prop · GE0390 · 1990-12-31 00:00:00 — Likeall permit consideration, the regulations for permit reviews should be drawn upon the basis that all discharges from industries and other major activitiesshould be reduced to such levels that people and the environment come to noharm. is to consider whether the regulations for permit reviewsneed to be changed. Thepossibility of issuing regulations of a general nature is very limited undertoday's Environment Protection Act. However, this legislative tech-niquecharacterizes the Act on and other related laws andregulations in legislation on chemicals. This also applies to work environmentlegislation. The Goverament considers that in a new, comprehensive EnvironmentalCode, a considerable amount of extra space should be devoted to generalregulations. The introduction of general regulations can serve a usefulpurpose, particularly for activities which exist in large numbers and aretechnically similar. Individualconsideration of permits for extensive activities which present anenvironmental hazard is to remain, however, and there is good reason to takelocal conditions into account. This is the only way, moreover, to ensure thatindividual interests are able to influence the outcome of a case. Generalregulations conceraing protective measures should mainly be used for activitiesfor which permits are not required. The general regulations represent minimumrequirements which can be tightened up in individual cases in conjunction withthe consideration of permit applications. In certain special cases, it shouldbe possible to issue general regulations for operations whose permits havealready been granted. Increasedinternational cooperation and different international agreements haveaccentuated the need for coordination of legislative rules. When drawing upproposals for an Environmental Code, particular attention should be paid tohow the proposals reläte to environmental legislation in other countries, aswell as to current product requirements in the other Nordic countries and theEC. Incertain countries, an international agreement automatically becomes a part ofthe internal legal system as soon as it comes into force. A different procedure is applied in and the other Nordic nations, however, requiring a national law to be passed in order for the provisions of the agreement to be incorporated in the internal legal system and thus to be applicable at national level. This also applies to the sphere of environmen- 58 The review of legislation should examine whether Swedish legislationembraces the content of conventions in the field of environmental law to whichSweden is a signatory, or if supplementary laws are required. The relationship betweenSwedish environmental legislation and international undertakings is alsohighlighted in the context ofthe harmonization of laws which will result fromdoser ties to the EC. Even if the level of environmental requirements remainsintact, certain adaptation of legislation may be necessary. Fromthe legal point of view, EC harmonization requires the same work as otherharmonization to international undertakings. This means that the legislativework does not faU naturally into the committee's sphere, and the committee istherefore freed from this task. 3.5 a good environment in TheGoverament is proposing that environmental impact assessments be induded inthe planning and decision-making system. Theapplication ofthe Act is to be followed up in planning anddecision-making. Environmental considerations are to receive greater emphasisin municipal planning work. Legalquestions concerning the utilization and distribution of groundwater forindividual water supplies are to be studied by a Commissioner. Therestracturing ofthe energy supply will be facilitated by development ofmunicipal and regional energy supply plans, placing particular emphasis on theincreasing importance of bio-fuels and wind power. The growingproblem of noise is to be looked into by the authorities concemed. Noise andother environmental dismptions are to be taken into account in the planning ofmain roads, industrial areas and residential areas. Inthe planning and decision-making process conceraing the use of land and waterand the physical environment in general, conflicts may arise between those whowish to maintain the present utilization of natural resources and those whowant change. There have long been regulations on how interests and wishes areto be weighed against each other in such situations. Regulations in thisrespect are to be found in the Act and a number of otherActs. The resource management provisions ofthe Act providecommon ground for other laws in determining competitive issues in conjunctionwith decisions on theuse of land and water resources. To date, however, experience suggests Prop. 1990/91:90 that the resource management provisions of the NaturalResources Act have not been applied to the extent intended when the Act waspassed. Theresponsibility for many of the necessary decisions required to implementenvironmental policy has been delegated to the County Administrative Boardsand municipalities. The County Administrative Boards have submitted reports onthe most important environmental problems in each county in the regionalenvironmental analyses. The municipalities are completing municipal masterplans pursuant to the Planning and Act. A functioning planning processconstitutes an important part of decentralized environmental work. In additionto this, feedback is required on how the state ofthe environment is affected. ThiswiU be made possible by more efficient environmental monitoring as describedabove. step in the work of protecting the environment, managing natural resourcesand tackling current environmental damage, an environmentally-adapteddecision-making technique is to be developed and applied to an increasingextent. This means that decisions are to be based on a study of theenvironmental impact of the measure in question. This is