Environment and Planning Law in the Netherlands

Environment and planning law governs what you may do in the physical living environment. Since 1 January 2024 that system has been set out in the Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet). Municipal rules are now called the environment plan (omgevingsplan), and consent is called the environment and planning permit (omgevingsvergunning). Terms such as Wabo, Wro, zoning plan (bestemmingsplan) and establishment (inrichting) no longer exist. For companies with sustainability plans this is not a formality. Energy, climate adaptation, circularity and nature all land in the environment plan and in the permit conditions.

The short answer

The Environment and Planning Act brings together the law on building, the environment, water, soil, nature, noise and heritage. The Act pursues two societal objectives (article 1.3 Environment and Planning Act):

achieving and maintaining a safe and healthy physical living environment and good environmental quality;
managing, using and developing the physical living environment efficiently in order to perform societal functions.

Sustainability is therefore not a separate chapter. It sits in the objectives of the Act and in the instruments that administrative bodies use to deliver them.

How the Act is built up

The Act provides six core instruments. Beneath it sit four orders in council and the Environment and Planning Regulation (Omgevingsregeling). Those four are the Environment and Planning Decree (Omgevingsbesluit), the Environmental Quality (Living Environment) Decree (Bkl), the Environmental Activities (Living Environment) Decree (Bal) and the Buildings (Living Environment) Decree (Bbl).

Instrument	Who adopts it	Purpose
Environment and planning strategy (omgevingsvisie)	Central government, province, municipality	Long-term strategic policy for the living environment
Programme	Central government, province, municipality, water authority	Concrete measures to meet objectives
Decentralised rules	Municipality, province, water authority	Environment plan, provincial environment and planning regulation, water authority regulation
General national rules	Central government	Directly applicable rules for activities, including in the Bal and the Bbl
Environment and planning permit	Municipality, province, central government, water authority	Prior consent for designated activities
Project decision (projectbesluit)	Central government, province, water authority	Decision-making on complex projects

Strategy and programme

The environment and planning strategy is the strategic layer. Central government, the province and the municipality each adopt a strategy for their own territory. It sets out ambitions on energy, mobility, water and green space. The strategy binds only the administrative body that adopts it.

The programme is the delivery layer. It contains the measures by which an administrative body intends to meet its objectives. Think of a programme on noise, on nitrogen or on the heat transition. Both documents matter for your project. They show which way the environment plan is heading and which requirements you can expect when you apply.

The environment plan

The environment plan determines what is permitted at a location. Each municipality has a single environment plan covering its whole territory. The test is the balanced allocation of functions to locations. That is broader than the former test of proper spatial planning.

When the Act entered into force, a temporary part came into existence by operation of law. It contains the former zoning plans and the so-called dowry (bruidsschat): national rules transferred to the municipality. Municipalities have until 2032 to convert that temporary part into a new-style environment plan. During this transition, different regimes therefore apply side by side within one municipality.

Where sustainability lands in the environment plan

The environment plan can do more than prohibit. The municipality can also impose positive obligations, for example on water storage or green space. That scope is not unlimited. The adverse consequences for owners may not be disproportionate to the purpose of the rule.

Energy. The energy saving obligation is set out in the Environmental Activities (Living Environment) Decree. It applies to companies with an annual consumption of 50,000 kWh of electricity or 25,000 m³ of natural gas or the equivalent. An accompanying reporting obligation applies every four years. The second round closed on 1 December 2023; the next date is 1 December 2027. Large consumers are also subject to an audit obligation.
Climate adaptation. Heat stress, flooding and drought form part of the physical living environment. The municipality may lay down rules on these matters in the environment plan, for example on paving, water storage and green space.
Circularity. The Circular Materials Plan (Circulair Materialenplan) entered into force on 30 December 2025 and replaces the National Waste Management Plan (Landelijk Afvalbeheerplan). The competent authority must take that plan into account in decisions on waste, including permit applications.
Nature. An activity with consequences for a Natura 2000 site requires a permit. The extended procedure applies to that permit. Nitrogen deposition remains the most rigorously assessed element.

Mind the boundary with building rules. The Buildings (Living Environment) Decree is exhaustive for technical building requirements. The municipality may depart from it only where that decree expressly allows bespoke rules.

The environment and planning permit

The building activity has been split in two. The technical building activity is assessed against the Buildings (Living Environment) Decree. The environment plan activity is assessed against the environment plan. Each track has its own rules and its own exemptions.

If your plan does not fit the environment plan, you apply for an off-plan environment plan activity, known in practice as a BOPA. This instrument replaces the former deviation permit and the project deviation decision.

The regular preparatory procedure is the main rule. The decision period is eight weeks, with a six-week extension. The extended procedure is the exception and takes six months. It applies among other things to IPPC installations and Seveso establishments, Natura 2000 activities, certain discharge and dumping activities and certain national monument activities. It may also apply at the applicant’s request.

The role of participation

Participation in an application is in principle free of form. When you apply, you must state whether you have carried out participation and, if so, how and with what result. The absence of participation is not in itself a ground for refusal.

There is one important exception. The municipal council may designate cases in which participation is compulsory for a BOPA. If participation is then missing, the application may be set aside without consideration, after you have been given an opportunity to remedy the defect. The council may also designate cases in which its advice on a BOPA is binding.

What companies run into in practice

Lead times. A considerable share of applications is not decided within the statutory period. Capacity at municipalities and regional environmental agencies (omgevingsdiensten) is a bottleneck.
The digital system. Filing through the Environment and Planning Desk (Omgevingsloket) requires preparation. A wrong choice in the permit check leads to delay or to an incomplete application.
Fragmentation. Because activities can be applied for separately, the overview of a project is sometimes lost. An application strategy agreed in advance prevents this.
Two regimes in one plan. During the transition you need to know whether your location falls under the temporary part or the new part.
Shifting frameworks. Nitrogen, grid congestion and water quality restrict projects that fit the environment plan on paper.

Legal protection

Against a permit issued under the regular procedure you file an objection, followed by an appeal to the district court. Against an adopted environment plan an appeal lies to the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State, after a view has been submitted on the draft. The time limits are six weeks. You can read more on our page about objecting to an environment and planning permit.

Frequently asked questions

Does my old zoning plan still apply?
Its rules continue to apply in the temporary part of the environment plan. They are simply no longer called a zoning plan. Your municipality will convert those rules by 2032.

May the municipality impose stricter sustainability requirements than central government?
Not for technical building requirements, except where the Buildings (Living Environment) Decree allows bespoke rules. On the use, layout and functions of locations, the municipality does have room in the environment plan.

Can a permit be refused because local residents object?
Not for that reason alone. The competent authority assesses the application against the statutory assessment rules. Substantiated consequences for the surrounding area do, however, carry weight in the balancing of interests.

Contact

Are you working on a project where sustainability and environment and planning law meet? Our environment and planning lawyers assess your position, your permit strategy and your deadlines. For environment-specific questions we refer you to our environmental law attorney. If your project also feeds into your ESG reporting or your CSRD obligations, we align those lines. Law & More has offices in Eindhoven and Amsterdam and advises in Dutch and English. Please contact us for an initial assessment.

Sustainability Law

Contacts

Address

De Zaale 11
5612 AJ Eindhoven
The Netherlands

Environment and Planning Law in the Netherlands