Objecting to an environmental permit in the Netherlands: procedure, deadlines and appeal
Whether you can object to an environmental permit depends on the procedure followed. If the standard procedure was used, you file an objection with the competent authority within six weeks of the decision being announced. If the extended procedure was used, there is no objection stage. You will have filed a view on the draft decision and, after the final decision, appeal directly to the district court. In both cases you must qualify as an interested party.
The short answer
The Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet) has applied since 1 January 2024. The permit is now called an environmental permit (omgevingsvergunning). Concepts from the earlier Wabo and Wro, such as the zoning plan and the planning deviation, have lapsed. The municipal framework is now the environmental plan (omgevingsplan).
The default under the Act is the standard preparatory procedure of title 4.1 of the General Administrative Law Act (article 16.62 Environment and Planning Act). The extended procedure of division 3.4 of that Act is the exception. Which procedure applies determines your entire route.
- Standard procedure: first objection with the competent authority, then appeal to the district court and further appeal to the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State.
- Extended procedure: a view on the draft decision, then direct appeal to the district court and further appeal to the Division.
Standard or extended procedure
The extended procedure applies only in the cases the law designates. These are set out in division 16.3 of the Environment and Planning Act and in article 10.24 of the Environment Decree. They include certain environmentally harmful activities, Seveso establishments and Natura 2000 activities.
The applicant may also request the extended procedure (article 16.65(1)(b)). The competent authority may declare it applicable itself (article 16.65(4)). The latter happens case by case and must be reasoned.
| Item | Standard procedure | Extended procedure |
|---|---|---|
| Decision period | 8 weeks, extendable once by 6 weeks | 6 months, extendable by 6 weeks |
| Draft decision | No | Yes, published with a period for views |
| Objection | Yes, within 6 weeks | No |
| Appeal | District court, after the decision on objection | District court, directly after the decision |
| Further appeal | Administrative Jurisdiction Division | Administrative Jurisdiction Division |
An outside-plan environmental planning activity, known as a BOPA, in principle also follows the standard procedure. Objection is therefore open against it. Note that for a BOPA the municipal council may hold a binding advisory right. That affects the content of the decision, not your remedy.
Who is an interested party?
Only an interested party can object. Article 1:2 of the General Administrative Law Act defines an interested party as a person whose interest is directly affected by a decision. The administrative courts apply this through the criterion of consequences of some significance.
In practice what matters is:
- the distance between your property and the permitted activity;
- the view you have of the activity;
- the spatial impact and scale of the project;
- the nuisance to be expected, such as noise, odour, vibration or traffic.
Legal persons can also be interested parties. An association or foundation may act for a general or collective interest. That interest must appear from its objects clause and from actual activities. For a business, a competition interest within the same market segment and catchment area is usually decisive.
Deadlines
The period for objection and appeal is six weeks (article 6:7). It starts on the day after the decision is announced or made available for inspection (article 6:8). An objection filed late is in principle inadmissible.
Do you not yet know your grounds? File a protective objection in time. The authority will then set a period to remedy the defect (article 6:6). Do not wait until the final day.
A decision on the objection follows within six weeks after the objection period ends. Where an advisory committee has been appointed, twelve weeks applies. The authority may defer that decision by up to six weeks (article 7:10).
What belongs in a notice of objection?
Article 6:5 sets minimum requirements. The notice is signed and contains at least:
- your name and address;
- the date;
- a description of the decision objected to;
- the grounds of the objection.
Attach a copy of the decision and quote the case number from the publication. Simply writing that you disagree rarely works. Connect your grounds to the rules against which the decision had to be tested: the environmental plan, the assessment rules of the Environmental Quality Decree, or the deviation granted.
Substantiate your grounds. Think of an acoustic report, a traffic study or a daylight study. Also point to defects in the preparation: an incomplete application, a missing advice, or reasoning that does not address the effects on the surroundings.
Are you claiming your costs? Do so before the decision on objection. Such costs are awarded only where the decision is revoked because of an unlawfulness attributable to the authority (article 7:15).
Interim relief
An objection does not suspend the decision. An environmental permit in principle takes effect the day after it is announced (article 16.79 Environment and Planning Act). The permit holder may then start, even while your objection is pending.
Where the activity may have irreversible consequences, the authority must postpone entry into force until four weeks after announcement. If an application for interim relief is made within those four weeks, that suspends the decision until the court has ruled. The authority may depart from this in urgent circumstances, but must give reasons.
Outside that situation you must apply for suspension yourself. The provisional relief judge may grant interim relief where urgency, having regard to the interests involved, so requires (article 8:81). You must first have filed an objection or appeal. The judge weighs the interests and forms a provisional view on lawfulness.
The application carries a court fee. Current rates are published by the Dutch judiciary. Act quickly: once construction is complete, suspension is often pointless.
Appeal and further appeal
If you disagree with the decision on objection, you appeal to the district court, administrative law division, within six weeks. Under the extended procedure you appeal directly against the final decision.
Further appeal against the district court’s judgment lies with the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State, again within six weeks. The Division then gives final judgment.
For some decisions there is a single instance. Against an environmental plan or a project decision, appeal lies directly with the Division. There is then no objection stage and no district court.
Did you file no view in the extended procedure? As an interested party in an environmental matter you are nonetheless admissible on appeal. Since its ruling of 14 April 2021 the Division no longer holds article 6:13 against interested parties. That line follows the Court of Justice judgment of 14 January 2021 in the Varkens in Nood case. Filing a view remains sensible, because it gives you influence at an early stage.
If you are the permit holder
As permit holder you also have a position in the objection procedure. You are involved as a third party with an interest and may respond to the objection. Use that space to support the decision, particularly where the municipality’s reasoning is brief.
Bear in mind that you build at your own risk while the permit is not final. Weighing whether to wait for the outcome? Take into account the size of the investment and the strength of the grounds filed.
Frequently asked questions
Can I object if I am not a direct neighbour?
You can, provided you are an interested party. Distance, view and the expected consequences are decisive. Living some way off does not exclude interested party status, for instance in the case of a large project with wide impact.
Does objecting cost money?
No fee is payable for handling an objection. Court fees apply to appeal, further appeal and interim relief. Legal costs are reimbursed only under conditions.
Can construction be halted while my objection is pending?
Not automatically. You apply for interim relief with the provisional relief judge. Only where a permit has deferred entry into force does a timely application suspend it by operation of law.
Is an environmental permit at issue in your surroundings, or has your own permit been challenged? The deadlines are short and repair after the fact is rarely possible. Law & More advises applicants, neighbours and businesses in environmental and planning law, from Eindhoven and Amsterdam. Please get in touch to discuss your situation and the route available.
