Organisations representing local authorities:

The municipalities have organised themselves in a private organisation called the National Association of Local Authorities in Denmark. The municipalities have placed the negotiating power in this organisation, which politically and financially commit the municipalities through negotiations with for example the Ministry of Environment and Energy. A similar system exists for the counties through their organisation the Association of County Councils. These two organisations have significant bargaining power and influence on the decentralised environmental policy decisions in Denmark.

3.1.2 County level

Policy making at county level takes place within the county councils. Moreover, each county council has a number of committees. One of these would normally be the committee for technical and environmental matters whose responsibility is environmental administration within the county. The committee determines the outcome of most cases concerning environmental matters, cases only exceptionally being placed on the agenda of the county council itself.

Most county councils also have a committee responsible for health/hospitals but it is seldom involved in the handling of environmental factors with relation to health. The medical officers, on the other hand, will often be in close dialogue with the environmental authorities. Therefore, exchange of viewpoints and information often takes places at the level of civil servants.

Environmental administration at county level is comprehensive, as environmental administration in Denmark to a high degree is decentralised to the elected county and municipal councils leaving substantial discretionary powers in law to the counties and the municipalities. Under the main Environmental Protection Act, for instance, the main responsibility for implementation thus rests with the county councils and municipal councils. Each county therefore has an environmental department, with substantial human capacity.

One of the main responsibilities is the approval and inspection of industrial plants considered as the larger polluters (approximately 7000). The approval procedure for polluting industries covers air, water, waste, etc. Over and beyond the role played in relation to approval, the counties perform several other tasks of importance for the environmental media. An overview given in the table below.

Table 3.2
Overview of the responsibility of the counties in relation to the environmental media

3.1.3 Municipal level

Policy making in the municipalities takes places within the city (or town) councils and the city council committees. The municipal committee structures deviate significantly between municipalities. Thus one can find many different committees with responsibility for environmental administration. The most common, however, is that it lies with a committee for technical and environmental matters. As in the case of the counties, the committee has the responsibility for the daily administration with cases only exceptionally being brought before the city council itself.

Environmental administration at municipal level is comprehensive. The Danish environmental administrative model emphasises, as already mentioned, public control and responsibility at local level. This is in particular true within the fields of waste management and wastewater treatment where the municipalities bear the sole responsibility. Often, municipalities will co-operate in carrying out these duties, e.g. there are a number of inter-municipal waste disposal companies. Municipalities are also responsible e.g. for the inspection of smaller polluters including 6,000 industrial companies and 59,000 farms and issues relating to discharges and the sewerage system.

The table below provides an overview of responsibilities in relation to the environmental media covered by this report.

Table 3.3
Overview of the responsibility of the municipalities in relation to the seven environmental media.

3.2 Mechanisms of co-ordination

In the previous section it was shown that regulation of environmental factors in relation to health takes place first and foremost within the "normal" environ-mental regulatory set-up. Still, there is an obvious need for co-ordination between the environmental authorities and other authorities involved in hand-ling environmental factors in relation to health. This section gives examples of mechanisms by which interaction and co-ordination takes place. It will not give a complete picture of interaction and the problems associated herewith, between the different bureaucracies, but will nevertheless provide an insight into the aspects of this co-ordination process.

3.2.1 Co-ordination with food authorities

There is a historical tradition for co-operation between the Danish Environ-mental Protection Agency and the Danish Veterinary and Food Admini-stration; the later being used as a consultant to DEPA in matters relating to health.

At the Institute of Food Safety and Toxicology, about 11 man-years of work capacity is reserved for assistance to DEPA in relation to research and toxicological and health evaluation of chemicals. Thus, there is a close co-operation in areas relating to classification of chemical substances, risk assessments, elaboration of quality criteria for soil, air and water. Also the expertise of the institute is used on an ad-hoc basis, in situations demanding toxicological knowledge. Examples hereof include crops grown in soil in domestic gardens, re-use of sludge, drinking water quality, etc.

Some examples of recent projects conducted in common by DEPA and the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration are the following:

	Review of existing knowledge on the special risk faced by children and pregnant women in connection with exposure to chemical substances
	Generation of improved scientific basis for assessing combination effects, i.e. effects that occur upon exposure to several chemical substances simultaneously
	Upgraded efforts and research concerning chemical substances' hormone-like effects and negative effects on reproduction.

A formalised co-operation takes place in relation to DEPAs procedure for approval of pesticides. The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration undertakes health assessments in relation to acceptable daily intake (ADI) and maximum chemicals residue limits(MRL).

3.2.2 Co-ordination with health authorities

The co-ordination with health authorities takes places partly on an everyday basis with contacts and information being shared between civil servants within different agencies when necessary.

Cross-ministerial exchange of viewpoints and information is also done in a variety of working groups and committees. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency will thus as the main rule invite the National Board of Health to take part in projects that deal with health aspects. The National Board of Health is thus constantly represented in two steering committees covering the elaboration of health based quality criteria for air, soil and drinking water.

The Ministry of Environment and Energy together with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries elaborated a joint ministerial report concerning protection of children and pregnant women against hazardous substances. The report covered the outcome of a common conference having the same title and described the activities in the field of protection of children and pregnant women against hazardous substances.

Another recent example of co-ordination is the participation of the Danish Environmental Protection Agency in a committee affiliated to an investigation concerning contamination of mother’s milk.

In 1998, a common task group for the assessment of the health implications of the EU limit values for air pollutants were established. The group embraces the National Board of Health and the Ministry of Environment and Energy as well as other experts take place in the group.

