Consultation on River Basin Planning Guidance Volume 2 and the updated WFD Impact Assessment Rory Wallace WFD Implementation

Guidance Volume 1 Guidance Volume 2 Guidance Standards and criteria Objectives Relationship with other policies and Directives Range of measures and mechanisms available Relationship between technical feasibility, cost effectiveness and disproportionate costs Natural conditions Technical Feasibility Cost Effectiveness of Measures Disproportionate Costs

Standards and Criteria Standards and Environmental conditions UKTAG Classification Standards and Guidance Impacts on Programme of Measures

Objectives Confidence/certainty levels for objectives? Extending Deadlines (4.4) vs. Setting Less Stringent Objectives (4.5)

Technical Infeasibility No technical solution is available Standards are below limits of detection or monitoring No measure is available to tackle the problem There is no information on the cause of the problem; hence a solution cannot be identified Data on the extent and cause of the pressure Scientific information about the impact of the pressure upon ecological status

Disproportionate Cost Distributional issues in relation to alternative objectives Possible alternative funding mechanisms

Impact Assessment The Impact Assessment includes two options – an unphased option which aims to reach the WFD objective of good status in all waters by 2015, and a phased option which would mean making use of the alternative objectives in the WFD and aiming to achieve good status in all waters over 3 planning cycles, by Unphased - option 1 Estimated benefits Midpoint £1300m (Range 950 to 1700) Costs £2400m Phased – option 2 Estimated benefits Midpoint £900m (Range £650m to £1200m) Costs £900m