Small nitrogen emitters would need no permit from July 2027
Businesses and housing projects with small nitrogen emissions would no longer need a permit half a year earlier than planned, agriculture minister Jaimi van Essen says.
i
Illustrative photo: Fred Romero from Paris, France / CC BY 2.0.jpg){kind=link}
The cabinet wants businesses and projects with a small nitrogen emission, such as housing construction, to need no permit from 1 July 2027, half a year earlier than planned. Agriculture minister Jaimi van Essen (D66) says so in his nitrogen letter to parliament.
Why it matters
- Businesses with a small nitrogen emission would not have to apply for a permit from 1 July 2027.
- The change also covers housing projects with a small emission.
To make this possible, Van Essen wants to raise the rekenkundige ondergrens (RKO), the calculation threshold. He says that is possible under a number of conditions, such as enshrining the nitrogen targets in law.
The minister also points to his package of measures to reduce nitrogen, which he has now set out in more detail.
What happens next
- Tuesday: Van Essen sends the bill laying down the nitrogen targets to the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of parliament.
- 1 July 2027: the date from which he wants small emitters to need no permit.
More on climate, nature and farming · cabinet and parliament
rekenkundige ondergrens (RKO)
The calculation threshold is a set level of nitrogen deposition below which the effect of a single source is treated as too small to need further assessment in nitrogen calculations. Under Dutch nitrogen rules, activities whose contribution falls below this level do not have to be checked individually against nature protection targets. Raising the threshold would widen the group of projects that can be carried out without a detailed assessment or permit.