Implementation plan for the Council Directive 86/278/EEC on the protection of the environment, and in particular of the soil,
when sewage sludge is used in agriculture
IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR THE COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 86/278/EEC ON THE
PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT, AND IN PARTICULAR OF THE SOIL, WHEN
SEWAGE SLUDGE IS USED IN AGRICULTURE
I.
Responsible Ministry (division of responsibilities)
Responsible Ministry:
Ministry of Environment (ME)
Co-operating Ministry:
Ministry of Agriculture (MA)
Ministry of Health (MH)
Division of responsibilities (under the wording of the valid Jurisdictional act No. 2/1969,
Coll.):
ME and MA – implementation and enforcement of the Directive, independent
revision of the content of hazardous substances in sewage
sludge
ME and MA – independent revision of the heavy metal content in soil
MH – revision of sewage sludge pursuant to pathogenic micro organisms
Responsibility for implementation:
Mrs.Vlastimila Mikulová, Head of the Waste
Management Department, ME (DWM)
Expert responsible:
Mrs. Pavla Červová
II.
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Main objectives of the Directive
to regulate the use of sewage sludge from the domestic or urban and similar
wastewater treatment plants and of sewage sludge of similar composition in
agriculture
to prevent harmful effects on soil, vegetation, animals and man or harmful effects on
environment
encouraging the correct use of sewage sludge in agriculture (Article 1 of the
Directive)
It is necessary to mention simultaneously a benefit of the Directive for conditioning of soil
and for enrichment of soils with nutrients, and indirectly a benefit pursuant to reducing
demand on the disposal of waste.
III.
Plan for meeting the requirements of the Directive
Pursuant to the Article 3 of the Directive it is necessary not to infringe directives 75/442/EEC
and 91/689/EEC.
Therefore it is necessary first of all to confront the plan for meeting the requirements of this
Directive with the plans for meeting the requirements and for implementation of the above
mentioned directives, particularly pursuant to the establishment of the authorities responsible
for the implementation of the requirements of the Directive and to the ensuring of control of
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Implementation plan for the Council Directive 86/278/EEC on the protection of the environment, and in particular of the soil,
when sewage sludge is used in agriculture
the hazardous substances content of sewage sludge and of soils, and to the obligation to keep
records for the competent authorities, particularly according to the point I – responsible
ministry.
In Czech legislation this is linked to the meeting of the requirements of the Act on Waste No.
125/1997 Coll. or of the legislation intention of the new Act on Waste and of the Act No.
157/1998 Coll. on Chemical substances and chemical preparations and on Modifications of
Some other Acts, concerning the content of hazardous elements in the soil and relevant
inspection.
In order to ensure the directive implementation it is necessary, immediately after the
establishment of competences of the above mentioned ministries, to start preparation of
measures to create an environment for mutual concern of the main stakeholders, i.e. sewage
sludge producers at one side and farmers – customers, that use sludge, at the other side.
A. Main requirements of the Directive
1. Regulation of the use of sewage sludge, i.e. an establishment of conditions for of use of
sewage sludge from domestic or urban and similar WWTP (wastewater treatment plants)
and of sewage sludge of similar composition after its pre - treatment or under
unambiguous conditions (Article 3 and 6 of the Directive), the use of untreated sludge if it
is injected or worked into the soil; pursuant to the needs of the plants, to the protection of
surface and ground water and quality of soil (Article 5 and 8 of the Directive)
2. Establishment of values for concentrations of heavy metals in soil to which sludge is
applied, concentrations of heavy metals in sludge and the maximum annual quantities of
such heavy metals which may be introduced into soil intended for agriculture (are laid
down in the Annexes IA, IB and IC – Article 4 of the Directive).
