Environmental permit
Under the Environmental Protection Act, an environmental permit is required for activities that involve the risk of environmental pollution. A permit is required if the activities can pollute land areas, streams, springs, rills or other waterways.
An environmental permit must also be obtained for water management projects that may cause environmental pollution but that do not require a permit under the Water Act. In addition to the new activities requiring a permit, an environmental permit must also be obtained if the changes in existing activities cause an increase in emissions and discharges or lead to more extensive impacts or if there are other substantial changes in the activities.
An environmental permit is required for such activities as forest, metal and chemical industries, energy production, animal shelters, professional treatment of waste, waste treatment in plants and mining. The environmental permit is also required if the activities can cause unreasonable stress to nearby residents.
Requirements
An environmental permit will not be required for activities of short duration (where the purpose is to test new technology or to carry out other similar tasks).
A notification procedure, which is simpler than the permit procedure, is applied to a number of activities referred to in the Environmental Protection Act.
If a trader has established their business in another country within the European Economic Area and intends to provide their services temporarily in Finland, the trader is subject to the same obligations as all other traders established in Finland.
Instructions
The application for an environmental permit must be submitted to municipal environmental protection authorities or the Regional State Administrative Agency.
In uncertain situations, the authorities will advise the applicant where to submit the application.
Apply for an environmental permit from your municipality’s environmental protection authorities or your local Regional State Administrative Agency. In ambiguous situations, the authorities will advise you on which authority you must send the application to.
Payment information
A fee is charged for the service.
Processing time
The licence applications are usually processed within four (4) months from receiving the application or, if the application is defective, from the date the applicant has provided the documents and reports required to resolve the matter.
Period of validity
The permit is valid until further notice or for a fixed term due to special reasons.
Service background and legislation
Under the Environmental Protection Act, an environmental permit will be required for activities that involve the risk of environmental pollution. A permit is required if the activities can pollute land areas, streams, springs, rills or other waterways.
An environmental permit must also be obtained for water management projects that may cause environmental pollution but that do not require a permit under the Water Act. You are required to apply for an environmental permit if you expand your operations, begin to produce emissions or intend to make any other significant changes to your operations.
An environmental permit is required for such activities as forestry, metal and chemical industries, energy production, animal shelters, professional waste management, waste management in plants mining, fur farming, fish farming and port and airport operations. You must also apply for an environmental permit if the activities can cause unreasonable stress to nearby residents.
If other environment-related permits are required for the applicant’s project in addition to the environmental permit, the applicant may request coordination of the permit procedures from the permit authority. The processing stages of the different permit procedures will then be synchronised. Coordination will ensure that the timing of the different phases of the permit procedures will be harmonised.