Crash stays out in first few months with new Environment Act.

A BNR article examines the first month of working with the new Environment Act. This law, which went into effect on Jan. 1, does not replace existing laws and regulations, but mainly bundles them together, such as the Building Code. Part of this is the introduction of the Quality Assurance for Construction Act.

Environment Act

The Environment Act, which took effect on Jan. 1, 2024, regulates everything related to the environment in which we live and work. This new law combines 26 old laws, including the Spatial Planning Act, the Environmental Law (General Provisions) Act (Wabo) and the Nature Protection Act. In short, the Environment Act contains rules for what can be seen, heard and smelled outside. In the new digital Environment Counter, citizens, businesses and professionals can apply for permits or make notifications. This desk provides a complete overview of all rules and plans of municipalities, provinces, water boards and the state, so that everyone has a clear picture of what is and is not allowed in their living environment

Quality Assurance Act

The Building Quality Assurance Act (Wkb), which is in effect in the Netherlands for consequence class 1 (consequence class 2 and 3 date of introduction n.t.b.), brings significant changes to the construction industry. The legal quality assurance officer sends a message to the competent authority (Municipality) upon completion of the report and after assessment of the evidence that he has a justified confidence in what has been built, after which the competent authority has 14 days to assess a file and indicate whether a structure may be used.

What do the experts write about these first few months?

Complexity and Criticality:

• The Environment Act is a complex and much criticized law that regulates everything for the space in which we live and work.
• From the beginning, the idea was that regulation, licensing and enforcement would go from the state to the provinces and municipalities.
• However, too few officials are available to fully implement the law, and many legal experts expected courts and municipalities to be busy with complaints about permits granted or denied.

Critical Notes:

• The State Council was critical of the law from the beginning, warning of a possible “lawyer’s paradise” after its introduction.
• Legal experts expect it could take years for case law to clarify important aspects.
• Municipalities are facing labor shortages to complete permits on time.
• Geert Gabriels (Groenlinks-PvdA MP) and Wim Meulenkamp (VVD MP) provided mailboxes full of complaints after the introduction.

Optimism and Practical Experience:

• TU Delft construction professor Peter Boelhouwer was previously a critic of the law, but now he is more optimistic.
• So far, few complaints have been heard and the digital system seems to be working well.
• Time will tell if more legal proceedings will follow.
• Municipalities have organized many inforamtion evenings, and report no major problems. It speaks in terms of ‘learning trajectory’; ‘learning curve’ and ‘diligence’
• According to Saskia Kluit (Upper House GroenLinks-PvdA), this also has to do with the fact that by 2023 there was a wave of applications under the old regime.
• Training and courses for the roles of Statutory Quality Assurer and Internal Quality Assurer are sufficiently available and seem well aligned with expected practice.
• With the right tools, building a file for the Quality Assurance Act seems quite feasible, even if there are many contributors to the file.

Case study:

• In the regional press, there are some things that the Environment Act will make more expensive or require adjustments.
• For example, a water playground in Delft had to change its plans because of the law, including special facilities for children in wheelchairs.

In short, although challenges remain, the implementation of the Environment Act does not seem to be too bad so far. Time to come will tell how the workability of the law develops.