There is no solution for strict nitrogen regulations at this time, but more research is needed

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  Thomas Spekschoor

  a reporter

Scientists have not yet succeeded in finding a way to exempt relatively small projects from strict nitrogen regulations. The provinces had instructed scientists from TNO and the University of Amsterdam to look for a limit below which a nitrogen permit would not be required. They did not find it, although the scientists say there is reason to do further research to find such an end.

To the frustration of farmers and companies, permission must now be sought for almost all new nitrogen releases. For example, if a farm extension results in more than 0.005 mol of nitrogen per hectare per year ending up in nitrogen sensitive nature, a new permit is required for that extension. In practice, this means that almost every project, whether it relates to farms, industry or road construction, for example, requires such a permit.

That was different until 2019. At that time there was a so-called threshold value that was 200 times higher than the current limit. Only if a new project would add 1 mole per hectare per year to emissions does a permit need to be applied for, otherwise information was sufficient.

The government then believed that this was possible, as measures would be introduced in the future that would result in lower nitrogen emissions. But the Council of State suspended this arrangement after procedures with various nature groups, including Movement. Progress on reducing emissions in the future was not accepted, the Council of State said.

Since then, the question has been whether it is legally possible to use a lower limit. Minister of Agriculture Femke Wiersma (BBB) ​​mentioned the introduction of a new border as one of her most important priorities. In December, the House of Representatives called on the cabinet to reset the limit to 1 mole per hectare per year, as long as this is approved by the Council of State.

The latter is the problem. Additional nitrogen emissions are now legally acceptable if less nitrogen is emitted elsewhere.

The scientists who did the research now say that the current level is not scientifically proven. In the models used, it is also not possible to confirm with certainty that nitrogen emissions from, for example, a farm end up in nature twenty kilometers away, although the model accepts this .

However, scientists now do not find enough evidence for a new, lower limit. They expect such a new limit to be scientifically proven, but more research is needed.

There are no scientific errors in the models currently in use, the researchers say, but they are made on the basis of limited knowledge. New research may change that, but that will take years.

Minister Wiersma is happy that there can be a follow-up study, although she admits that “unfortunately it has not yet given a lower limit.” “So I will work on this together with the big – sectors. I believe we should take every opportunity to reach a lower limit.”

Even if such a lower limit is found, a solution to the Netherlands’ nitrogen problems remains remote. The lower limit will lead to additional new emissions, while it is not clear how nitrogen emissions will be reduced on the other hand.