3. Prohibition of the use of sewage sludge
a) on grassland or forage crops if the grassland is to be grazed or the forage crops to be
harvested a certain period. This period shall under no circumstances be less than three
weeks (Article 7 of the Directive)
b) on soil in which fruit and vegetable crops are growing, with the exception of fruit trees
(Article 7 of the Directive)
c) on soil where the concentration of one or more heavy metals exceeds the limit values
laid down in compliance with Annex IA (Article 5)
d) on conditions, which would be in contrary with the other national legal regulations on
the protection of the environment
4. Ensuring keeping records and data collection to meet needs of the competent state
authorities (Article 10 of the Directive)
5. Ensuring that information are provided on the composition of sewage sludge to the users
of sewage sludge (Article 6 and 11 and Annex IIA of the Directive)
6. Ensuring that analyses of sewage sludge and of soil where sewage sludge is applied to are
made(Annex IIA and IIB), unifying the procedures of sampling, pretreatment and of
analysis of sewage sludge and soil according to Annex IIC of the Directive (Article 9 of
the Directive)
7. Ensuring revision of proposals of measures in compliance with technical and scientific
progress (Article 13 of the Directive)
8. Laying down provisions which will lead to reduction of pathogen micro organism
(specification and revision of decree in compliance with the requirement of the Directive
in next stage)
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Implementation plan for the Council Directive 86/278/EEC on the protection of the environment, and in particular of the soil,
when sewage sludge is used in agriculture
9. Horizontal requirements:
9.1. Specifying competences of the CEI (Czech Environmental Inspection), CISTA
(Central Institute for Supervising and Testing in Agriculture), following the
competences of the ministries taking part in the process, it means mainly
independent revision and issuing of authorizations for use of sewage sludge,
authorization, accreditation of laboratories including a list of their activities
following from the implementing decree
9.2. Representation of CR in the Commission for modifications of the Directive
9.3. Collecting data concerning the implementation of the Directive and reporting to
the Commission
B. Plan for implementation of the requirements
1.
Requirements connected to the framework Directive
a)
Summary of the objective
Sewage sludge coming from wastewater treatment plants is a useful source of nutrients and
because of that its application on agricultural soils may be very advantageous. The sewage
sludge may contain some hazardous substances, contingently some pathogen micro-organisms
since wastewaters from other polluters come into the same drainage network as does waste
from households.
Legal and administrative arrangements to this problematic area on the basis of gradual
development of an interest on use of sewage sludge in agriculture (including inspection) is a
primary precondition for the implementation of the Directive.
b)
Identification of implementation steps
1.
Laying down and dividing competences (responsibilities for use of the sewage sludge)
among the ministries concerned
ME is the body of state administration responsible for waste management under both
current legislation and the newly adopted legislation intention of Act on Waste. ME,
MH a MA are responsible for the implementation of the Directive under the prepared
new Act on Waste, which was submitted to the government for approval in June 2000,
and in cooperation with MH and MA it ME prepares an implementing decree
2.
Adoption of an implementing decree to the new Act on waste
In co-operation ME, MH and MA are preparing implementing decree, which will
regulate use of sewage sludge from domestic or urban WWTP and also from similar
WWTP
Note: With regard to hitherto experiences a cooperation of the above-mentioned ministries is
necessary during drawing up and finalising of pertinent implementing decrees to the new Act.
Preparatory phase of the implementation
 Laying down and dividing competences
Responsibility:
ME
Date:
06/2000
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Implementation plan for the Council Directive 86/278/EEC on the protection of the environment, and in particular of the soil,
when sewage sludge is used in agriculture
Other stages – see the framework Directive on Waste
Meeting the requirements 1-8 of the Directive
a)
Summary of the objective
It is necessary in case of regulation of use of sewage sludge from domestic or urban and
similar wastewater treatment plants to draw up implementing decrees – decree to the new Act
on Waste covering the mentioned requirements of the Directive
The implementing decree shall contain:
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b)
conditions for use of sewage sludge including the duties of producer to
draw up a programme for use of sewage sludge on agricultural land
requirement on monitoring of sewage sludge and soil preceding use of
sewage sludge in agriculture
permitted amount of sewage sludge per unit area of agricultural soil
indicators for evaluation of soil
upper boundaries for concentration of selected compounds in soil
maximum admissible concentration of selected hazardous elements and
substances in sewage sludge
limits of amounts of hazardous substances that can be put into the soil in 10
years time period
