A reformed environmental law – what you need to know

Why environmental law is being reformed now

Swedish environmental legislation has long been criticised for overly complicated and time-consuming review processes, and for certain requirements going further than necessary under EU law. Cumbersome processes are seen as an obstacle to growth and the industrial transition towards climate neutrality. A broad reform effort is therefore now under way to achieve a faster and simpler yet legally sound procedure in compliance with EU law. The proposed amendments are being presented at a rapid pace and across several parallel tracks.

The so-called Environmental Permit Inquiry has taken a comprehensive approach to the environmental review process and has put forward a number of proposals that, if implemented, will fundamentally change the conditions for many operators. The Inquiry's most extensive interim report, SOU 2024:98, contains proposals for far-reaching reforms. The proposals in that report relate principally to:

1. how operations are classified and assigned to different review tracks,

2. how review processes are conducted, and

3. the redistribution of reviews to a new Environmental Permit Authority.

The Environmental Permit Inquiry has also submitted other interim reports on shorter appeal chains in certain reviews and on the application of rules governing the management of land and water.

The system for classifying operations is changing

The Environmental Permit Inquiry proposes that the review system be restructured around four review tracks: permit requirement, review requirement, notification requirement, and registration requirement. Both the current so-called A, B and C operations and water operations are proposed to be classified, described and reviewed under the new system. The Inquiry proposes that the review requirement become the default and apply to the large majority of operations. Only operations subject to a permit requirement will be subject to requirements for public consultation and a specific environmental assessment.

The permit requirement is proposed to apply where required under EU law. The number of automatically permit-required operations is therefore expected to decrease by approximately 60 per cent. Since EU law requirements — beyond certain specified types of operation — apply to operations with significant environmental impact, the interpretation of "significant environmental impact" will become increasingly important for an even greater number of operations than today.

The review requirement is proposed to apply to certain operations that are currently subject to a permit requirement as B operations, to a number of operations currently subject to a notification requirement as C operations, and to, for example, solar panel installations that are currently typically notified by way of consultation. For operations currently subject to a notification requirement that become subject to a permit or review requirement, operators will — after a transitional period — need to apply for a permit or a start-up decision (for operations subject to a review requirement).

A new environmental review process

The Environmental Permit Inquiry further proposes substantial changes to review processes for activities with environmental impact, particularly environmental permit reviews.

A significant proposed amendment for permit reviews is that the public consultation is integrated into the review process, moved to after the permit application is submitted, and conducted by the reviewing authority rather than the applicant. The process will, however, include a so-called scoping opinion from the Environmental Permit Authority, which will allow for a limited consultation round with a function similar in part to today's scoping consultation. A further proposed change is the introduction of a possibility for the Environmental Permit Authority — prior to and separately from the permit decision — to issue a reasoned conclusion on whether the environmental impact assessment meets the requirements of Chapter 6 of the Environmental Code. The Inquiry estimates that the processing time for a standard permit case will be shortened to approximately 15 months in total from the request for a scoping opinion, of which ten months from when the application is deemed complete. Simpler cases are estimated to be handled in a total of nine months.

The review requirement is an entirely new, simpler pre-approval track, initiated by an application for a so-called start-up decision and including an assessment of whether the operation can be assumed to have a significant environmental impact. If the operation is not assessed as having a significant environmental impact, a start-up decision shall be issued within three months of the application being deemed complete. For operations that may be assumed to have a significant environmental impact, the applicant will need to switch tracks and apply for an environmental permit instead.

The notification requirement is proposed to continue to apply to certain operations. The review process is adapted in certain respects to the new review order, but no sweeping changes are proposed.

For a number of operations, the notification requirement is proposed to be replaced by the simplest track — the registration requirement — which means that the supervisory authority shall receive information about the operation before it commences.

Both permits and start-up decisions are also proposed to have legal force, clearly limited to matters expressly regulated in the decision. For permits, this is intended to remove ambiguities that can currently arise regarding the legal effect of information and statements in the review documentation; for start-up decisions, it is intended to strengthen the legal protection for operators that have received such a decision.

In interim report SOU 2025:88, the Environmental Permit Inquiry further proposes that the Environmental Code's land and water management provisions in Chapters 3–4 be separated out into a new Act on the Management of Land and Water Areas. Certain operations would be able to apply for a so-called area use decision, in which land use and resource management are reviewed prior to an application for a permit, similar to the Government review process under Chapter 17 of the Environmental Code. The Inquiry also considers that, in connection with physical planning and the review of operations under the Environmental Code and the Planning and Building Act, certain approaches should be changed to facilitate the development of densely built areas and operations.

A shorter appeal chain

In interim report SOU 2025:122, it is proposed that the appeal chain be shortened in certain cases under the Environmental Code and the Planning and Building Act, including by removing two instances. Municipal decisions under the Environmental Code and the Planning and Building Act are proposed to be appealed directly to the Land and Environment Courts, rather than — as is currently the case — to the county administrative boards and then to the Land and Environment Courts. Furthermore, the Land and Environment Court of Appeal would become the final instance for cases appealed to the Land and Environment Court, such as appeals of decisions by municipalities, county administrative boards or the new Environmental Permit Authority. The possibility for certain cases to be reviewed by the Supreme Court as a fourth or even fifth instance is therefore proposed to be removed.

In addition, it is proposed that the Land and Environment Court of Appeal's role as a precedent-setting court be clarified — and the number of appeals accepted reduced — by removing the possibility of so-called amendment leave or review leave.

A new environmental permit authority

The Environmental Permit Inquiry's proposal to establish a new Environmental Permit Authority has been extracted into a bill (Prop. 2025/26:238). The Government has also allocated budget appropriations and given a special investigator the remit to establish the authority. Work on setting up the new authority has thus already begun, and the necessary legislative proposals will be processed by the Riksdag in the near future.

Initially, it is proposed that today's twelve environmental permit delegations at the county administrative boards be replaced by a national Environmental Permit Authority based in Stockholm. Barring any unexpected developments, the new authority will take over all pending reviews from the environmental permit delegations as of 1 July 2027. The special investigator's remit includes considering the establishment of regional offices — the Environmental Permit Inquiry proposed six — and where these should be located.

In parallel, the Environmental Permit Inquiry continues to investigate which further matters the new authority may take over. This could, for example, become relevant for permit-required environmentally hazardous operations and water operations currently reviewed by the Land and Environment Court as the first instance.

Commentary

There is very strong reason to believe that a new Environmental Permit Authority will replace the county administrative boards' environmental permit delegations as early as the summer of 2027. The authority will initially apply the same procedural and substantive rules as the environmental permit delegations, but the handling of ongoing and new cases will inevitably be affected.

The Environmental Permit Inquiry's other proposals in SOU 2024:98 and 2025:88 have been through the consultation process and are now being taken forward swiftly within the Government Offices. SOU 2025:122 is out for consultation until 19 May 2026. If the proposed amendments are subsequently implemented, the landscape for environmental reviews of operations will be redrawn from 1 January 2028. For individual operators, it is important to understand how their own operations will be affected — not least since a renewed review of certain ongoing operations may in time be required.

Lindahl's environmental law group is of course following developments with great interest.