Decree no. 282 of 2023 on Water Pollution Control (Action Programme for the protection of waters from nitrate pollution of agricultural origin).

This Decree, made under article 7 (2) (c) of the Water Pollution Control Law, provides for implementing the Action Programme for the Protection of Waters from Nitrate Pollution of Agricultural Origin. The Action Programme aims at protecting the environment and specifically the pollution of underground and surface waters from nitrate pollution and therefore at taking measures to limit the pollution effects. The Decree provides for the application of the Action Programme in all the vulnerable zones of the Republic, and requires farmers and livestock breeders involved in these zones to observe the provisions of the Action Programme. The Action Programme defines the main sources of nitrates that cause nitrate pollution: nitrogen fertilisers and nutrients, livestock waste, soil organic residues. The Action Programme focuses on: measures to limit nitrogen pollution, storage and transport of fertilisers, prohibition and restriction of the use of fertilisers; management of livestock waste and decomposition residues; municipal sewage sludge management; irrigation methods; water and soil quality analyses; nitrogen requirements of crops.