What changed between the draft committee report and the plenary report

DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

9 unchanged paragraphs

on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning urban wastewater treatment (recast)

(COM(2022)541 – C96363/2022 – 2022/0345(COD))

(Ordinary legislative procedure – recast)

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council (COM(2022)541),

– having regard to Article 294(2) and Article 192(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C96363/2022),

– having regard to Article 294(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

– having regard to the reasoned opinions submitted, within the framework of Protocol No 2 on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, by the Belgian Chamber of Representatives and the Austrian Federal Council, asserting that the draft legislative act does not comply with the principle of subsidiarity,

– having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee of 22 February 2023,

Changed:– having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions of…,of 6 July 2023,

– having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 28 November 2001 on a more structured use of the recasting technique for legal acts,

Changed:– having regard to the letter of xxx14 September 2023 sent by the Committee on Legal Affairs to the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety in accordance with Rule 110(3) of its Rules of Procedure,

Removed:– having regard to the provisional agreement approved by the committee responsible under Rule 74(4) of its Rules of Procedure and the undertaking given by the Council representative by letter of [XXX] to approve Parliament’s position, in accordance with Article 294(4) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

– having regard to Rules 110 and 59 of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the opinion of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development,

Changed:– having regard to the report of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (A90000/2023),(A9-0276/2023),

4 unchanged paragraphs

A. whereas, according to the Consultative Working Party of the legal services of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, the Commission proposal does not include any substantive amendments other than those identified as such in the proposal and whereas, as regards the codification of the unchanged provisions of the earlier acts together with those amendments, the proposal contains a straightforward codification of the existing texts, without any change in their substance;

1. Adopts its position at first reading hereinafter set out, taking into account the recommendations of the Consultative Working Party of the legal services of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission;

2. Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it replaces, substantially amends or intends to substantially amend its proposal;

3. Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.

Change 1

Removed:Recital 4: (4) Small agglomerations constitute a significant pressure on 11 % of the surface water bodies in the Union39 . To better tackle the pollution from such agglomerations, and to prevent discharges of untreated urban wastewater into the environment, the scope of this Directive should include all agglomerations of 500 population equivalent (p.e.) and above.

Added:Recital 1 a (new): (1a) Water is a public good which belongs to everyone and is for everyone and which, as a natural resource that is essential, irreplaceable and indispensable to life, needs to be considered and integrated in its three dimensions: social, economic and environmental.

Removed:Recital 5: (5) In order to ensure effective treatment of urban wastewater before discharge into the environment, all urban wastewaters from agglomerations of 500 p.e. and above should be collected in centralised collecting systems. Where such systems are already in place, Member States should ensure that all sources of urban wastewater are connected to them.

Added:Recital 1 b (new): (1b) The European Parliament resolutions of 5 October 2022 on access to water as a human right – the external dimension, and of 8 September 2015 on the follow-up to the European Citizens’ Initiative ‘Right2Water’ state that water should be treated as a common good.

Removed:Recital 8: (8) In order to ensure that the integrated urban wastewater management plans are cost-effective, it is important that they are based on best practices in advanced urban areas. Therefore, the measures to be considered should be based on a thorough analysis of the local conditions and should favour a preventive approach aiming at limiting the collection of unpolluted rain waters and optimising the use of existing infrastructures. With a preference for ‘green’ developments, new grey infrastructures should only be envisaged where absolutely necessary. In order to protect the environment, in particular the coastal and marine environment, and public health from being adversely affected by the discharge of insufficiently treated urban wastewater, secondary treatment should be applied to all discharges of urban wastewater from agglomerations of 500 p.e. and above.

