Apply for an environmental permit

For the costs of parts of the environmental permit, please refer to Fee Regulation 2025.

Companies that have a significant impact on the environment require an environmental permit. You may need this if your company, for example:

• consumes a lot of energy
• pollutes the air
• causes noise pollution
• causes odor nuisance

You do not need an environmental permit if your business has little impact on the environment. Examples include offices, healthcare institutions, general practitioners' practices, and preschools.

Sometimes you will need to apply for a permit or submit a notification to the province. This usually applies to larger companies, such as chemical plants. Would you like to know more about this? Please contact the province.

The environmental permit may have disadvantages for nature. The preservation of protected areas, plant or animal species may be at risk. Indicate this clearly in the application. You then have the following options:

• You apply to the province for an environmental permit for nature. The province only assesses the impact on nature. The province may impose special requirements, such as ecological supervision. You then apply to the municipality for an environmental permit. The municipality does not assess the impact on nature.
• You apply to the municipality for an environmental permit. You also indicate that you want to apply for a nature permit. This is called a multiple application. In the case of a multiple application, the municipality asks the province for advice on the consequences for nature. The municipality will take the province's advice into account when deciding on your application. If the province gives a negative opinion, the municipality will reject your permit application.

The standard procedure usually applies to environmental permits. In a number of specific cases, the extended procedure applies.

The condition for applying for an environmental permit is that your business has a significant impact on the environment. For example:

• sewage treatment plants with a sludge digestion plant
• car dismantling companies that also dismantle trucks
• agricultural businesses that use a propane tank

Standard procedure: you will receive the decision within 8 weeks. The municipality may extend this period once by 6 weeks.

Extensive procedure: the application and the draft permit are published and made available for inspection for six weeks. During this period, interested parties can respond in writing or verbally. After the inspection period, the application and the final permit are published and made available for inspection for another six weeks. The extensive procedure takes a maximum of six months.

Are you the applicant or have you responded to the application and draft permit? If so, you can lodge an appeal with the court. If necessary, you can then lodge an appeal with the court of appeals.

If no response has been received within the six-week appeal period, the permit is final.