20 Amendments of Catherine CHABAUD related to 2022/0345(COD)
Amendment 49 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 2
Recital 2
(2) Directive 91/271/EEC sets the legal frameworkIn view of the green transition objectives set by the Green Pact, the implementation of an integrated approach must prevail in setting the legal framework of this Directive 91/271/EEC for the collection, treatment and discharge of urban wastewater and the discharge of biodegradable wastewaters from certain industrial sectors. Its objective is to protect the environment, including the biodiversity of the land-based, marine and coastal ecosystem from being adversely affected by insufficiently treated urban wastewater discharges. This Directive should continue to pursue the same objective, whilst also contributing to the protection of public health, when for instance urban wastewater is discharged in bathing waters or in water bodies used for the abstraction of drinking water, or when urban wastewater is used as an indicator for parameters relevant for public health. It should also improve access to sanitation and to key information related to the governance of the urban wastewater collection and treatment activities. Finally, tThis Directive should also contribute to the progressive elimination of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from urban wastewater collection and treatment activities, notably by further reducing nitrogen emissions but also by promoting energy efficiency and production of renewable energies, and thus should contribute to the 2050 objective of Climate Neutrality established under Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 of the European Parliament and of the Council37Finally, it should also encourage the use of nature-based solutions such as constructed wetland as a tool for the treatment and discharge of urban wastewater. _________________ 37 Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June 2021 establishing the framework for achieving climate neutrality and amending Regulations (EC) No 401/2009 and (EU) 2018/1999 (‘European Climate Law’) (OJ L 243, 9.7.2021, p. 1).
Amendment 90 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 8 a (new)
Recital 8 a (new)
(8a) This directive should also take into account the specific situation of coastal areas and littorals, which face the consequences of the possibly cumulative effects of meteorological phenomena, high tides and seasonal demographic pressure. These cumulative effects, which cause overflows in wastewater treatment plants, have a negative impact on the environment and on health by increasing pollution. Wastewater management in these areas must be appropriately addressed, including regular monitoring of wastewater system maintenance.
Amendment 98 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 11
Recital 11
(11) Recent scientific knowledge underpinning several Commission strategies43highlight the need to take action to address the issue of micro-pollutants, which are now detected in all waters in the Union. Some of those micropollutants are hazardous for public health and the environment even in small quantities. This is particularly the case for plastic microfibers or nanoplastics, fragments of macroplastics, macrowaste or particles from other forms of plastic degradation, whose presence in the environment and the ocean has been underestimated for a long time. An additional treatment, i.e. quaternary treatment, should therefore be introduced in order to ensure that a large spectrum of micro-pollutants is removed from urban wastewater. Quaternary treatment should first focus on organic micro-pollutants, which represent a significant part of the pollution and for which removal technologies are already designed. The treatment should be imposed based on the precautionary approach combined with a risk-based approach. Therefore, all urban wastewater treatment plants of 100 000 p.e. and above should provide quaternary treatment, as those facilities represent a significant share of micro-pollutant discharges in the environment and the removal of micro- pollutants by urban wastewater treatment plants at such scale is cost-effective. For agglomerations of between 10 000 p.e. and 100 000 p.e., Member States should be required to apply quaternary treatment to areas identified as sensitive to pollution with micro-pollutants based on clear criteria, which should be specified. Such areas should include locations where treated urban wastewater discharge to water bodies result in low dilution ratios, or where the receiving water bodies are used for the production of drinking water or as bathing waters. In order to avoid the requirement of quaternary treatment for agglomerations of between 10 000 p.e. and 100 000 p.e., Member States should be required to demonstrate the absence of risks to the environment or to public health on the basis of a standardised risk assessment. In order to give Member States enough time to plan and deliver the necessary infrastructures, the requirement of quaternary treatment should progressively apply until 2040 with clear interim objectives. _________________ 43 Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: A European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy (COM/2018/028 final); Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee, European Union Strategic Approach to Pharmaceuticals in the Environment (COM(2019) 128 final); Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability Towards a Toxic-Free Environment (COM(2020) 667 final); Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, Pathway to a Healthy Planet for All EU Action Plan: 'Towards Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil' (COM/2021/400 final).
Amendment 111 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 13
Recital 13
(13) The quaternary treatment necessary to remove micro-pollutants from urban wastewater will imply additional costs, such as costs related to monitoring and new advanced equipment to be installed in certain urban wastewater treatment plants. In order to cover these additional costs and in accordance with the polluter-pays principle expressed in Article 191(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), it is essential that the producers placing on the Union market products containing substances which, at the end of their life, are found as micro- pollutants in urban wastewaters (‘micro- pollutant substances’) take responsibility for the additional treatment required to remove those substances, generated in the context of their professional activities. A system of extended producer responsibility is the most appropriate means to achieve this, as it would limit the financial impact on the taxpayer and water tariff, while providing an incentive to develop greener products. In addition, an eco-participation could be applied for the identified products, and participate to the financing of this quaternary treatment. Pharmaceuticals and cosmetic residues currently represent the main sources of micro-pollutants found in urban wastewater requiring an additional treatment (quaternary treatment). Therefore, extended producer responsibility should apply to those two product groups.
Amendment 128 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 14
Recital 14
(14) Exonerations from the extended producer responsibility obligations or from the eco-participation should nevertheless be possible where products are placed on the market in small quantities, i.e. less than 2 tonnes of products, since the additional administrative burden for the producer - regarding the extended producer responsability only - would in such cases be disproportionate compared to the environmental benefits. Exonerations should also be possible when the producer can demonstrate that no micro-pollutants are generated at the end of life of a product. It might be the case for instance where it can be proven that the residues from a product are rapidly biodegradable in the wastewaters and the environment or not reaching the urban wastewater treatment plants. The Commission should be empowered to adopt implementing acts to establish detailed criteria to identify the products placed on the market that do not generate micro-pollutants in wastewaters at the end of their life. When developing these criteria, the Commission should take into account scientific or other available technical information, including relevant international standards.
