Assessment of specific data sources (e.g. Copernicus, Remote Sensing and Advanced Monitoring Data) to support ECHA’s tasks under EU water legislation

ECHA is tasked with publishing scientific reports to support the European Commission on the prioritisation of substances for the surface water and groundwater watchlists, the priority substance list, and the groundwater pollutant list under the Water Framework Directive, Environmental Quality Standards Directive and the Groundwater Directive. In addition, ECHA’s task is to review and develop environmental quality standards (EQS) and quality standards (QS) for substances on the priority substance list and groundwater pollutant list and to develop harmonised environmental quality standards and threshold values for river basin specific pollutants (RBSPs) and regional groundwater pollutants. EHCA will also prepare socio-economic impact assessments to accompany the (E)QS dossiers. The revised legal text states that ECHA’s scientific reports must consider information from European Union research programmes and scientific publications, including information and data resulting from: • Trends and predictions derived from modelling, predictive assessments, and data from remote sensing technologies • Earth observation (Copernicus services) • In-situ sensors and devices • Citizen science contributions These information sources are new additions to the legal text. This study will assess whether, and how, they can support ECHA’s tasks under the water protection directives. It will include a thorough review of publicly available information, a survey of Member States and other relevant stakeholders to understand current use of these sources and general prospects for using them, and a concrete proposal on how ECHA could use these data sources. Where relevant, the study may also identify candidate substances for the watchlist, priority substances, groundwater pollutants, and harmonised EQS or threshold values for RBSPs and regional groundwater pollutants. You are kindly informed that • Participation in ECHA’s call for tenders is open on equal terms to all natural and legal persons registered and with legal personality in the Member States of the European Union as well as to international organizations. • It is also open to all natural and legal persons established in a third country which has a special agreement with the European Union in the field of public procurement on the conditions laid down in that agreement. For this procedure, this means economic operators established in a country under a Stabilisation and Association Agreements or in the EEA Agreement. This procedure is, however, not covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA). • The rules on access to procurement do not apply to subcontractors. Subcontracting may not be used with the intent to circumvent the rules on access to procurement. • Tenderers must ensure that none of the involved entities are subject to EU restrictive measures adopted under Article 29 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) or Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU). The prohibition applies throughout the whole performance of the contract. Interested parties which do not fulfil the above-mentioned conditions may not be invited to participate to the following invitation to tender. Interested parties are reminded that the publication of an ex-ante publicity notice does not guarantee that ECHA will launch a call for tender on the subject it covers.