Area: Okolje in prostor
Competent authority: MKGP, MOP
EZU URL: .nan
Initiative ID: 1056
Initiative accepted and completed: '2020-08-17'
Initiative classified in EZU: .nan
Initiative forwarded in response: '2020-07-16'
Initiative published: '2020-07-16'
Initiative submitted: '2020-07-16'
Response from the competent authority: "Answer from the Ministry of the Environment\
  \ and Spatial Planning: The provision of the public service for the discharge and\
  \ treatment of urban wastewater and precipitation wastewater, which is provided\
  \ as a compulsory municipal public utility service for the discharge and treatment\
  \ of urban wastewater and precipitation wastewater (hereinafter referred to as the\
  \ public service), is laid down in the Regulation on the discharge and treatment\
  \ of urban wastewater (Official Gazette of the European Union No. The Regulation\
  \ on waste water collection and treatment specifies the types of tasks to be carried\
  \ out under the public service, the supply standards and the technical, maintenance,\
  \ organisational and other measures and norms for the provision of the public service.\
  \ The Regulation on the use of sewage sludge in agriculture (Official Journal of\
  \ the RS, No 62/08) lays down the measures and management of sewage sludge when\
  \ used as fertiliser in agriculture, the prohibitions and restrictions on such use,\
  \ and the obligation to report to the European Commission.Answer to Question 1:\r\
  \nThe public service operator, which is the operator of a municipal sewage treatment\
  \ plant equipped to treat sludge, is not required to obtain an annual report from\
  \ individual users on the use of treated sludge in agriculture:\r\nArticle 27 of\
  \ the Urban Waste Water Disposal and Treatment Regulation1 lays down the content\
  \ of the public service records. The annual reports on the use of treated sludge\
  \ in agriculture in accordance with the Regulation governing the use of municipal\
  \ sewage sludge in agriculture are also an integral part of the public service records.The\
  \ mandatory management of municipal and common sewage sludge is regulated by the\
  \ Waste Regulation, the Regulation on the treatment of biodegradable waste and the\
  \ use of compost or digestate, and the introduction of this waste into the soil\
  \ or onto agricultural land is regulated by the Regulation on the use of municipal\
  \ sewage sludge in agriculture2 (hereinafter: the Regulation).The Urban Waste Water\
  \ Disposal and Treatment Regulation provides that a public service operator operating\
  \ a municipal waste water treatment plant equipped to treat sludge must ensure,\
  \ for sludge resulting from the treatment of urban waste water, the treatment of\
  \ the sludge which achieves the following:\r\n1. compliance with the requirements\
  \ for use as a fertiliser in agriculture in accordance with the Regulation governing\
  \ the use of urban sewage sludge in agriculture, if the treated sludge is used as\
  \ a fertiliser in agriculture; or\r\n2. compliance with the requirements for sludge\
  \ treatment or disposal operations in accordance with the rules governing waste.For\
  \ treated sludge which is not used as fertiliser in agriculture, the public service\
  \ operator shall ensure that it is treated in accordance with the rules governing\
  \ waste.\r\nAccording to Article 10 of the Regulation, it is the operator of the\
  \ plant who has to report annually to the Ministry on the use of treated sludge\
  \ in agriculture in accordance with the regulation governing the treatment of biodegradable\
  \ waste. The operator of the plant is the one who may use the treated sludge himself\
  \ or place it on the market for use in agriculture (he is in possession of the waste\
  \ and is the holder of the waste or the original producer of the waste). The public\
  \ service operator is only required to report for the plant he operates and only\
  \ for the plant he operates, as e.g. a user may take sludge from several plant operators.\r\
  \nThe operator of an installation treating sludge from one or more small urban waste\
  \ water treatment plants with a total treatment capacity of less than 500 PE has\
  \ an obligation to report on the agricultural use of the treated sludge (the annual\
  \ quantity produced at the installation and the annual quantity used in agriculture),\
  \ but does not have to report on the composition and characteristics of the treated\
  \ sludge used in agriculture.Answer to questions 2 and 5:\r\nIn the present case,\
