Final Implementation Report for Directive 86/278/EEC on Sewage Sludge: 2013 – 2015

150 1.0 Introduction 1.1 The Sewage Sludge Directive Directive 86/278/EEC1 on the protection of the environment, and in particular of the soil, when sewage sludge is used in agriculture (hereafter referred to as the ‘Sewage Sludge Directive’ or ‘the Directive’) seeks to control the use of sewage sludge in agriculture and to regulate its use so as to prevent harmful effects on human health and to t. [...] Keeping records (Article 10) o Member States are required to keep up to date records registering: the quantities of sludge produced and quantities supplied for use in agriculture; composition and properties of sludge in relation to Annex II A; the types of treatment carried out; and the names and addresses of recipients of the sludge and the place where the sludge is stored. [...] The key pieces of legislation in this regard are the Decree of the Flemish Government of 17th February 2012 laying down the Flemish Regulation on the sustainable management of material cycles and waste (hereinafter called 'VLAREMA') and the Decree of 22nd December 2006 for the protection of water against pollution by nitrates from agricultural sources, which forbids the use of sludge from waste wa. [...] In the Netherlands, the starting point is that the total amount of heavy metals entering the soil with the sludge must be no higher than the national limit in the Table under Question 2(a). [...] The first footnote to Annex 1 A, allows Member States to permit the limit values they fix for concentrations of heavy metals in soil to be exceeded in the case of the use of sludge on land which, at the time of the notification the Directive, is used for the disposal of sludge but also on which commercial food crops are being grown exclusively for animal consumption.