New regulations provide conditions for faster processing of permit applications

Legislative amendments enter into force on 1 January to ensure more modern and effective environmental assessments. The legislative amendments have the potential to streamline and accelerate the permit process in accordance with the Environmental Code. We have summarised the most central changes and how they can be used by operators.

Revised permit

Presumption is introduced for a revised permit in connection with changes to a permit for environmentally hazardous activities, e.g. to increase production volume, add components, expand a mining- or operational area or other changes that cannot be assessed within the framework of an application. The assessment shall be limited solely to the change – unless a restriction of the assessment is judged to be ”unsuitable”. The legislative amendment entails a clear signal to the assessment authorities that the applicant's demarcation of the application should constitute a starting point for the assessment. However, it will remain important that the applicant formulates the amendment and its documentation carefully in order to demonstrate that the change's environmental impacts can be deemed to be restricted within the framework of a revised permit.

Time extension

A new feature is the possibility to extend the licence period for environmentally-hazardous activities and water operations (and with such operations that involve a Natura 2000 licence). A so-called validity extension can be granted on one (1) occasion and for a maximum of three years. It can, for example, be used in the transition to a new permit or to have time to finish a time-limited activity. The period of validity shall be extended if it is ”suitable” and the assessment is restricted to the time extension. As it is not possible to tighten the permit conditions in connection with a validity extension, the assessment will involve demonstrating that existing permit conditions were suitable and adequate to limit the activity's environmental impact and that this will not change during the extension. An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is not required for the application and consequently neither is a consultation.

Active litigation

It clarifies that the assessment authority shall have an active role in order to promote a more effective permit assessment. The legislative amendments include an increased use of time schedules, that verbal preparations shall be used to an increased extent and that a principal negotiation shall not be conducted if written processing is sufficient. It partially involves tools that an active applicant already uses (time schedules). However, application of the tools has varied between the assessment authorities. The legislative amendment now provides a clear signal that these tools shall be used and encourages active applicants to continue to propose measures in order to arrive at a permit decision more quickly.