An Taisce has said it has officially asked the European Commission to overturn the latter's decision to grant an extension to the nitrates derogation to Ireland.

This move is separate to An Taisce's legal challenge in the High Court on Ireland's sixth Nitrates Action Programme (NAP), which came into effect from January 1.

In December, the commission officially granting the derogation to Ireland for a further three years. That followed a vote in the EU Nitrates Committee, which advises the commission on in this area, to grant the derogation.

The derogation is governed by the EU Nitrates Directive.

Under the directive, the amount of slurry that can be applied to land is usually 170kg of organic nitrogen (N) per hectare.

The derogation sets a higher limit of 220kgN/ha for the roughly 7,000 farmers (mainly dairy farmers) in Ireland that apply for it on an annual basis.

An Taisce has asked the commission, under the latter's internal review procedure of its environmental decisions, to review the decision to grant Ireland the derogation.

According to the environmental group, there are "serious doubts about the lawfulness" of the commission's decision.

An Taisce said the commission "should make a new decision withdrawing this permission".

The group claimed that the government "did not demonstrate, as it was required to do, that the proposed decision would be compatible with EU water quality and biodiversity laws".

An Taisce said it has told the commission that it "lacked the power to grant this derogation because it was not justified on environmental grounds".

Its submission to the commission also claimed that the commissions "erred" in its assessment.

According to An Taisce, the commission "did not ensure its decision included essential safeguards to protect water quality and sensitive habitats from pollution caused by intensive animal agriculture", claiming that "grass-based dairying" was an example of intensive agriculture.

Under the new nitrates derogation, Ireland has to demonstrate that maintaining the derogation complies with the separate EU Habitats Directive.

According to An Taisce, the granting of the derogation "jeopardises the aims of the Habitats Directive", as well as the Water Framework Directive, of which the Nitrates Directive forms part.

The official review request has been submitted by solicitor Fred Logue, managing partner of FP Logue LLP, a Dublin-based law firm.

The commission has 16 weeks to issue a reply, which it can extend to 22 weeks.