The cabinet will tackle peak loads more quickly. This not only concerns farms, but also industry. Companies will be asked whether they want to stop, move or become more sustainable.
Next autumn it will become clear whether there is enough enthusiasm for the one-off nitrogen regulation for polluting livestock farmers to end. This range of so-called peak loaders will open in April 2023, and it will become clear in the autumn whether the nitrogen targets will be achieved. “If not, it will be with pain in the heart that coercion and forced buy-out of peak loaders will have to be made,” reports nitrogen minister Christianne van der Wal.
Peak loads are (farming) companies that emit a relatively large amount of nitrogen in the vicinity of vulnerable nature areas. They must emit much less nitrogen, also because this will create room to grant permits to farmers who are currently farming illegally through no fault of their own.
Legalizing so-called PAS reporters is a priority for the cabinet. These companies, mostly farmers and their families, have come into considerable uncertainty due to inadequate government policy. This certainly applies to PAS reporters where enforcement is imminent.
Last month, VVD director Johan Remkes came up with the advice to significantly reduce the nitrogen emissions of the largest peak loaders as quickly and in a targeted way as possible. According to the cabinet, this can also be done by innovating, relocating and “far-reaching switching” to a greener form of agriculture that has less effect on nature. A number of peak loaders will have to stop. “The starting point of the entire approach is and remains voluntary”, emphasizes Van der Wal again.
The nitrogen problem actually revolves around two nitrogen compounds: nitrogen oxides and ammonia. Agriculture mainly emits ammonia, nitrogen oxides are released when fossil fuels are burned. This happens, for example, in traffic and in industry. Nature needs nitrogen, but far too high precipitation affects vulnerable nature, in some cases with acidification of the soil and loss of biodiversity.
Under the old system, the Nitrogen Approach Program (PAS), nitrogen could be emitted before measures are taken to improve the quality of nature. In 2019, the Council of State ruled that this does not comply with European rules on protecting protected Natura 2000 areas.
The government also wants to reduce nitrogen in other sectors. Agriculture minister Piet Adema said when he was appointed last month that the emphasis is too much on farmers in the nitrogen dossier. The government wants to make agreements with the fifty largest nitrogen polluters in the industry about stricter rules for permits and faster sustainability.