The Environment and Planning Act is a law that has been debated and questioned for several years. Consequently, its final enactment has taken several years due to various circumstances. Politics was not ready, systems were not working etc. Currently (October 2022), it appears that the law will take effect by July 2023.
The new Environment and Planning Act
The new Environment and Planning Act is intended to make permit applications in areas such as spatial management and settlement easier. A number of laws, regulations and also local ordinances will be repealed and incorporated into the Environment and Planning Act. The Environmental Management Act is one of these regarding and, the storage of packaged dangerous goods and CMR substances. Also, all local municipal regulations, zoning plans and General Local Bye-Laws (APV )will have a place in the newly formed environmental plan.
The current system
If we start looking at the current system, we know from the Environmental Management Act the Environmental Law Decree (BOR), the Activities Decree and the Activities Regulation. From this structure, in terms of the environmental requirements for storage of dangerous goods, each enterprise should characterize itself as an establishment type. These include Type A establishments, Type B establishments and Type C establishments.
A company that does nothing with dangerous goods in storage will probably classify itself or be classified as Type A. A Type A facility does not have to do anything else as far as the storage of dangerous goods is concerned. For Type B or Type C, this becomes different. Type B establishments must report activities to the competent authority and Regional Implementation Services (RUD). This is done through an electronic system – AIMonline.co.uk. The activity notification can be supplemented by the RUD with customization regarding the storage of the dangerous goods. Also, Type B establishments must comply with a number of named chapters and sections from the PGS-15. If the company classifies as a Type C facility, the facility is subject to licensing. The permit then lists all matters that must be met for, among other things, the storage of packaged dangerous goods, linked to the PGS-15.
The new system
This entire structure is going to be shaken up and will soon no longer exist under the new Environment and Planning Act. In the new Environment and Planning Act, we are going to have to deal with environmentally harmful activities and you will start looking at what things need to be regulated for the storage of packaged dangerous goods based on the environmentally harmful activities. Again, a distinction is then made between notification or permit requirements. Many of the guidelines from the current PGS-15 are included in the new Environment and Planning Act, and where the act refers to the PGS-15, the annex will need to see which version of the PGS -15 is meant. Currently, reference is made to what is now called the interim PGS-15. This is the legal legal link to the guidelines.
Transitional law
A new law with entirely different system leaves a legal void. This is provided for in the transitional law. From the transitional law, little to nothing actually changes for existing businesses/establishments. Current notifications activity decree Type B establishments become Environment and Planning Act notifications. Likewise for Type C establishment permits. These then become Environment and Planning Act permits. However, companies would do well to familiarize themselves with the new system. In fact, a company may waive the transitional law and request a review based on the environmentally harmful activities from the Environment and Planning Act. You are free to reapply for a new permit yourself based on the new Environment and Planning Act if it is more advantageous for your business. So you may waive transitional law, transitional law is meant to give continuity.
Scope of PGS 15 vs. Lithium
As indicated earlier, the current system with the PGS-15 reflects the guidelines for the storage of packaged dangerous goods and CMR substances. In the current system of the PGS-15, from Class 9, only environmentally dangerous goods with UN numbers UN3077 and UN3082 are specifically included. So the current storage of lithium batteries, also a Class 9, is not regulated from the PGS-15. This does not mean that there are no guidelines. Always from the Besluit Omgevingsrecht(BOR) the duty of care remains in place and there is also a circular published from the government for the storage of lithium batteries. Awareness of the risk of lithium battery storage has skyrocketed in recent years. Awareness in this has increased. People started thinking about a separate directive specifically for lithium battery storage, the PGS-37. The PGS-37 was finally broken up in the past year into the PG 37-1 for Energy Storage Systems (EOS) and the PGS 37-2 for the storage of Lithium Energy Carriers.
Storage Lithium Batteries PGS 37-2
PGS 37-2 was developed specifically for the storage of lithium batteries. Currently, the PGS 37-2 is in a finalizing stage, but does not yet have a final status. As a result, no legal link can yet be made to this PGS 37-2 from the new Environment and Planning Act either. After the enactment of the Environment and Planning Act, it is expected that in the next repairs of the law, a legal link to the PGS 37-2 will be made. This can be as early as a few months.
It is already clear that the PGS-37-2 contains very far-reaching measures that many companies will have to deal with, including showrooms, electronics stores, bicycle shops, etc. Several companies are going to have to deal with the PGS 37-2, which is going to have quite an impact when the new guidelines go into effect. Read the white paper on Storage Lithium Energy Carriers here >>
Be prepared
The above does show that many “legal” issues are still missing, which does not mean that they will not be taken care of. The profit warning for everyone is well, it’s coming and probably sooner than you think! In principle, the new Environment and Planning Act may seem to have little impact from the transitional law, but revisions and considerations of current situations and adjustments to new situations always move faster than expected. And the competent authority will also review all issues after the transitional law and proceed to revise permits or notifications where necessary.
For the storage of packaged dangerous goods and CMR substances, we are up to speed on the new Environment and Planning Act and PGS-15. For lithium storage, this won’t be long either. The Environment and Planning Act means delving back into business processes and keeping them in order based on the new regulations if necessary. This involves time and costs money, including additional fees. If you are dealing with these issues, get educated and be prepared.
NOTE: The above does not give a complete picture, it is only meant to be informative. Therefore, no rights can be derived from it.
