Permits for water operations

You must apply for a permit if the water operation is on a larger scale or has an impact on natural areas of importance, or if any objections have been made. Before applying for the permit, you must hold a consultation with the County Administrative Board and other people affected. You must submit the application for the permit to the Land and Environment Court.

To obtain a permit, the process for having water operations examined has several stages. Among other things, you must hold a consultation and prepare an environmental impact assessment report before you apply for a permit. The Land and Environment Court will examine your application.

Before you apply for a permit

The environmental impact of the water operation determines which documents you need to prepare and submit together with your application to the Land and Environment Court. The County Administrative Board assesses the extent of the water operation’s environmental impact.

Assessment of environmental impact

To enable the County Administrative Board to assess the water operation’s environmental impact, you must hold what is known as an ‘assessment consultation’. Once this is complete, you compile a consultation report, which brings together the views and observations received. The County Administrative Board then decides whether or not the environmental impact is significant.

You hold an assessment consultation to scrutinise and assess whether the water operation may have a significant environmental impact. Before the consultation, you need to prepare a set of consultation documents. The consultation is held with the County Administrative Board, the supervisory authority and any individuals who may be particularly affected by the water operation.

Please note that if the operation involves a significant environmental impact by default or if you, as the operator, have assessed it to have such an impact, no assessment consultation is required. In this case, you only hold a delimitation consultation.

You must compile a consultation report, which brings together the views and observations received. The County Administrative Board will then decide whether or not the water operation has a significant environmental impact.

If the assessment finds no significant environmental impact

If we assess that the operation has no significant environmental impact, you must prepare a brief environmental impact assessment report (MKB). The application, the consultation report and the environmental impact assessment report are then submitted to the Land and Environment Court.

If the assessment finds a significant environmental impact

If we assess that the operation has a significant environmental impact, you must hold a further consultation, after which you must prepare an environmental impact assessment report.

You hold a delimitation consultation to determine the content and scope of the environmental impact assessment report. You must prepare a set of consultation documents and hold the consultation with:

  • the County Administrative Board;
  • the supervisory authority;
  • individuals assumed to be particularly affected;
  • other government agencies, local authorities and members of the public assumed to be particularly affected.

Remember that the requirements for the consultation documents are more stringent if the environmental impact has been assessed as significant. After the consultation, you compile a consultation report, which brings together the views and observations received.

You must prepare an environmental impact assessment report based on the content and scope determined during the consultation. The environmental impact assessment report must be sent to the Land and Environment Court together with the application and the consultation report.

Starting the consultation process before you apply for a permit

The e-services and forms of the County Administrative Board in this field are not available in English. If you wish to submit an application or notification, you may contact the County Administrative Board, which can inform you how to proceed.

After you have applied for a permit

After you have submitted your environmental impact assessment report together with your application and the consultation report to the Land and Environment Court, the Court may request additional information. Once the application is deemed complete, the application will be published. The County Administrative Board, stakeholders and other people affected can have their say. You will have an opportunity to respond to them.

The Court usually arranges a hearing; this is a face-to-face meeting in parallel with the written material. Where necessary, a site visit will also take place. In some cases, the Court will make its decision on the basis of the documents alone.

Outcome of the application

The outcome of the permit application is a decision setting out whether or not the water operation may be undertaken, and any conditions attached to the permit.

Possibility to appeal

You or anyone else affected may appeal against the decision to the Land and Environment Court of Appeal (MÖD). The deadline for submitting an appeal is indicated in the decision. If the person wishing to appeal is granted leave to do so, the Land and Environment Court of Appeal will review all the documents, and may arrange a hearing before making its decision.

Costs involved in the permit process

Costs may arise in the following respects when applying for a permit:

  • investigations, preparation of the application and participation of consultants or representatives in court;
  • court examination fee;
  • counterparty costs for participation in the permit process and during the court hearing.

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