Order No. 96 on subsidies for buffer zones along rivers and lakes.

The Order s purpose is to promote the establishment of buffer zones along open streams and lakes over 100 meters in order to achieve a reduction in the supply of phosphorus, nitrogen and pesticides to surface waters. The Danish AgriFish Agency may grant subsidies to owners and tenants of farms for this purpose. Following an application for grants, the agreement period begins on 1 September in the year of the application and ending on 31 August five years later. The criteria for tenants to be eligible to this grant scheme must not include an agreement period in accordance to a subsidy scheme for forestry, that areas are not included in the agreement period imposed by forest reserve duties (exception made to non-vegetated forest reserve areas), that areas are not within the commitment period covered by agreements under EU-Directives on the criteria for allocation of funds to restore wetlands or under the Order on restoration of wetlands, and that the agreements each year are declared. Throughout the commitment period, the areas are not authorized to be converted, fertilized, treated by plant or soil protection substances, watered, used for any agriculture production (including seed production and grazing), subject to exploitation incompatible with vegetation, and for lucrative purposes incompatible with crop cultivation. The yearly subsidy is equivalent to 1 200 DKK for each hectare of land.
The Order consists of 12 Chapters: Content and purpose (1); Definitions (2); Administration (3); Commitment period and conditions (4); Changing the onset of commitment (5); Calculation of grants (6); Grants (7); Notification duty (8); Cancellation of commitments and repayment of grants (9); Force majeure (10); Appeals (11); Entry into force (12).