3.3 Danish environmental law

There is no specific Danish definition on the terminology "Danish environmental law". However, environmental law is defined as those regulations covering trade and industry's and person's effects on the outside environment⁶, meaning primarily regulation on environmental protection, protection of nature and planning of the use of land.

As already mentioned, health is an integrated part of the Danish environmental policy and regulation. Areas of health with relation to environment rest with the Ministry of the Environment and Energy. Hence, in the following reference will only be made to environmental law (including health).

Environmental law in Denmark consists of a very comprehensive system of rules, comprising different sorts of regulations and various competent authorities. There is a widespread use of framework legislation in Danish environmental law. The framework legislation establishes the general aims and objectives, the allocation of competencies among authorities and the relevant principles and procedures. More detailed regulation is laid down in orders and guidelines prepared by order of the act.

Statutory orders are used as "sector-based norms" and in relation to the procedure - e.g. in making decisions on licences. Such orders are binding administrative rules.

Guidelines contain general interpretation of acts and statutory orders and also offer some recommendations or suggestions for the application of discretionary provisions laid down in acts, statutory orders and plans. Guidelines are binding upon the administration to the extent they reflect administrative practice.

In addition, the activities of environmental authorities are to a considerable extent governed by administrative principles, which stem largely from administrative policy and from judicial review of administrative decisions.

Environmental principles also play a role in the administration of environmental law and when exercising administrative discretion.

3.3.1 European Union

EU policies and EU-regulation play a large role in the environmental and health areas in Denmark just as they do for the other EU Member States.

Sources of Community environmental law

The broad definitions of objectives of Community environmental policy, as laid down in the E.C. Treaty Article 2 and 174(1), cover almost any area of environmental policy. Measures to realise the objectives of the Community environmental policy can be based on any relevant Article of the Treaty, although Articles 174 and 175 remain the most relevant provisions for Community environmental action. Thus, measures, which concern agricultural aspects of environmental protection, will normally be based on Article 37 and measures on environmental aspects of transport, on Article 80.

All international conventions, to which the Community has adhered to, is part of Community law. This ranks below the primary law of the Treaty, but above secondary legislation and thus prevails over conflicting environmental directives or regulations⁷.

The Community has adopted an important number of pieces of environ-mental legislation in the form of regulations, directives and non-binding recommendations.

Community powers and Member State powers

In the cases where the Community has not taken action to protect, preserve and improve the quality of the environment, the Member States are free to do so. Limitations to this right to protect – or not to protect – the environment stem from

the general rules laid down in the E.C. Treaty

national rules in the member states

rules of international law.

The Member States’ competence to deal with environmental measures does not end once the Community has adopted an environmental measure. In order to assess the legal content of a Community measure, it is important to examine exactly what the measure intends to cover. For instance, the Community measure might, for product standards, cover only the standards for those products, participating in the trade between Member States, but leaves the standards for products, which remain in the national market to the Member States. Community terminology speaks, in such cases, of optional harmonisation. In contrast to this, total harmonisation exists where a Community measure intends to set standards for all products which are put into circulation within the Community, whether they cross a border or not. Partial harmonisation only concerns some products, but not all of a given type. Minimum harmonisation sets standards at Community level, but leaves the possibility to Member States to fix more stringent requirements. Combina-tions of these types of harmonisation are possible.

Where a Community legal rule conflicts with a national legal rule, Community law prevails, according to the established case law of the Court of Justice.

Also the Treaty itself leaves competence to the Member States to introduce national measures:

Community legislation adopted under Article 175 allows stricter national measures to be taken, cf. Article 176. The nationally more protective measures must be compatible with the Treaty. Measures adopted under Article 176 must be notified to the Commission.

Article 95(4) to (8) deals with the right of the Member States to maintain existing or introduce new legislature measures where the community has legislated on the legal basis of Article 95.

For a Member State to maintain national environmental legislation, a number of conditions must be fulfilled:

1. the Community must have adopted a harmonisation measure;
   
2. a Member State must deem it necessary to maintain its national legislation on grounds that relate to the protection of the environment;
   
3. the Member State notifies the Commission of these provisions as well as of the grounds for maintaining them;
   
4. the Commission approves the national measures.

The conditions for introducing new national environmental measures are relatively strict. They are the following:

1. the new national measure must be based on new scientific evidence;
   
2. the problem must be specific to the Member State that wishes to introduce the measure;
   
3. the problem must have arisen after the adoption of the harmonisation measure.

EU leaves to the Member States the question of localisation of polluting industry and activities. Supervision and enforcement is not covered by EU legislation. The protection of the sea and regulation of transport by sea and air⁸ is to a great extent regulated by international agreements, where EU does not play a significant role.

Examples of secondary sources – regulations, directives and decisions

Secondary sources of Community law are the law-making acts of the Community organs which result in a body of law generated by the Community itself. Most EU environmental and health secondary sources are directives.

Regulations have a general scope, are binding in their entirety and are directly applicable in all Member States, cf. Article 249. Regulations bind the states and have the force of law in their territories without the need of transformation or confirmation by their legislatures.

Directives are binding as to the result to be achieved, upon each Member State to which they are addressed and the choice of the method is left to the state concerned, cf. Article 249. Directives must be implemented by binding acts, not by advisory circulars. Directives, being commands to Member States, have a significant direct effect upon their addressees. By their designation they have, in principle, no direct effect upon individuals unless implemented into national legislation⁹. Some directives are drafted in considerable detail, leaving little discretion for the Member States.

