European Communities Environmental Objectives (Surface Waters) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 (S.I. No. 288/2022).

These Regulations amend the European Communities Environmental Objectives (Surface Waters) Regulations 2009 (S.I. No. 272 of 2009) (Principal Regulations) in several sections; Article 3; Article 32; Article 44; and Schedule. Moreover the Principal Regulations are amended by inserting Article 29A after Article 29: Artificial and heavily modified surface status classifications. The quality elements applicable to artificial and heavily modified surface water bodies shall be those applicable to whichever of the following natural surface water categories most clearly resembles the heavily modified or artificial water body concerned: rivers; lakes; transitional waters; coastal waters. For the purposes of these Regulations, the definitions in Table 4A in Schedule 4 shall apply.
The Principal Regulations are also amended by the insertion of a new Part IVA after Part IV; Monitoring of ecological and chemical status. The new Part requires the Agency to establish and maintain a surface water monitoring network in accordance with the requirements of article 10(1) of the 2003 Regulations. Where possible the monitoring network shall obtain both acute and chronic data for the taxa ( algae or macrophytes; daphnia or representative organisms for saline waters; fish) which are relevant for the water body type concerned as well as any other aquatic taxa for which data are available. The monitoring network shall be designed so as to provide a coherent and comprehensive overview of ecological and chemical status within each river basin and shall permit classification of water bodies into 5 classes consistent with the normative definitions in Table A in Schedule 4. The Regulations then provide details on procedure for setting the environmental quality standard; standards for monitoring of quality elements. Schedule 4 to the Principal Regulations is amended by inserting after Table 4 the following Table: Table 4A - Normative Definitions of ecological status classifications.