DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDS FOR THE MONITORING OF QUALITY ELEMENTS FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF WATER STATUS FOLLOWING THE WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE
Status boxVersion no.: 3.0Date: 29 September 2005
Author(s): DG Environment
Status of agreement: The document has been discussed with CEN in a meeting on 14 September 2005.
General comments:
The intention of this document is to establish and agree a process to develop standards to support the water status assessment following the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The objective is to identify and develop standards that would be added to the list on Section 1.3.6 of Annex V of the WFD, following Article 20 of the WFD.
The document clarifies the role of each participant in the process, namely CEN TC 230, DG Environment, the WFD Common Implementation Strategy and the WFD Article 21 Regulatory Committee.
The document will be presented at the Ecostat meeting in October 2005and to the SCG and WFD Committee meetings in 26-27 October 2005. /
DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDS FOR THE MONITORING OF QUALITY ELEMENTS FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF WATER STATUS FOLLOWING THE WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE
Prepared by DG Environment – Unit D.2 Protection of Water and Marine Environment
September 2005
Introduction
The intention of this document is to establish and agree a process to develop standards to support the water status assessment following the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The objective is to develop standards that would be added to the list on Section 1.3.6 of Annex V of the WFD.
The document will clarify the role of each participant in the process, namely CEN TC 230, DG Environment, the WFD Common Implementation Strategy and the WFD Article 21 Regulatory Committee.
Proposed process to develop WFD relevant standards
Step1: Identification and proposal of the standard or standards to be developed
The relevant WFD CIS Working Group(WG) proposes a standard or standards to be developed. Depending on the subject of the standards proposed, some of the WGs that may put forward proposals are WG A on Ecological Status (Ecostat), WG C on Groundwater, future WG E on Priority Substances or the Expert group on Chemical Monitoring.
The proposals should outline the standard, defining its scope, expected content and main information sources. Some time should be allowed for the WG members to provide written comments on the proposals. The proposal should be presented and approved in one of the regular WG meetings.
Step 2: Present the proposal to the CIS Strategic Co-ordination Group (SCG)
The support of the SCG is necessary for the process to carry on. If there is no agreement, DG Environment may decide to put the issue forward to the WFD Committee for voting whether or not the proposed standard development should become of the work programme. If more strategic and principle issues of disagreement are identified, DG Environment may decide to request the opinion of the Water Directors on how to pursue this matter in the context of the WFD implementation.
Step 3: Endorsement at the WFD Committee
The WFD Committee will be informed about the agreements at the SCG and formally endorse the standard development as part of the work programme of the Committee.
Step 4: DG Environment request to CEN
This can include the financial support of the standardisation work.
This must be done in the frame of current agreements between the Commission and CEN.
Where appropriate/necessary, DG Environment will formulate a description of the work which needs to be carried out. In the framework of the existing agreements between CEN and the Commission, it will be decided in what precise form the request should be made to CEN and the financial modalities.
Step 5: CEN develops the standard
At the first stage, the expected timeframe for the development of any new mandated standards should be presented and agreed by DG Environment. Thereafter, during the development phase, CEN will keep the relevant CIS Working Group, SCG and the WFD Committeeinformed about the progress. A progress report should be made by CEN at least once a year. On the technical aspects of the standard, there should be regular opportunities for the relevant CIS Working Groups to provide comments. At the same time, regular project management meetings should take place between DG Environment and CEN.
Step 6: Commission Decision adapting Section 1.3.6 of Annex V
Before a standard is adopted by CEN, there should be an opportunity for written comment by the WFD Committee. Once the standard is adopted by CEN, DG Environment will put forward to the WFD Regulatory Committee for voting the Commission Decision to update the list in Section 1.3.6 of Annex V of the WFD and include the new standard as part of the regulatory requirement of the WFD.
