Environmental approvals for Livestock Holdings

In 2007 a new Environmental Approval Act for Livestock Holdings was put into force, an approval system that covers all livestock holding.

The authority’s administration has until 2007 been managed by the Planning Act and the Environmental protection Act, when the administration was merged in 2007, new possibilities were opened up.
The Environmental Approval Act gives the frame for approval of projects for livestock holdings and has a National minimum requirement for environmental protection for odour, ammonia, nitrates and phosphorus surplus. The authority assesses the impact of the environment together with the minimum requirement and put through public hearing.

According to the National minimum requirement a set up of a level of allowable nitrate leaching was made to all the country’s vulnerable watercourses depending on the denitrification capacity. A map was made to show the vulnerable zones.

When it comes to the Phosphorus surplus, a map was made to show vulnerable zones divided into several categories e.g. a very vulnerable area has demand on a maximum increase of phosphorous surplus and in another category an increase in the phosphorus surplus is not allowed.

Map for nitrate classes

As we have seen above data that are available for modelling nitrate leaching at various scales. However, this estimate does not provide any information on the amount of nitrogen emission to surface waters as nitrate reduction processes will take place from the root zone to the surface waters.

The Statutory Order on permission and authorisation of animal husbandry from 2007 prescribe an evaluation of the farm emission of nitrate to surface waters. In order to obtain such estimates, a nitrateclass map has been developed (figure 1). The map gives following information:

For each water body shown in figure 1 the nitrate leaching was estimated for the year 1989/90, assuming that year represents the previous 10-20 years of agriculture.
The data from the Stream Monitoring programme is used for calculating the nitrogen transport to streams of the same water bodies. This estimate is based on the annual flow weighted concentrations and a water flow corrected for climatic variations.
The ratio between nitrate leaching and estimated corrected stream transport are taken as the nitrogen reduction percentage (figure 2).
In catchments with no stream measurement, model estimates were employed. The procedure is described by Windolf and Tornbjerg (2009). These are of course very rough estimates.
All Natura 2000-areas are mapped as either very nitrogen vulnerable or vulnerable. The very nitrogen vulnerable Natura 2000-areas are water bodies with low water with and with low water exchange. 85 pct. of the Danish area drain off to Natura 2000-areas (figure 3).

The map is used for identification of areas, where there will be a condition of reduction of the number of LU/ha (The harmony rules) when a livestock is approved.

Distribution within nitrate classes
Reduction-potential for nitrogen, pct.	Catchment area to very nitrogen vulnerable Natura 2000-areas	Catchment area to nitrogen vulnerable Natura 2000-areas	Catchment area to other areas
0-50	Nitrate class III: 50% of harmony rules	Nitrate class I: 85% of harmony rules	Harmony rules
51-75	Nitrate class II: 65% of harmony rules	Harmony rules	Harmony rules
76-100	Harmony rules	Harmony rules	Harmony rules