Decisions are binding in its entirety upon those to whom it is addressed. It may be addressed either to Member States or to individuals or corporations, cf. Article 249.

Danish implementation of EU legislation

Many Danish legislative measures are results of the implementation of EU measures. Examples are the Danish waste regulation¹⁰, regulation on chemical substances and products¹¹, regulation on ambient air pollution, and regulation on the aquatic environment.

Chemical substances and products have been regulated in many years in Den-mark. Since the Danish admission to EU in 1973, the area has been highly influenced by EU measures. EU measures on the area are very comprehensive. EU measures on chemicals are mainly adopted under Articles 94 and 95 (ex. 100 and 100A). Most directives are total harmonisation directives. The main part of the Danish measures is EU measures that have been implemented. The area is now regulated by the Act on Chemical Substances and Products in Denmark.

EU measures on waste have mainly been in the form of minimum directives, leaving Denmark to adopt more strict measures. More strict Danish measures have been introduced concerning statutory obligations to deliver waste to waste treatment plants and recycling plants, and waste collection systems.

There are three types of EU directives on ambient air pollution: air quality standards, air emission standards and quality standards to products such as fuel. Directives on ambient air pollution have mainly been in the form of minimum directives, which only to some extent have influenced existing Danish legislation. Danish legislation mainly reflects the requirements of the minimum directives¹². In some cases, Denmark has adopted more strict rules on ambient air pollution. For example, in 1990 Denmark adopted more strict rules on pollution from vehicles. These rules have later been introduced under EU law as directives.

There are three types of EU-directives on the aquatic environment: rules to prevent discharge of polluting substances to the surface waters, rules to prevent the indirect pollution of waters (leaking out), and rules to obtain or secure certain use of the aquatic environment and the water. Directives on the areas are mainly minimum directives (with the exception of rules on detergents and cleaning materials). Danish regulation mainly reflects EU-regulation and requirements. The Commission has questioned the Danish implementation of the nitrate directive (91/676) focusing on the need to supplement the Danish legislation to prevent nitrate pollution to fulfil the requirements under the directive. After the introduction of the Danish Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment II, the case has been dropped.

3.3.2 The influence of international co-operation

Transboundary pollution problems, the development towards a more and more open international market, and the increasing need for the sharing of information between countries have increased international co-operation. A large number of international agreements, to many of which Denmark is a Party, have been adopted since the environment was put on the international agenda at the Stockholm Conference in 1973. General principles of international law, meaning principles of rights and obligations of States according to customary international law, require the States to take interest of other States. Danish environmental and health policies and legislation reflect the increasing international co-operation and commitment.

Until recently, health has not specifically been an issue on the environmental agenda in EU or internationally. However, the picture is undergoing a change.

WHO¹³ is rather active in linking health and environment. The first WHO European Conference on Environment and Health was held in 1989, hosting the ministers of environment and the ministers of health. The second and the third conference were held in 1994 and 1999. The EU Commission participated at the conferences. At the second meeting, the conference adopted the Declaration on Action for Environment and Health. In the declaration it is agreed that there is a complementarity, not conflict, in the promotion of health and the protection of the environment¹⁴. Furthermore, it was agreed to co-operate with the bodies of the Environment for Europe in order to promote the inclusion of actions addressing health issues in, or their close linkage with, action plans for the environment and to promote and facilitate the development of joint projects by international organisations at European level¹⁵. At the third meeting, the conference adopted the Charter on Transport, Environment and Health. The Charter promotes sustainable development with relation to the transport sector.

WHO guidelines on the relation between health and pollution is used both nationally and internationally to prepare environmental and health regulations.

For example are the Framework Directive on Air Quality (no. 96/62) and its daughter directives primarily based on WHO guidelines on limit values for air quality for certain substances.

The convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice is the first international accord (in this region of the world ¹⁶) linking human rights to a healthy environment. The Convention was signed in Denmark, and Denmark plays an active role in promoting the Convention.

In general, the Danish Ministry of Environment and Energy earmarks considerable resources for international and EU co-operation concerning environmental, nature and, as a result of the increasing international interest on health, now also health issues.

3.3.3 Principles of Danish environmental law

There are a number of principles that pervade the environmental law, first and foremost the following:

The concept of sustainability is stressed in the Danish environmental acts17. Implementation of the objective of sustainability in Danish legislation is to a large extent dependent on the system of decisions and measures, which the authorities - including the management authorities - have to use in the realisation of environmental action plans and legal intentions laid down in statutory rules.

Another characteristic feature of environmental law is the use of a holistic approach, and a relatively close relation between the regulations on the environmental area. By holistic approach means that in some decision-making processes it is legal to include a broad spectrum of interests and considerations, including societal considerations. This is most distinct on the area of planning. Localisation of heavy polluting industry and activities is an example of close relation, as localisation considerations shall be taken under both the planning act and the environmental protection act.

Most Danish environmental legislation contains a rather comprehensive regulation in regard of supervision and enforcement. As a result of these regulations, the administrative resources spent on supervision and enforcement in Denmark are extensive. This reflects that the Danish authorities consider environmental protection important, but it also reflects the fact that Denmark, in particular to the middle of the 1980's, has had a lot of problems enforcing environmental regulations.

A number of environmental principles - some of them well known from Article 174(2) (former 130(2)) of the EC Treaty - are stated or embodied in the objectives of the Danish acts, see text box 3.1.

