COMMON IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY FOR THE WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE (2000/60/EC). Guidance Document No. 32 ON BIOTA MONITORING (THE IMPLEMENTATION OF EQSBIOTA) UNDER THE WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE

This Technical Guidance Document on Biota Monitoring (the Implementation of EQSbiota) to facilitate the implementation of environmental quality standards (EQS) in biota the Water Framework Directive by addressing in particular the sampling strategies for monitoring programmes designed to assess compliance with biota EQS. It is Document No. 32 in the series of guidance documents prepared to support the Implementation Strategy (CIS) for the Water Framework Directive. elaborates extensively on the content of Guidance Document No. 25 on Chemical in Sediment and Biota under the Water Framework Directive, and is by Guidance Document No. 33, the Technical Guidance Document on Methods for Biota Monitoring. Guidance Documents 32 and 33 together address requirement for guidance on biota monitoring mentioned in Article 3(8a) of Directive 2008/105/EC as amended by Directive 2013/39/EU. original Directive 2008/105/EC included biota standards for mercury, and hexachlorobutadiene. In Directive 2013/39/EU, biota EQS were for three other existing priority substances (fluoranthene, polyaromatic and brominated diphenylethers), and set for four new priority substances (dicofol, perfluorooctane sulfonic acid and its derivatives, hexabromocyclododecane, and /heptachlor epoxide). This guidance document takes into account the fact that monitoring in sediment and/or biota is required for several other priority substances as in Article 3(6), and indicates how trend monitoring data can be used to check with biota EQS, but does not elaborate on trend monitoring as such. document constitutes guidance and Member States are therefore not legally required to the recommendations contained in it. Member States are, however, required to use compliant with the requirements of the Environmental Quality Standards Directive 2008/105/EC and the Quality Assurance/Quality Control Directive 2009/90/EC.