres of any waterway.

Where the controller is required to prepare and retain a fertilisation plan, describing crop rotation and the planned application of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilisers to their agricultural area, it shall be made available on the holding every year.

Paragraph (2) is satisfied if a controller prepares and retains a fertilisation plan in accordance with the Department's crop nutrient calculator M14 or such other format as the Department may specify.

Where changes in agricultural practices necessitate changes in the fertilisation plan of a holding the controller shall revise the plan within seven days of such changes taking effect.

Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) and regulations 18 to 24, the capacity of storage facilities for livestock manure and silage effluent of a holding shall be sufficient and adequate to provide for the storage of all the livestock manure and silage effluent which is likely to require storage on the holding for such period as may be necessary to ensure compliance with these Regulations and the avoidance of water pollution.

For the purposes of paragraph (1), the controller shall have due regard to the storage capacity likely to be needed by the holding during periods of adverse weather conditions when, due to extended period of wet weather, frozen ground or otherwise, the application to land of organic manure is not permitted.

Subject to regulation 18, the total livestock manure storage capacity on holdings shall be sufficient for at least 22 weeks storage.

All storage facilities for livestock manure and silage effluent shall be maintained free of structural defect, shall be of such standard as is necessary and be managed to prevent run-off or seepage, directly or indirectly, into a waterway or water contained in any underground strata and where applicable shall comply with regulations 19 and 24.

Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), on any holding where there is a pig or poultry enterprise or both the total livestock manure storage capacity on the holding shall be sufficient for at least 26 weeks storage.

On any holding with less than 10 breeding sow places or 150 finishing pig places and any holding with less than 500 poultry places the total livestock manure storage capacity on the holding shall be sufficient for at least 22 weeks storage.

in addition to another livestock enterprise the livestock manure storage capacity on the holding shall be sufficient for at least 26 weeks storage for the pig or poultry enterprise and at least 22 weeks for the other livestock enterprise.

Subject to paragraph (2), an appropriate person having custody or control of slurry shall store it in a slurry storage system in relation to which the requirements of Schedule 6 are satisfied or which is an exempt structure by virtue of paragraph (3).

Paragraph (1) shall not apply to slurry while it is stored temporarily in a tanker with a capacity not exceeding 18,000 litres which is used for transporting slurry on roads or about a holding.

Any reference in paragraph (4) to the period stated in a notice is to that period as extended if it has been extended under regulation 30(5) and any reference in that paragraph to a requirement of a notice is to that requirement as modified if it has been modified under regulation 30(5).

Any appropriate person who proposes to have custody or control of slurry which is to be kept or stored on a holding in a slurry storage system constructed, substantially enlarged or substantially reconstructed on or after 1st December 2003 shall serve notice on the Department specifying the type of structure to be used and its location at least 28 days before it is to be first used for such purpose.

If poultry litter or anaerobic digestate fibre is to be stored in a field heap, the controller must inform the Department in such manner as it may require.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Where stored in a field, poultry litter or anaerobic digestate fibre shall be covered with an impermeable membrane within 24 hours of storage.

This regulation applies to the location and storage of anaerobic digestate fibre from 1st January 2020.

Any land used for the purpose of out-wintering under paragraphs (2) and (4) must be under the control of the controller of the holding to which the exemption applies.

In this regulation, a grassland stocking rate of 130 kg or 85 kg of nitrogen, as the case may be, means the stocking of grassland on a holding at any time by such numbers and types of livestock as would in the course of a year excrete waste products containing 130 kg or 85 kg nitrogen, as the case may be, per hectare of the grassland when calculated in accordance with the nitrogen excretion rate of livestock specified in Table 1a of Schedule 2.

In this regulation, mixed holding means a holding where there are sheep, deer, goats or other livestock (other than dairy cows).

Any appropriate person having custody or control of any crop which is being made, or has been made, into silage in the manner described in paragraph (1)(b) or (c) shall not open or remove the wrapping of any bales or open or empty any bulk bags within 10 metres of any waterway that effluent escaping from the bales or bulk bags could enter.

Any reference in paragraph (4) to the period stated in a notice is to that period as extended if it has been extended under regulation 30(5) and any reference in that paragraph to a requirement of a notice is to that requirement as modified if it has been modified under regulation 30(5).

Any appropriate person who proposes to have custody or control of any crop which is being made into silage, or of any silage, which is to be kept or stored on a holding in a silo constructed, substantially enlarged or substantially reconstructed on or after 1st December 2003 shall serve notice on the Department specifying the type of structure to be used and its location at least 28 days before it is to be first used for such purpose.

Records under paragraph F22(1)(a) to (m) and (o) shall be prepared for each calendar year by 30th June of the following year and shall be retained for a period of 5 years from that date.

Records under paragraph (1)(n) shall be prepared for each calendar year and shall be submitted to the Department by 1st March of the following year for derogated holdings and by 31st January of the following year for all other holdings, in a format specified by the Department and a copy shall be retained by the controller for a period of 5 years from the date of preparation or submission whichever is later.

Where the controller is required to prepare a fertilisation plan in relation to a derogated holding for a calendar year they shall prepare that plan no later than 1st March in that calendar year.

