Nitrate Sensitive Areas

Peter Luff
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make it his policy to restore the link between the minimum storage period required for slurries and poultry manures and the risk factors for individual farms under the proposed Nitrate Vulnerable Zone Action Plan to permit shorter storage periods where there is no demonstrable environmental risk.

Mr. Woolas
The proposed Nitrates Action Programme is currently at public consultation. Following the close of the consultation on 13 December, my Department will consider carefully all comments received on the proposals before making recommendations on how to progress implementation of the policy in England.

This will include making recommendations on how to implement the proposed minimum storage capacity requirement.

A report presenting a summary of my Department’s analysis of consultation responses will be published on the DEFRA website in January 2008.