Businesses have to deal with the environment. The Establishments and activities Decree BES (IAB BES) and the Ministrial regulation establishments and activities BES (RIA BES) lays down environmental rules for all businesses in the Caribbean Netherlands.

Variation of an existing permit

If you have a type 3 or 4 company (establishment) and an environmental permit  and there are operational changes, this must be notified to the competent authority. Under certain conditions, making a report is sufficient. If the change has greater consequences and is no longer in line with the environmental permit granted, you need to apply for an change of the environmental permit.

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When to notify

If you are going to make operational changes and these changes meet all the conditions below, a notification is usually sufficient.

Conditions:

  • The change does not lead to adverse effects on the environment other or greater than are permitted in the applicable environmental permit
  • The change does not lead to an establishment other than that for which the permit was granted
  • There is no obligation to make an environmental impact assessment

If all the conditions are met, you can check with the competent authority for a type 3 company (Island Executive Council) or the competent authority for a type 4 company (the Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management) if a notification is sufficient for the change of your company.

What documentation is needed for the notification

When notifying you need to provide the following documentation:

  • Details of the permit holder: name, address, telephone number and e-mail address
  • The permit(s) which have been granted for the establishment
  • The intended change of the establishment or operation of the establishment
  • The information showing which parts of the permit(s) are deviated from, to what extent derogations are made
  • A situation sketch showing the intended change
  • The information showing that the intended change does not lead to adverse effects on the environment other or greater than may be caused by the permit
  • The date on which the intended change will take place

Procedure after the notification

The competent authority must respond to the notification of the proposed changes within 6 weeks. The competent authority sends a written declaration stating that after an assessesment the proposed change does lead to a new permit application.

The company may start the intended changes only after the competent authority has given its consent. If the competent authority considers that the change does have different and greater adverse effects on the environment than the permit permits, it may decide that the existing environmental permit should be amended. To do so, you must submit an application for amendment of the permit to the competent authority. If the competent authority decides positively on the notification, it must publish the consent to the notification within two weeks. In addition, the public is granted access to the content of the notification.

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