Water
Pollution (Water Management) (Jersey) Order 2020
THE MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT makes this Order under
Articles 14 and 52 of the Water
Pollution (Jersey) Law 2000, having consulted such other
Ministers and other persons as the Minister considers appropriate in accordance
with Article 9(2), and having complied with the requirements of Article 10,
of that Law –
Commencement [see endnotes]
1 Interpretation
(1) In
this Order –
“inland water” means any water of the
description set out in Article 2(1)(c) of the Water
Pollution (Jersey) Law 2000;
“RB209” means advice taken from the RB209 Fertiliser
Manual published by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, or, in
relation to provisions of the Manual that do not apply to Jersey, an equivalent
manual or relevant advice in writing from a suitably qualified expert in
relation to fertilisers.
(2) For
the purposes of paragraph (1), an expert is suitably qualified if he or
she is qualified under the Fertiliser Advisers Certification and Training
Scheme (FACTS) or is certificated by an equivalent body as having met the
equivalent standard of expertise as would be gained from FACTS.
2 Designation
of Water Management Areas
(1) All
land in Jersey is designated as one of 8 Water Management Areas.
(2) The
8 areas are delineated by a geographic information system (GIS) map that is
available to view on a website under the control of the Department for the
Environment.
(3) The
Schedule contains a representation of the map for information purposes only.
3 Application
of restrictions and requirements
(1) The restrictions and
requirements imposed by this Order apply in respect of any person who imports,
sells, purchases, stores or uses any fertiliser in the course of a business
activity or operation in any Water Management Area designated by this Order.
(2) However, this Order does
not apply to –
(a) any landscape gardener
working on land that forms part of the corpus fundi of a property primarily used as a dwelling;
(b) any amenity land.
(3) In this Article “amenity
land” means any land (not covered by a building) used as a park, garden,
playground, golf course, sports field or for any other recreational purpose.
4 Storage of fertilisers
(1) No fertiliser may be
stored within –
(a) 50 metres of a
borehole, well or spring, being a groundwater source the abstraction of water
from which is registered or licensed under the Water Resources (Jersey)
Law 2007; or
(b) 10 metres of any
inland water.
(2) Organic fertiliser to be
used as a soil enhancer must not be stored in any location for more than one
year and that location must not be used again for such storage for at least
2 years after it was last so used.
(3) However,
paragraphs (1) and (2) do not apply if the storage is in a building or
other structure (whether temporary or permanent), other than one newly-erected
for the purposes of storing the fertiliser, that is of such a construction, and
maintained to such a standard, as to prevent any run‑off or leaching of
fertiliser from the building or structure.
5 Planning and management of fertiliser
use
(1) This Article applies to
any person who uses or plans to use fertilisers on any land.
(2) The persons to whom this
Article applies must have in place and follow –
(a) a written plan (the
“nutrient management plan”) that complies with paragraph (3) and provides
for the proper use of fertilisers on the land to which they are to be applied
so as to minimise the risk of pollution to controlled waters, whether or not
that use is for all or part of the year;
(b) a written plan (the
“organic fertiliser management plan”) that complies with paragraph (4) and
provides for the proper storage, management and use of organic fertiliser in
relation to any soil to which it is added to improve the soil’s productivity so
as to minimise the risk of pollution to controlled waters,
and the plans must be reviewed and updated each year, or more
frequently if a change in circumstances so requires.
(3) The nutrient management
plan must include the following information for all the land on which fertiliser
is to be applied –
(a) a field-by-field plan (or
a plan by reference to another geographical unit where one or more fields are
managed together by all users of those fields) that is prepared in advance of
the fertiliser use and updated as necessary;
(b) an assessment of the
nutrient requirement of each planting or crop in accordance with RB209;
(c) an assessment of the
nutrient supply from any organic fertiliser, integrating the information
contained in the organic fertiliser management plan (if any);
(d) a calculation of the
appropriate level of nutrients to be supplied by the fertiliser by taking into
account the contribution to the nutrients already in the soil from organic fertiliser
and from earlier plantings;
(e) a record of the actual
quantities of fertiliser to be applied to land on a field-by-field basis.
(4) The organic fertiliser
management plan must include the following matters –
(a) an assessment of –
(i) the adequacy of the storage arrangements
based on the production of organic fertiliser over any 12-month period, and
(ii) whether or not there is
sufficient land available to spread it using the maximum field application rate
set out in Article 7(2)(c) and (3), taking into account any period when it
cannot be spread and any other restrictions on spreading;
(b) the identification of
suitable and unsuitable areas for the application of organic fertiliser, taking
account of factors such as slope, soil type and the proximity of controlled
waters by recording on a map, to be known as the “field-by-field risk map” –
(i) areas where organic fertiliser must not be
applied due to the high risk of causing pollution to controlled waters as “high
risk/no application”,
(ii) areas where organic fertiliser
either must not be applied under certain conditions or where application must
be restricted as “moderate risk/special conditions”, and
(iii) the remaining areas as
“lower risk”;
(c) a description of the risk
assessment that must be carried out so as to minimise the risk of water
pollution during and after application of the organic fertiliser to the land,
including –
(i) reference to the field-by-field risk map,
(ii) an assessment of the
weather and field conditions, and
(iii) what to do in the event
of a water pollution incident.