Added:Recital 2: (2) Directive 91/271/EEC sets the legal framework for the collection, treatment and discharge of urban wastewater and the discharge of biodegradable wastewaters from certain industrial sectors. The objective of this framework is to protect the environment, including the biodiversity of land-based, marine and coastal ecosystems from being adversely affected by insufficiently treated urban wastewater discharges in order to achieve the objectives established under Directive 2000/60/EC and other relevant legislation. This Directive should, in view of the green transition objectives set by the Green Deal, continue to pursue the same objective, whilst also contributing to the protection of public health, when for instance urban wastewater is discharged in bathing waters or in water bodies used for the abstraction of drinking water, or when urban wastewater is used as an indicator for parameters relevant for public health. It should also ensure access to sanitation and to key information related to the governance of the urban wastewater collection and treatment activities. This Directive should also contribute to the progressive reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from urban wastewater collection and treatment activities, notably by further reducing nitrogen emissions but also by promoting energy efficiency and production of renewable energies, and thus should contribute to the 2050 objective of Climate Neutrality established under Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 of the European P…

Removed:Recital 10: (10) Tertiary treatment should also be mandatory in agglomerations of 10 000 p.e. and above that are discharging in areas subject to, or at risk of, eutrophication. In order to ensure that efforts to limit eutrophication are coordinated at the level of the relevant basins for the whole catchment zone, areas where eutrophication is considered an issue according to currently available data should be listed in this Directive. Additionally, to ensure coherence between relevant Union legislation, Member States should identify other areas subject to, or at risk of, eutrophication on their territory, and identify whether the areas are nitrogen - or phosphorus -sensitive, notably on the basis of data collected under Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council40 , Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council41 and Council Directive 91/676/EEC42 . The reinforcement of the limit values, a more coherent and inclusive identification of the areas sensitive to eutrophication and the obligation to ensure tertiary treatment for all large facilities will, in combination, contribute to limit eutrophication. Since this will require additional investments on the national level, Member States should be given sufficient time to establish the required infrastructure.

Added:Recital 4: (4) Small agglomerations constitute a significant pressure on 11 % of the surface water bodies in the Union39. To better tackle the pollution from such agglomerations, and to prevent discharges of untreated urban wastewater into the environment, the scope of this Directive should include agglomerations of 750 population equivalent (p.e.) and above.

Removed:Some catchment areas are not sensitive to both Phosphorus and Nitrogen but rather to one of them. As such, the Member States should identify whether areas sensitive to eutrophication are P- or N-sensitive and take subsequent measures based on that to limit eutrophication. Strict requirements on reduction of both nutrients could incur high costs with little to no additional environmental benefits.

Added:Recital 5: (5) In order to ensure effective treatment of urban wastewater before discharge into the environment, all urban wastewaters from agglomerations of 750 p.e. and above should be collected in centralised collecting systems. Where such systems are already in place, Member States should ensure that all sources of urban wastewater are connected to them. Where such systems are not connected to one other, Member States should encourage and support small municipalities to join together to manage wastewaters collectively, with this joint management also making a reduction in costs possible.

Removed:Recital 13: (13) The quaternary treatment necessary to remove micro-pollutants from urban wastewater will imply additional costs, such as costs related to monitoring and new advanced equipment to be installed in certain urban wastewater treatment plants. In order to cover these additional costs and in accordance with the polluter-pays principle expressed in Article 191(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), it is essential that the producers placing on the Union market products containing substances which, at the end of their life, are found as micro-pollutants in urban wastewaters (‘micro-pollutant substances’) contribute to paying the costs related to the additional treatment required to remove those substances generated. A national financing programme of which a system of extended producer responsibility is a part is the most appropriate means to achieve this, as it would decrease the financial impact on the taxpayer and water tariff, while providing an incentive to develop greener products as much as possible. Pharmaceuticals and cosmetic residues currently represent the main sources of micro-pollutants found in urban wastewater requiring an additional treatment (quaternary treatment). Therefore, initially the producers of medicinal products for human use and cosmetic products should contribute towards additional treatment. Other sectors, might, in the future, also need to be required to contribute to such treatment following a review of this Directive.

Added:Recital 6: (6) Exceptionally, where it can be demonstrated that the establishment of a centralised urban wastewater collecting system would produce no environmental benefit or involve excessive costs, Member States should be allowed to use individual systems to treat urban wastewater, as long as they ensure the same level of environmental protection as secondary and tertiary treatment. For this purpose, Member States should establish national and, where appropriate, regional registers to identify individual systems used on their territory and take all necessary measures to ensure that the design of such systems is adequate, that the systems are properly maintained and that they are subject to a regular compliance control. In particular, Member States should ensure that individual systems used for the collection and storage of urban wastewater are impervious and leak-proof, and that monitoring and inspection of the systems are carried out at regular and fixed intervals. In order to allow for a harmonised regulation of individual systems among Member States, the Commission should provide guidance on the requirements mentioned above on the design, operation and maintenance of such individual systems.