Text box 3.1
Principles of environmental action¹⁸

In Denmark, the authorities are left with broad discretionary powers on the environmental area. Principles of environmental action to some extent delimit the exercising of discretion. As such, the implementation of the principles of environmental action is to a large extent considerably dependent on the choice of decisions and measures taken by the environmental and health authorities in the realisation of environmental and health action plans and intentions laid down in the legislation.

3.3.4 Principles of administrative law

Environmental law is considered a part of administrative law in Denmark. Therefore, environmental law and administrative decisions within the environmental area are subject to the principles of traditional administrative law. The main principles of administrative law are presented in text box 3.2.

Text box 3.2
Principles of administrative law (principles of judicial review)¹⁹

3.3.5 Legislative framework

The most important Danish environmental acts related to health are:

	The Environmental Protection Act
	The Planning Act
	The Act on Chemical Substances and Products
	The Soil Contamination Act
	The Water Supply Act.

The Ministry of Environment and Energy administrates all these acts. In the following, a short introduction to each of these acts is given.

The Environmental Protection Act and the Planning Act together with the Act on Nature Protection, are the three so-called fundamental Danish environmental acts. These three acts where adopted in 1973, but underwent a major reform in 1991 as a part of the legal strengthening of the environmental area.

The Environmental Protection Act²⁰

The Environmental Protection Act (EPA) is one of the principal environ-mental acts concerning the protection of the environment and human health. The new EPA entered into force in 1973²¹ and has since then been subject to several amendments.

The objective of EPA²² is to contribute to the protection of nature and environment so as the development of the society is based on sustainability and respect of the living conditions of human beings and for the protection of flora and fauna. It is an act concerning the prevention and combating of pollution; it thus aims at protecting the outside environment - air, water, soil, underground, and the health of human beings - while other acts cover indoor climate and the working environment.

The objectives of EPA are in particular to:

1. prevent and combat pollution of air, water, soil and subsoil, and nuisances caused by vibration and noise,
    
2. provide for regulations based on hygienic considerations which are significant to humans and the environment,
    
3. reduce the use and wastage of raw materials and other resources,
     
4. promote the use of cleaner technology and to promote the development of cleaner products in a life cycle context, and
     
5. promote recycling and reduce problems in connection with waste disposal.

Art. 2 of EPA lists the activities covered by the act, see text box 3.3.

Text box 3.3
Activities covered by EPA (Article 2)

EPA is a framework act, which is to be supplemented by orders and guidelines and to some extent plans. The Ministry of Environment and Energy has adopted a large number of orders and guidelines under the act.

EPA is a general act. Where more specific acts cover certain areas, these acts prevail²³. EPA is divided in chapters. The more general ones and the ones on expropriation, supervision and enforcement, and provisions concerning appeal will not be described. For the Danish appeal system, please refer to section 3.4 Besides these chapters, each chapter focuses on the protection of certain media or pollution from certain activities.

1. The protection of soil and groundwater (Ch. 3.): These provisions shall be seen in connection with the Soil Contamination Act. Chapter 3 primarily aims at preventing pollution or the spreading of the pollution. It is prohibited to discharge any products or substances on the ground, which will or might lead to the pollution of the soil and the groundwater. Accidents shall immediately be reported to the supervision authority.
     
2. The protection of surface waters (Ch. 4): Chapter 4 is connected to the Planning Act. In the regional plan, the county shall lay down directives and objectives for the quality of watercourses, lakes and coastal waters. The municipality shall, in order of EPA, prepare a sewage plan. The sewage plan aims at providing the necessary foundation for the fulfilment of the objectives of the regional plan. It is prohibited to discharge any polluting substances to the surface waters without prior approval from the municipality/county.
     
3. Polluting industry and activities (Ch. 5): Certain types of polluting enterprises, plants or activities - entered on the list on activities prepared by order of EPA art. 35 - cannot be established or commenced without prior approval from the environmental authority. Neither shall they be extended or modified without prior approval if those extensions or modifications will result in increased pollution (art. 33). Order no. 807 of 25 October 1999 lists the activities to be approved by the environmental authority. Activities and industries, listed in the order, are subject to environmental permit. The environmental authority – county or municipality as indicated on the list - permits the listed activities and supervises compliance with law (art. 33, 35, 65 and 66). Some industries are not subject to environmental permit, but are subject to provisions on notifying to the municipality. The municipality supervises activities that are not subject to environmental permit by the county (art. 65). The county and the municipality shall take action when observing unlawful activities (art. 68). Some heavy polluting industries are subject to provisions on green accounting.
     
4. Waste (Ch. 6): The municipality is in charge of collection and disposal of municipal waste, and has the responsibility to assign places to the disposal of industrial waste. The municipality shall prepare a waste management plan.
      
5. Recycling and cleaner technology (Ch. 7): This chapter authorises the minister to provide funding, lay down provisions with the aim of promoting the use of recycling of waste, packaging and products, the use of cleaner technology, and the development of cleaner products in a life cycle context. Provisions concerning obligations to use certain materials in production, recycling systems, etc. can be laid down.

The Planning Act²⁴

The Planning Act entered into in 1993²⁵ . It has since then been amended several times. The act - and orders and guidelines prepared in order of the act - regulates physical planning in Denmark.

The Planning Act mainly prescribes the powers of authorities, procedural rules and the aims and contents of planning. The aim is to ensure a concerted administration, guaranteeing inter alia that the use of land and natural resources is based on an overall assessment of the community's interests and also taking into account environmental and health issues.

Physical planning is the establishment of goals and policies in specific geographical areas. Physical planning is e.g. protecting different kinds of environmental media. Physical plans are used partly to ensure environmental impact assessments of large plants.

