Environmental Permit
The environmental permit is the primary instrument for the advance authoritative control of polluting the environment [General Notification Procedure ]. The key objective of an environmental permit is to control and limit harmful environmental effects caused by activities. In the environmental permit procedure the activity’s admissibility and prerequisites of exercising it as well as the permit regulations are in advance deliberated by the authorities. Actions performed in accordance with the permit regulations provide the company with a fairly safe position, since these actions have been found permissible and legal by the authorities.
The preconditions for an activity to be subject to a permit are stipulated in chapter 4 of the Environmental Protection Act. Some industries are by definition such that they require an environmental permit. A list of those industries is in the Appendix 1 of the Act. In addition to the list e.g. the possible pollution of ground water or soil or the possible pollution of waters triggers the need for an environmental permit to be applied in advance. Also the refinement procedures of polluted soil are mainly subject to environmental permit procedures.
The need for an environmental permit may arise also if the activity may cause immoderate harm to a neighbor or a person residing nearby through e.g. smell, noise, light or other similar nuisance.
The environmental permit procedure is essential in ensuring citizens’, communities’ and authorities’ right to participate and have access to information. For these purposes the permit application is announced publicly. Relevant authorities are asked for statements regarding the permit and other parties are given the opportunity to state their opinions on the matter.
In case the activity fulfills the requirements of the law, the environmental permit is granted for the activity in question. Further regulations on preventing environmental pollution while performing the activity are laid down in the permit decision. The application of best available technologies is spesifically taken in to account while considering the of permit regulations [Environmental Obligations and Best Available Technology (BAT)].
On the operator’s point of view, it is important to notice the parallelism of the environmental permits: several environmental permits may be needed to a single activity or process. Applying for the permits is the responsibility of the operator, and before the activity is commenced it is required that the necessary permits are in force. An environmental permit can be applied and granted despite of an appeal, if the operator sets an acceptable assurance for the refinement of the environment in case the appeal would result in the permit to be changed. The Regional State Administrative Agencies (AVI) provide further information on necessary permits.
Competent authorities regarding environmental permits are the Regional State Administrative Agencies and the municipal authority, which is a board of the municipality, e.g. the Building and Environmental Board. Activities subject to a permit are divided between state and municipal environmental protection authorities’ jurisdiction in the Environmental Protection Decree.