UK Offence Report

The Phosphorus (Use in Agriculture) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014 (revoked)

Northern Ireland Statutory Rule 2014 No. 308 — creates 2 criminal offences.

2offences created
0recorded in force
0revoked
Made
11 December 2014
In force from
1 January 2015
Extent
Not stated
Subject
Health and safety, environment, waste and fisheries
Made under
European Communities Act 1972

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — published with the instrument by the department that made it. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

These Regulations aim to reduce water pollution by limiting the amount of chemical phosphorus fertiliser applied to land. In regards to eutrophication, they supplement the measures in the Nitrates Action Programme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014 which implement Article 5 of European Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources. The Regulations also support the implementation of Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy). Regulation 4 imposes obligations on the controller of a holding in complying with these Regulations to have regard to any guidance issued and to the Code of Good Agricultural Practice. Regulation 5 prescribes in what circumstance exemptions to the Regulations may be granted. Regulation 6 restricts the amount of chemical phosphorus fertiliser applied to land to crop requirement for phosphorus whilst taking into consideration the phosphorus already available from the soil and organic manures. These variables are to be calculated in accordance with the Schedules to these Regulations. Regulation 7 imposes an obligation on the controller of a holding to keep sufficient records for each calendar year to ascertain the identity of the controller, the size, location and cropping regime for fields of the holding to which chemical phosphorus fertiliser was applied, the results of soil phosphorus tests, the quantity and type of phosphorus fertiliser applied and the date of application and a statement of the foreseeable crop requirement for phosphorus. These records must be ready for inspection, held for 5 years, be accurate and not misleading. Regulation 8 prescribes monitoring and inspection functions under these Regulations. Regulation 9 prescribes how the Department of the Environment may serve a notice on a controller where the controller is in breach or likely to be in breach of the Regulations and the requirements to be met when the notice is served. Regulation 10 creates a right of appeal to the Appeals Commission against any notice issued under regulation 9. Regulations 11 and 12 set out the offences under these Regulations and their corresponding penalties. Copies of the Code of Good Agricultural Practice for the Prevention of Pollution of Water, Air and Soil, referred to in regulation 4, may be obtained from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s website:http://www.dardni.gov.uk Copies of the DEFRA Fertiliser Manual (RB209, 8th Edition) may be obtained from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs website:http://www.defra.gov.uk Copies of Council Directive 91/676/EEC and of Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council may be obtained from the website for European Union legislation:http://eur-lex.europa.eu/homepage.html

Offences created by this instrument

What Parliament said about it

Hansard was searched for this instrument by name and returned nothing. That is the ordinary outcome: an instrument laid under the negative procedure is usually never debated, and becomes law without a word said about it in either House.

How Parliament handled it

Parliament's Statutory Instruments service records procedure from May 2017 onwards, and this instrument predates it. That is a limit of the source, not a statement that nothing happened.

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