The new nitrogen ruling from the Council of State is good news for farmers and companies in the province of Groningen. The ruling puts an end to the uncertainty for 29 (dairy) farmers and about fifty companies with investment plans, particularly in Delfzijl and Eemshaven.
The Council of State determined on Wednesday that no nitrogen permit is required for agricultural and other business activities more than 25 kilometers away from protected Natura2000 areas.
As a result, a significant part of the province of Groningen no longer falls under the restrictive guidelines, says agricultural deputy Johan Hamster.
From now on, Groningen will only fall under three 25-kilometre zones around protected nature areas: the Liefstinghsbroek near Vlagtwedde (the only Natura2000 in its own province) and outside the provincial borders the Drentsche Aa area, Schiermonnikoog and the North Frisian coastal region.
RvS judgment leaves industrial zone Delfzijl/Eemshaven only white spot on the nitrogen map
The protection zones around those areas still overlap a large part of Groningen. But the industrial zone around Eemshaven and Delfzijl falls exactly outside of that. In fact, that region is the only area in the Netherlands where companies no longer need a permit at all.
That is a big boost for companies that have plans for an expansion or establishment there, says director Cas König of Groningen Seaports.
In Delfzijl and Eemshaven, according to König, 5 billion euros worth of investments hang above the market, from a total of fifty companies. Added together, these plans are good for 2300 direct jobs.
Groningen Seaports happy with nitrogen ruling: ‘We have a unique position in the Netherlands’
As the only ‘white zone’ on the national nitrogen map, the Eemsdelta will also become more attractive for new companies, says the Groningen Seaports director. “This gives us a unique position in the Netherlands.”
The RvS judgment is also good news for energy group RWE. It wants to switch its Magnum power station in Eemshaven to hydrogen, but threatened to run into nitrogen regulations.
The ruling also puts an end to the uncertainty about the future of the newly opened floating terminals in Eemshaven for the import of LNG gas. They no longer need a nitrogen permit.
At least thirty farmers now have certainty about the continued existence of their business
The verdict is also good news for farmers, says deputy Hamster. This applies in the first place to 29 so-called PAS reporters, farmers who have expanded their business on the basis of the nitrogen rules that the Council of State ended in an earlier ruling at the end of 2019.
This group of livestock farmers has been farming without a permit since that verdict, but now has certainty that their business is legal. More farmers will probably be added: so-called ‘interimmers’ and farmers who have expanded in the past with an exemption from the nitrogen rules. Hamster cannot yet estimate how many companies this concerns.
Halving nitrogen emissions remains intact: ‘We are far from there yet’
The Council of State ruling emphatically does not mean that all nitrogen problems in Groningen have now been resolved, Hamster warns. The halving of nitrogen emissions prescribed by The Hague remains intact. “We are not there yet,” said the deputy.
For example, there are still more than 150 PAS detectors in parts of Groningen that still fall within a 25-kilometre zone. A solution for that group is a complicated task, according to Hamster. The Groningen deputy expects The Hague to lend a helping hand to these entrepreneurs, who in his view are the victims of “government failure” and changing rules in The Hague.