FINLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Kari Marttinen, Laura Leino, Outi Iso-Markku and Aino Lahti-Nuuttila, Erottaja Attorneys Ltd
Erottaja Attorneys Ltd Erottajankatu 15-17 FI-00130
Helsinki Finland Tel: +358 44 902 8384 Email: info@ealaw.fi Web: www.ealaw.fi
1. Regulatory Framework and Law 1.1 Environmental Protection Policies, Principles and Laws In Finland, environmental issues are regulated by many different national laws, provisions, degrees and policies. In addition, as an EU member state, a con- siderable share of the Finnish environmental legisla- tion and policies is based on the EU’s environmental policies and regulations – either as directly applicable EU regulations or through implementation of the EU Directives. The most essential Finnish environmental laws include: • the Environmental Protection Act (No 527/2014) ( ympäristönsuojelulaki ), which implements the EU’s Industrial Emissions Directive (2010/75/EU) (IED) and governs emissions caused by industrial opera- tions; • the Water Act (No 587/2011) ( vesilaki ), which gov- erns water-related construction projects and the use of water resources and the aquatic environ- ment; • the Waste Act (No 646/2011) ( jätelaki ), which gov- erns waste management and littering, the preven- tion of waste generation, and the prevention of danger and harm to human health and the environ- ment caused by waste; • the Nature Conservation Act (No 9/2023) ( luonnon- suojelulaki ), which governs nature and landscape conservation and management; • the Land Use Planning Act (No 132/1999) ( aluei- denkäyttölaki ), which governs the planning and use of land,
• the Building Act (751/2023) ( rakentamislaki ), which governs the planning, construction and use of buildings; and • the Chemicals Act (No 599/2013) ( kemikaalilaki ), which governs the enforcement of EU chemicals legislation and certain national obligations regard- ing chemicals. The most essential environmental principles imple- mented by the environmental legislation include: • pollution prevention and minimising harmful impact ‒ harmful environmental impact must be prevented or, if it cannot be prevented completely, reduced to a minimum (ie, the operator must reduce any emissions to the environment or sewer network to a minimum); • caution and care ‒ proper care and caution must be taken to prevent pollution, taking into account the nature of the activity and the probability of pollu- tion, risk of accidents, and opportunities to prevent accidents and limit their effects; • best available technique ‒ the best available tech- nique must be used in the operations; • best environmental practice ‒ best practices, fuels and raw materials must be used in the operations in order to prevent pollution; • knowledge obligation ‒ operators must have suf- ficient knowledge of the environmental impacts of their activities, as well as the risks and mitigation measures; • obligation to prevent pollution ‒ should the activi- ties cause environmental pollution (or a threat thereof), the operator must take the appropriate action without delay in order to prevent pollution
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