4. Implementation Plan

4.1. Key Steps and Assumptions

The key steps of the implementation of the Nitrate Directive include the following:

The Regulations of CofM on Protection of Water and Soil from Pollution Caused by Nitrates from Agricultural Sources have been prepared. Discussions and negotiations on the Regulations are now taking place between the relevant institutions. The Regulations were prepared by VARAM and some delay in the adoption could occur due to discussions with the Ministry of Agriculture on status of the Action Programme and responsibility sharing between both ministries. Most likely, CofM will adopt the Regulations in 2001-2002.

According the current version of the Regulations, the Ministry of Agriculture shall be responsible for the preparation and implementation of the Action Programme for vulnerable zones. The implementation of Action Programme should be supported by significant subsidies for manure storage construction. State budget and funds do not include these measures at the moment. It can be expected that the Action Programme could start in 2004 if Latvia becomes a member of the EU. Of course, implementation of several measures of the Action Programme can start in 2002 -2003, if the priorities for state subsidies in agriculture will be changed.

Distribution of information on environmental problems in agriculture, rising public awareness and public support could be essential to change attitude of farmers on environmental maters for successful implementation of the Code of Good Agricultural Practice for Latvia. Implementation of the GAP Code for Latvia could start in 2002 -2003 with state support aimed at farms implementing the code.

Preparation and coordination of the implementation of the Water Monitoring Programme should be organised under the guidance of the Environmental Agency. The main financial source for implementation of monitoring programme is state budget with additional outside funds from the Latvian Environmental Fund and international cooperation projects.

4.2. Short, Medium, and Long­ Term Initiatives

The transposition of legislation ( adoption of regulations by CofM) and preparation of the first Action Programme could be considered as short time measures.

Implementation of the first Action Programme' (4 years) could be included in medium term measures.

Construction of the manure storages, implementation of monitoring programmes as well as implementation of the Code of Good Agricultural Practice for Latvia in the territory of all country could be considered as long time measures.

4.3. The Timetable for Full Implementation

The schedule of full implementation of the Nitrate Directive is presented in Table 19.

Table 19. Timetable of implementation of the Nitrate Directive.

4.4. Measures for Supervision and Monitoring of Implementation (Including Information Collection on the Implementation of the Directive)

The Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Environment Protection and Regional Development are the responsible state institutions to supervise and monitor the implementation of the Nitrate Directive (Figure 5). The Ministry of Agriculture deals with the compilation of data on the financing and implementation of the Action Programme. The Ministry of Environment Protection and Regional Development is responsible for activities of the Nitrate Board and ministerial institutions that coordinate implementation of monitoring programmes and implementation of the quality control of Action Programme measures such as construction of manure storages. The Regional Health and Environmental Centres of Ministry of Welfare are also responsible for several measures, e.g. drinking water quality control.

The Latvian Environment Agency is responsible for supervising and coordination of the Water Monitoring Programme. The implementation of the monitoring is performed by organizations that have appropriate technical and laboratory equipment, experience and traditions, to ensure the quality of monitoring according to the international standards and responsibilities Latvia has in international organisations. Organizations that deal with implementation of water monitoring programmes are the following:

The Latvian Environment Agency should develop systems responsible for compilation and processing of monitoring data to ensure optimal implementation of different parts of monitoring programme and benchmarking of results.

Figure 5. Measures for supervising and implementation of control

Acronyms and abbreviations