Agriculture and Environment, 3 (1977) 269--274 269 © Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam -- Printed in The Netherlands

B E L G I A N L E G I S L A T I O N C O N C E R N I N G T H E B U I L D I N G A N D EXPLOI- T A T I O N OF S T O C K - F A R M S

A. VAN DER VOORDE

Management for Agricultural Engineering, Ministry for Agriculture, Brussels (Belgium)

ABSTRACT

Van der Voorde, A., 1977. Belgian legislation concerning the building and exploita- tion of stock-farms. Agric. Environm., 3: 269--274.

A difference has to be made between three kinds of legislations: first of all the one concerning town and country planning as such, in the second place the one concerning dangerous, unhealthy and inconvenient establishments, and thirdly a series of recently adopted so-called environmental laws, concerning water and air pollution.

The first laws concern mainly the rules and authorizations in relation with the erection of a building. Here the Board of Mayor and Aldermen as well as the Director of the pro- vincial government town planning have to be consulted. Other laws deal with the exploitation licence. This licence is to be obtained from the Board, which consults the local population and asks for the advice of the inspector of Public Health. More recently (1971) some specific laws on pollution abatement have been adopted. The law on water pollution can be applied on agriculture and other industrial activities, where the law on air pollution is more directed towards the other industries.

INTRODUCTION

Belgium is a small c o u n t r y with one o f the wor ld ' s densest popula t ions . The very large n u m b e r o f people tha t live and work toge ther on a relatively small t e r r i to ry necessitates the adop t ion o f an adequate ins t rument o f t o w n and c o u n t r y planning.

As nearly 60% o f the popu la t i on live in the nor the r ly and Dutch-speaking par t o f the c o u n t r y and as be tween 60 and 90% (according to the species o f catt le) o f the Belgian l ivestock is kep t there, it is evident tha t legal pre- scr ipt ions concern ing the cons t ruc t ion and explo i ta t ion o f these s tock-farms are an absolute necessity.

However , the specific laws concern ing the cons t ruc t ion and the exploita- t ion o f s tock-farms are fairly recent , all o f t h e m dat ing f rom the last f if teen years. Most ly they are general laws applying to all kinds o f cons t ruc t ions , including agricultural buildings and s tock-farms.

Three kinds o f legislations have to be d i f ferent ia ted: first o f all one concern- ing t o w n and c o u n t r y p lanning; secondly one concern ing dangerous,

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unhealthy and inconvenient establishments, and thirdly a series of recently adopted so-called environmental laws, concerning water and air pollution.

As far as stock-breeding is concerned, the stock-breeder will find in each of the three legislations a corresponding permission regulation which he may need for the construction and exploitation of his enterprise. These three corresponding permissions are the building-licence, the exploitation licence and the discharge licence.

THE LAWS CONCERNING TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING AND THE BUILDING LICENCE

The law of March 29, 1972, which changed the law of December 22, 1970 on the organisation of town and country planning subdivides our country into 48 different regions. For each of these regions, plans have been drafted, and all of the areas have been given, in principal, their most useful provisions by means of Ministerial Decrees. These regional plans have been submitted to the public and to the subordinated administrations for advice, enquiry and participation in the decision-making. Very soon, their final versions will be established as definite regional plans by means of a Royal Decree. In the regional plans the country is subdivided into living areas, industrial areas, services areas, rural areas, recreation areas and areas for other uses.

The living areas are subdivided into actual living areas, living extension areas with rural character. The rural area consists of agrarian areas, wood areas, green areas, and so on.

The Royal Decree of December 1972 concerning the development and the application of the drafts and the final regional plans stipulates that new stock-farms may only be erected in agrarian areas and living areas with rural character. However buildings that are not destined for ground bound to agra- rian enterprises with industrial character, or for intensive stock-breeding, may only be erected at a distance of at least 300 m from a living area or at least 100 m form a living extension area, unless it concerns a living area with rural character.

The distances of 300 and 100 m do not apply in cases of an extension of existing enterprises. In the case of existing stock-farms, the activity of which does not correspond to the descriptions of the area in which they are situ- ated, the exploitation may be continued until the term of its exploitation or building permission has expired. An extension of this term is possible for a continued exploitation of 10 years, so as to enable the stock-breeder to re- erect his enterprise elsewhere.

