Enforcement of environmental rules at companies by Dutch government authorities, 1999 - 2002
The percentage of companies checked by municipal authorities was higher in 2002 than in the previous four years. Inspections by provincial authorities resulted in more and more follow-up action.
Enforcement levels of environmental rules at companies
Compared to previous years, municipal authorities have conducted more checks at companies. The number of inspections carried out by provincial authorities has been stable in the last three years. Inspections by national government in this area are those based on environmental rules and conducted by the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment at defence establishments. Data for national government are only available for the last two years. The number of company inspections was lower in 2002 than in 2001.
As an average for all companies, the number of checks by provincial authorities is higher than the number of checks by municipal authorities. This has to do with the number and the sizes of the companies for which provincial authorities and municipal authorities are responsible. Provincial authorities are responsible for the large companies, of which there are more than 5,000 in the Netherlands. Municipalities are responsible for companies that generate less severe environmental burdens. There are more than 100,000 of these in the Netherlands. The large companies for which provincial authorities are responsible generate more risks for safety and the environment. These companies are therefore inspected more often than smaller companies, where the risks and impact are less.
Follow-up to inspections at companies
There has been a clear increase in follow-up activities by provincial authorities pursuant to inspections at companies. National government also engaged in more follow-up activities in 2002 than in 2001. There is no clear trend for municipal authorities.
Policy relating to enforcement
The main aim of enforcement in the environment policy is to increase compliance with environmental rules and therefore to promote better environmental quality and equality before the law. Municipal and provincial authorities are themselves responsible for an adequate approach to enforcement. Quality criteria were drawn up in 2002 for enforcement organisations. A self-evaluation in 2002 established a picture of the degree to which all government authorities that enforce environmental rules meet these criteria.
It emerged that, at present, none of the more than 500 enforcement agencies in the Netherlands meet all the quality criteria. All the bodies will draft plans in 2003 for improving their organisations. The aim is that all bodies should meet the quality criteria by 2005.
Municipal authorities are responsible for enforcement at companies that have been granted environmental permits by the municipalities and at companies covered by general regulations that do not, therefore, have environmental permits. These are the "AMvB (Order in council) companies".
Monitoring method
The Coordinating Committee for Government Monitoring asks all municipal authorities about their environment policy every year. In 2002, 266 of the almost 500 municipal authorities replied. The indicator is based on the responses from these 266 municipal authorities. All provincial authorities responded. This group of 266 municipal authorities and the 12 provincial authorities cause 75 to 80% of the environmental burden.
The indicator does not take into account whether the companies were selected randomly or not. Inspections at selected companies where there is a high probability of infringements being found will be more likely to result in follow-up. Random inspections will result in less follow-up.
