Kväve i Östra Mälaren
hur kunskap förvaltas och används i tillståndsprocesser
The nitrogen cycle in freshwater bodies is complex and consists of many separate processes affected by a number of important factors for example oxygen concentration in the water, temperature and circulation. Knowledge of the different components of the nitrogen cycle exists; however, a complete and comprehensive picture is difficult conceptually as well as theoretically. The available literature illustrates that the research on nitrogen and the related freshwater processes is still associated with high uncertainty of how much of the supplied nitrogen from the catchment is transported with the water versus and how much is lost due to denitrification, sedimentation or uptake by plants. This report is an interdisciplinary survey of Nitrogen discharge permitting. The research focuses in particular on the decision-making process, the levels of scientific standard and the administrative framework.Application for Nitrogen discharge permits are decided by the Environmental Court with council from their own experts as well as relevant government authorities and organisations. The court bases their decisions largely on a report that is produced by a third party with direct input from the permit applicant. With the goal aimed at cheapest production of report results in a situation where data is incomparable and discontinuous and hinders consistent rulings. Where there is a lack of knowledge, decisions are based on assumptions, estimations and intuition. To be able to make profitable decision for the society in environmental questions concerning Nitrogen there has to be an adequate basis. It has also pushed the Environmental Court to use the Precautionary Principle since threshold values become general and are not context specific. This has resulted in court rulings that, in hindsight, are uneconomical both for the applicant and broader society.The permitting process must consider a range of directives and regulations. The basis for Swedish environmental law, and more specifically Nitrogen permitting, includes Miljöbalken, the Council Directive concerning urban waste-water treatment, the Council Directive concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources and the Water Policy Directive. Furthermore, the Broviken area investigated in this report is classified as a Natura 2000 in which some portions are slated to switch over to nature reserve status. In addition to all these directives and regulations, Nitrogen permitting must also take into consideration the 15 Environmental Goals declared by the Swedish Government.