  \ the user's request is unjustified. A user who has an agricultural holding and\
  \ does not keep animals does not fulfil all the conditions of the second indent\
  \ of Article 8 of the Regulation.\r\nThe register of holders of livestock3 contains\
  \ information on the holders of livestock, the holding-locations where livestock\
  \ are kept and the type(s) of livestock kept on the holding. The keeper must regularly\
  \ communicate the information on the animal records to the competent authorities.\
  \ The existence of animals on the holding is one of the conditions, but the criteria\
  \ relating to the number of animals are not laid down or defined:\r\nThe owner of\
  \ an agricultural holding who mixes urban waste water or sludge with slurry or manure\
  \ and uses it as fertiliser in agriculture must provide the public service operator\
  \ with a written declaration that the conditions laid down in the Regulation are\
  \ met. A sufficient number of animals is one of the conditions, but there are no\
  \ defined criteria.\r\nThe Regulation specifies that sludge:\r\n- \"waste sludge\
  \ from municipal sewage treatment plants and small municipal sewage treatment plants\
  \ (hereinafter referred to as 'MSWTPs'), including sludge from common sewage treatment\
  \ plants,\r\n- waste sludges from septic tanks and cesspits, and\r\n- waste sludges\
  \ from sewage treatment plants other than those referred to in the first indent\
  \ of this point, including sludges from septic tanks'.\r\nSludge from existing septic\
  \ tanks and septic tank effluents and urban waste water from septic tanks shall\
  \ be taken over by the public service operator in accordance with Article 15 of\
  \ the Waste Water Disposal and Treatment Regulation. Pursuant to Article 18(1) of\
  \ that Regulation, the public service operator must ensure that the sludge taken\
  \ over is treated in such a way as to achieve:\r\n- compliance with the requirements\
  \ for use as fertiliser in agriculture in accordance with the Regulation; or\r\n\
  - comply with the requirements for recovery or disposal operations in accordance\
  \ with the rules governing waste.According to Article 8(2) of the Regulation, 'the\
  \ use of sludge from septic tanks, cesspits and small municipal sewage treatment\
  \ plants with a capacity of up to 50 PE as agricultural fertiliser' is prohibited,\
  \ except for sludge 'produced on an agricultural holding and mixed with urban waste\
  \ water, slurry or manure and stored for at least six months before use as agricultural\
  \ fertiliser'.\r\nAccording to the Regulation on the protection of waters against\
  \ pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources4 (hereinafter: Nitrates\
  \ Regulation): \"slurry is the excreta of domestic animals, such as faeces and urine,\
  \ without or with a minor addition of litter and with a major or minor addition\
  \ of water\" and \"manure is a mixture of urine of domestic animals with water and\
  \ substances formed from urine by natural metabolism and from the leachate from\
  \ manure pits\".\r\nArticle 3(9) and (11) of the Regulation provides that 'agricultural\
  \ use - the application of sludge to or on land as a fertiliser in agriculture or\
  \ any other application of sludge to or on land in agriculture' and that 'the sludge\
  \ producer is the operator of a municipal sewage treatment plant, a small municipal\
  \ sewage treatment plant or a common sewage treatment plant and the owner of a septic\
  \ tank or a non-flowing septic tank'.The first condition laid down in the second\
  \ indent of Article 8(2) of the Regulation is that the sludge (mixed with the urban\
  \ waste water) is produced on the agricultural holding (the producer). The second\
  \ condition is that the farm is engaged in the agricultural activity of keeping\
  \ animals, which is where the slurry and manure are actually produced. The \"sufficient\"\
  \ number of livestock, e.g. a certain number and type or categories of livestock\
  \ according to the size of the household (in relation to the number of household\
  \ members), is not specified in the legislation. Article 12 of the Nitrates Regulation\
  \ states that 'the storage capacity of the livestock manure store shall be adapted\
  \ to the number and type of animals on the holding and shall provide storage capacity\
  \ for at least six months. The minimum storage capacities required for livestock\
  \ manure are set out in Table 3 of Annex 1 to this Regulation'. The table shows\