Amendment 163 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 19
Recital 19
(19) Urban wastewater treatment plants also receive non-domestic wastewater, including industrial wastewater, which can contain a range of pollutants not explicitly covered by Directive 91/271/EEC, such as heavy metals, micro-plastics, micro- pollutants - including microfibers and nanoplastics - and other chemicals. In most instances, there is a poor understanding and knowledge of such pollution which could deteriorate the functioning of the treatment process and contribute to the pollution of the receiving waters, but also prevent the recovery of sludge and the re-use of treated wastewater. Member States should therefore regularly monitor and report on such non-domestic pollution that enters the urban wastewater treatment plants and is discharged into water bodies. To prevent pollution from non-domestic wastewater discharges at source, releases from industries or enterprises connected to collecting systems should be subject to prior authorisation. In order to ensure that collecting systems and urban wastewater treatment plants are technically capable of receiving and treating the incoming pollution, the operators who manage urban wastewater treatment plants receiving non- domestic wastewater should be consulted before those permits are issued and should be able to consult the issued permits in order to be able to adapt their treatment processes. Where non-domestic pollution is identified in the incoming waters, Member States should take appropriate measures to reduce pollution at source, by enhancing the monitoring of pollutants in collecting systems so that the pollution sources can be identified and, where necessary, by reviewing the authorisations provided to relevant, connected urban wastewater treatment plants. The water resources of the Union are increasingly under pressure, resulting in permanent or temporary water scarcity in some areas of the Union. The Union’s ability to respond to the increasing pressures on water resources could be improved through a wider reuse of treated urban wastewater, limiting freshwater abstraction from surface and groundwater bodies. Therefore, the reuse of treated urban wastewater should be encouraged and applied whenever appropriate, whilst taking into account the need to ensure that the objectives of good ecological and chemical status of the receiving bodies, as defined in Directive 2000/60/EC, are met. The reinforcement of the requirements for the treatment of urban wastewater, and the actions to better monitor, track and reduce pollution at source, will have impacts on the quality of treated urban wastewater, and will therefore support water reuse. Where water reuse serves the purpose of agricultural irrigation, it should be carried out in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2020/741 of the European Parliament and of the Council51. _________________ 51 Regulation (EU) 2020/741 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 May 2020 on minimum requirements for water reuse (OJ L 177, 5.6.2020, p. 32).
Amendment 168 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 20
Recital 20
(20) In order to ensure a proper implementation of this Directive and notably the respect of the emission limit values, it is important to monitor discharges of treated urban wastewater into the environment. The monitoring should be done through the establishment at national level of a mandatory prior authorisation system in order to discharge the treated urban wastewater into the environment. In addition, in order to prevent unintentional discharges of plastic biomedia the environment from urban wastewater treatment plants using this technique, it is essential to include in the discharge authorisations specific obligations, such as retention measures, monitoring procedures (including biomedia) or an obligation to report the volume of biomedia used, to continuously monitor and prevent such discharges.
Amendment 300 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 15 a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 15 a (new)
(15a) "lagooning" means a natural waste water treatment technique that consists in the accumulation of wastewater in ponds or basins, known as biological or stabilization ponds, where a series of biological, biochemical and physical processes take place.
Amendment 309 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 16
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 16
(16) ‘micro-pollutant’ means a substance, including its breakdown products such as nanoplastics, that is usually present in the environment and urban wastewaters in concentrations below milligrams per litre and which canshall be considered hazardous to human health or the environment based on any of the criteria set out in Part 3 and Part 4 of Annex I to Regulation EC69; _________________ 69 Regulation EC 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures (OJ L 353 31.12.2008, p 1).
Amendment 326 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 19 a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 19 a (new)
(19a) ‘Eco-participation’, also called eco-contribution, means the contribution of the buyer of a new equipment to the financing of the extension of its lifecycle and its elimination. This eco-contribution is paid in its entirety by the producers to the eco-organizations;
Amendment 347 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 23
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 23
(23) ‘plastic biomedia’ means any type of plastic support used for the development of the bacteria needed for the treatment of urban wastewaters;
Amendment 440 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 2 – indent 1 (new)
Article 5 – paragraph 2 – indent 1 (new)
Amendment 463 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
Amendment 654 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Article 9 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Member States shall take measures to ensure that producers who place any of the products listed in Annex III on the market have extended producer responsibility. In parallel, they should implement an eco- participation on products from the industries listed in Annex 3, according to the "polluter pays" principle.
Amendment 703 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9 – paragraph 2 – introductory part
Article 9 – paragraph 2 – introductory part
2. Member States shall exonerate producers from their extended producer responsibility or from the eco- participation under paragraph 1 where the producers can demonstrate any of the following:
Amendment 888 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 2 – point a
Article 11 – paragraph 2 – point a
(a) 750 % of the total annual energy used by such plants by 31 December 2030;
Amendment 897 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 2 – point b
Article 11 – paragraph 2 – point b
(b) 75100 % of the total annual energy used by such plants by 31 December 2035;
Amendment 903 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 2 – point c
Article 11 – paragraph 2 – point c
Amendment 921 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 11 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Member States shall encourage the implementation of innovative nature- based solutions to achieve this objective of energy neutrality, such as constructed wetlands.
Amendment 1319 #
Proposal for a directive
Annex III – subheading 1 a (new)
Annex III – subheading 1 a (new)
2.a Detergents products falling within the scope of Regulation (EC) No 648/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on detergents.