Environmentally hazardous activities

Environmentally hazardous activities means any use of land, buildings or facilities which may impact human health or the environment around us. This may include air, soil or water emissions, noise, radiation, waste, and chemical management. Environmentally hazardous activities require notification or environmental permission. These activities are divided into three types:

• A-activities require permission from the Land and Environment Court to establish or conduct the activity.
• B-activities must have the county administrative board’s permission to establish or conduct the activity.
• C-activities must report the construction or operation of the activity to the environmental health protection committee in the municipality.

No activity may be conducted without a permit if it is considered subject to a permit. Activities classified as A, B or C are described in the Environmental Permit Ordinance (2013:251). There are also environmentally hazardous activities not requiring notification or a permit, so-called U-activities. However, they must still comply with the requirements of the Environmental Code and the municipalities’ environmental health protection committee or equivalent authority’s supervision. If the activity is classified as environmentally hazardous, the activity must be continuously planned and controlled to negate and prevent hazardous effects. This self-monitoring means, among other things, that you must know what requirements, laws and regulations are relevant to the activity. Self-monitoring must be documented.