(5) Relevant information in
the plans must be shared with any user of the land so as to enable that user to
meet the requirements of Article 9.
6 Calibration of equipment
(1) Any equipment used to
apply fertiliser must be maintained in a good state of repair.
(2) The calibration of all
mechanical fertiliser application equipment must be carried out at least once a
year.
7 Application of fertilisers
(1) Subject to
paragraph (2)(b), the quantity of fertiliser applied must not exceed that
recommended by RB209.
(2) Fertiliser must not be
applied –
(a) in the case of nitrogen
fertiliser, to any crop of Jersey Royal potatoes in excess of 210 kg per
hectare;
(b) in the case of inorganic
phosphorus fertiliser, to soils with a P soil index in excess of 4, unless the
user of that fertiliser provides independent evidence to satisfy the Minister
that, due to the low soil temperature, the application of fertiliser with a P
soil index in excess of 4 is necessary to meet reasonable growing conditions;
and
(c) in the case of organic
fertiliser, so that the total level of nitrogen in any 12‑month
period –
(i) in the case of livestock manure, are in
excess of 170 kg per hectare, and
(ii) in any other case, are
in excess of 250 kg per hectare.
(3) However, if the only
organic fertiliser to be applied is compost that –
(a) does not contain
livestock manure;
(b) is applied as mulch or
worked into the ground;
(c) is produced to the
British Standards Institute specification for composted materials PAS100:2011
or equivalent standard; and
(d) the Minister has given
written permission for the application,
the compost may be applied in levels of up to 500 kg of
nitrogen per hectare over any 24-month period.
(4) No organic fertiliser may
be applied to land that is –
(a) within 50 metres of
a groundwater source mentioned in Article 4(1)(a);
(b) within 10 metres of
any inland water;
(c) frozen, waterlogged,
compacted on the surface or covered with snow; or
(d) a loafing paddock or other
heavily-grazed field.
(5) No inorganic fertiliser
may be applied to land that is –
(a) within 5 metres of a
groundwater source mentioned in Article 4(1)(a);
(b) within 5 metres of
any inland water; or
(c) frozen, waterlogged,
compacted on the surface or covered with snow.
(6) No spreading of organic
fertiliser with a high readily available nitrogen content as defined in RB209
is permitted between 1st November and the following 15th of January in any year
except with the written permission of the Minister.
(7) In this Article “P soil
index” means the level of phosphorus in soil as measured in accordance with
RB209.
8 Soil management measures
(1) Land must be managed in
such a way that the risk of pollution to controlled waters is minimised.
(2) Any person who manages
that land must have in place a written plan, to be known as a “soil protection
plan”, designed to allow for the sustainable management of the soil in a way
that optimises the productivity of the land and minimises the risk of pollution
to controlled waters.
(3) The soil protection plan
must be reviewed and updated each year, or more frequently if a change in
circumstances so requires, and must include the following matters –
(a) a statement setting out
the measures undertaken to protect the soil and manage its cultivation along
with a water pollution risk assessment in respect of the land;
(b) the identification of
each field under cultivation of which is or may be at risk of water pollution
due to factors such as erosion, compaction or persistent loss of soil, poor
draining or poaching by livestock;
(c) where factors giving rise
to a risk of water pollution occur regularly, the measures put in place for
addressing them, including an appropriate timescale for review of the measures
and an assessment of their success.
(4) Any person who uses fertilisers
on that land must –
(a) be in possession of an
analysis of the soil on that land that is less than 4 years old, showing the
magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and pH indices in accordance with RB209; and
(b) take this analysis into
account when calculating any fertiliser requirement.
9 Record-keeping
(1) A record must be kept of
every fertiliser imported, sold or purchased by any person responsible for the
importation, sale or purchase, containing the following information –
(a) the quantity of
fertiliser imported, sold or purchased;
(b) the mass and
concentration of nitrogen, phosphorus or other elements in the fertiliser;
(c) the nature and
composition of the fertiliser;
(d) the date of import, sale
or purchase;
(e) the intended use of the
fertiliser;
(f) the name and contact
details of the person importing, selling or purchasing the fertiliser.
(2) A record must be kept of
the nature and composition, including nutrient content, of any fertiliser that
is stored, including where and for how long it is stored and how that storage
is managed in order to minimise any risk of water pollution.
(3) All records and plans
required to be kept under this Order must be –
(a) provided to the
Minister on request;
(b) kept for a minimum of 4 years;
and
(c) made available for
inspection by the Minister on request.
(4) The records and plans
required to be kept under this Order must be such as will enable the Minister
to ascertain the extent to which the requirements of this Order are being met
and must be available in electronic form.
10 Citation
and commencement
This Order may be cited
as the Water Pollution (Water Management) (Jersey) Order 2020 and comes into
force as follows –
(a) Articles 1, 2, 10 and
the Schedule 7 days after the day the Order is made;
(b) Articles 3 to 9 on
1st February 2021.