to apply to measureswhich, separately or in conjunction with other measures, are of majorsignificance to the enviroment, health and the management of natural resources. Moresystematic use of environmental impact assessments could also help to promotemanagement of natural resources in line with the basic goals of welfarepolicies. The introduction of environmental impact assessments alsoconstitutes an adaptation to the EC. TheGoverament is proposing that environmental impact assessments be made a partofthe Swedish planning and decision-making system, that methods be developedfor regional environmental analyses and that natural resources andenvironmental aspects be given greater importance in physical planning. Provisionsconceraing environmental impact assessments are to be incorporated in theNatural Resources Act. The provisions of the Environment Protection Actconcerning what a permit application should contain are to be extended torequire environmental impact assessments. The same applies to the MunicipalEnergy Planning Act. The Goverament, or the authority appointed by theGoverament, may ordain that an environmental impact assessment be drawn up inany case coming under any of the laws related to the Act. Anenvironmental impact assessment should make it possible to obtain an overallimpression ofthe impact of a planned plant or measure on the environment, onhuman health and on the management of natural resources. 3.5.3Planning for a better environment Prop. Theprovisions ofthe Natural Resources Act concerning the management of land andwater are of great importance in preventive environmental work. The regulationsare to be applied when considering development pursuant to the Planning andBuilding Act and a number of other Acts, such as the Road Act and theEnvironment Protection Act. The municipal plan is an important implementfor putting the objectives of the Act into practice.Authorities which must reach decisions conceraing the changed use of land andwater are to draw their information from the municipal plans. Duringthe first half of 1991 most ofthe country's municipalfties wiU have adoptedtheir plans. The plans are to state the public interests that should betaken into account when reaching decisions on the use of land and water areasand the development of built-up areas. They are also to state the way in whichthe municipalities intend to meet national interests pursuant to the NaturalResources Act. TheGoverament considers physical planning to be a tool for determining the use ofland and water as well as the physical development of the community in such away as to take into account the Government's objectives as regards themanagement of natural resources and the environment and economic growth. ThePlanning and Act has given the municipalities independentresponsibility for the continued development ofthe local environment. Theresponsibility ofthe national authorities is primarily restricted tomonitoring national interests, inter-munici-pal interests and questionsrelating to health and safety. The interplay between state and municipalityoften constitutes an important part in plans to develop the infrastmcture. Suchissues often need to be viewed in a regional perspective. TheGovernment considers that the link between national environmental goals andregional and local planning and decision-making should be made clearer. Theregional environmental analyses provide valuable material for municipalitiesand County Administrative Boards in this respect, both in their preventive workon the environment and in decisions concerning individual measures. Developmentwork should take place in close cooperation with national authorities. Themeasures presented by the specially-appointed environmental delegations shouldbe followed up by the County Administrative Boards concerned in futureenvironmental work. Therecently adopted Act and Planning and Act have giventhe County Administrative Boards something of a new role with the emphasis onlong-term planning questions. Important aspects of this changed system consistof increased decentralization to the municipalities and extendedresponsibility on the part of the sectoral authorities to take environmentaland resource management interests into account in their own activities. Animportant task for , and Planning and theSwedish is to strengthen the roleplayed in physical planning by questions concern- ingnatural resources and the environment, through feedback of experi- Prop.1990/91:90 ence, methods development and training. ofAntiqui-ties and other relevant organizations should also participate in thiswork. 3.5.4Built-up areas and trafiBc Theconnection between buift-up areas and traffic is playing an increasinglyimportant part in the work of the municipal and state authorities towards abetter environment. This wiU provide a basis for the measures required for,among other things, the development of a society which is less dependent uponautomobile transport. The trend towards increased dependence on transport,resulting from extensive housing areas being built peripheraUy, for instance,must therefore be reversed. The developments in the retail trade towardslarge-scale external shopping centres and the concentration of workplaces havealso brought a considerable increase in car . Theplans now being considered for investments in railways, roads and airports willrequire extensive coordination between the build-up of the infrastmcture andphysical planning. The Goverament is proposing, in the Goverament onIndustrial Policy for Growth, that investments in railways, roads and major citiesare to double during the 1990s. One ofthe purposes of this is to reduceenvironmental problems. The Goverament has given ,and Planning the task of reporting not later than onthe consequences of traffic investments on the management of natural resourcesand on the development of built-up areas. Whenit comes to the siting of built-up areas in the vicinity of environmentallydismptive activities, special consideration should be taken ofthe risk of localdisturbances in the form of noise, air poUution, etc. In this respect thedistance to housing is often of great importance. has, together with the former and , drawn uprecommendations for minimum safety distances to different types of industrialplants. The Goverament considers that these recommendations should receiveclose attention in municipal planning, and that they should normally be appliedwhen considering permit applications pursuant to the Planning and Actand the Environment Protection Act. The municipalities should therefore applyrecommended safety distances to a greater extent and avoid residential buildingdoser to established industrial sites, or environmentally-dismptive activitiesbeing aliowed to come doser to established residential areas. 