Removed:Pharmaceuticals and PCPs have a societal added value. Society as a whole has a responsibility for the consumption and/ or usage of these products and should therefore contribute toward cleaning it up.

Added:Recital 7: (7) During rainfall, storm water overflows and urban runoff discharges represent a sizeable remaining source of pollution discharged into the environment. Those emissions are expected to increase due to the combined effects of urbanisation, and progressive change of the rain regime linked with climate change. Climate change will indeed increase the likelihood of storm water overflows and urban runoff. Urban wastewater management infrastructures are therefore particularly vulnerable to climate change. Solutions to reduce that source of pollution should be defined at local and regional level taking into account the specific local conditions, including climatic ones and the vulnerability of those infrastructures. It would also be beneficial to have local and regional action plans covering multiple localities when they are all liable to be impacted by the same watercourses in circumstances of abundant precipitation and, implicitly, by urban runoff. They should be based on an integrated quantitative and qualitative water management in urban areas. In addition, control at source including through nature-based solutions should be mainstreamed as a first step to avoid pollution in urban runoff, as well as co-ordination of measures to control the quantity of urban runoff at source. Therefore, Member States should ensure that integrated urban wastewater management plans, including a stress test assessment of the vulnerability of collecting systems and urban wastewater treatment plants …

Removed:Recital 14: (14) Exonerations from the extended producer responsibility obligations should nevertheless be possible where products are placed on the market in small quantities, i.e. less than 2 tonnes of products calculated for the Union market, since the additional administrative burden for the producer would in such cases be disproportionate compared to the environmental benefits. Exonerations should also be possible when the producer can demonstrate that no micro-pollutants are generated at the end of life of a product. It might be the case for instance where it can be proven that the residues from a product are rapidly biodegradable in the wastewaters and the environment or not reaching the urban wastewater treatment plants. The Commission should be empowered to adopt implementing acts to establish detailed criteria to identify the products placed on the market that do not generate micro-pollutants in wastewaters at the end of their life. When developing these criteria, the Commission should take into account scientific or other available technical information, including relevant international standards.

Added:Recital 7 a (new): (7a) When establishing their integrated urban wastewater management plans, Member States should take into account the cumulative effects of demographic changes, meteorological phenomena and the expected sea level rise, especially in coastal areas and littoral regions. Those cumulative effects, which cause overflows in wastewater treatment plants, have a negative impact on the environment and on health by increasing pollution. Wastewater management in such areas should be appropriately addressed, including regular monitoring of wastewater system maintenance.

Removed:Clarifies that the exemption is calculated based on the volume of products placed on the Union market, not on the Member State market.

Added:Recital 7 b (new): (7b) Better management of water quality and quantities in urban areas will contribute to climate adaptation. In order to reduce the negative effects of storm water overflows, Member States should aim at increasing green and blue spaces in urban areas by taking into account the Urban Greening platform which provides guidance and knowledge to support towns and cities. Member States should aim as well to develop new infrastructures, giving priority to green and blue infrastructure such as green urban spaces, green roofs, vegetated ditches, treatment wetlands and storage ponds designed to support biodiversity. Preventive measures aimed at avoiding the entry of unpolluted rain waters into collecting systems, and measures increasing green and blue spaces should include measures promoting natural water retention or rainwater harvesting. Other actions could include increasing the number of parks, trees and woodland patches with native species, green roofs, wildflower grasslands, gardens, tree-lined streets, urban meadows and hedges, ponds and watercourses limiting impermeable surfaces in agglomerations and the amount of city horticulture, which can not only create a good habitat for pollinators, birds and other species, but also directly help to control and reduce rainwater and related pollution, while improving the overall quality of life in such cities. Where relevant, water reuse should be considered in the context of the development of the integrated urban wastewater management p…

Removed:Recital 15: (15) In order to avoid possible internal market distortions, minimum requirements for the implementation of the extended producer responsibility should be established in this Directive, while the practical organisation of the system should be decided at national level. The contributions of the producers should be proportionate to the quantities of the products they place on the market and the hazardouness of their residues. The contributions should cover in part the costs for the monitoring activities for micro-pollutants, the collection, reporting and impartial verification of statistics on the quantities and hazardouness of products placed on the market, and the application of the quaternary treatment to urban wastewater in an efficient manner and in accordance with this Directive. Since urban wastewater is treated collectively, it is appropriate to introduce a requirement for producers to join a centralised organisation which can implement their obligations under the extended producer responsibility on their behalf.

