From July 1, the province will start withdrawing unused nitrogen space in permits. The amount of nitrogen space in a permit determines how much nitrogen a company may deposit in vulnerable natural areas. Livestock farmers who have not been active for three years or more or have not used permission to build a new stable can therefore lose the nitrogen space. The province does this to prevent dormant nitrogen space from being used and thus causing damage to nature.
In addition, the province is tackling the major industrial emitters in Brabant with a tailor-made approach. For industry, nitrogen space must be unused for five years before it can be withdrawn. Customization was chosen because of the differences in the way large companies work.
This does not apply to farmers, because they largely work in the same way. In total this concerns 500 to 700 possible livestock farmers. Of these, 200 to 300 have a dormant permit and 300 to 400 have an unbuilt stable. The withdrawal policy does not apply to farmers with an active business who keep fewer animals than their permit allows.
Nature is doing badly
Preventing new nitrogen emissions is necessary because vulnerable nature reserves are not doing well. This is partly because too much nitrogen ends up in nature. That is why emissions in Brabant must be drastically reduced and nature must be able to recover.
For this reason, it has been virtually impossible for a long time to obtain a permit for projects where nitrogen ends up in vulnerable nature. Consider expanding livestock farms, but also building houses and constructing roads and other infrastructure.
The province has chosen to withdraw nitrogen space that is not in use to prevent worse. For example, complete permits of active companies are destroyed. In recent years, the judge has regularly banned nitrogen permits from companies. When that happens, the province has no control over which businesses and projects are affected.
Build quickly?
The measure was already announced a year and a half ago. This was required by law, so that entrepreneurs still had enough time to put their nitrogen space into use, for example by building a new stable. The effect of this could have been that companies started building or expanding quickly, while they still could.
The province had no such fear. The reasoning was why would a company suddenly start using the space after having left it idle for years? Undoubtedly, some companies will have done this, but the impact will ultimately be less than expected, the province estimated in November 2024.
Do not withdraw immediately
The revocation of permits does not start immediately on July 1. Before dormant nitrogen space is taken up, it must first be determined whether a company is actually no longer active or whether a stable has not been built. A decision can only be made after a procedure with the opportunity for participation.
