Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2017 (S.R. No. 81 of 2017).

These Regulations continue to transpose for Northern Ireland Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy) ( the WFD ) and also transpose aspects of Directive 2006/118/EEC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of groundwater against pollution and deterioration ( the GWD ) and of Directive 2008/105/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on environmental quality standards in the field of water policy (the EQSD ). They impose duties on the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs ( the Department ) and the Department for Infrastructure to carry out certain functions so as to ensure compliance with the WFD, GWD and EQSD, in particular when deciding whether to grant, vary or revoke types of authorisations which affect water quality, and to co-ordinate their actions relating to these three Directives. They also, among other things: require the identification of river basin districts, and a number of other assessments to be carried out by the Department to characterise and classify the status of water bodies in those districts, and assess the economic aspects of water use; make provision for identification and protection of areas from which drinking water is abstracted; set out a procedure for designating areas of water as shellfish water protected areas and require a number of types of areas which are protected by other EU legislation (for example, protected habitats and birds sites) to be included on registers of protected areas; set out what monitoring of water quality the Department must undertake in relation to water bodies, including protected areas; provide for the establishment of environmental objectives for each water body, and programmes of measures to meet those objectives; provide with respect to river basin management plans ( RBMPs ) which must be established for each river basin district.