Added:Recital 8: (8) In order to ensure that the integrated urban wastewater management plans are cost-effective, it is important that they are based on best practices in advanced urban areas, taking also into account the availability of digital tools and the constant change in the chemical composition of wastewaters resulting from the appearance of new products on the market, which necessitates appropriate measures for the identification and elimination of such products from the wastewaters. Therefore, the measures to be considered should be based on a thorough analysis of the local conditions and should favour a preventive approach aiming at limiting the collection of unpolluted rain waters and optimising the use of existing infrastructures to generate energy savings and contribute to emission reduction. With a preference for ‘green’ and ‘blue’ developments and investments, new grey infrastructures should only be envisaged where absolutely necessary. In order to protect the environment, in particular the coastal and marine environment, and public health, including the protection of surface, ground and drinking water, from being adversely affected by the discharge of insufficiently treated urban wastewater, secondary treatment should be applied to all discharges of urban wastewater from agglomerations of 750 p.e. and above.

Removed:Recital 16: (16) The evaluation has also shown that the wastewater treatment sector offers the opportunity to significantly reduce its own energy consumption and to produce renewable energy, for example by better use of the available surfaces in urban wastewater treatment plants for solar energy production or by producing biogas from sludge. The evaluation also illustrated that, without clear legal obligations, only partial progress can be expected in this sector. In this context, Member States should be required to ensure that the total annual energy used by all urban wastewater treatment plants on their national territory treating a load of 10 000 p.e. and above does not exceed the production of energy from renewable sources as defined in Article 2(1) of Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council44 , by those urban wastewater treatment plants through for instance on site, next-to site, or contributions to an external energy production system, such as sending sludge to a centralised biogas production facility. That objective should be progressively met with interim targets by 31 December 2040. Reaching this energy neutrality target will contribute to reduce the avoidable greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the sector by 46 %, while supporting the achievement of the 2050 climate neutrality objectives and related national and Union objectives, such as the objectives set out in Regulation (EU) 2018/842 of the European Parliament and of the Council45 . Encouragin…

Added:Recital 9 a (new): (9a) It is of great importance that the Commission take the enormous difficulties and challenges for wastewater treatment into account, such as in the revision of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 on the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (the ‘REACH Regulation’) regarding the phase out of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). In its communication of 14 October 2020 entitled ‘Chemical Strategy for Sustainability Towards a Toxic-Free Environment’, the Commission pointed out that PFAS require special attention, considering the large number of cases of contamination of soil and water - including drinking water - in the Union and globally, the number of people affected with a full spectrum of illnesses and the related societal and economic costs, and it set the objective of phasing out PFAS in the Union, unless they are proven essential for society.

Removed:Recital 19: (19) Urban wastewater treatment plants also receive non-domestic wastewater, including industrial wastewater, which can contain a range of pollutants not explicitly covered by Directive 91/271/EEC, such as heavy metals, micro-plastics, micro-pollutants and other chemicals. In most instances, there is a poor understanding and knowledge of such pollution which could deteriorate the functioning of the treatment process and contribute to the pollution of the receiving waters, but also prevent the recovery of sludge and the re-use of treated wastewater. Member States should therefore regularly monitor and report on such non-domestic pollution that enters the urban wastewater treatment plants and is discharged into water bodies. To prevent pollution from non-domestic wastewater discharges at source, releases from industries or enterprises connected to collecting systems should be subject to prior authorisation. In order to ensure that collecting systems and urban wastewater treatment plants are technically capable of receiving and treating the incoming pollution, the operators who manage urban wastewater treatment plants receiving non-domestic wastewater should be consulted before those permits are issued and should be able to consult the issued permits in order to be able to adapt their treatment processes. Where non-domestic pollution is identified in the incoming waters, Member States should take appropriate measures to reduce pollution at source, by enhancing the monitoring of …