Where the controller is required to complete a fertilisation plan, they shall retain the fertilisation plan for each calendar year for that holding for 5 years from the date upon which it was prepared or submitted to the Department, whichever is the later.

Records under paragraphs (1) to (4) shall be made available by the controller for inspection by the Department on request.

The enforcement authority for the purpose of compliance with these Regulations shall be the Department or any person authorised by the Department.

In ensuring compliance with these Regulations an authorised person may have regard to the Code of Good Agricultural Practice and any guidance produced on these Regulations.

An authorised person may exercise any of their functions to determine or ensure compliance with these Regulations.

The period for compliance stated in the notice pursuant to paragraph (2)(b) shall be such as is reasonable in the circumstances and shall not in any case be less than 28 days from the day on which the notice is served.

Where an appeal is brought under regulation 31, the notice shall be of no effect pending the final determination or the withdrawal of the appeal.

Any appropriate person upon whom a notice is served under regulation 30 may, within the period of 28 days from the day on which the notice is served, appeal in writing against the notice to the Appeals Commission.

Appeals under regulations 9(6), F2530(2)(c) and 40(4) shall be determined by the Appeals Commission in accordance with the procedure pursuant to Article 293 of the Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 M15 and, for the purposes of appeals under these Regulations, references to the Department in Article 293 shall have the same meaning as under these Regulations.

It shall be an offence for the controller to fail to comply without reasonable excuse with regulation 4, 9(1), 17(1) or (3), 18, 25, 27(3), 40(3) or Schedule 8 except paragraph 4.

It shall be an offence for the appropriate person to fail to comply without reasonable excuse with regulation 7(3) or (4), 8(2), (3), (7), (8), (10), (11)(c) or (d), 20(3) or 21(5).

It shall be an offence for the controller to fail to comply with regulation 9(5), 10, 11(1) or (2), 13(1), 14(1), 22, 27(1), (2), (3A) or (4), 28, 40(5) or paragraph 4 of Schedule 8.

It shall be an offence for the appropriate person to fail to comply with regulation 7(1) or (2); 8(1), (4), (5), (6), (9), (11) or (12), 17(4), 19(1) or (6), 20(1) or (2), 21(1), (2), (4) or (6), 24(1), (2) or (6) or 26.

From 1st January 2020, it shall be an offence for the controller to fail to comply with regulation 12(1), (2) or (4), 13(3), 14(4) or 15(1).

From 1st February 2020, it shall be an offence for the appropriate person to fail to comply without reasonable excuse with regulation 8(13).

From 1st February 2021, it shall be an offence for the appropriate person to fail to comply without reasonable excuse with regulation 8(11)(a).

From 1st January 2022, it shall be an offence for the controller to fail to comply with regulation 15(2).

From 1st February 2022, it shall be an offence for the appropriate person to fail to comply without reasonable excuse with regulation 8(11)(b).

It shall be an offence for the appropriate period to fail to comply without reasonable excuse with any requirement of a notice issued under regulation 30.

The Department must prepare a report on the implementation of these Regulations at four-yearly intervals.

The Department shall review at four-yearly intervals, in consultation with the public, this action programme and, if appropriate, publish a revised action programme for the protection of waters against nutrients from agricultural sources.

An action programme shall include such necessary measures as are required by these Regulations and shall contain a review of the action programme most recently made and of such additional measures as may be required.

In carrying out their functions under paragraph (3), the Department shall ensure that reasonable time is allowed such as is sufficient to enable the public to participate effectively.

As part of the review conducted under this regulation, the Department must review the overall position of derogations granted under regulation 39(3) against the effectiveness in meeting objectives of reducing water pollution from nutrients and preventing further pollution.

For paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to the Common Agricultural Policy Direct Payments and Support Schemes (Cross Compliance) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014 M19 substitute “A farmer shall comply with regulations 8(4), (5), (6) and (9) of the Nutrient Action Programme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019”.

Table 1a of Schedule 1 to the Nitrates Action Programme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014 shall continue to have effect until 31st December 2019.

A controller may submit to the Department an application for an annual authorisation by such date as may be specified by the Department in a calendar year to apply grazing livestock manure containing up to 250kg nitrogen per hectare in that year.

In the application referred to in paragraph (1), the controller shall undertake in writing to submit to all the controls provided for in regulation 40 and to fulfil the conditions set out in Schedule 8.

An authorisation to apply an amount of livestock manure containing up to 250kg nitrogen per hectare per year shall be granted by the Department, subject to the conditions set out in Schedule 8.

The Department shall carry out administrative controls in respect of all applications for authorisation for the assessment of compliance with the conditions set out in Schedule 8.

Where it is established that in any year, a grassland holding covered by an authorisation did not fulfil the conditions set out in Schedule 8, the controller commits an offence and shall not be eligible for an authorisation the following year.

The controller may appeal the decision by the Department in relation to a refusal under paragraph (2) or in relation to an authorisation under paragraph (3) in accordance with the procedure set out in regulation 31.

Where the derogation has been granted or deemed to have been granted, the controller shall prepare and retain a fertilisation plan.