Act extending the Environmental Management Act to provide for environmental reporting

Act extending the Environmental Management Act to provide for environmental reporting in the Netherlands

We Beatrix, by the grace of God Queen of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, etc., etc., etc.

Greetings to all who shall see or hear these presents! Be it known:

Whereas We have considered that, given the desirability of establishing a unified scheme for environmental reporting by certain categories of enterprises, it is necessary to lay down rules in this regard and it is desirable to extend the Environmental Management Act for this purpose;

We, therefore, having heard the Council of State, and in consultation with the States General, have approved and decreed as We hereby approve and decree:

SECTION I

The Environmental Management Act shall be amended as follows.

The full stop at the end of Section 1.1, subsection 1 shall be replaced by a semi-colon and there shall be added:

the EEC eco-management and audit scheme Regulation: the Regulation no. 1836/93 of the Council of the European Communities dated 29 June 1993 allowing voluntary participation by companies in the industrial sector in a Community eco-management and audit scheme (OJ L 168).

The following subsection shall be added to Section 8.12:

4. Notwithstanding the provisions laid down in subsection 3, a licence shall not be made subject to regulations relating to the furnishing of information as referred to in subsection three if:

a. the said information must be included in an environmental report which is drawn up for a government body in accordance with Section 12.4, subsection two, or

b. this would conflict with rules made in accordance with Section 12.4, subsection five or Section 12.5.

In Section 8.13 the present subsection two shall become subsection three and the following subsection shall be inserted:

2. Notwithstanding the provisions laid down in subsection one, at c, a licence shall not be made subject to any regulations stipulating that the results there referred to must be reported or made available if:

a. the said results must be included as data in an environmental report which is drawn up for a government body in accordance with Section 12.4, subsection two, or

b. this would conflict with rules made in accordance with Section 12.4, subsection five, or Section 12.5.

Chapter 12 shall read as follows:

CHAPTER 12. REPORTING, RECORD-KEEPING AND MONITORING OBLIGATIONS

TITLE 12.1 THE ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT

Section 12.1

1. In this title and in the provisions based thereon, reporting year shall mean the calendar year which immediately precedes the year in which the environmental report must be drawn up.

2. The provisions laid down by or pursuant to this title shall apply to categories of cases designated in an order in council where establishments may have serious adverse effects on the environment. It may be stipulated in the said order in council that rules specified therein shall apply only in categories of cases specified therein. The said order in council shall apply exclusively to establishments for which:

a. the Provincial Executive of a province is empowered in accordance with Section 8.2 to take a decision on a licence application, or

b. the executive committee of a regional public body as referred to in the Government in Transition Framework Act is empowered in accordance with Section 8.2a, subsection one, at b, to take a decision on a licence application, or the said executive committee has delegated this power in accordance with Section 8.2b, subsection one.

Section 12.2

1. The person who operates the establishment shall each year draw up an environmental report which is formulated concisely and in a manner that is intelligible for the general public.

2. The report shall contain an overall description for the reporting year of:

a. the nature of the establishment and the activities and processes in the establishment;

b. the adverse effects on the environment caused by the establishment, including a summary of the relevant quantitative data;

c. the technical, organisational and administrative measures taken and facilities installed in respect of the establishment in order to protect the environment.

3. With respect to the matters referred to in subsection two, the report shall provide information on:

a. the main changes that have taken place in the reporting year in relation to the previous reporting year; and

b. the developments that may reasonably be expected in the next reporting year.

4. It may be stipulated by order in council that the report shall contain a general description of environmental measures taken in respect of products.

Section 12.3

The requirement referred to in Section 12.2 that an environmental report be drawn up for the public shall not apply if the person who operates the establishment has registered the said establishment as a site by virtue of Article 8 of the EEC eco-management and audit scheme Regulation and draws up and has validated environmental statements for the said establishment in accordance with Article 5 or Article 4 of the Regulation.

Section 12.4

1. The person who operates the establishment shall each year draw up an environmental report for the government body competent to grant a licence to the said establishment in accordance with Section 8.1. In any case in which a licence is required in accordance with Section 1 of the Pollution of Surface Waters Act, the report shall also be drawn up for the government body competent to grant the said licence.

2. The report shall be drawn up in accordance with rules laid down by or pursuant to order in council. The report shall include data designated by or pursuant to the said order in council regarding:

a. the adverse effects on the environment caused by the establishment in the reporting year;

b. the technical, organisational and administrative measures taken and facilities installed in the reporting year in respect of the establishment in order to protect the environment;

c. the developments which can reasonably be expected in regard to the matters referred to at a and b in the next succeeding reporting year.

3. Rules can be laid down by or pursuant to the said order in council relating to the manner in which the data referred to in subsection two must be obtained.

