Council Directive of 12 June 1986 on the protection of the environment, and in particular of the soil, when sewage sludge is used in agriculture (86/278/EEC)

• Published date: 04 July 1986
• Subject Matter: Agricultura y Pesca,medio ambiente,disposiciones en aplicación del artículo 235 CEE,aproximación de las legislaciones
• Official Gazette Publication: Diario Oficial de las Comunidades Europeas, L 181, 4 de julio de 1986

01986L0278 — EN — 01.01.2022 — 006.001

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►B COUNCIL DIRECTIVE of 12 June 1986 on the protection of the environment, and in particular of the soil, when sewage sludge is used in agriculture (86/278/EEC) (OJ L 181 4.7.1986, p. 6)

Amended by:

		Official Journal
		No	page	date
M1	COUNCIL DIRECTIVE of 23 December 1991	L 377	48	31.12.1991
M2	COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 807/2003 of 14 April 2003	L 122	36	16.5.2003
M3	REGULATION (EC) No 219/2009 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 11 March 2009	L 87	109	31.3.2009
►M4	DECISION (EU) 2018/853 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 30 May 2018	L 150	155	14.6.2018
►M5	REGULATION (EU) 2019/1010 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 5 June 2019	L 170	115	25.6.2019

Amended by:

A1	ACT (94/C 241/08)	C 241	21	29.8.1994
		L 001	1	..

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▼B

COUNCIL DIRECTIVE

of 12 June 1986

on the protection of the environment, and in particular of the soil, when sewage sludge is used in agriculture

(86/278/EEC)

Article 1

The purpose of this Directive is to regulate the use of sewage sludge in agriculture in such a way as to prevent harmful effects on soil, vegetation, animals and man, thereby encouraging the correct use of such sewage sludge.

Article 2

For the purposes of this Directive:

(a)

‘sludge’ means:

(i)

residual sludge from sewage plants treating domestic or urban waste waters and from other sewage plants treating waste waters of a composition similar to domestic and urban waste waters;

(ii)

residual sludge from septic tanks and other similar installations for the treatment of sewage;

(iii)

residual sludge from sewage plants other than those referred to in (i) and (ii);

(b)

‘treated sludge’ means:

sludge which has undergone biological, chemical or heat treatment, long-term storage or any other appropriate process so as significantly to reduce its fermentability and the health hazards resulting from its use;

(c)

‘agriculture’ means:

the growing of all types of commercial food crops, including for stock-rearing purposes;

(d)

‘use’ means:

the spreading of sludge on the soil or any other application of sludge on and in the soil;

▼M5

(e)

‘spatial data services’ means spatial data services as defined in point 4 of Article 3 of Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 1 );

(f)

‘spatial data set’ means a spatial data set as defined in point 3 of Article 3 of Directive 2007/2/EC.

▼B

Article 3

1.

The sludge referred to in Article 2 (a) (i) may only be used in agriculture in accordance with this Directive.

2.

Without prejudice to Directives 75/442/EEC and 78/319/EEC:

—

the sludge referred to in Article 2 (a) (ii) may be used in agriculture subject to any conditions that the Member State concerned may deem necessary for the protection of human health and the environment,

—

the sludge referred to in Article 2 (a) (iii) may be used in agriculture only if its use is regulated by the Member State concerned.

Article 4

Values for concentrations of heavy metals in soil to which sludge is applied, concentrations of heavy metals in sludge and the maximum annual quantities of such heavy metals which may be introduced into soil intended for agriculture are given in Annexes I A, I B and I C.

Article 5

Without prejudice to Article 12:

1.

Member States shall prohibit the use of sludge where the concentration of one or more heavy metals in the soil exceeds the limit values which they lay down in accordance with Annex I A and shall take the necessary steps to ensure that those limit values are not exceeded as a result of the use of sludge.

2.

Member States shall regulate the use of sludge in such a way that the accumulation of heavy metals in the soil does not lead to the limit values referred to in paragraph 1 being exceeded. To achieve this, they shall apply one or other of the procedures provided for in (a) and (b) below:

(a)

Member States shall lay down the maximum quantities of sludge expressed in tonnes of dry matter which may be applied to the soil per unit of area per year while observing the limit values for heavy metal concentration in sludge which they lay down in accordance with Annex I B; or

(b)

Member States shall ensure observance of the limit values for the quantities of metals introduced into the soil per unit of area and unit of time as set out in Annex I C.

Article 6

Without prejudice to Article 7:

(a)

sludge shall be treated before being used in agriculture. Member States may nevertheless authorize, under conditions to be laid down by them, the use of untreated sludge if it is injected or worked into the soil;

(b)

sewage-sludge producers shall regularly provide users with all the information referred to in Annex II A.

Article 7

Member States shall prohibit the use of sludge or the supply of sludge for use on:

(a)

grassland or forage crops if the grassland is to be grazed or the forage crops to be harvested before a certain period has elapsed. This period, which shall be set by the Member States taking particular account of their geographical and climatic situation, shall under no circumstances be less than three weeks;

(b)

soil in which fruit and vegetable crops are growing, with the exception of fruit trees;

(c)

ground intended for the cultivation of fruit and vegetable crops which are normally in direct contact with the soil and normally eaten raw, for a period of 10 months preceding the harvest of the crops and during the harvest itself.

Article 8

The following rules shall be observed when using sludge:

—

the sludge shall be used in such a way that account is taken of the nutrient needs of the plants and that the quality of the soil and of the surface and ground water is not impaired,

—

where sludge is used on soils of which the pH is below 6, Member States shall take into account the increased mobility and availability to the crop of heavy metals and shall, if necessary, reduce the limit values they have laid down in accordance with Annex I A.

Article 9

Sludge and soil on which it is used shall be analyzed as outlined in Annexes II A and II B.

The reference methods for sampling and analysis are indicated in Annex II C.

▼M5

Article 10

1.

Member States shall ensure that up-to-date records are kept, and that those records register:

(a)

the quantities of sludge produced and the quantities supplied for use in agriculture;

(b)

the composition and properties of the sludge in relation to the parameters referred to in Annex II A;

(c)

the type of treatment carried out, as defined in point (b) of Article 2;

(d)

the names and addresses of the recipients of the sludge and the place where the sludge is to be used;

(e)

any other information with regard to the transposition and implementation of this Directive provided by the Member States to the Commission pursuant to Article 17.

Spatial data services shall be used to present the spatial data sets included in the information registered in those records.

2.

The records referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be made available and easily accessible to the public for each calendar year, within eight months of the end of the relevant calendar year, in a consolidated format as laid down in the Annex to Commission Decision 94/741/EC ( 2 ) or another consolidated format provided pursuant to Article 17 of this Directive.

Member States shall submit to the Commission, by electronic means, the information referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph.

3.

Information on the methods of treatment and the results of the analyses shall be released to the competent authorities.

▼B

Article 11

Member States may exempt from Article 6 (b) and Article 10 (1) (b), (c) and (d) and paragraph 2, sludge from sewage treatment plants with a treatment capacity below 300 kg BOD5 per day, corresponding to 5 000 person equivalents, which are designed primarily for the treatment of domestic waste water.

Article 12

Where...