Planning is carried out at three levels: nationally, regionally for each of the 14 counties and locally (as municipal and local plans) in each of the 275 municipalities. This means that planning at any level must be in agreement with the framework established at a higher level.

One of the purposes of planning is to assure opportunity for public participation in land-use and resource decision-making. The plans are available for inspection by advertisement in the Danish State Gazette and the local newspapers.

Many decisions within the environmental law system are made on the basis of planning, either in the form of spatial plans or sector plans. For example, the planning system has an important impact upon the protection of waters - surface waters as well as groundwater – and on the localisation of trade and industry.

The Soil Contamination Act

The Soil Contamination Act²⁶ entered into force on 1 January 2000, for certain provisions under the act, a bit later. It aims at protecting the soil and groundwater against future pollution from waste deposits, etc.

The Environmental Protection Act regulates the protection of the ground-water. It prohibits the discharge of polluting substances on the ground. However, this is not sufficient as there are already a lot of existing waste deposits or areas where the soil is polluted in Denmark, very often they are situated on areas where there is or have been industry or other polluting activities. The Soil Contamination Act considers these problems.

The objectives of the Soil Contamination Act are:

	Prevent pollution of the soil;
	Monitoring existing pollution of the soil with the aim of preventing further environmental problems caused by the polluted soil; and
	Organise an effective and efficient protection of humans and the groundwater against existing pollution.
	Private owners of property are through an insurance arrangement secured against certain economic burdens resulting from leaking tanks.

Chapter 5 of the Act sets out rules on administrative orders²⁷ to the polluter.

The competence to give an order on cleaning up the pollution is suggested to be placed with the municipal councils, unless the county councils according to the Environmental Protection Act control the enterprises in question.

The concrete order concerning the cleaning up of such pollution is given to the polluter, and this order can be given irrespectively of how the pollution has happened. It is furthermore without importance whether the addressee of the order owns the polluted premises. If more than one polluter is involved in pollution, a compliance order must be given to all of them. The authority, which has conducted a cleaning up, may sue the responsible persons and businesses for the costs of remedying environmental contamination.

If the addressee of the order cannot freely dispose of the polluting premises, the authorities must give an order to the person who can dispose of the real estate. He can be ordered to tolerate that cleaning up or other measures are taken at the cost of the polluter.

Act on Chemical Substances and Products

The Act on Chemical Substances and Products²⁸ (ACSP) entered into force on 1 October 1980 and has since been amended several times. The law replaced a law from 1961 on poison and harmful substances and a law on pesticides. It is very closely related to EU-requirements on the area. The ACSP aims at regulating substances and products, which are, or based on, available information, could be considered dangerous for human health or harmful to the environment.

The goal of ACSP is to prevent damage to health and the environment, which may stem from production, safekeeping, use and disposal of chemical substances.

The act covers all chemicals – elements and chemical compounds, both natural and industrial produced – for industrial and for private use. Examples of products covered by the act are paints, cleaning materials, cosmetics, pesticides, biocides and toys.

The minister is authorised to limit or prohibit sale, import and use of certain substances or products.

Very toxic and toxic substances and preparations cannot be sold without a requisition being issued unless the they are sold to hospitals, universities, technical laboratories, doctors etc.

The act and orders prepared under the authorisation of the act lay down rules on classification, packaging, labelling and storage of substances and products.

Furthermore, the act lays down an approval scheme on chemical substances and products aimed at specific purposes, which are further defined in appendix 1 of the act.

Finally, the act lays down rules on a notifying arrangement after which each producer or importer, who wants to sell or import a new chemical substance, before selling or importing, is to report the chemical substance to the environmental authorities.

The Water Supply Act²⁹

The objectives³⁰ of the Water Supply Act are to ensure:

1. that the use of water resources takes place according to integrated planning and through comprehensive evaluation of the considerations mentioned in Section 2 of the Act;
    
2. co-ordination of existing water supplies with a view to an appropriate use of water resources, and
    
3. extension and operation of water supply network that is adequate regarding volume and quality.

The Minister for the Environment and Energy may in pursuance of the Water Supply Act prepare national plans for water extraction and supply. Important results have been attained under the direction of the county councils concerning the determination of the location, size and quality of water resources as well as the planning of future water use. This has involved the designation of areas crucial for the future supply of water and, indirectly, of areas that are of no interest in that respect.

The county, with the assistance of the municipality, prepares a survey of the water resources in the county; the localisation and volume of the sources, the quality of the water, natural protection of the water resources and description of any sources of pollution. Based on the analysis a survey and an assessment of the water resources available for exploitation is made³¹. Based on the survey and the analysis the county prepares a plan for the use and protection of the water resources. The water resources planning shall be co-ordinated with the efforts concerning soil pollution and soil pollution prevention and repairment³².

The municipality prepares a plan on water supply, including the localisation of water supply plants and the resources available for the plant³³.

The establishment of a water supply plant and the exploitation of water resources are subject to county or municipality approval.

3.4 Environmental rights

Citizen’s environmental rights are granted partly in general laws that regulate all areas of administration, partly in specific environmental laws

3.4.1 Access to information

The Danish Access to Public Administration Files Act³⁴ contains the general rules on rights of access to documents/files which have been entered into, or drawn up, by an administrative authority as part of the administrative function in connection with its activities. This act provides the right of access for anyone who wishes to become acquainted with specific documents or with documents pertaining to specific cases, including those persons or parties that might be involved in a specific case.