3.5.5The use and protection of water resources Theregional environmental analyses provide support for the municipal ities in handling questions relating to water management. The national environmental goals for fresh water worked out by the Swedish Environ mental should be developed into regional goals that can 62 serveto guide municipal work on the use and protection of water re- Prop.1990/91:90 sources. The municipalities should also be able to present anaccount in their plans,of how good quality is to be maintained in bothsurface and ground water. Itis up to the County Administrative Boards to show, in a regional perspective,how good water quality can be attained and maintained. The municipalitiesshould, when planning built-up areas and infrastmcture, pay increasingattention to the water supply and the possibility of environmentally soundsolutions to the question of sewage. Comparedwith many other countries, is rich in water. Because of our country'sspecific climatic and land conditions, however, a large proportion of thecountry's surface and groundwater is sensitive to the impact of pollution. Thework being carried out by the authorities for the long-term protection ofgroundwater should be coordinated. The forms which such coordination shouldtake should be considered jointly by the authorities concerned. Thequality of groundwater is deteriorating in certain areas, among otherplaces, because of the seepage of saft water, which in tura depends onexcessive extraction of water and incorrectly sited wells. The individualproperty owner has the right to draw water for household requirements subjectto the limitations ofthe Water Act regarding due care and attention. In orderto secure access to groundwater of good quality, better regulation is requiredthan is possible with current legislation. The Government therefore intends toappoint a special commissioner to study the question of how the right to cleangroundwater is to be assured through, among other things, regulating theextraction of water from individual wells by law. The responsibility ofauthorities is also to be reviewed in this context. Renewableenergy sources will play a greater part in the future, particularly in theproduction of electricity. One characteristic of wind power and biofuels isthat they require a large amount of space and that the potential for generatingenergy varies from region to region. Physical planning should be designed sothat the optimum use can be made of these energy sources and so that theyconflict as as possible with other land requirements. The municipalmaster plans are of great importance in achieving these goals. Atregional level, it is an important task for the County Administrative Boards tosupport the municipalities and power companies in utilizing regional energyassets in a that is correct from the point of view of the environmentand the management of resources. Noiserepresents a considerable environmental problem affecting a large number ofpeople in our country. Many are exposed to noise both at work and in theirhomes and the surrounding areas. Noise of various sorts also occurs frequentlyin our recreational areas. AUCounty Administrative Boards state in their regional environmental analysesthat noise is a major environmental problem. An increasing number of people inour society are affected by noise to such an extent that their health isthreatened. Noise is mainly caused by road traffic, air traffic and industrialfacilities. Locally, shooting ranges and motor racing tracks can also beperceived as a disturbance. Thetraffic authorities have presented their view ofthe noise problem in theirenvironmental analyses, and propose certain measures on the basis of their owngoals. It is up to the authorities concerned to draw up action programmes whichcan be carried out in stages, so that the most exposed residential areas andworkplaces are dealt with first. corresponding , the municipalities should deal with noise problems intheir plans and in their health and environmental protection programmes. Futurework should be aimed at reducing noise to levels that can be considered goodfrom the point of view of environmental quality. Oneproblem that should be given particular attention is the need for completelynoise-free environments, in the mountain and archipelago areas, for instance.The Goverament will therefore be giving the Swedish Environmental ProtectionAgency, in consultation with , andPlanning, the task of submftting proposals for measures to tackle noise in suchareas. The goal should be that it should continue to be possible to experiencesilence in certain natural environments. 