In this way, the cabinet wants to retain control over the distribution of the scarce nitrogen space, which is important for allowing major construction projects to proceed. At the moment it is often still unclear who will be the first to buy up the nitrogen space, which leads to a battle between different parties. For example, the province of Gelderland felt passed over earlier this month when it emerged that Rijkswaterstaat had bought out farmers to create space for the widening of the A27 motorway. The province would have preferred to use the space itself.
With the right of first purchase, the cabinet wants to prevent government organizations and other parties from competing with each other in this way and retaining control in rural areas in the future. The cabinet also wants a right to first purchase agricultural land. A farmer who wants to sell his land must first offer it to the government.
The new rules on purchasing may be bad news for large project developers and companies that have to deal with the nitrogen problem, such as Schiphol. They can only make a bid for the nitrogen space if the government is not interested, which will most likely reduce their options.
The measures are contained in a letter in which Minister Van der Wal responds to the recent Porthos ruling, in which the Council of State declared the exemption for nitrogen emissions from large projects invalid. Only when considerably less nitrogen ends up in nature reserves will there be room for nitrogen again for construction and other purposes.
Well over 100 percent of value
It is therefore very important to Van der Wal to bring about a rapid reduction in nitrogen emissions. She wants to achieve this, among other things, with a generous buy-out scheme for agricultural peak taxers, a measure that was already leaked on Tuesday. The cabinet will approach them with an offer of ‘well above 100 percent’ of the value of their company to stop.
At the end of January, the government will present the criteria that interested farmers must meet in order to qualify for the scheme. Peak loaders in agriculture who still want to continue, will be given new opportunities to reduce their nitrogen emissions through innovation and extensification. Van der Wal also wants to tighten up the permits for peak loaders in the industry and to discuss how they can reduce their emissions.
With the buy-out scheme, the government is specifically targeting companies that emit a lot of nitrogen in the vicinity of sensitive nature areas. In this way, space must be created for the PAS notifiers, companies that, since the Council of State’s ruling on nitrogen policy, have been operating without a valid permit through no fault of their own. The government will evaluate the scheme next autumn. If it is not possible to achieve enough reduction, writes Van der Wal, ‘then we must, with pain in our hearts, enter into a discussion with a targeted group in which mandatory instruments will be used if necessary’.
Van der Wal is introducing even more measures to limit nitrogen emissions in the longer term. For example, entrepreneurs who want to compensate an increase in nitrogen emissions in a part of their company with lower emissions elsewhere on their company (so-called internal netting) must now apply for a permit. Van der Wal will also make it more difficult for companies with so-called ‘latent space’ to expand. These are companies that emit less nitrogen than their nature permit allows. By updating nature permits more often on the basis of actual emissions, these companies will also have to request permission in advance for each expansion.
Measures against drought
The cabinet also came up with new plans on water management in the Netherlands on Friday. As expected, Mark Harbers, Minister for Infrastructure and Water Management, wants to raise the groundwater level by possibly 10 to 50 centimeters to prevent the soil from drying out. The plan was already leaked on Wednesday. In addition, Harbers allows the water level in the IJsselmeer to fluctuate more. For example, the level may be higher in winter and lower in summer, so that the IJsselmeer can function better as a ‘national rain barrel’ to provide the country with water in periods of drought.
The minister also wants a maximum temperature of 25 degrees for discharged cooling water in large rivers. In this way, the warming of the river water, which can have consequences for flora and fauna in the water, must be limited.