Added:Recital 10: (10) Tertiary treatment should also be mandatory in agglomerations of 10 000 p.e. and above that are discharging in areas subject to, or at risk of, eutrophication. In order to ensure that efforts to limit eutrophication are coordinated at the level of the relevant basins for the whole catchment zone, areas where eutrophication is considered an issue according to currently available data should be listed in this Directive. Additionally, to ensure coherence between relevant Union legislation, Member States should identify other areas subject to, or at risk of, eutrophication on their territory, and identify whether the areas are nitrogen- or phosphorus- sensitive notably on the basis of data collected under Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council40, Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council41and Council Directive 91/676/EEC42. The reinforcement of the limit values, a more coherent and inclusive identification of the areas sensitive to eutrophication and the obligation to ensure tertiary treatment for all large facilities will, in combination, contribute to limit eutrophication. Since this will require additional investments on the national level, Member States should be given sufficient time to establish the required infrastructure.

Added:Recital 10 a (new): (10a) The development of the potential of the urban wastewater sector towards a circular economy of nutrients, and the promotion of the implementation of water reuse, in line with the new Circular Economy Action Plan1a, would entail that reclaimed water which is to be used for agricultural irrigation purposes in compliance with the European Water Reuse Regulation, could apply less restrictive requirements for nutrient removal established in this Directive. / 1a Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. A new Circular Economy Action Plan For a cleaner and more competitive Europe.

Added:Recital 11: (11) Recent scientific knowledge underpinning several Commission strategies43highlights the need to take action to address the issue of micro-pollutants, which are now detected in all waters in the Union and which are being generated by the appearance on the market of new domestic or industrial products which necessitate new methods of identification and elimination from wastewaters. Some of those micropollutants are hazardous for public health and the environment even in small quantities. An additional treatment, i.e. quaternary treatment, should therefore be introduced in order to ensure that a large spectrum of micro-pollutants is removed from urban wastewater. Quaternary treatment should first focus on organic micro-pollutants, which represent a significant part of the pollution and for which removal technologies are already designed. The treatment should be consistent with Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (the ‘Water framework Directive’) and be imposed based on the precautionary principle combined with a risk-based approach. Therefore, all urban wastewater treatment plants of 150 000 p.e. and above should provide quaternary treatment, as those facilities represent a significant share of micro-pollutant discharges in the environment and the removal of micro-pollutants by urban wastewater treatment plants at such scale is cost-effective. For agglomerations of between 35 000 p.e. and 150 000 p.e., Member States should be required to apply …

Added:Recital 13: (13) The quaternary treatment necessary to remove micro-pollutants from urban wastewater will imply additional costs, such as costs related to monitoring and new advanced equipment to be installed in certain urban wastewater treatment plants. In order to cover these additional costs and in accordance with the polluter-pays principle expressed in Article 191(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), it is essential that the producers placing on the Union market products containing substances which, at the end of their life, are found as micro-pollutants in urban wastewaters (‘micro-pollutant substances’) take responsibility for the additional treatment required to remove those substances, generated in the context of their professional activities. A system of extended producer responsibility is the most appropriate means to achieve this, as it would limit the financial impact on the taxpayer and water tariff, while providing an incentive to develop greener products. To limit unintended consequences on the availability, affordability and accessibility of vital products, the producer responsibility should be complemented by national funding, due to the high societal value of the sectors covered by the extended producer responsibility. Extended producer responsibility schemes should be implemented in line with the deadline provided in the transposition provisions of this Directive. Pursuant to Article 191 TFEU, Union policy on the environment is to aim at a…

Added:Recital 13 a (new): (13a) Micro- and nanoplastic pollution is often caused by dyeing and washing processes of synthetic textiles as synthetic microfibres are released into wastewater. This is particularly the case for plastic microfibres or nanoplastics, fragments of macroplastics, macrowaste or particles from other forms of plastic degradation, the presence of which in the environment and the ocean has been underestimated for a long time. Most micro-plastics from textiles are released during the first five to ten washes, which only solidifies the link between fast fashion and micro-plastic pollution. The Commission should submit a legislative proposal, accompanied by an impact assessment, in line with its initiative on ‘Microplastics pollution – measures to reduce its impact on the environment’ to oblige the fitting of microfibre filters for new washing machines at EU level by 31 December 2027.

