The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has written to Andrew Muir MLA, the Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, with its advice to DAERA on proposals for new Nutrient Action Programme (NAP) Regulations.
These key regulations are aimed at reducing nutrient pollution from agriculture to help deliver improved water quality.
The OEP letter to Minister Muir welcomes the significant effort being made to tackle the chronic problem of nutrient pollution, primarily caused by agriculture and wastewater. This pollution is a major factor in the decline of biodiversity and a significant cause of the blue green algal blooms blighting Lough Neagh and other locations in Northern Ireland.
Dame Helen Ghosh, OEP Chair, said: “Getting the new NAP Regulations right is of such importance. We are already witnessing the grave consequences of failing to address nutrient pollution. However, it is not just the state of Northern Ireland’s loughs and rivers that is being severely impacted. The consequences extend to drinking water supplies and, critically, to prospects for future agricultural, residential and commercial developments.
“Climate change will only make the challenge of tackling nutrient pollution increasingly difficult in the future.”
The NAP should be reviewed and updated every four years, but the latest update is long overdue. DAERA previously published proposals for a revised NAP in June 2025, but no agreement was reached.
Following this Minister Muir set-up a NAP Stakeholder Task and Finish group, that included representatives from the agriculture and environment sectors, to produce new proposals.
The latest consultation, published in June (2026), is based on these proposals which the OEP is advising DAERA on in its letter.
Dame Helen added: “While the Stakeholder Task and Finish group’s focus has been to strike a balance between the sometimes competing priorities of agricultural production and of environmental protection, the OEP adds a further, essential dimension.
- “Our role is to scrutinise compliance with environmental law and advise on the ability of the proposed measures to achieve positive environmental outcomes. In doing so we seek to support the Executive in meeting its legal obligations and delivering on its commitments to protect Lough Neagh and the wider environment, in the Environment Improvement Plan and as a priority action in the Programme for Government.”
The OEP said there is much to welcome in the new NAP proposals, with important steps being made towards reducing nutrient losses.
These include:
- Reducing the national phosphorus surplus by 30%
- Increased advisory support for farmers and the proposed two-year review of key measures
- The focused areas approach to provide targeted support in specific high‑risk catchments
- Stronger reporting of slurry movements and revised excreta rates for dairy cows and poultry
The OEP also identified three main areas for DAERA to address to increase the likely effectiveness of the new NAP and to ensure it complies with environmental law.
These are:
Risk of increased emissions
The OEP highlights that, without further controls, the proposals for the Nutrient Stewardship Programme (NSP) could, in practice, lead to increased emissions to air and water from some sectors.
Compliance and enforcement on the ground
DAERA will need to put robust processes in place and allocate sufficient resources, when the final proposals are implemented, to ensure compliance on the ground and enforce where necessary.
Earlier OEP analyses have shown that hundreds if not thousands of farms have been operating above legal thresholds, with little enforcement action.
Compliance with environmental law
The final NAP must be developed to be compliant with key environmental laws, particularly regulations to protect habitats and water quality, and should be capable of contributing to the delivery of the obligations and outcomes established under these laws.
The OEP makes seven recommendations to DAERA to strengthen the latest NAP proposals.
These recommendations and letter of advice can be read in full by pressing the blue button on this page.
The OEP reviewed the current NAP in its Review of implementation of the Nutrient Action Programme Regulations (2019) in Northern Ireland report.
The OEP also gave advice to the DAERA Minister published in June 2025 on the previous consultation proposals. That earlier advice and formal response can be found here.
