Question 8535 — environment

Summary

Mr. Damien Girard alerts the Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty to the scale of ammonia emissions in France, their deleterious effects on public health and the environment as well as the lack of transparency in the publication of data relating to these emissions. Ammonia is a toxic gas, 94% produced by agricultural activities (97% in Brittany, according to Air Breizh, an approved association for monitoring ammonia). air quality), in particular industrial livestock farming and the excessive use of nitrogen fertilizers. It contributes significantly to the formation of fine particles (PM2.5), which promote the development of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and are responsible for 48,000 premature deaths per year in mainland France. Ammonia is also harmful to the environment. It not only promotes air pollution, but also soil acidification and eutrophication of aquatic environments, endangering biodiversity. In Brittany, where the density of livestock farming is particularly high, ammonia emissions represent 18% of the national total, placing the region among the most polluted in Europe. This pollution contributes to concentrations of fine particles (PM2.5) which far exceed the thresholds recommended by the World Health Organization, exposing Bretons to levels likely to significantly impair their health. The law of August 22, 2021 provides for a plan to reduce emissions of atmospheric pollutants (PREPA), with an objective of reducing ammonia emissions by 13% by 2030 compared to 2005. However, the CITEPA report published on June 16, 2025 reveals an increase of 0.8% in ammonia emissions between 2023 and 2024. Furthermore, gaps in monitoring prevent a precise assessment of the evolution of these emissions and the effectiveness of the policies implemented. Currently, pig and poultry farms subject to Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions must declare and make publicly available their atmospheric emissions if they exceed 10,000 kg/year. Thus, only 7% of installations classified for the protection of the environment (ICPE) falling under the intensive poultry and pig farming section make their emissions accessible to the public on the Georisks website. The remaining 93%, although accumulating significant releases, escape any publication obligation, making a reliable territorial diagnosis impossible. In addition, several shortcomings were noted in the publication of data via the Georisks register. The broadcasts Atmospheric data from 2021 and 2022 were removed from the site in January 2025 for several months and the 2023 data were made public only in a fragmented form by establishment, complicating any overall analysis. This situation contravenes Article 14 of Directive (EU) 2016/2284, which requires Member States to actively and systematically disseminate emissions inventories. The population is thus deprived essential information on the risks it faces due to ammonia emissions. However, the Government has precise national estimates from the first tonne of ammonia emitted to assess the achievement of the reduction objectives set. The MP therefore asks the Minister if she intends to guarantee the complete, clear, accessible and mapped publication of data relating to ammonia emissions, from the first tonne issued, for all farms, in order to ensure real transparency towards the population. He also asks what measures the Government intends to put in place to more strictly regulate the development of industrial livestock farming in order to respect its commitments to reduce ammonia emissions. He asks her in particular if she will study the possibility of establishing a moratorium on new projects or extensions of intensive livestock farming in areas where concentrations of fine particles exceed the thresholds recommended by the World Health Organization.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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