30.10.2007 Official Journal of the European Union L 28427 COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 22 October 2007 granting a derogation requested by Ireland pursuant to Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources (notified under document number C(2007) 5095) (Only the English text is authentic) (2007/697EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Directive 91/676/EEC of 12 December 1991 concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources ('), and in particular the third subparagraph of paragraph 2 of Annex III thereto, Whereas: If the amount of manure that a Member State intends to apply per hectare each year is different from the one specified in the first sentence of the second subparagraph of paragraph 2 of Annex III to Directive 91/676/EEC and in point (a) therof, that amount has to be fixed so as not to prejudice the achievement of the objectives specified in Article 1 of that Directive and has to be justified on the basis of objective criteria, such as, in the present case, long growing seasons and crops with high nitrogen uptake. On 12 November 2004, Ireland submitted to the Commission a request for a derogation under the third subparagraph of paragraph 2 of Annex IIl to Directive 91/676/EEC. An updated request, based on the revised European Communities (Good Agricultural Practice for the Protection of Waters) Regulations, 2006 (Statutory Instrument () OJ L 375, 31.12.1991, p. 1. Directive as amended by Regulation (EC) 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council (O] L 284, 31.10.2003, p. 1). Number 378 of 2006) was submitted on 18 October 2006. The requested derogation concerns the intention of Ireland to allow the application of 250 kg nitrogen per hectare per year from livestock manure in farms with at least 80 % grassland. A maximum of 10000 cattle holdings in Ireland representing 8 % of total holdings, 8 % of the Utilized Agricultural Land and 20 % of the Livestock Unit are potentially encompassed by the dero- gation. The Irish legislation implementing Directive 91/676/EEC, the European Communities (Good Agricultural Practice for the Protection of Waters) Regulations, 2006 (Statutory instrument No 378 of 2006), applies equally to the requested dero- gation. The Irish legislation implementing the Directive 91/676/EEC includes application maximum fertilisation rates both for nitrogen and phosphate. These maximum fertilisation rates are differentiated on the basis of nitrogen and phosphate soil content and, therefore, take into account the contribution of nitrogen and phosphate from the soil. The Third report on the implementation of the Nitrates Directive in Ireland and the recent Environmental Protection Agency reports covering the period 2001- 2003 submitted to the Commission showed that mean nitrate concentration recorded in groundwater is of the order of 2,5 mg/L N and concentrations greater than 50 mg/L nitrates were recorded in no more than 2 % of the sampling points. Data on water quality in rivers for the period 2000-2003 showed that the mean value in Euro- waternet monitoring stations is 6,9 mg/L nitrates.