4. Only those data will be designated in accordance with subsection two, second sentence, which can reasonably be required:

a. in order for the government bodies referred to in subsection one to fulfil the tasks referred to in Section 18.2 of the Environmental Management Act or Section 24 of the Pollution of Surface Waters Act,

b. in order for the said government bodies or other government bodies to determine the environmental policy they are to pursue and to monitor progress made in implementing this policy, or

c. in order to implement a binding Decision of the Council of the European Union or the Commission of the European Communities.

5. It shall be possible to determine by or pursuant to an order in council as referred to in subsection two the extent to which a government body as referred to in subsection one, in introducing limitations or attaching conditions to a licence related to matters indicated in the said order in council, can depart from the rules laid down by or pursuant to the order in council or impose further requirements. It can further be determined that the power to depart from the rules or impose further requirements shall only apply to categories of cases designated by or pursuant to the order in council.

Section 12.5

1. The extent to which a government body as referred to in Section 12.4, subsection one can attach conditions to the licence which require data to be made available to it which do not have to be included in an environmental report drawn up for the said government body in accordance with Section 12.4 shall be determined by or pursuant to an order in council as referred to in the said Section 12.4, subsection two.

2. Rules can be laid down by or pursuant to order in council as referred to in Section 12.4, subsection two, regarding matters which need to be regulated in connection with the entry into force of the rules laid down by or pursuant to the said order in council.

Section 12.6

1. Environmental reports shall be written in the Dutch language.

2. Subsection one shall not apply to environmental reports as referred to in Section 12.4 which are drawn up for a government body if the Frisian language is used in accordance with part 2.2 of the General Administrative Law Act. If the environmental report is written in the Frisian language, the person who operates the establishment shall on request provide a translation of the said report into the Dutch language.

3. If the person who operates the establishment draws up an environmental statement as referred to in Section 12.3, subsection one shall apply mutatis mutandis.

4. It shall not be necessary for an environmental report that is made public to contain commercial secrets or security information in regard to which an irrevocable decision to maintain secrecy has been taken for an earlier reporting year pursuant to Chapter 19, provided that at the time when the environmental report is made public this earlier decision had not become irrevocable more than five years previously and that the report refers expressly to this fact.

Section 12.7

1. At the earliest opportunity, but no later than six months after the end of the reporting year, the person who operates the establishment shall, upon request, permit any person to examine free of charge, or shall provide in return for a payment no greater than the cost, a copy of an environmental report that he must draw up pursuant to Section 12.2 or 12.4.

2. The person who operates the establishment shall give advance notice of the opportunity to examine or obtain the report. This shall be done in such a way that the objective is achieved as effectively as possible. In cases where both an environmental report for the public as referred to in Section 12.2 and an environmental report for a government body as referred to in Section 12.4 must be drawn up, notice of both reports shall be given at the same time.

3. If the person who operates the establishment draws up an environmental statement as referred to in Section 12.3, the said environmental statement shall be regarded for the purposes of this Section as being an environmental report drawn up for the public in accordance with Section 12.2. If pursuant to Article 5(6) of the EEC eco-management and audit scheme Regulation there is a reporting year for which no environmental statement has to be drawn up, subsection two shall not apply for that reporting year.

4. Any person shall be entitled to demand through the civil court that the person who operates the establishment complies with the requirements of this Section.

Section 12.8

1. The person who operates the establishment shall, as soon as possible after an environmental report for the government body, as referred to in Section 12.4, subsection one, first sentence, has been drawn up, but in any case no more than three months after the end of the reporting year, submit two copies of the environmental report drawn up by him for the previous reporting year to the said government body. In cases to which Section 12.4, subsection one, second sentence, applies, he shall at the same time submit two copies of the report to the government body referred to in the said second sentence.

2. The government body referred to in Section 12.4, subsection one, first sentence, shall send a copy of any report received to the inspector. The government body referred to in Section 12.4, subsection one, second sentence, shall send a copy of any report received to the institute referred to in Section 32 of the Pollution of Surface Waters Act.

Section 12.9

If the person who operates the establishment is required to make available to any government body other than the government bodies referred to in Section 12.4 data which have been presented in the required form in an environmental report as referred to in Section 12.4, he can comply with this requirement by submitting the said report and referring for the said data to the appropriate section of the report.

Section 12.10

1. The person who operates the establishment shall allow an independent expert to assess whether the report referred to in Section 12.2 provides a true picture of the environmental pollution caused by the establishment and the environmental measures taken in operating the establishment in the reporting year. Requirements to be met by an independent expert as referred to in the first sentence may be laid down by order in council.

2. The notice referred to in Section 12.7, subsection two, shall not be given until after the assessment referred to in subsection one has taken place.

