In the Netherlands, stations measuring air quality for various measurement networks are sub-categorised as follows: rural, urban and street stations. This distinction is necessary for the interpretation of measurements and is based on where the station is located. A study by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) has shown that for most stations, this classification is correct. In some cases, however, due to local activities, the classification does not hold for all components. For example, if a farm is located nearby a rural station, then the concentration of most components may correspond to the background concentrations but the concentration of ammoniac may be high. This information is necessary when modelled concentrations are compared with measurements . This study has also investigated which stations from other networks can be used on a national scale, for example, for the production of the Dutch concentration map. The difference in measurements between the various types of station was particularly prominent for nitrogen dioxide (NO2). At the same time, stations in the same category showed comparable concentrations of nitrogen dioxide. For particulate matter (PM10) the distinction between the background and traffic stations was less clear. At some stations, the influence of industrial sources was clearly observed by the concentrations of particulate matter that were measured. For this study, data from all the measurement stations of the Dutch National Quality Monitoring Network were used. In addition, data provided by the networks of the Municipal Health Service (GGD) Amsterdam, the Environmental Protection Agency Rijnmond (DCMR), the provinces of Noord-Brabant and Limburg, were used. The vicinity of measurement stations was assessed by using photographs and maps of these stations.

By order of the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, RIVM has set up a PM2.5 monitoring strategy in order to measure the fine fraction of particulate matter, PM2.5, within the Dutch National Air Quality Monitoring Network (NAQM). According to the European legislation from 2008, member states are required to measure PM2.5. The EU Directive 2008/50/EC prescribes measurements at 20 locations in the Netherlands. However, RIVM recommends the implementation of 28 monitoring stations in order to obtain a network which yields results with the same accuracy as the operational PM10 network in the Netherlands. The EU legislation for PM2.5 is aimed at the protrection of human health. During the whole process of the implementation of PM2.5 measurements in the NAQM, a few crucial decisions needed to be made like buying the monitoring equipment and the set-up of the infrastructure. This whole process had a duration of a few years. This strategy is based on information which has been collected to make the above decisions.

This report contains all of the data pertaining to the analysis of shallow groundwater samples collected from 149 locations of the National Acidification Trend Monitoring network (TMV) between late 2009 and early 2011. These data are used by the TMV to map the effects of acidification on the groundwater of Dutch natural areas (forest/heathlands) on sandy soils. The levels of various components of fertilizers, such as phosphates and nitrates, and of metals are measured in the groundwater. The concentration of nitrates exceeded the target value at some locations. The target value and, in some cases, the intervention value for a number of metals were also exceeded at some locations. In 2012 a trend analysis of the data will be carried out in a separate report. The TMV was established in 1989, and its monitoring activities are administered and performed by the RIVM. All monitoring sites have been visited five times since the TMV was established.

According to European legislation concentrations of SO2 needs to be monitored at two sites in the Netherlands. In the current Dutch monitoring network (LML) there are twenty locations where concentrations of SO2 are being measured. RIVM recommends measuring the concentration of this air pollutant at eight existing monitoring stations. Thereby not only satisfying EU legislation, but also criteria like for example acidification. In the Rijnmond area an industry station from DCMR Milieudienst Rijnmond would be selected plus an urban background station from the LML. Furthermore it is recommended to distribute six regional LML monitoring stations with a homogeneous coverage over the Netherlands with a relatively more dense concentration of stations in the middle and southern part of the Netherlands. The latter covers the areas with intensive livestock farming, which are vulnerable to acidification.