  \ for which type of livestock we are dealing with slurry and manure. The third condition\
  \ is the aforementioned six-month storage of sludge together with urban waste water\
  \ and slurry or manure, for which minimum storage capacities must be provided. Article\
  \ 17.17 of the Waste Water Disposal and Sewage Treatment Regulation, the public\
  \ service operator does not provide the otherwise compulsory services of collecting\
  \ municipal waste water or sludge for an agricultural holding if the municipal waste\
  \ water or sludge is used as fertiliser in agriculture in accordance with the regulation\
  \ governing the use of sludge from municipal sewage treatment plants in agriculture.\
  \ The owner of the facility must provide the public service operator with a written\
  \ declaration that the conditions laid down in the Regulation governing the use\
  \ of urban sewage sludge in agriculture are fulfilled. The declaration must also\
  \ indicate the dates and quantities of municipal waste water disposed of from the\
  \ non-flowing septic tank or the sludge from the small municipal sewage treatment\
  \ plant (or the existing flow-through septic tank) and the dates and quantities\
  \ of their mixing with the manure or slurry. It should be noted that in the case\
  \ described, the mixing of sludge or urban waste water from existing septic tanks,\
  \ overflow septic tanks and small urban waste water treatment plants with a capacity\
  \ of up to 50 PE with slurry or manure on the same holding, i.e. on the holding\
  \ where the urban waste water was produced, is at issue. The taking of sludge or\
  \ urban waste water from a septic tank by a person other than the public service\
  \ operator (e.g. a neighbouring holding) and its mixing with slurry or manure from\
  \ another (neighbouring) holding is not in accordance with the rules:\r\nThe Disposal\
  \ and Treatment Regulation, as already mentioned, provides that the owner of the\
  \ facility shall submit a written declaration pursuant to Article 17 of the Disposal\
  \ and Treatment Regulation either at the time of the inspection of the MSWM or upon\
  \ receipt of a written request from the public service operator, but at least once\
  \ every three years. The invitation by the public service operator must be in writing,\
  \ and no other details of the form or manner of transmission of the said invitation\
  \ are prescribed in the Sewerage and Treatment Regulation:\r\nThe Sewerage and Treatment\
  \ Regulation does not foresee that the public service operator requires additional\
  \ evidence from the owner of the facility regarding the management of sludge or\
  \ urban waste water. As regards the question of how to oblige users to provide the\
  \ contractor with the prescribed information, it should be noted that, in accordance\
  \ with the law governing environmental protection, the discharge and treatment of\
  \ urban and precipitation waste water is a compulsory public service under the competence\
  \ of municipalities or local authorities. The implementation of the public service\
  \ is regulated in more detail in municipal regulations (ordinances). Municipalities\
  \ may, in their ordinances, regulate in more detail the implementation of the public\
  \ service in their municipality, as well as the obligations and offences of citizens\
  \ in relation to the implementation of the public service. The Regulation on the\
  \ use of sewage sludge in agriculture expressly provides that the supervision of\
  \ the implementation of the provisions of Article 8(2) of that Regulation is to\
  \ be regulated by the municipal regulations governing the municipal public service\
  \ of urban waste water collection and treatment. Finally, it should be explicitly\
  \ pointed out that the Ministry may give non-legally binding opinions and clarifications\
  \ of the regulations falling within its competence, but it cannot comment on specific\
  \ proceedings conducted by a particular administrative, inspection, municipal or\
  \ any other authority. Each authority is independent in the conduct of proceedings\
  \ and decision-making in matters within its competence, within the framework of\
  \ the law.1 http://www.pisrs.si/Pis.web/pregledPredpisa?id=URED69512 http://www.pisrs.si/Pis.web/pregledPredpisa?id=URED4880\
  \ 3 http://www.pisrs.si/Pis.web/pregledPredpisa?id=PRAV122034 http://www.pisrs.si/Pis.web/pregledPredpisa?id=URED5124)"
Text file: 1056.txt
Title: Clarification of Regulations - Urban waste water
URL: https://www.stopbirokraciji.gov.si/pobuda/?st=1056