The Danish Public Administration Act³⁵ contains a number of general administrative procedural/litigatory rules, which provide the public with authority in connection with handling of a case. The act addresses, amongst other things, a (person's) or party's right of access to documents. The rules governing a party's right of access to documents contained in this act are more detailed than those in the Danish Access to Public Administration Files Act. If one is denied access to documents because one is not regarded as an interested party, the authority shall, of their own accord, grant permission to access documents in accordance with the Danish Access to Public

Administration Files Act.

These acts are of a general nature and regulate all areas of administration.

The following act deals specifically with the environment.

The Danish Access to Files on Environmental Information Act³⁶ is the implementation of Directive no. 90/31/EEC of 7 June 1990 on free access to environmental information. This act was updated by Act no. 447 in accordance with implementation of the Convention on access to information, public participation in decision making and access to justice in environmental matters (the Århus Convention). The act increases the possibility of access to environmental information by broadening the definition on "public authority", and by narrowing the scope of a number of exceptions. The act generally refers to the regulations contained in the Danish Public Administration Act and the Danish Access to Public Administration Files Act. Anyone can upon request obtain access to information under the act.

There is no standard format for requesting access to information. The request can be made verbally or in writing. The applicant does not need to provide a reason for his request.

3.4.2 Access to public participation in environmental decision-making

Under certain environmental, planning and nature protection acts there are a number of rules/regulations on public participation when a decision has been made.

As part of the public hearing process, citizens, authorities and organisations have the opportunity to express their point of view before a final decision is made. The deciding authority shall consider these viewpoints and any information received during the hearing. The deciding authority is not required to incorporate (follow) the expressed viewpoints.

All in all, public participation ensures that as much information and as many viewpoints as possible are included in reaching a decision. This is the purpose of public participation; that the best possible decision is made on behalf of the society taking into consideration the interests of those involved.

Examples of areas in which there are rules for public participation:

	Planning (regional plans, municipal plans and council plans)
	As part of the EIA process for heavily polluting industry, extension of existing harbours, recovery of raw materials from the sea bed, coastal installations, certain high speed crafts and ferry routes.
	Municipal sewage planning
	Municipal waste planning
	Preservation of nature, monuments and sites
	Access to the county's examination and remedial action of ground and soil pollution
	Administration of large nature projects
	County approval of the establishing, extension or development of certain heavily polluting industries (listed industries)

Within some of these fields, there are requirements for individual hearings of those persons who are directly affected by any decision made.

3.4.3 Access to justice

When an authority issues a written decision on a particular case, this decision shall be accompanied by instructions for appeal and shall name the authority responsible, the procedure involved in filing an appeal as well as a deadline for receipt of appeals, if any.

There are three independent and impartial appeal boards, which deal with environmental matters: The Environmental Board of Appeals, the Nature Protection Board of Appeals and the Energy Board of Appeals. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency also functions as a board of appeal for decisions on, for example, the Environmental Protection Act. Whether the Danish Environmental Protection Agency is an independent and impartial body is subject to discussion.

The individual environmental acts decide who is entitled to appeal in relation to the administrative decisions made according to the acts. Typically, the addressee and those who have a relevant interest in the outcome of the case can appeal. Furthermore certain societies and organisations are entitled to appeal.

The rules for court proceedings are determined in the Administration of Justice Act (lbk no. 713 of 13/09/1999). Should a citizen or enterprise wish to appeal against a decision made by an authority in court, this shall be done in a so-called civil action. The case can, for example, deal with changes to, or the revoking of, a decision on compensation. The court recognises proceedings, which are instituted by judicial person who has a right of action. Only those persons who have a vested interest in the case are regarded as eligible to instigate proceedings.

Furthermore, it is possible to appeal to the Ombudsman. The idea of an Ombudsman was introduced in the Constitution in 1953. The Ombudsman is nominated by Legal Affairs Committee and then appointed by the parliament. His responsibility is to supervise the national civil and military administration as well as municipal administration. The Ombudsman's responsibility is to ensure citizens civil rights.

3.5 Instruments in Danish environmental and health policy

Public authorities utilise policy instruments to influence people's behaviour. In Denmark a broad range of instruments are applied to secure fulfilment of environmental and health objectives. Some have a delimited field of application, while others have a broad horizontal perspective and is intended at a general level to improve the society's ability to identify and solve problems. This section presents instruments within four categories: integrative, regulatory, economic and other instruments. For a description of these, please see the table next page.

Table 3.4
Definition of four types of instruments in environmental policy

3.5.1 Integrative instruments

When the United Nations World Commission released its report Our Common Future in 1987 it acquired a significant role in the Danish debate on environmental policy, and it provided the starting signal for integration of environmental policies into other sectoral policies.

This attempt has hitherto been partly successful³⁸. A number of innovative instruments have been institutionalised in recent years just as progress has been made in improving sectoral integration at the planning, budgeting and project levels.

Several sectoral action plans have been prepared since the early 1990s, and one of the main objectives is that environmental concern must be firmly anchored in sector policies. The plans, which actually could be seen as a type of integrative instruments, have accelerated the introduction of integrative instruments.

The most recent plans are action plans for transport, agriculture, energy, forestry, waste, chemicals, and the strategy for a product oriented environmental strategy.

In the following, the prominent integrative instruments are briefly introduced.

