18 Amendments of Tudor CIUHODARU related to 2022/0345(COD)
Amendment 63 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) In order to ensure effective treatment of urban wastewater before discharge into the environment, all urban wastewaters from agglomerations of 1 000 p.e. and above should be collected in centralised collecting systems. Where such systems are already in place, Member States should ensure that all sources of urban wastewater are connected to them. Where these systems are not connected to one other, Member States should encourage and support small municipalities to join together to manage wastewaters collectively, with this joint management also enabling a reduction in costs.
Amendment 75 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 7
Recital 7
(7) During rainfall, storm water overflows and urban runoff represent a sizeable remaining source of pollution discharged into the environment. Those emissions are expected to increase due to the combined effects of urbanisation and progressive change of the rain regime linked with climate change. Solutions to reduce that source of pollution should be defined at local level taking into account the specific local conditions, while it would also be beneficial to have local and regional action plans covering multiple localities when they are all liable to be impacted by the same watercourses in circumstances of abundant precipitation and, implicitly, by urban runoff. They should be based on an integrated quantitative and qualitative water management in urban areas. Therefore, Member States should ensure that integrated urban wastewater management plans are established at local level for all agglomerations of 100 000 p.e. and above as those agglomerations are responsible for a significant share of the pollution emitted. Furthermore, integrated urban wastewater management plans should also be put in place for agglomeration of between 10 000 p.e. and 100 000 p.e. where storm water overflows or urban runoff poses a risk for the environment or public health.
Amendment 82 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 8
Recital 8
(8) In order to ensure that the integrated urban wastewater management plans are cost-effective, it is important that they are based on best practices in advanced urban areas and that they take into account the constant change in the chemical composition of wastewaters resulting from the appearance of new products on the market, which necessitates appropriate measures for the identification and elimination of such products from wastewaters. Therefore, the measures to be considered should be based on a thorough analysis of the local conditions and should favour a preventive approach aiming at limiting the collection of unpolluted rain waters and optimising the use of existing infrastructures. With a preference for ‘green’ developments, new grey infrastructures should only be envisaged where absolutely necessary. In order to protect the environment, in particular the coastal and marine environment, and public health from being adversely affected by the discharge of insufficiently treated urban wastewater, secondary treatment should be applied to all discharges of urban wastewater from agglomerations of 1 000 p.e. and above.
Amendment 99 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 11
Recital 11
(11) Recent scientific knowledge underpinning several Commission strategies43highlightsthe need to take action to address the issue of micro- pollutants, which are now detected in all waters in the Union and which are being generated by the appearance on the market of new domestic or industrial products which necessitate new methods of identification and elimination from wastewaters. Some of those micropollutants are hazardous for public health and the environment even in small quantities. 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 143 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 15
Recital 15
(15) In order to avoid possible internal market distortions, minimum requirements for the implementation of the extended producer responsibility should be established in this Directive, while the practical organisation of the system should be decided at national level. The contributions of the producers should be proportionate to the quantities of the products they place on the market and the hazardouness of their residues. The contributions should cover, but not exceed, the costs for the monitoring activities for micro-pollutants, the collection, analysis, reporting and impartial verification of statistics on the quantities and hazardouness of products placed on the market, and the application of the quaternary treatment to urban wastewater in an efficient manner and in accordance with this Directive. Since urban wastewater is treated collectively, it is appropriate to introduce a requirement for producers to join a centralised organisation which can implement their obligations under the extended producer responsibility on their behalf.
Amendment 156 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 17
Recital 17
(17) Since the transboundary nature of water pollution requires cooperation between neighbouring Member States or third countries in addressing such pollution and identifying measures to tackle its source, Member States should be required to inform each other or the third country if significant water pollution originating from urban wastewater discharges in one Member State or third country impacts or is likely to impact the water quality of another Member State or third country. Such information should be immediate in case of incidental pollution significantly affecting downstream water bodies by means of timely alarm systems at local, regional and cross-border level in the event of incidental pollution. The Commission should be informed and, if necessary, participate in meetings at the request of Member States. It is also important to tackle the transboundary pollution from third countries sharing the same water bodies with some of the Member States. For the purpose of dealing with pollution coming or arriving in third countries, the cooperation and coordination with third countries may be carried out in the framework of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Water Convention50 or other relevant regional Conventions such as the Regional Seas or Rivers Conventions. _________________ 50 UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes as amended, along with decision VI/3 clarifying the accession procedure.
Amendment 158 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 18
Recital 18
(18) In order to ensure the protection of the environment and human health, Member States should ensure that the urban wastewater treatment plants built to comply with the requirements of this Directive are designed, constructed, operated, and maintained to ensure sufficient performance under all normal local climatic conditions and should continuously adapt their methods of identifying pollutants in wastewaters in lockstep with the placing on the market of new products which may subsequently be found in wastewaters.
Amendment 170 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 21
Recital 21
(21) In order to ensure the protection of the environment, direct discharges of biodegradable non-domestic wastewater into the environment from certain industrial sectors should be subject to prior authorisation on national level and appropriate requirements. Those requirements should ensure that direct discharges from certain industrial sectors are subject to secondary, tertiary and quaternary treatment as necessary for the protection of human health and the environment, and that in the final analysis the parameters set for treated wastewaters are respected.