Added:Recital 14: (14) Exonerations from the extended producer responsibility obligations should nevertheless be possible where products are placed on the market in small quantities, i.e. less than 2 tonnes of products calculated for the Union market, since the additional administrative burden for the producer would in such cases be disproportionate compared to the environmental benefits. Exonerations should also be possible when the producer can demonstrate that the products they place on the market are rapidly biodegradable or that no micro-pollutants are generated at the end of life of a product. It might be the case for instance where it can be proven that the residues from a product are rapidly biodegradable in the wastewaters and the environment or not reaching the urban wastewater treatment plants. The Commission should be empowered to adopt implementing acts to establish detailed criteria to identify the products placed on the market that do not generate micro-pollutants in wastewaters at the end of their life. When developing these criteria, the Commission should take into account scientific or other available technical information, including relevant international standards.

Added:Recital 14 a (new): (14a) When ensuring that producers have extended producer responsibility, Member States should be able to add other sectors, such as pesticides, household products and plastic additives, based on the evidence of the presence of micro-pollutants in the water after passing through tertiary treatment, in the sludge or permanently in the system in order to reflect national specificities.

Added:Recital 15: (15) In order to avoid possible internal market distortions, minimum requirements for the implementation of the extended producer responsibility should be established in this Directive, while the practical organisation of the system should be decided at national level. The Commission should provide guidance on the extended producer responsibility schemes to allow for harmonised implementation among Member States. The contributions of the producers should be proportionate to the quantities of the products they place on the market and the hazardousness of their residues. The contributions should, together with national financing, cover the costs for the monitoring activities for micro-pollutants, the collection, analysis, reporting and impartial verification of statistics on the quantities and hazardousness of products placed on the market, the costs of providing adequate information to consumers and the application and operation of the quaternary treatment to urban wastewater in an efficient manner and in accordance with this Directive. Since urban wastewater is treated collectively, it is appropriate to introduce a requirement for producers to join a centralised organisation which can implement their obligations under the extended producer responsibility on their behalf.

Added:Recital 16: (16) The evaluation has also shown that the wastewater treatment sector offers the opportunity to significantly reduce its own energy consumption and to produce renewable energy, for example by better use of the available surfaces in urban wastewater treatment plants for solar energy production or by producing biogas from sludge, as well as by heat or kinetic energy or other renewable energy sources which may become available as a result of future research in line with the Renewable Energy Directive (2009/28/EC). The evaluation also illustrated that, without clear legal obligations, only partial progress can be expected in this sector. In this context, Member States should be required to ensure that the total annual energy used by all urban wastewater treatment plants on their national territory treating a load of 10 000 p.e. and above does not exceed the production of energy from renewable sources as defined in Article 2(1) of Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council44, by those urban wastewater treatment plants through, for instance, on site or next-to-site generation, or contributions to an external energy production system, such as sending sludge to a centralised biogas production facility. That objective should be progressively met with interim targets by 31 December 2040. Reaching this energy neutrality target will contribute to reduce the avoidable greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the sector by 46 %, while supporting the achievement of …

Added:Recital 16 a (new): (16a) Wastewater is one of the four main sources of methane emissions, next to agriculture, energy and waste. Therefore, the Commission should propose by 31 December 2025 and based on an impact assessment, a 2030 Union binding methane emission reduction target covering all relevant emitting sectors. Achievements in methane reductions are 82,5 times more effective, over a 20-year span, than CO2 reductions, and with 12 years compared to more than hundreds of years for CO2, methane is much faster to dissolve from the atmosphere and therefore highly relevant and advantageous to reduce, in accordance with the commitment made under the Global Methane Pledge. Member States should ensure that the wastewater sector achieves the climate neutrality target by 2050 at the latest, as set out in the European Climate Law.