microbiological criteria for a sewage sludge application
requirements on keeping of records
Identification of implementation steps
Preparatory phase of implementation

Modification and finalising of the implementing decree on use of sewage sludge in
agriculture
Responsibility:
ME
Date:
10/2000

Analysis of the actual composition of sewage sludges in CR with respect to the amount of
data and composition of sewage sludge; analysis and evaluation of ability of producers to
use the sewage sludge in agriculture from the point of technological processing of sewage
sludge
1. Evaluation of current composition of sewage sludge in regions with regard to the
amount of sewage sludge produced and evaluation of possibility of agricultural use
from the technical-economical point of view
2. Checking the technologies for sewage sludge treatment in big wastewater treatment
plants in stages according to the size and regions
3.Determining economic impacts connected with the implementation of the
requirements of the Directive (06/2000)
Responsibility:
ME (WRI - Water Research Institute T.G.M.) in cooperation with MA
Date:
11/2001
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Implementation plan for the Council Directive 86/278/EEC on the protection of the environment, and in particular of the soil,
when sewage sludge is used in agriculture
Implementation phase

specification of the implementing decree on the basis of analysis of the current state of
sewage sludge problem with regard to the stage of monitoring, recording and archiving of
necessary data, either for competent authorities or for users of sewage sludge. Analysis
should be updated regularly in the initial phase
Responsibility:
ME
Date:
12/2002

to state the initial possibilities for use of all the sewage sludge in agriculture in both the
plan for waste management on national level and regional level
 to create such conditions as to encourage interest for use of sewage sludge
in agriculture
 to create conditions to support construction or reconstruction of
technological process of sewage sludge processing from wastewater
treatment plants so that the quality of such treated sewage sludge, that is
used in agriculture, improves.
Revision phase
 Periodical revision of the objectives – in the first phase annually
Responsibility:
ME in cooperation with MA
Date:
systematic all the time
 Periodical providing of data (collection, storage, assessment)
Responsibility:
ME in cooperation with MA
Date:
systematic all the time

Revision of the proposed decree on use of sewage sludge in agriculture on the basis of
finished research projects NAZV (National Agency for Agricultural Research) –
stabilisation and sanitation of sewage sludge, CUA (Czech University of Agriculture
Prague) - possibilities of immobilisation and transformation of hazardous elements in soil
and the intake by plants, and on the basis of other study research works according to the
Article 13 of the Directive.
Responsibility:
ME
Date:
12/2002
Enforcement
 Laying down and implementing inspection and enforcement system – amendment of the
implementing decree to the proposal of Act on Waste – the respective subjects shall be
sanctioned under the law for exceeding the limits laid down by the decree
Responsibility:
ME in co-operation with MA
Date:
01/2003
 Laying down economic tools to support the implementation objectives
Responsibility:
MA, ME
 Training and information activity, awareness
Responsibility:
ME (WRI), MA, universities, research institutes
Date:
all the time
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Implementation plan for the Council Directive 86/278/EEC on the protection of the environment, and in particular of the soil,
when sewage sludge is used in agriculture
Reporting
 Reporting to the Czech competent authorities
Responsibility:
ME
Date:
01/2002
 Reporting to the European Commission (EC)
Responsibility:
ME
Date:
after accession to EU
9. Horizontal requirements
9.1.
Defining competencies of Czech Environmental Inspectorate, CISTA, following from
the competences of the ministry taking part in the process, necessity of authorisation,
accreditation of laboratories
Responsibility:
ME
Date:
01/2002
9.2.
9.3.
Representation of CR in the Commission for modifying the Directives
Collecting data concerning the implementation of the Directive and reporting to the
Commission
Responsibility:
ME
Date:
after accession to EU
IV.
Requirements to the date of accession
Considering the mutual linkages between aspects of the implemented Directive it is necessary
for its successful application to meet the following requirements:
 transposition of the Directive on protection of environment and especially of soil during


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
use of sewage sludge in agriculture, into the national legislation
adoption of new Act on Waste and of pertinent implementing decrees
adoption of new Act on water supplies and sewerage systems
adoption of new Act on Waters
submission of the report to the Commission
V. Current state
Problem area of sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants is currently covered only
generally in the Act on Waste No. 125/1997 Coll. (section 3/4 of this act). In the current Act,
sewage sludge, its treatment and definition of its use in agriculture is not exclusively defined.
Problem area of use of sewage sludge on agricultural soil is partially covered by the Act on
Protection of Agricultural Land Resources No. 334/1992 Coll.