The words "against payment of costs provide a copy of the Order" in Section 19.1 shall be replaced by the words "against a payment no greater than the costs provide a copy of the Order".

The following Section shall be inserted immediately after Section 19.6:

Section 19.7

1. If an environmental report as referred to in Title 12.1 contains information the secrecy of which may justifiably be maintained, or if such information may be deduced from the report, the government body referred to in the first or the second sentence of Section 12.4, subsection 1 may, in response to a request to this effect from the person who operates the establishment, permit the said person to make public a second text approved by the said body which does not contain the said information and from which the said information cannot be deduced. The government body shall make use of this power in cases of trade secrets and security information only. A request as referred to in the first sentence shall be made no later than three months after the end of the reporting year and shall be accompanied by a second text.

2. If an environmental report as referred to in title 12.1 contains information the secrecy of which must be maintained in the interests of national security or to comply with international agreements, or if such information may be deduced from the report, the person who operates the establishment shall make public a second text on the instructions of Our Minister concerned which does not contain the said information and from which the said information cannot be deduced.

3. Sections 19.4 and 19.5, subsection 1, shall apply mutatis mutandis where references to the competent authority shall be interpreted to mean the government body referred to in subsection one.

4. If a request as referred to in subsection one is made, the environmental report in question need not be published for up to four weeks after an irrevocable decision has been given on the request.

Section 21.6 shall be amended as follows.

1. The following shall be added to subsection three:

"A recommendation for an order in council in accordance with Title 12.1 shall be made to Us by Our Minister and in so far as it concerns aspects of environmental policy which fall under their jurisdiction, by Our Ministers of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries and for Economic Affairs. If one or more establishments are involved which fall under the jurisdiction of Our Minister of Defence, a recommendation for an order in council in accordance with Sections 12.1, subsection two, 12.4 and 12.5 shall be made to Us with his participation.".

2. In subsection four after "10.45, subsection one or two," shall be inserted "12.1, subsection two, Section 12.2, subsection four, 12.4, 12.5,".

Section 22.1 shall be amended as follows.

1. The opening phrase of subsection one shall read: "Chapter 8 and title 12.1 of this Act shall not apply to:".

2. In the first sentence of subsection three immediately after "Chapter 8 and 17" shall be inserted ", and Title 12.1".

3. In the second sentence of subsection three immediately after "the said Chapters" shall be inserted " and title".

Section 22.3 shall be amended as follows.

1. The present text of Section 22.3 shall be designated subsection one.

2. A subsection shall be added to the Section which shall read as follows:

2. Section 12.10 shall enter into force on a date to be determined by royal decree.

SECTION II

In Section 24a of the Pollution of Surface Waters Act, the following shall be inserted after "this act": "and by or pursuant to Title 12.1 of the Environmental Management Act".

SECTION III

In Section 1a, at 2°, of the Economic Offences Act after "10.34," in the phrase referring to the Environmental Management Act shall be inserted the words "12.4, subsections one and two, 12.7, subsections one and two and subsection three in conjunction with subsections one and two, 12.8, subsection one,".

SECTION IV

The following subsection shall be added to Section 31a of the Works Councils Act:

If the employer is required pursuant to Section 12.2 or 12.4 of the Environmental Management Act to draw up an environmental report, a copy thereof shall be submitted for discussion to the works council as soon as possible after it has been drawn up. This obligation shall also apply to an environmental statement as referred to in Section 12.3 of the Environmental Management Act.

SECTION V

An environmental report as referred to in Section 12.2, subsection one, of the Environmental Management Act for the public and an environmental report as referred to in Section 12.4, subsection one, of the said Act for a government body shall be first drawn up for the reporting year 1998. If a provision mentioned in the first sentence enters into force later than 1 July 1997, the relevant environmental report will be first drawn up for the reporting year 1999.

SECTION VI

This Act shall enter into force on a date to be determined by royal decree, which can differ for the different sections or points thereof.

We order and command that this Act shall be published in the Bulletin of Acts and Decrees, and that all ministries, authorities, bodies and officials whom it may concern shall diligently implement it.

Done at The Hague on 10 April 1997.

Beatrix

Margaretha de Boer

Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment

A. Jorritsma-Lebbink

Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management

Published on the twenty-ninth of April 1997

W. Sorgdrager

Minister of Justice

For its passage through the States-General, see:

Parliamentary Papers II 1995/96, 1996/97, 24 572

Proceedings II 1996/97, pp. 3429-3441; 3460-3477; 3886-3896; 4024-4025

Parliamentary Papers I 1996/97, 24 572 (204, 204a)

Proceedings I 1996/97, see the session of 8 April 1997