New assessment framework for odor nuisance

It is certain that the assessment framework for odor nuisance from livestock farms will be changed. It is not yet clear what changes we can expect and when they will be implemented.

Two developments are relevant:

1. The conclusions and recommendations of the administrative working group 'Evaluation of regulations on odor nuisance by livestock farms'.
2. The 'Decree on the quality of the living environment' (which will come into effect at the same time as the Environment and Planning Act).

In this blog I will discuss the conclusions and recommendations of the working group and in a second blog I will return to the Quality of the Living Environment Decree.

Interim report
In my blog of October 26, 2015 I considered an interim report from the administrative working group. In the meantime, the working group has produced its final report. 

At the moment, a livestock farm can expand if there is an overloaded situation. However, only if livestock farming applies emission-reducing facilities. The emissions law, which is thus achieved, may be filled in half (by means of more animals) and the other half benefits the environment. 

Workgroup changes
If it is up to the working group, this so-called '50/50 rule' will disappear. If a preferred value is exceeded, then according to the working group, no generic regulation is required. Then customization must be applied. However, the working group suffice with the statement that an assessment model or guideline must be drawn up for this purpose. 

Furthermore, the test against the criterion of the best available techniques (BAT) should be given a more prominent place. The working group also leaves open how this should be done. The working group does not clarify why the current legislation and regulations are not sufficient in this regard. 

Stoppers Regulation
The working group also calls for special attention to be paid to the stopping scheme from the Ammonia Livestock Farming Action Plan. According to the working group, if a company that participates in this scheme restarts, the company must be tested against the preferred limit value and the BAT requirements.

Odor Standards
There is quite a bit of controversy about the standard. The working group has noted that. Milieudefenties, citizen groups and GGDs argue for a foreground tax of a maximum of 2 odor units in built-up areas and 5 odor units in rural areas. The background load should be 5 and 10 odor units respectively. The working group does not make any firm statements on this point. 

The working group also refers to the wish of some parties to reconsider or to abolish the distinction between concentration areas and non-concentration areas.  

Dairy cattle farming
For dairy cattle farms, the working group recommends staggered distances, which take into account the number of animals. It should also be possible to calculate the contribution of odor nuisance from dairy cattle farms to the background load. 

a lot of uncertainty
In fact, the final report of the working group contains only a few suggestions, which have hardly been elaborated or not at all. Projects and studies are already underway as a result of the interim and final reports. A fairly large change in the assessment framework therefore appears to be in preparation, although the last word is, of course, left to politicians. 

The Quality of Living Environment Decree will also change the assessment framework for odor nuisance from livestock farms. I will go into that in a next blog. 

Paul Bodden

Paul Bodden is a lawyer at Hekkelman. He focuses on providing legal aid. He also wrote a preliminary recommendation for the Association for Agrarian Law and is a member of the editorial board of the Tijdschrift voor Agrarisch Recht.

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