Amendment 174 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 22
Recital 22
(22) According to Article 168(1) TFEU, Union action complements national policies and is to be directed towards improving public health and preventing diseases. In order to ensure optimal use of relevant public health data from urban wastewaters, urban wastewater surveillance should be set up and used for preventive or early warning purposes, for instance in the detection of specific viruses in urban wastewater as a signal of the emergence of epidemics or pandemics, as was the case during the COVID-19 pandemic. Member States should establish a permanent dialogue and coordination between competent authorities responsible for public health and competent authorities responsible for urban wastewater management. In the context of that coordination, a list of parameters relevant for public health to be monitored in urban wastewaters should be established, as well as the frequency and location of the sampling. This approach will take advantage of and complement other Union initiatives in the field of public health protection, such as environmental monitoring that includes wastewater surveillance52. Based on information gathered during the COVID-19 pandemic and experience gained from the implementation of the Commission Recommendation on a common approach to establish a systematic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants in wastewaters in the EU53(the ‘recommendation’), Member States should be required to monitor health parameters related to SARS-CoV-2 and its variants on a regular basis. In order to ensure that harmonised methods are used, Member States should, to the extent possible, use sampling and analysis methods set out in the recommendation for the monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants. _________________ 52 Commission Communication on introducing the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority, the next step towards completing the European Health Union (COM(2021)576 final). 53 Commission Recommendation (EU) 2021/472 of 17 March 2021 on a common approach to establish a systematic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants in wastewaters in the EU (OJ L 98, 19.3.2021, p. 3).
Amendment 195 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 28
Recital 28
(28) The evaluation concluded that sludge management could be improved to better align it with the principles of the circular economy and of the waste hierarchy as defined in Article 4 of Directive 2008/98/EC. The actions to better monitor and reduce pollution at source from non-domestic discharges will help improving the quality of the sludge produced and ensure its safe use in agriculture. In order to ensure a proper and safe recovery of nutrients, including the critical substance phosphorus, from the sludge, minimum recovery rates should be defined at Union level, while there is also a need to work more closely with academia and researchers to identify and apply the most appropriate methods of recovering nutrients from sludge for subsequent use in agriculture.
Amendment 203 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 30
Recital 30
(30) In order to reduce administrative burden and better use the possibilities offered by digitalisation, the reporting on the implementation of the Directive should be improved and simplified by removing the obligation for Member States to report every two years to the Commission and for the Commission to publish bi-yearly reports. It should be replaced by a requirement for Member States to improve, with the support of the European Environment Agency (EEA), the existing national standardised data sets established under Directive 91/271/EEC, and to regularly update them. Permanent access to the national databases should be provided to the Commission and the EEA. In order to ensure complete information on the application of this Directive, the data sets should include information on compliance of urban wastewater treatment plants with the treatment requirements (pass/fail, loads and concentration of pollutants discharged), on the level of achievement of the objectives of energy neutrality, on GHG emissions of the treatment plants above 10 000 p.e. and on measures taken by the Member States in the context of storm water overflows/ urban runoff, including early warning systems in the event of runoffs, access to sanitation and treatment by individual systems. Moreover, full coherence with Regulation (EC) 166/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council65 should be ensured to optimise the use of the data, as well as to support full transparency. _________________ 65 Regulation (EC) No 166/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 January 2006 concerning the establishment of a European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register and amending Council Directives 91/689/EEC and 96/61/EC (Text with EEA relevance) OJ L 33, 4.2.2006, p. 1–17
Amendment 225 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 38
Recital 38
(38) Pursuant to the Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law-Making68, the Commission should carry out an evaluation of this Directive within a certain period of time from the date set for its transposition. That evaluation should be based on experience gained and data collected during the implementation of this Directive, on any available WHO recommendations, and on relevant scientific, analytical, and epidemiological data. In the evaluation, particular attention should be given to the possible necessity to adapt ofthe list of products to be covered by extended producer responsibility according to the evolution of the range of products placed on the market, and to the method of eliminating and denaturing these at the final use stage without major environmental impacts,the improvement of knowledge on the presence of micro- pollutants in the wastewaters and their impacts on public health and the environment, and data from the new monitoring and analysisobligations on micro- pollutants in the inlets and outlets of the urban wastewater treatment plants. _________________ 68 Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission on Better Law-Making (OJ L 123, 12.5.2016, p. 1–14).
Amendment 754 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9 – paragraph 4 – subparagraph 2 – point a – point i
Article 9 – paragraph 4 – subparagraph 2 – point a – point i
(i) the annual quantities of the products listed in Annex III that they place on the market in the context of their professional activity, to enable the subsequent identification of analytical methods and wastewater treatment processes into which components of these products may permeate;
Amendment 933 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 12 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 3
Article 12 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 3
The Member States concerned shall cooperate in the implementation of a timely alert system in order to identify the discharges in question and the measures to be taken at source to protect the waters that are affected in order to ensure conformity with this Directive.
Amendment 1060 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 19 – paragraph 2 – point a
Article 19 – paragraph 2 – point a
(a) identify categories of people without access, or with limited access, to sanitation facilities, including vulnerable and marginalised groups, and provide reasons for such lack of access; , encourage and support the construction of such facilities as a priority in rural areas and more remote areas where access to these facilities is very limited;
Amendment 1117 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 21 – paragraph 2
Article 21 – paragraph 2
2. For all agglomerations of 10 000 p.e. and above, Member States shall ensure that competent authorities monitor the concentration and loads of pollutants from storm water overflows and urban runoff discharged into water bodies , and that there is a timely alert system at local, regional and cross-border level, where this is necessary.
Amendment 1173 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 23 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point b
Article 23 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point b
(b) the identification and planning of investments required to implement this Directive for each agglomeration, or associations of smaller agglomerations without the wherewithal for their own individual treatment systems, including an indicative financial estimation and a prioritisation of those investments related to the size of the agglomeration and the environmental impact of untreated urban wastewater;
Amendment 1174 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 23 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point c
Article 23 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point c
(c) an estimate of investments needed to renew existing urban wastewater infrastructures, including collecting systems, based on their age and depreciation rates, and to extend wastewater collecting systems in step with the extension of inhabited areas as the population of those areas increases;