Abstract
Livestock production and intensive application of manure together with other fertilisers pollutes waters all over the world. In particular, careless spreading of manure on fields already rich with nutrients causes heavy loads of nutrient emissions into ground and surface waters. Livestock installations and handling of manure are often regulated through a mix of different instruments. In the EU, environmental permits are applied to regulate emissions from high volume livestock installations. However, the scope and function of livestock permits remains a controversial legal and regulatory question: Should the permit cover both the livestock installation as a technical-functional unit and the spreading of manure outside the installation, or should the latter be treated as a separate issue to be regulated through other instruments, such as general legal standards? This question is further stressed by recent structural developments in agri-business sector (specialization, increased farm size, manure processing technology) and political ambitions related to the circular economy. Drawing from recent experiences in Denmark and Finland, this article analyses the role of permits in regulating livestock production and management of manure. It concludes that while the optimal regulatory function of permits depends on the agri-environmental “policy-mix” of each country, the evolving agri-business sector might call for evolution of the regulatory strategy: the exclusion of manure spreading from the scope of the permit.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | European Energy and Environmental Law Review |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Pages (from-to) | 88-100 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| ISSN | 1879-3886 |
| Publication status | Published - 2018 |