The building licence

The law on town and country planning stipulates that nobody is autho- rized to erect a building without previous written explicit authorization of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen of the Municipality in which the lot to

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be built on is situated. The same law stipulates that except for very small buildings the building permission can only be delivered after the explicit favourable advice of the authorized civil servant, viz. the Director of the provincial government for town planning. Moreover, the permission for the erection of a cow-house may depend on the building-technical advice of the official engineer for agricultural engineering of the Ministry of Agriculture.

The procedure for the obtainment of a building licence for a cow-house provides for a maximum term of 75 days and the possibility for the appli- cant to bring an appeal against a possible refusal of the licence either to the province, or in the second instance to the King, which means to the Minister in charge of town and country planning.

GENERAL REGULATIONS CONCERNING THE PROTECTION OF LABOUR: ESTABLISHMENTS WHICH HAVE TO OBTAIN A LICENCE

The general regulations concerning the protect ion of labour (a kind of Public Nuisance Act) is in fact a frame law which came into being just after the second world war, by means of which during the last 30 years a great number of legal provisions were taken concerning the exploitation of dangerous, unhealthy or t roublesome enterprises or establishments in our country.

A distinction is made between establishments of class A, belonging to the jurisdiction of the Minister of Labour, and establishments of class B, belong- ing to the jurisdiction of the Minister of Public Health. According to the level of nuisance the same establishments are subdivided in those belonging to class 1, under the direct jurisdiction of the provincial government and those of class 2, under the direct authori ty of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

Agricultural industries and other enterprises processing agricultural and horticultural products are generally establishments of class A. Farms and stock-farms on the other hand all belong to class B. General supervision of the latter is exercised by the Minister of Public Health, and more particularly by the inspectors of the Administration of Public Health. The Royal Decree of September 11, 1970 established the list of agricultural establishments liable for obtaining licence. This Decree determines that the following establishments belong to the competence of the provinces: 1. Zoological gardens and permanent zoological gardens. 2. Important storage places for organic compost and dung and for the pre- paration of same. 3. Storage places and establishments for the preparation or preservation of products of animal origin (bones, meat and fish meal, meat and fish prepara- tion, etc. }. 4. Slaughter-houses with a daffy capacity of over 500 pieces. 5. Knacker's yards. 6o Storage places and all establishments used for the processing of solid and liquid offal.

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Apart from these establishments the concerned Decree also enumerates the establishments under the direct authori ty of the Board of Aldermen of the municipalities where they are exploited. As far as the latter are con- cerned, which are mostly stock-breeding enterprises, the Decree makes a clear distinction between those that are situated inside, and those that are situated outside the built-up areas of the municipality.

Consequently, the General Regulations for the Protection of Labour sti- pulate the enterprises which have to obtain a licence 2nd class. A. When they are situated in built-up areas of municipalities; the enterprises with bee hives; poultry farms with over 30 animals; piggeries; establishments with more than 6 weaned small mammals (dogs, cats etc.); establishments with big mammals {cow-stocks, horse-stocks). B. When they are situated outside the built-up areas of the municipalities: piggeries with over 10 weaned animals. C. Wherever they are situated, the storage places of products of vegetable origin (vegetables, fruit, and other non-edible vegetable products like beet pulp, silos for green feed, grass, clover, etc.) of at least 1 000 kg and situated at least 50 m from another dwelling.

Exploitation licence

Before the exploitation of each of the above-mentioned enterprises is started, the exploiter has to possess a so-called exploitation licence. As we have seen, for stock-farms this licence has to be obtained from the Board of Mayor and Aldermen. It is also this local administration which determines whether or not the establishment is situated inside or outside the built-up areas of the municipality. Within five full days of receipt of the file, the Board has to make an inquiry concerning the possible nuisance of a pro- jected enterprise in which the subject of the application is indicated. This announcement has to stay posted up during fifteen days at the place of ex- ploitation and at the normal places for posting up notices. During this peri- od, everybody who thinks he will be damaged or injured by the establish- ment for which the exploitation licence has been requested, has the right to make written remarks.