PROPOSED TIMETABLE TO DEVELOPA LIST OF WFD RELEVANT STANDARDS IN THE FIELD OF BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL METHODS TO BE DEVELOPED WITH THE AIM OF ADAPTING SECTION 1.3.6 OF ANNEX V OF THE WFD (STEPS 1 TO 3)
The proposed objective is to develop a prioritised WFD relevant list of standards to be voted by the WFD Committee in the last meeting in 2006. The agreed standards will be then developed by CEN and they will be the basis for the adaptation of Annex V Section 1.3.6 of the WFD, on the basis of Article 20. The prioritised list may include:
-Existing standards not included in the current Annex V Section 1.3.6.
-Standards currently under development or under revision by CEN TC 230.
-Standards identified as relevant for which standardisation process can be started.
-Standards identified as relevant for which pre- and conormative research is needed.
The document will provide a proposal for timetable for the delivery of the different standards and for the information links to be established between the CEN standardisation and the CIS process.
Date / Event / Expected outcome13-14 October 2005 / ECOSTAT meeting / Agreement on the process and timetable
26-27 October 2005 / SCG meeting / Submission/approval of the document
27 October 2005 / WFD Committee meeting / Information point
17 November 2005 / CMA meeting / Presentation of the document and call for comments for establishing a roadmap 2006
28-29 November 2005 / Water Directors meeting in London / Presentation of the agreement for information
Late January 2006 / First Workshop ECOSTAT/CEN / Main input for the drafting of the prioritised list of standards to be proposed to the WFD Committee.
15-16 March 2006 / ECOSTAT meeting / Agreement on the draft list of standards to be presented to the WFD Committee
23 March 2006 / CMA meeting
May 2006 / SCG meeting
May 2006 / WFD Committee meeting
June 2006 / CEN TC 230 annual meeting / Agreement on the draft list of standards
October 2006 / ECOSTAT meeting / Final discussions
October 2006 / CMA meeting / Final discussions
November 2006 / SCG meeting / Agreement on the list to be put forward to the Committee
November 2006 / WFD Committee meeting / Formal voting to add the list of standards to the WFD Committee work programme
With regard to biological standards, the Harmonisation Task Team, consisting of JRC and CEN, will lead the technical development in coordination with ECOSTAT group and WG2 of CEN TC 230. The intercalibration exercise, and in particular the GIGs, are expected to provide an important technical input to the process, mainly through the ad-hoc workshop organised in January 2006.
With respect to chemical standards, discussions will take place in the framework of the Chemical Monitoring Activity (CMA) in which CEN TC/230 is represented.
Some key actions proposed to fulfil the proposed timetable are the following:
-November 2005 (CEN): Following the initial agreement on the process, CEN will formalise the liaison member status for the ECOSTAT to allow the existing and under development standards to be distributed to the group and discussed.
-November 2005 (Intercalibration Steering Group): request information from GIGs on specific methods that would merit standardisation. It would input the preparation of the background document for the January workshop.
-November-December 2005 (Harmonisation Task Team): prepare a background document to serve as a basis for discussion on the January workshop. The document will provide a first list of existing and under development standards, including their scope and background information, and a list of methods identified by the Task Team on the basis of the report on Harmonisation, on the information collated from GIGs and other relevant information.
-November 2005 (CMA): decision on the re-launching of WG1 of CEN TC/230 with the aim to identify standardisation needs on the basis of recommendations of the AMPS report and to prepare a background document for discussion at the CMA meeting of 23 March 2006.
-From February to November 2006 (Harmonisation Task Team): as a follow-up of the January workshop, prepare a first proposal to be distributed to the ECOSTAT members for written comments. Update and amend the document as the process proceeds until November 2006.
-From February to November 2006 (CMA): preparation of a list of proposed standard methods in the chemical sector.
-November 2006 (DG Environment/Harmonisation Task Team/CMA): organisation of a second workshop on the R&D opportunities under FP 7 in support of priority areas for future standardisation relating to CIS priorities.
-2006 (DG Environment/CEN): prepare the agreement to support the standardisation process with the aim of having it ready by the end of 2006, to be signed after the WFD Committee formal vote in November 2006.