Good environmental status is achieved when the following conditions are cumulatively met : - the concentrations of contaminants for which a threshold is available (environmental quality standard, as defined in the Order of 25 January 2010 on methods and criteria for assessing the ecological status, chemical status and ecological potential of surface waters or environmental assessment criteria defined by the OSPAR Convention) do not exceed these thresholds; - concentrations in biota do not increase over time; - concentrations in top predators do not increase over time; - the considered effects of the contaminants are deemed insignificant.

In this case it is not possible to define a BEA (in a quantitative way) for this demarcation due to the lack of information that we currently have about the area. In case of having the same, the good environmental status (BEA) that would be proposed for this descriptor should be adjusted to the international criteria of environmental quality derived either from the legislation in force or from those proposed at a regional level by international agreements. Therefore, the BEA would be fulfilled if these reference values (derived for the appropriate species) were not exceeded in a large majority of cases. Therefore, an area would present a Good Environmental Status if it does not exceed the levels established by the competent authorities and regional bodies in a large majority of its samples and when the temporal trends are decreasing or remain stable (in those cases where the levels detected are very close to the baseline).





The good environmental status (GES) proposed for this descriptor is in line with the international environmental quality criteria derived from either existing legislation or those proposed at regional level by international conventions. Therefore, the BBE will be met if these reference values are not exceeded in a vast majority of cases. An area therefore presents a Good Environmental Statement if it does not exceed the levels set by the competent authorities and regional bodies in a large majority of its samples and when the temporary trends are decreasing or remaining stable (in those cases where the levels detected are very close to the base value). It has been suggested to establish an appropriate threshold of proportion of indicators that should be below T1 (EACs, ECS, ERLs) to decide whether or not to comply with the BEA for a site or region. Taking into account that this is the first time this kind of integration is made with chemical and biological field values, it has been proposed to use an initial threshold value of 95 % < T1 recommended by international groups (ICES, 2011b) and to be reviewed and discussed at a later stage and in the light of the sampling strategy followed in the marine pollution control programmes to be used for the evaluation. Thus, if the samples are mainly located in areas of high impact and hardly any area is covered which, in principle, may be more free of anthropic pressure, that percentage is likely to be altered.
Therefore, the levels to be applied in the international bodies in which Spain participates will be adopted as BEA. In the specific case of pollutants and biological effects presented in this document, the criteria used in OSPAR for the recent assessment carried out in QSR 2010 and reflected in Tables 8.3 and 8.4 will be taken into account (see document IV_D8 South Africtica.pdf).