Province of Fryslân: applying for a planning permit for activities near water
Omschrijving
If you carry out an activity such as discharging or pumping into surface water or groundwater and the activity has little impact on water quality, it is often sufficient to report this. If the consequences are greater, you need a water environmental permit. We also call this a environmental permit for water activities. This involves extracting larger quantities of water from the ground or discharging groundwater, surface water or rainwater. Examples of activities that require a water environmental permit are:
- discharging or dumping substances into surface water (for instance, a ditch or river)
- extracting large quantities of groundwater for industrial use
- activities at a water control structure (for instance, a motorway, viaduct, tunnel, bridge, waterway or dike)
You want to use groundwater, surface water or rainwater. The water environmental permit does not apply to tap water.
This is how you apply for a water environmental permit:
- Go to the online Omgevingsloket (in Dutch). This is the service counter for environmental and planning permits.
- Do the permit check. You will see whether you need to apply for an environmental permit, report or apply for an exemption. You can do this right away.
- Log in.
The provincial authorities publish the decision within eight weeks of you submitting the application. The provincial authorities can extend this period by six weeks.
The decision period is six months if your activity (may) have a major impact on the environment. For instance, this is the case if you:
- want to discharge substances from an IPPC plant or a Seveso facility
- want to discharge substances from a cooling plant with a thermal power of more than 50 MW
- want to discharge the cleaning water after cleaning areas that contained substances of concern (e.g. storage tanks, tankers, etc.) In those cases too, the provincial authorities can extend the period by six weeks within the first eight weeks of the application.
A draft decision is available for inspection for six weeks within the six-month period. During this period, you can respond in writing or verbally. After these six months, the provincial authorities will publish the application and the final permit and you can view it for six weeks.
In the case of an ordinary procedure, you object to the provincial authorities.
In the case of an extensive procedure, anyone can give their opinion (viewpoint) on the draft decision. You need to do this within 6 weeks. You do not agree with the outcome thereof? In that case, you can appeal through the courts. And appeal once more after that, if necessary.
If no response is received within the six-week appeal period, the permit is final.
Questions about this topic?
Contact the Province of Fryslân