L 337/122 Official Journal of the European Union 21.12.2007 COMMISSION DECISION of 14 December 2007 granting a derogation requested by the United Kingdom with regard to Northern 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) 6281) (Only the English version is authentic) (2007/863[EC) 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) thereof, 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 10 August 2007, the United Kingdom submitted to the Commission a request for a derogation under the third subparagraph of paragraph 2 of Annex III to Directive 91/676/EEC with regard to Northern Ireland. The requested derogation concerns the intention of the United Kingdom to allow the application in Northern Ireland of up to 250 kg nitrogen per hectare per year from livestock manure in grassland farms. Approximately 732 holdings in Northern Ireland corresponding to 2,7 % () OJ L 375, 31.12.1991, p. 1. Directive as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council (O] L 284, 31.10.2003, p. 1). of total farms, 4 % of the Utilized Agricultural Land and 5 % of the Livestock Unit are potentially encompassed by the derogation. The legislation implementing Directive 91/676/EEC, the Nitrates Action Programme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (Regulations 2006 No 489), has been adopted and applies equally to the requested derogation. The Phosphorus (Use in Agriculture) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 set out measures governing land appli- cation of phosphate fertilisers in order to prevent water pollution. The regulations prohibit the application of chemical fertilisers unless it is demonstrated that the amount is not in excess of crop requirement, requiring, inter alia, the assessment of soil fertility status through chemical analysis. Water quality data submitted show that low nitrate concentrations are a common feature of water bodies in Northern Ireland. In 2005 the average nitrate concen- tration in groundwater was below 20 mg/l nitrates in 71 % of the monitoring sites and concentrations greater than 50 mg/l nitrates were recorded in no more than 7 % of the sampling points. Data on water quality in rivers showed that in 2005 the mean nitrate concentration was below 20 mg/l in 99 % of sampling points and no moni- toring station exceeded 50 mg/l nitrates. All large lakes had an average concentration of less than 10 mg/l nitrates. According to the third report on implementation of the Nitrates Directive 72 % of groundwater monitoring sites showed stable or decreasing trends in nitrates concen- tration in the period 1999-2003; nitrate concentration in surface water was stable or declining in 87 % of surface water monitoring stations in the same period. In conformity with paragraph 5 of Article 3 of Directive 91/676/EEC, the Nitrates Action Programme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 applies throughout the whole Northern Irish territory.