Article 2

For the purpose of this Directive: (a) ‘groundwater’: means all water which is below the surface of the ground in the saturation zone and in direct contact with the ground or subsoil; (b) ‘freshwater’: means naturally occurring water having a low concentration of salts, which is often acceptable as suitable for abstraction and treatment to produce drinking water; (c) ‘nitrogen compound’: means any nitrogen-containing substance except for gaseous molecular nitrogen; (d) ‘livestock’: means all animals kept for use or profit; (e) ‘fertilizer’: means any substance containing a nitrogen compound or nitrogen compounds utilized on land to enhance growth of vegetation; it may include livestock manure, the residues from fish farms and sewage sludge; (f) ‘chemical fertilizer’: means any fertilizer which is manufactured by an industrial process; (g) ‘livestock manure’: means waste products excreted by livestock or a mixture of litter and waste products excreted by livestock, even in processed form; (h) ‘land application’: means the addition of materials to land whether by spreading on the surface of the land, injection into the land, placing below the surface of the land or mixing with the surface layers of the land; (i) ‘eutrophication’: means the enrichment of water by nitrogen compounds, causing an accelerated growth of algae and higher forms of plant life to produce an undesirable disturbance to the balance of organisms present in the water and to the quality of the water concerned; (j) ‘pollution’: means the discharge, directly or indirectly, of nitrogen compounds from agricultural sources into the aquatic environment, the results of which are such as to cause hazards to human health, harm to living resources and to aquatic ecosystems, damage to amenities or interference with other legitimate uses of water; (k) ‘vulnerable zone’: means an area of land designated according to Article 3 (2).

← 1 · All articles · 3 →

Source: EUR-Lex CELLAR · retrieved 2026-08-09