	Strategic Environmental Assessment of bills presented to parliament. According to a 1993 government decision, all bills presented to the Parliament must undergo an environmental impact assessment and those with major environment effects must include a description or assessment of the expected environmental impact; along with other impact assessments (e.g. administrative costs). The ministries that prepare a bill or policy proposal presented to Parliament carry out the assessment themselves. They use guidelines from the Ministry of Environment and Energy to establish the assessment.
	Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment of national budget. The above mentioned requirement in regard of assessment of bills also applies to the national budget. The government has since 1997 carried out an evaluation of the environmental impacts of the national budgets. The assessment does not cover all aspects of the national budget, but aims at assessing the overall impact of the budget.
	"Green" public procurement. A voluntary agreement on public green procurement was made in 1998 between the National Association of Municipalities and the Minister of the Environment and Energy. The National Association of Municipalities has recommended the municipalities to develop Municipality policies on green procurements. A vast majority of public institutions have an environmental policy that takes into account environment and energy friendly procurement considerations.
	International assistance. Environmental and health concern has been incorporated in the general Danish development policy and international assistance programmes during the 1990s. This is the case both for assistance carried out bilaterally as well as multilateral via the UN, the European Union and the international development banks. Moreover, Denmark provides specific environmental assistance to a number of developing countries and countries in the Central and Eastern Europe. In total, the Danish official development assistance exceeds 1% of the GNP.
	Environmental Impact Assessments. The EU-directive on EIA has been implemented in Denmark. Private as well as public projects, which is assumed to impact on environment, can be realised first after the passing of an EIA.

Agenda 21 plans at municipal level39. The Ministry of Environment and Energy, the National Association of Local Authorities in Denmark and the Association of County Councils in Denmark are partners in the joint campaign for local Agenda 21. At present 70% of the Danish municipalities are working with local Agenda 21. Following the concept of thinking globally and acting locally, the purpose of the campaign is to strengthen local environmental efforts. The Danish Parliament passed legislation in February 2000 requiring all counties and municipalities to publish a report outlining their strategy for local Agenda 21 at least every 4 years.

3.5.2 Regulatory instruments

Regulatory instruments are the most common used policy instrument. There are several types of such instruments of which the most important are described in this section.

Norms

Norms are typically set down in legally binding rules (e.g. limit values, standards) or in guidelines (e.g. quality criteria). Norms set down in guidelines are used to lay down conditions in permits, approvals, orders, etc. There are different types of regulation by norms within the environmental area:

	Limit values for emissions: Limit values for how much pollution it is admitted to discharge. (Example: Limit values for mercury per m3 water discharged by industry).
	Limit values for immissions: Limit values for how much pollution it is admitted to cause on nature or environment. (Example: Limit values on how much noise from trade and industry may cause on nature and environment in certain areas).
	Quality criteria: Quality criteria to the media, which is subject to the discharge or contamination from the polluting activities. (Example: Soil quality criteria for chemicals considering most sensitive uses of the soil i.e. domestic gardens, kindergartens).
	Production norms: Norms to the production potential, production process and the finalised product. (Example: Conditions on animal husbandry concerning the storage of droppings and the spreading of droppings.).

Approval, obligation of notification, obligation to act, etc.

Some activities need prior approval or permit before they can be carried out. Environmental and/or health related conditions are laid down in the approval or permit to carry out a certain activity. The industrial production is primarily regulated by an environmental permitting and notification system under the provisions of EPA, see text box 3.4.

Text box 3.4
Environmental Permit

Some activities are permitted if they have been notified in advance. They do thus not need prior approval as such. Rules on notifying do not lead to the same into depth administrative investigation of the polluting activities as permits and approvals do. Rules on notification aim at informing the authorities, at an early stage, on activities that might involve risks - thereby securing the possibility to intervene to prevent pollution of the environment, or to prevent emissions of substances injurious to health.

For more information on notifying, please see text boxes next page.

Text box 3.5
Notifying non-listed activities

For some activities, the user or owner of a property or the environmental authority is under the obligation to act:

Text box 3.6
Inform about pollution or risk of pollution

Text box 3.7
Correct illegal activities

Plans

Regulation by plans is quite common within the environmental area. Plans are suitable for taking into consideration a more holistic approach. Also, they enable public-participation in decision-making and consideration for sector interests.

The influence of plans on the administration of the environmental and health area is primarily a result of their use as means for general guidance on the area. Also they play an important role for co-ordination of the use and disposal of land.

Environmental agreements

Agreements are considered having the advantage that the industry is supposed to be more accepting and loyal towards an agreement than towards norms, rules, etc. Further, it is assumed that regulation by general rules is sometimes less efficient when the aim is to reduce the overall pollution within a certain area.

The Environmental Protection Act article 10⁴⁰ entitles the authorities to enter into legally binding agreements with industries or unions of industries. Further, the authority is entitled to lay down provisions on those industries, which are not willing to enter into an agreement. The minister decides the level of pollution/the level of reduction of pollution. What is negotiable are the means to obtain the reduction of pollution. In practice it has been very difficult to reach environmental agreements. Among other things, it requires a structured branch to reach agreement. There has only been made one agreement⁴¹ in order of EPA Art. 10. Voluntary agreements are another tool. It is a sort of a "gentleman agreement" and cannot be brought for the Court or the Board of Arbitration. The Ministry of the Environment and Energy has at present concluded 13 voluntary agreements with industrials associations⁴².

Also at county and municipal levels gentleman agreements are sometimes made between industry and trade and the public authorities. There is no general overview of these agreements.

3.5.3 Economic instruments

Denmark makes extensive use of economic instruments in environmental protection. They were explicitly introduced into Danish environmental policy in the mid-1980s. Since then, the use has increased. There are several types of economic instruments like fees, charges, taxes, etc⁴³. They also include instruments actively supporting certain types of behaviour (subsidies, granting of loans).

