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Environmental law

11 May 2021
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The Environment and Planning Act, which will take effect on 1 January 2024, will have major consequences for the permit requirement and the granting of permits for activities in the port. The current concept of ‘establishment’ will no longer apply and the concept of ‘environmentally harmful activity’ will be introduced. The limitation and permit requirement of these activities will also change.

Permit requirement for environmentally harmful activities in the port

The Port of Rotterdam Authority devotes itself to helping companies in the port with the new permit requirement for environmentally harmful activities under the Dutch Environment and Planning Act. We do this together with Deltalinqs, DCMR (the Rijnmond Environmental Protection Agency), the Rotterdam-Rijnmond Safety Region and the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations.

Under the Environment and Planning Act, multiple permits may be required for certain activities, and in some cases functionally supporting activities for such activities must also be included in the permit. We have created a brochure about the permit requirement for environmentally harmful activities in the port. It is a practical guide for companies and governmental authorities, based on a number of real examples:

•            Complex company: the Seveso establishment
•            Terminal for storage and transshipment of ores or agribulk
•            Container terminal with PGS15 storage
•            Empty depot
•            Terminal with tank storage
•            Chemical company
•            Independent water treatment plant
•            Multifuel petrol station with LNG and LPG

Changes in the granting of permit

When it takes effect on 1 January 2024, the Environment and Planning Act will also lead to changes in the granting of permits. The most important changes for the process of granting permits pertain to:

  • the procedure that is followed: from that point on, the regular procedure will be the basis;
  • the indivisibility criterion has been eliminated;
  • the use of the intake consultation, the environment consultation and chain cooperation: part of the assessment of initiatives already takes place in the preparation phase;
  • the concept of ‘establishment’ has been replaced by the concept ‘environmentally harmful activity’;
  • the substantive and procedural connection between the environment permit for the environmentally harmful activity and the instructions of the company fire brigade;
  • the connection between permit granting and the environmental plan;
  • the arrival of the Digital System Environment Act (Digitaal Stelsel Ow (DSO)), replacing existing service points such as ruimtelijkeplannen.nl, Omgevingsloket Online and the Activiteitenbesluit Internet Module;
  • health is an integral part in the decision-making process under the Environment and Planning Act.

In the brochure, which was created in collaboration with Deltalinqs, DCMR (the Rijnmond Environmental Protection Agency), the Rotterdam-Rijnmond Safety Region, the Rotterdam-Rijnmond Municipal Health Service (GGD) and the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, we will further explain these changes.

Would you like to know more, or do you have any questions about the Environment and Planning Act?