News Nitrogen
SSC fully opposes Brabant's stable policy
Stichting Nitrogen Claim (SSC), acting on behalf of one of its members and 600 other affiliates in Brabant, is fully opposing the Brabant livestock policy. It demands that the province suspend or revoke its own environmental ordinance, which stipulates a mandatory limitation of ammonia emissions as of July 1 of this year.
SSC argues, citing the 2019 PAS ruling as well as the ECHR, that the Brabant requirements do not constitute an appropriate measure to resolve the identified environmental problem. A is lacking fair balance, so argues lawyer Robert van den Broek. This is all the more so because the measures farmers could take to comply with the stable requirements are not only excessively expensive and offer a limited number of solutions, but also provide no real certainty that they are legally defensible. And that is precisely what, according to the 2019 PAS ruling, must be the case. The province would also be violating the property rights of livestock farmers with its approach.
The SSC requirement was submitted to the province this week. The province has not responded so far. Should they still not have done so after a week, summary proceedings and further legal proceedings will follow.
SSC's reliance on Article 20.10 of the PAS ruling serves as a kind of nuclear option in the nitrogen issue. This allows everything to be legally locked down, unless adjustments to statutory policy follow.
Klaas van der Horst
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