In the Czech Republic sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants is stored (35-45%),
then follows recycling with major uses in agriculture or for re-cultivation (50-60%), and
incineration (5-10%).
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Implementation plan for the Council Directive 86/278/EEC on the protection of the environment, and in particular of the soil,
when sewage sludge is used in agriculture
1. Content of sewage sludge
Content of sewage sludge and further necessary data from wastewater treatment plants for
evaluation of economic application of sewage sludge in agriculture are not systematically
observed and data are not archived, available are only some data and only from larger
municipal wastewater treatment plants, similarly there are no available data on technological
equipment for mechanised draining of sewage sludge of some wastewater treatment plants
2. Use of sewage sludge
Use of sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants at present – a very uncoordinated and
uncontrolled activity, which is harmful to the environment
3. Heavy metals
Limit values for input of heavy metals into soil are not yet laid down by any decree
VI.
Identification of problem areas, proposed measures
1. Content of sewage sludge
proposed solutions: adoption of above mentioned legal regulations on the basis of which the
necessary data shall be obtained
2. Use of sewage sludge
proposed solutions:
 see above mentioned
 further it shall be necessary to lay down economic tools for use of sewage sludge
in agriculture
 offer financial support to the producers in order to fully equip wastewater
treatment plants to the respective level for sewage sludge treatment
3. Heavy metals
proposed solutions:
 proceed with revision and amendment of implementing decrees in 2nd stage on the
basis of the analysis of collected data
VII. Identification of stakeholders and their involvement in the
approximation process
Stakeholder 1
In 1st stage only wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) larger than 5000 PE (population
equivalent) are concerned – are obliged to proceed with monitoring of sewage sludge content
at own expenses (hazardous compounds and pathogen organisms), to keep records on the
doses and uses of sewage sludge and to submit the necessary information to the users of
sewage sludge, to provide information on the quality of soil on which they intend to apply
sewage sludge
Stakeholder 2
concerns farmers who intend to use sewage sludge at their plots of land
Stakeholder 3
economic subjects who are using sewage sludge for construction and for re-cultivations
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Implementation plan for the Council Directive 86/278/EEC on the protection of the environment, and in particular of the soil,
when sewage sludge is used in agriculture
VIII. Institutional, material and personnel needs
Presumed requirements on the state budget resulting from implementation if this Directive are
covered in the Implementation plan of the Directive on Waste 75/442/EC.
More specific solution shall be covered in the project PHARE CZ 9811-02-02
Implementation/Investment Strategies for EC Waste Directives.
IX.
Costs and financial resources
Presumed requirements on state budget coming from the personnel strengthening are covered
in the Implementation plan of the Directive on Waste 75/442/EC.
c)
Table of other financial requirements on state budget
Purpose
Proceeding with
analysis, monitoring
d)
Time period
Allocation date
Yearly
01/2002
Justification of
the values
Estimate
Table of requirements on investment into private sectors
Purpose
Analysis, monitoring
X.
Amount (mil.
CZK)
15
Amount (mil.
CZK)
15
Time period
Allocation date
Yearly
from 01/2002
Justification of
the values
Estimate
Economic impacts
Are not specified, narrower specification of economic and investment impacts shall be
covered in PHARE CZ 9811-02-02 Implementation/Investment Strategies for EC Waste
Directives
XI.
Project identification
A. Existing / Approved projects:
Phare CZ 9811-02-02 Implementation/Investment Strategies for EC Waste Directives
B. Planned projects:
Phare 2000 – Waste Management Centre
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Implementation plan for the Council Directive 86/278/EEC on the protection of the environment, and in particular of the soil,
when sewage sludge is used in agriculture
List of Acronyms
CEI
CISTA
CR
CUA
CZK
DWM
MA
MH
ME
NAZV
PE
WRI
WWTP
C6
Czech Environmental Inspection
Central Institute for Supervising and Testing in Agriculture
Czech Republic
Czech University of Agriculture Prague
Czech crown
Department of Waste Management of ME
Ministry of Agriculture
Ministry of Health
Ministry of Environment
National Agency for Agricultural Research
Population Equivalent
Water Research Institute
Wastewater Treatment Plant
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