Improving the quality of environmental law is high on the agenda of both the European Union and its Member States. In the Netherlands, there has been a series of changes of law in order to simplify and improve the complex and fragmented system of environmental law. However, the improvement of sectoral legislation has not led to the desired result. The Dutch legislature now considers a fundamental reform of environmental law necessary. One of the main goals is to achieve a coherent approach towards the physical environment in policy, decision-making and regulations. The Environment and Planning Act brings together 26 acts and about 120 governmental decrees in the area of spatiality and planning, infrastructure, nature and water, in order to create a single act for the physical environment. This book focuses on one of the key instruments of environmental law, the environmental permit. The integration of sectoral environmental permit systems is a way to simplify and speed up decision-making procedures for the authorisation of activities affecting the physical environment. The goal is to introduce a fully integrated environmental permit system. This means not only procedural integration of sectoral permitting systems but also substantive integration of the various assessment criteria. This concept of integrated environmental permitting has generated a great deal of discussion in the Netherlands. In the context of this research, an overview will be given of developments in the field of integrated environmental permitting in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. Developments in EU environmental law and the new Dutch Environment and Planning Act are also included.
Hanna Tolsma is Assistant Professor (lecturer in public law and environmental law) at the Department of Constitutional Law, Administrative Law and Public Administration of the University of Groningen (h.d.tolsma@rug.nl). She received her PhD in 2008 on a thesis concerning legal aspects of the use of mediation by administrative authorities during the decision-making process. This book is related to her postdoc research project entitled "Integrated environmental permitting: an exploration of the legal possibilities" sponsored by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). Her publications mainly relate to general administrative law and environmental law.
Preface
Chapter 1 Introduction
1 Reason for this Study
2 Environmental Permitting in the Netherlands
3 Central Research Question
4 Approach and Methods
5 Outline of the Book
Chapter 2 Concept of Integrated Environmental Permitting
1 Introduction
2 The Concept of Integration in Environmental Law
2.1 Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control
2.2 External Integration
2.3 Internal Integration
3 Integrated Environmental Permitting at EU Level
3.1 Industrial Emissions Directive
3.2 Integrated Approach Defined
3.3 Scope of the Assessment Framework
3.4 Incommensurability of Environmental Goods
3.5 No “One Stop Shop” Required
4 Summary and Conclusion
Chapter 3 Developments in Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands
1 Introduction
2 Germany
2.1 Legislative Process of the Environmental Code in a Nutshell
2.2 Integrated Environmental Permitting System
2.3 Discussion
2.4 One-Decision Model: Plan Approval Procedure
3 Belgium (Flanders Region)
3.1 Integrated Environmental Permitting System
3.2 Discussion
4 The Netherlands
4.1 Integrated Environmental Permitting System
4.2 Discussion
4.3 Integrated Environmental Permitting System in Practice
5 Towards a Fully Integrated Environmental Permitting System?
5.1 The Goal of a Fully Integrated Environmental Permitting System
5.2 Discussion
5.3 Fully Integrated Environmental Permitting System Defined
6 Comparison Remarks
6.1 Design and Scope
6.2 Pros and Cons
6.3 Developments Compared
7 Summary and Conclusion
Chapter 4 Constraints of EU Environmental Law
1 Introduction
2 Developments in EU Environmental Law
2.1 Towards the New Governance Approach
2.2 Fragmented EU Environmental Law
2.3 Concluding Remarks
3 Possibilities and Limitations
3.1 The Habitats Directive
3.2 The Water Framework Directive
3.3 The Air Quality Directive
3.4 Concluding Remarks
4 Summary and Conclusion
Chapter 5 The Constraints of National Law
1 Introduction
2 The Rule of Purpose-Specific Powers
3 Assessment Framework Rule of Purpose-Specific Powers
4 Review in the Light of the Rule of Purpose-Specific Powers
5 Summary and Conclusion
Chapter 6 The New Environment and Planning Act
1 Introduction
2 Structure of the Environment and Planning Act
2.1 Scope of the Environment and Planning Act
2.2 Improvement Goals and Key Objectives
2.3 Policy Cycle, Key Instruments and View on Flexibility
3 A Fully Integrated Environmental Permitting System?
4 A Coherent Approach Towards the Physical Environment
4.1 Coherent Policy Planning
4.2 Area-Wide Environmental Planning Regulation
4.3 Tailor-Made Solutions: Bending the Rules Equivalence Principle
4.4 Discussion
5 Summary and Conclusion
Chapter 7 Summary and Conclusions
1 Introduction
2 Concept of Integrated Environmental Permitting
3 Constraints of EU Environmental Law
4 Constraints of National Law
5 Towards a Coherent System of Environmental Law
Bibliography