Environmental permit
- Permit or other obligation
- 2 municipalities
- Public service
You can get environmental permits from Ympäristöpalvelut Helmi.
You need an environmental permit for activities that pose a risk of environmental pollution and for changes in activities that have been granted a permit that increase emissions or their impact and for other fundamental changes to operation.
Do the following
Apply for an environmental permit from your municipality’s environmental protection authorities or your local Regional State Administrative Agency. In ambiguous situations, the authorities will advise you on which authority you must send the application to.
Submit the permit application to the competent environmental permit authority, which are either a Regional State Administrative Agency or the environmental protection authority of the municipality in which the plant is located. You should contact the permit authority about the need for a permit, the competent authority, filling in the application and other issues related to the permit matter before submitting the permit application for processing.
Send at least three copies of the environmental permit application and its appendices.
We recommend using the environmental administration’s form 6010 for the application.
You can get more information and detailed instructions on how to prepare an environmental permit application from the environmental secretary or the website.
To whom and on what terms
An environmental permit will not be required for activities of short duration (where the purpose is to test new technology or to carry out other similar tasks).
A notification procedure, which is simpler than the permit procedure, is applied to a number of activities referred to in the Environmental Protection Act.
If a trader has established their business in another country within the European Economic Area and intends to provide their services temporarily in Finland, the trader is subject to the same obligations as all other traders established in Finland.
Period of validity
An environmental permit is valid until further notice or for a fixed term.
Background information
Under the Environmental Protection Act, an environmental permit will be required for activities that involve the risk of environmental pollution. A permit is required if the activities can pollute land areas, streams, springs, rills or other waterways.
An environmental permit must also be obtained for water management projects that may cause environmental pollution but that do not require a permit under the Water Act. You are required to apply for an environmental permit if you expand your operations, begin to produce emissions or intend to make any other significant changes to your operations.
An environmental permit is required for such activities as forestry, metal and chemical industries, energy production, animal shelters, professional waste management, waste management in plants mining, fur farming, fish farming and port and airport operations. You must also apply for an environmental permit if the activities can cause unreasonable stress to nearby residents.
If other environment-related permits are required for the applicant’s project in addition to the environmental permit, the applicant may request coordination of the permit procedures from the permit authority. The processing stages of the different permit procedures will then be synchronised. Coordination will ensure that the timing of the different phases of the permit procedures will be harmonised.