Added:Recital 17: (17) Since the transboundary nature of water pollution requires cooperation between neighbouring Member States or third countries in addressing such pollution and identifying measures to tackle its source, Member States should be required to inform each other or the third country if significant water pollution originating from urban wastewater discharges in one Member State or third country impacts or is likely to impact the water quality of another Member State or third country. Such information should be immediate in case of incidental pollution significantly affecting downstream water bodies by means of timely alarm systems at local, regional and cross-border level in the event of incidental pollution. The Commission should be informed and, if necessary, participate in meetings at the request of Member States. It is also important to tackle the transboundary pollution from third countries sharing the same water bodies with some of the Member States. For the purpose of dealing with pollution coming or arriving in third countries, the cooperation and coordination with third countries may be carried out in the framework of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Water Convention50 or other relevant regional Conventions such as the Regional Seas or Rivers Conventions.

Added:Recital 18: (18) In order to ensure the protection of the environment and health in line with the One Health approach, Member States should ensure that the collecting system and urban wastewater treatment plants built to comply with the requirements of this Directive are designed, constructed, operated, and maintained to ensure sufficient performance under all normal local climatic conditions and should continuously adapt their methods of identifying pollutants in wastewaters in lockstep with the placing on the market of new products which could subsequently be found in wastewaters.

Added:Recital 19: (19) Urban wastewater treatment plants also receive non-domestic wastewater, including industrial wastewater, which can contain a range of pollutants, including microfibres and nanoplastics not explicitly covered by Directive 91/271/EEC, such as heavy metals, micro-plastics, micro-pollutants and other chemicals. In most instances, there is a poor understanding and knowledge of such pollution which could deteriorate the functioning of the treatment process and contribute to the pollution of the receiving waters, but also prevent the recovery of sludge and the re-use of treated wastewater. Member States should therefore regularly monitor and report on such non-domestic pollution that enters the urban wastewater treatment plants and is discharged into water bodies. To prevent pollution from non-domestic wastewater discharges at source, releases from industries or enterprises connected to collecting systems should be subject to prior authorisation. In order to ensure that collecting systems and urban wastewater treatment plants are technically capable of receiving and treating the incoming pollution, the operators who manage urban wastewater treatment plants receiving non-domestic wastewater should be consulted and give their assent before those permits are issued and should be able to consult the issued permits in order to be able to adapt their treatment processes. In addition, operators of collecting systems and urban wastewater treatment plants receiving non-domestic wastewat…

Added:Recital 19 a (new): (19a) At the heart of this water-energy nexus is the rapidly growing realisation that climate and water systems are linked, and changes in one system induce important, non-linear changes in the other one. Climate neutrality goals and attention to water resources should therefore be developed in a mutually reinforcing way by achieving a water-smart society. That means a society in which the value of water is recognised and realised, all available water sources are managed so that water scarcity and pollution are avoided; the water system is resilient in relation to the impact of demographic changes, droughts and floods, and all relevant stakeholders are engaged to guarantee sustainable water governance, while water and resource loops are largely closed to foster a circular economy.

Added:Recital 20: (20) In order to ensure a proper implementation of this Directive and notably the respect of the emission limit values, it is important to monitor discharges of treated urban wastewater into the environment. The monitoring should be done through the establishment at national level of a mandatory prior authorisation system in order to discharge the treated urban wastewater into the environment. In addition, in order to continuously prevent both accidental acute leaks as well as chronic diffuse leaks of plastic biomedia including but not limited to biocarriers, biobeads and polystyrene beads the environment from urban wastewater treatment plants it is essential to include in the discharge authorisations specific obligations to use appropriate retention solutions such as grids and meshes to prevent discharges and to continuously monitor any discharges of plastic biomedia. In order to prepare for the expected growth in the use of biomedia as well as technological advances in the sector, the definition of plastic biomedia should encompass all existing technologies, while at the same time being future-proof and flexible enough to account for future advancements in this area.

Added:Recital 21: (21) In order to ensure the protection of the environment, direct discharges of biodegradable non-domestic wastewater into the environment from certain industrial sectors should be subject to prior authorisation on national level and appropriate requirements. Those requirements should ensure that direct discharges from certain industrial sectors are subject to secondary, tertiary and quaternary treatment as necessary for the protection of health in line with the One Health approach and the environment, and that, in the final analysis, the parameters set for treated wastewaters are respected.