This report provides an overview of fertilisation practices in 2010 and of water quality in 2010 and 2011 on grassland farms that are allowed to use more animal manure than the limit set in the European Nitrates Directive (derogation). Data from this research can be used to evaluate the consequences of derogation for the water quality. The water quality values measured in 2010 reflect agricultural practices in 2009, which was the fourth year in which the derogation was applied. The water quality values measured in 2011 reflect the consequences of agricultural practices in 2010. Background derogation monitoring network The European Nitrates Directive obliges Member States to limit the use of animal manure to a specified maximum (the application standard for animal manure of 170 Kg N per hectare). A Member State may request permission from the European Commission to deviate from this obligation under specific conditions. In December 2005, the Commission granted the Netherlands the right to derogate from the obligation from 2006 to 2009. On 5 February 2010, this derogation was extended to December 2013. One of the underlying conditions of the derogation is that the Dutch government establishes a monitoring network focused on derogation farms and reports the results each year to the European Commission. Monitoring agricultural practice and water quality in 2010 In 2006, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and the Agricultural Economics Research Institute (LEI Wageningen UR), set up this derogation monitoring network for the Netherlands. This network measures the effects on agricultural practice and water quality when farmers are allowed to deviate from the European application standard for livestock manure. The derogation monitoring network is part of the Minerals Policy Monitoring Programme (LMM). In 2010 the agricultural practice was measured on 294 grassland farms and the water quality on 290 grassland farms. The monitoring network covers 300 farms. However, fewer than 300 farms are reported: some farms could not continue in the monitoring network, and, in retrospect, not all farms applied for derogation or were awarded it.

Research carried out by LEI and RIVM shows that the amount of fertilizer used on Dutch farms in the clay region declined during the period 1996-2008 as a result of the minerals policy (RIVM report 680717024A/2012). The data on which this study is based are presented separately in this annex report. This report also contains some background documents on the calculation methods of agricultural practice.

The European air quality directive allows the subtraction of natural contributions from the levels of PM10. In 2005 a regulation for sea salt was implemented in Dutch legislation. The sea salt levels in this regulation now appear to be too high and will be adjusted. This is the result of an evaluation on the basis of new measurement data on sea salt. Sea salt contributes to the level of particulate matter in the air. Lower sea salt levels in The Netherlands: The new data on the estimated amount of sea salt in the air are based on measured concentrations of sodium. Sodium is a more reliable source of information than the chloride concentrations that are used in the current Dutch method. Measurements of sodium in PM10 reference samples indicate that sea salt concentrations are nearly 50% lower than the levels estimated in the current regulation. The new estimate is based on the reference method for the sampling of particulate matter (PM10) and complies with the European regulations. Adjustment of the correction: According to the directive the number of days with PM10 levels above 50 µg/m3 may not be larger than 35. Due to the natural contribution this number of days may be corrected. Currently a flat number of six exceedance days can be discarded for the whole country. With the new assessment this number of days will be lower. Also allows the new assessment a differentiation over the various Dutch provinces. Near the coast the number of days, that can be discarded due to the amount of sea salt, will now be four instead of six. In the eastern part of the country the number of days reduces from six to two. The effect of changing the method for sea salt reduction on the number of PM10 exceedances is presumably small. Measurement results in 2010 show no limit value exceedances even without sea salt correction. For 2011 some exceedances may be measured due to other weather conditions.

On average, the amount of fertilizer used on Dutch farms in the clay region declined during the period 1996-2008 as a result of the minerals policy. This has resulted in a decline in the nitrogen and phosphate loads of the soil, as well as in a fall in the so-called soil surpluses of nitrogen and phosphate. A soil balance surplus is that portion of the fertilizer which is not used by crops for growth and which has the potential to leach into the groundwater and surface water. The quality of this leaching water has also improved on average during this period. This is the conclusion drawn by researchers from the LEI of Wageningen University and Research Centre and the RIVM based on the results of a survey carried out jointly by both institutions using data on the clay region provided by the Landelijk Meetnet effecten Mestbeleid (LMM). The clay region comprises several areas that are dispersed throughout the Netherlands. Concentrations fluctuate over the years The quality of the leaching water on the sampled farms was tested for nitrate. Nitrate concentrations have dropped, but the annual average concentrations over the entire measured period show a fluctuating pattern. Many factors may account for this pattern, including weather conditions, such as the amount of rainfall. Due to these effects, it is difficult to clearly elucidate the relationship between soil balance surpluses and nitrate concentrations in the leaching water for the clay region. Questions for evaluation The results of this survey will be used as the basis for an evaluation of the LMM in the clay region. Among the points to be addressed is whether the current strategy and method of sampling is the best way to determine changes in nutrient leaching. Also to be explored is how the representativeness of the LMM for agricultural activities in the clay region can be increased at no or low cost and how the analysis of the trend and status determination can be improved.