Taxes, fees, etc.

Although the Danish green taxes and energy taxes are meant to influence the behaviour of enterprises and of individuals, some of them are also a source of finance for public (environmental) activities. It is therefore common to distinguish between:

	Economic instruments that originally did not have an environmental objective like vehicle and energy taxation. Some of these have been re-designed in recent years so as to reflect the environmental impact more accurately.
	Green economic instruments dating back, primarily, to the so-called green tax reform in 1993/94 having as main objective a gradually shift of the tax system away from income taxation towards environmental taxes.

In 1998, economic instruments all together contributed 16% of total government tax revenue. However, the revenue from the green economic instruments made up only 3% of the total government revenue. Income taxes and other indirect taxes (like VAT) are thus still the main sources of government budget.

A particular environmental tax would typically affect more than one environmental medium and more than one economic sector. For example, waste taxes affect households and industry, and to the extent that they affect waste volumes, this may impact positively on the quality of air, soil, and groundwater. The bulk of the instruments are targeted at either air, or soil and groundwater.

For further information, see appendix 2: Overview of economic instruments in Denmark.

Apart from the instruments mentioned in the table, certain regulations lay down liability for environmental damages on an objective basis (strict liability)⁴⁴. These regulations can be considered as a sort of economic instrument. Strict liability means that the person or legal entity does not need to have shown negligence to be deemed liable for the damages. Strict liability provides an incentive for taking measures to prevent damage from occurring in the first place. An example is Act on Liability for environmental damages. The Act stipulates that the liability for environmental damages caused by particular polluting enterprise will be prosecuted on an objective basis. Furthermore, there are rules on strict liability concerning soil pollution, nuclear power plants, maritime transport of oil, and transport by road, rail and air.

Subsidies

The Danish use of subsidies serve many different purposes and are targeted at different groups of society. Some of the subsidies relate to the environmental media directly, while others are targeted at specific economic sectors. For example, there are subsidy schemes that aim to improve the state of the aquatic environment, while other schemes are specifically targeted at the agricultural sector. There are also subsidies with a very general scope, such as aiming to promote cleaner technology.

New environmental regulations are often accompanied by the launching of subsidy schemes to offset part of the negative financial implications of the regulations in question. In recent years, subsidies have tended to be framed in a steadily more strategic manner targeted towards innovation in technology and life styles. Examples hereof are subsidies to promote organic agriculture, environment friendly technologies and lifestyles and cleaner products.

Most subsidies in Denmark are characterised by being temporary with a lifetime of 5-10 years. The time constraint is considered important to accelerate the effects. Subsidies are sometimes coupled with overall environmental policy targets and macro-economic objectives. Among those are energy subsidies that assist to enhance Danish energy self-sufficiency.

The subsidies often constitute part of a broader policy-package where environmental taxes are introduced simultaneously with related subsidy schemes. Denmark, however, never applies a direct coupling, in the form of earmarking of revenue from taxes and charges on one hand, and the provision of subsidies on the other hand.

In 1998, a total sum of MDKK 3,090 was allocated to environmental subsidies. The energy sector is the most important receiver of subsidies, accounting for 68% of the total budget allocation for subsidies. The rest is distributed to water, waste recovery, agriculture, cleaner technology, etc.

3.5.4 Informative and other instruments

This section describes instruments that aim to promote environmental and health objectives via raising the awareness of environmental and health problems and by providing information on environmental factors in relation to health.

Environmental information and campaigns. Information to the public on the environment has a high priority, and the Ministry of the Environment and Energy devote in the range of 55 person-years to provide environmental information to the public. Several publications, ranging from scientific reports to educational materials are published every year.

Environmental labelling. The aim of environmental labelling is to stimulate a more environmental friendly consumption by guiding and informing consumers. EPA article 8 entitles the Minister to lay down rules on environmental labelling when selling products, etc. Labelling can be used on products, goods, etc. that contain recycled material or if there are other environmental reasons to prefer the product compared to other products for the same use. Denmark has joined the Nordic Swan Label and the EU Flower Label45. Rules on the labelling are laid down in Order no. 35 of 19 January 1998.

Green accounts. There are two aims of green accounting. The first is to provide the authorities and the public with information on how the polluting industry influences the environment and health. The second aim is to inspire the industry to consider environmental issues when choosing raw materials and resources, and when choosing production processes. Order no. 975 of 13 December 1995 on Green Accounts regulates the Danish environmental auditing. Certain types of polluting industries are subject to publish a yearly green account. Examples of information, which have to be given are account on the consumption of energy, water and raw materials, which have been expended in the auditing period. Account on polluting substances, etc., which have been used in the production processes; have been discharged or emitted to air, water or soil form part of the final products; or are included in the waste from the industry. The green account is available to the public in accordance with the Danish regulation on access to information.

Green auditing. Green auditing has been completed for a number of ministries, state-owned forests and the national railways.

Environmental management and certification, etc. Environmental management (e.g. EMAS and ISO) is a part of the industry's voluntarily effort to improve their environmental performance. Since 1995, the Ministry of the Environment and Energy has supported initiatives developing environmental management by economic support to projects.

Danish implementation of the Directive on the Freedom of Access to Information on the Environment46 (and the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters) can be considered as more process orientated and informative instruments.

Information to branches. The Ministry of the Environment and Energy regularly issues orientations to certain branches of trade and line of businesses concerning on recent knowledge concerning the environment, environmental performance and management.

3.6 References