3.6 Theorganization of environmental protection Infuture work on the environment, the environmental responsibility of thesectoral authorities will increase. Decentralization of the work of theenvironmental authorities has been started and will continue. The role ofthemunicipalities in environmental work is to be successively increased. Thenational environmental goals that have been formulated are to be transferred tosectoral targets and action plans by the sectoral authorities for differentsectors of society. The national goals are to be broken down for differentgeographical areas. This will make it easier to determine priorities and tocarry out the measures required to improve the environment. Therole ofthe central environmental authorities in coordinating and following upmeasures in the different sectors is to be darified. The work of theenvironmental authorities is to be made more efficient. The organization of theSwedish is to be reviewed, as is that oftheNational as regards the protection of health. Theresponsibility of the regional authorities is to be strengthened in conjunctionwith the reorganization ofthe County Administrative Boards. TheCounty Administrative Boards and the municipalities have an important role toplay in work on planning, the consideration of permit applications andsupervision pursuant to the different environmental laws. Decentralization ofenvironmental protection work was introduced in the 1988 Goverament onEnvironmental Policy. The municipal environmental and health protection boardswere given compulsory supervision responsibility pursuant to the EnvironmentProtection Act. The responsibility ofthe municipalities in the field of wastehas also been increased. The County Administrative Boards took on greaterresponsibility for the consideration of permit applications for environmentallydismptive activities, as well as increased resources. At the same time, it wasclearly laid down that all sectors of society are responsible for theenvironment in their own areas of activity. Both the County AdministrativeBoards and the environment and health protection boards have, since 1973, heldcomprehensive supervisory responsibility pursuant to the Act on Products Hazardousto Health and the Environment and the Act on . Activities inpractically all sectors of society affect the state of the environment. Nowthat clearer environmental goals are being formulated, the potential fordifferent sectors to re-formulate general environmental goals as sectoral goalswill increase. This will bring a further strengthening of sectoralresponsibility, at the same time as improving the potential to implementenvironmental policies. 5 1990/91. Likewise, environmentalgoals must also be broken down into concrete Prop. 1990/91:90 goals andaction plans for different geographical areas, in order to facilitate the workof regional and local authorities. 3.6.2Sectoral responsibility and decentralization Incertain areas there are administrative authorities whose work concen-trates onthe administrative application of legislation, on performing studies and onthe promotion of research and development. In other areas there are publicservice corporations whose work is more in the nature of business and whichcarry out a certain activity. Several state authorities represent a combinationofthe two. Sectoralresponsibility for the environment and for the protection of natural resourcesimplies taking responsibility both for trade and industry and for publicservice corporations to adapt to the environmental goals that have been laiddown. Trafficis an example of an area in which a more clearly pronounced sectoralresponsibility has been introduced. All the traffic authorities have, asinstructcd by the Government, submitted environmental analyses for theiractivities and for the expansion plans that exist for the different types oftraffic. These environmental analyses will constitute an important part of thedecision-making material for future traffic planning. Sectoral responsibilitywill also be darified through, for instance, the implementation of on-goingmeasures for , and road traffic. Another example of sectoralresponsibility is that , which has beenresponsible for issuing regulations for the handling of manure since 1 July1989, is to ensure that disturbances to the exteraal environment are limited.The Government also intends to strengthen the environmental responsibilityofthe sectoral authorities further by including this responsibility in theinstructions issued to, among others, the traffic authorities, the nationalagriculture and fishery authorities and the forestry organization. Sectoralresponsibility should also take cultural values into account in theenvironments affected by the activities of the sectoral body concerned. Itshould also include working out sectoral plans and action programmes withspecific goals for protection of nature and the environment which implementgoals laid down for the nation as a whole in the most cost-effective manner.The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the Chemicals Inspectorate, asthe central authorities in the area of environmental protection, have aresponsibility to take the lead, and should therefore take part in the work ofdrawing up the sectoral plans. Inorder to promote environmental protection efforts, work on increaseddecentralization of responsibility among the environmental protectionauthorities was initiated in conjunction with the 1988 Government onEnvironmental Policy. At the same time, the authorities were given increasedresources for supervisory work. Supervisory activitieshave thereby increased sharply. The County Ad ministrative Boards performed 3,600 visits or inspections during 1986. A study has been carried out by the Swedish Environmental Protection 66 Agencywhich shows that about 2,700 surveys or inspections were carried Prop. 1990/91:90out by the County Administrative Boards during the second half of 1989,representing 5,400 surveys or inspections per year. The number of people at theCounty Administrative Boards working on permit applications and supervision hasincreased sharply during the past three-year period. This increase is, however,greatest among the municipal environment and health and safety agencies, whichhave built up their supervisory activities in accordance with the HealthProtection Act and the Environment Protection Act since 1989. Itis still too early to evaluate the result of this change.