Any reduction in the budget of the standard monitoring network of the National Mineral Policy Monitoring Network (LMM) may lead to non-compliance with the European Union's reporting obligations. Budgetary retrenchment can result in the incapacity to accurately track and demonstrate long-term developments in nitrate concentrations in natural waters and to determine the relationship between nitrate concentrations and farm practices. The consequence will be a loss of insight into the effects of farm practices - and of changes in these practices - on water quality. This is the outcome of a study carried out by RIVM in cooperation with the University of Utrecht and LEI, part of Wageningen University and Research Centre. The study was commissioned by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment (I&M) and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation (EL&I). Retrenchments: easing of obligations of the derogation: Despite this outcome, the Ministry of I&M has requested that four scenarios be drawn up to explore the consequences of a budgetary cut of 25-50%. Such retrenchments would appear only to be realizable in the case that the European Commission adjusts the obligations of the derogation for the monitoring network, which is a part of the LMM. Should the Netherlands wish to retain the derogation, it will be necessary to obtain permission for these changes in the network from the European Commission. Derogation is an exceptional case that allows, under specified conditions, the use of more animal manure on agricultural land than permitted by a European Directive (the Nitrates Directive). Consequences of scenarios: Two of the four scenarios are based on a network set-up that differs from the current LMM set-up. While these two scenarios are the greatest money-savers, they produce new types of datasets that are difficult to combine and compare with existing ones. As a result, the continuity in the LMM dataset is lost, and long-term developments cannot be shown and reported to the European Commission. As all EU Member States have to report on these developments every four years, these scenarios may lead to legal problems. The remaining two scenarios are based on the current set-up of the LMM, but the number of parameters are reduced by including fewer monitoring locations or by decreasing the frequency of sampling. Relatively fewer legal problems are expected to be encountered with these two scenarios because the type of dataset does not change and, therefore, the LMM dataset retains its continuity.

Emissions of air pollutants in the Netherlands decreased between 1990 and 2009. This concerns sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC), carbon monoxide, ammonia, heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants (POP's). The downward trend may be attributed in particular to cleaner fuels, cleaner car engines and to emission reductions in the industrial sectors. This has become apparent in the RIVM's explanation of the emission data submission, the Informative Inventory Report (IIR) 2011. Every year the Emission Inventory team - under direction of the RIVM - submits emission data to the government, for it to meet its obligations to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the European Commission. The emission data set consists of data on a series of years, from 1990 up to the most recently submitted data. For this submission, the ammonia emission data series was calculated using a new model, which includes improved emission reduction measures, more in line with actual measurements. Results of the new model give rise to considerably higher NH3 emissions in the base year 1990. After 1991 they turned out to be lower. For the year 2008 the difference was 7.6 Gg. The reduction is mostly due to the change in manure application method (i.e. incorporation in the soil instead of surface spreading). Consequently less ammonia is volatilized. Furthermore, new sources of nitrogen oxides were distinguished and methods were developed to calculate their emissions. These emissions come from manure on agricultural soils and from manure storage. Emissions from agricultural soils for the year 2009 are calculated to amount to 25.5 Gg NOx. This is about 10% of the maximum allowed emissions of NOx in the Netherlands, the 'NECceiling' (National Emission Ceiling). The amount is, however, not included for compliance to this ceiling (they are reported under memo-item 11C 'Natural emissions' in the submission). This is because, the methods were not known, when the ceilings were determined.