The extra nitrogen rules for Circuit Zandvoort are not necessary at all, but the rules remain

After much haggling, a decision was finally made at the end of 2019: the Zandvoort circuit was allowed to be renovated for the return of F1. The circuit had to fight hard to obtain a nature permit from the province of North Holland. That permit later turned out not to be necessary, but the province decided today that all nitrogen measures will remain in force.

In 2019, the province and the circuit agreed that the permit for the renovation would be granted if Circuit Zandvoort adhered to stricter nitrogen rules. The track could be used for a maximum of 337 days and emissions had to be reduced by more than 40 percent to a total of 6,124 kilos of nitrogen per year. And so we got two nice curves.

Various environmental organizations did not agree with the permit despite the lower emissions and appealed in 2020. Funny enough, it then turned out that the permit was not necessary at all: the circuit already had the correct permits to renovate the circuit. The measure of 40 percent fewer emissions was therefore not necessary at all.

The stricter nitrogen rules for Circuit Zandvoort remain

So you would now say: long live emissions and Zandvoort can return to the old emission standards, but that is not the case. Although the permit was unnecessary (and so were the associated measures), Zandvoort had to continue to adhere to the rules until there was a final ruling from the province of North Holland, which has now been issued.

The province of North Holland has now decided that the circuit must continue to maintain the 40 percent savings. Why? Because without clear rules the emissions from the circuit could be infinite, and that is another extreme. What changes now is that the circuit's emissions must remain below the standard every year. The environmental service will measure this.

In addition, the circuit must defend every three years why the permit should be maintained. If the circuit remains within those restrictions, there is nothing to worry about and the F1 race at Zandvoort can continue to exist. So Max Verstappen fans, leave your smoke bombs at home so that nitrogen emissions don't become too high.