The Board has to forward the application, together with the report of the official inquiry concerning the possible nuisances of a projected exploitation for advice to the inspector of Public Health. The advice of the latter is not binding, contrarily to the one given by the competent civil servant for the obtention of a building licence.

Against a refusal for exploitation the stock-holder can bring an appeal to the provincial administration. Against an exploitation licence that has been agreed upon, each interested person can bring in an appeal to the same ad- ministration.

An exploitation licence is delivered for a well-determined term, but not

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longer than thir ty years. Upon delivery of an exploitation licence the compe- tent administration can impose one or more conditional prescriptions the establishment has to fulfil, for example concerning smell nuisance.

Because of the rather narrow interpretation of the term "built-up area of the municipali ty", as well as the greater environmental conscience of the population, expressed by way of inquiry concerning the possible nuisance of the projected exploitation, more and more stock-farms have difficulties nowadays in obtaining the exploitation licence.

Consequently, the Ministry of Agriculture has submitted for approval a series of propositions to the Minister of Public Health, to change the existing legislation concerning establishments that need to have the exploitation li- cence. The propositions provide, amongst others, for: 1. The replacement of the term "built-up area of the municipali ty" by the notion "area", as it appears in the laws on town and country planning. 2. The elaboration of identical general exploitation conditions for all pro- vinces and for all minicipalities. 3. The transfer of industrial stock-farms from class 2 to class 1. 4. The obligation for all existing agricultural establishments situated in the living areas to obtain a licence, from which new enterprises are excluded. 5. The obligation to have a licence only for certain larger stock-farms situ- ated in living areas with rural character. 6. The absence of the obligation to have a licence for agricultural establish- ments in the agrarian areas, unless they are erected at less than 50 m distance from an already existing dwelling.

ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION AND FARMS

The first Belgian law on the protection of waterways against pollution dates from March 11, 1950. It has been ameliorated and supplemented sub- stantially by means of the basic laws on the protection of the surface waters against pollution and on the protection of ground water, both dating from March 26, 1971. These laws are the first really important environmental laws.

The last law on the protection of surface water against pollution stipulates that it is prohibited to discharge polluted or polluting fluids, solid substances or gases in surface waters, except when an authorization has been obtained to discharge waste water. The same law describes the framework in which water purification in our country is organized. On the other hand, the law of March 26, 1971 on the protection of ground water describes the conditions in which water extraction in our country should be performed.

Liquid manure from stock-farms is considered waste water, and is treated as foreseen in the laws mentioned above.

The first general conditions for the discharge of waste water not origi- nating from municipal sewers, are fixed by the Royal Decree of December 29, 1953. At this moment , more adequate discharging conditions are being

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established by the competent authority, in line with the new law of March 26, 1971. In this law, stock-breeding and more specifically pig-breeding is considered a separate sector.

The discharge licence

The licence to discharge domestic waste water has to be obtained from the Board of Mayor and Aldermen. The licence for the discharge of industrial waste water either in the sewerage system or in the waters of the public hydrographical network has to be obtained rom the Service for the Purifica- tion of Waste waters of the Administration of Public Health.Very polluted waste waters like liquid manure, may not be discharged without treatment. They have to be purified first.

CONCLUSIONS

Finally, we can say that in Belgium there exists no specific law concerning air pollution by stock-farms. The existing legislation in this matter is limited to a number of Royal Decrees in which the adjustment and the consumption of liquid fuel and the permitted maximum rate of smoke-gas emission by com- bustion plants is fixed. Neighbours perceiving bad and unpleasant smells originating from stock-farms, may express their complaints ...... however much these are based on subjective feelings -- during the public inquiry of the pro- cedure to be followed for the obtention of an exploitation licence.

R E M A R K S ON SESSION I

In Germany the minimum distance from animal houses to inhabitated quar- ters is 500 m. The use of straw can facilitate obtainment of exploitation per- mission. The table of distances has to be respected even taking into account the use of straw. Most of the complaints arise from spreading liquid manure. Q. Is in the several countries here represented, an inquiry commodo and in- commodo done, before delivering a permission of exploitation to a planned unit for animal production? A. In France, Holland, Belgium, U.K. : Yes In Germany, Ireland, U.S.A. : No In Denmark an inquiry is done in the urban zones, but not in the rural zones.