Environmental permits and supervision of environmental protection

A permit under the Environmental Protection Act is required for operations that cause a risk of environmental pollution. A permit is required for activities such as forest, metal and chemical industry plants, energy production plants, large livestock units, aquaculture establishments, peat production sites and mines.

The conditions for granting a permit include that the operations do not cause harm to health or significant environmental pollution or a risk of such pollution. Environmental permits may contain regulations on emissions and their reduction, waste and waste management, and preventing the contamination of the soil and groundwater, for example.

Certain measures that cause minor environmental impacts do not require an environmental permit; instead, the general notification procedure under the Environmental Protection Act applies to them. A notification of registration is sufficient for certain types of operations.

• Environmental permit | ymparisto.fi (in Finnish)
• General notification procedure under the Environmental Protection Act | ymparisto.fi (in Finnish)
• Notification procedures concerning non-recurring activities under the Environmental Protection Act | ymparisto.fi (in Finnish)
• Registration under the Environmental Protection Act | ymparisto.fi (in Finnish)

The permit authorities are the Finnish Supervisory Agency and the municipal environmental protection authorities. In Finland, there are about 10,400 establishments that require an environmental permit. The State is responsible for the permit procedure and the supervision of the permits of about 4,000 establishments.

Permit decisions and information on pending permit matters are available at the permit information service Lupa-Tietopalvelu.

• Lupa-Tietopalvelu | The Finnish Supervisory Agency

Green transition projects

An operator may request that the priority procedure be applied to the processing of environmental permit applications concerning investment projects that are important for the green transition in 2023–2030. The purpose of the priority treatment is to enable faster processing of permit applications by the Finnish Supervisory Agency.

• Priority in environmental and water management permit procedures, in Finnish | The Finnish Supervisory Agency 

The procedures concerning permits for renewable energy production plants have been streamlined as well.

• Advice on renewable energy permits

Supervision by the State and municipalities

Besides the ex-ante supervision relating to the permit, registration and notification procedures, the authorities supervise the achievement of the objectives of environmental protection by monitoring the compliance with the acts, environmental permits, notification decisions and Government decrees concerning registration, and by making sure that the necessary approvals by the authorities have been applied for (ex-post supervision).

The supervisory authorities are the Finnish Supervisory Agency and the municipal environmental protection authorities. Supervision is mainly targeted to operations that involve the greatest risk of causing environmental pollution. Supervision is implemented through planned and systematic inspections, by monitoring the load on and state of the environment, and by carrying out inspections in the event of an accident, harm or violation

Where necessary, the authority issues prohibitions or advises or orders the party responsible for the operation to fulfil their obligations. The authority may also issue an order concerning an operation that is not subject to a permit, notification or registration obligation. If violation against the law is suspected, the supervisory authority may also request the police to investigate the matter.