Syftet med denna uppsats är att dels fastställa gällande rätt i fråga om tillståndsprövning för gruvverksamhet, dels utreda hur gällande rätt tillämpats vid tillståndsprövningen för gruvverksamheten i Kaunisvaara. Vid tillståndsprövningen ska miljöbalken, minerallagen samt andra relevanta lagar, förordningar och föreskrifter tillämpas. Mark- och miljödomstolen i Umeå delegerade tillståndsprövningen till Finsk-svenska gränsälvskommissionen som vid denna tid var behörig att pröva ärenden av denna karaktär under förutsättning att de var belägna inom gränsälvsområdet. Tillståndet som utfärdades av gränsälvskommissionen kom till i laga ordning men hade med fördel hade kunnat vara mer detaljrikt i fråga om villkor för verksamheten. Mer detaljerade villkor hade i högre grad kunnat innebära mindre risk för att människors hälsa eller miljön skadas samt underlättat tillsynsmyndighetens arbete. Northland Resources AB anmäldes för flera miljöbrott som följd av att de vid upprepade tillfällen brutit mot villkoren i tillståndet. Northland gick i konkurs 2014 och 2018 startade en ny aktör, Kaunis Iron AB, upp verksamheten. Kaunis Iron har övertagit Northlands bearbetningskoncession och bedriver verksamheten under Northlands tillstånd för miljöfarlig verksamhet. Invändningar mot detta har kommit från bland annat Naturvårdsverket som menar att verksamheten inte kan bedrivas på samma sätt som Northland, under samma tillstånd, eftersom Northlands verksamhet bröt mot det aktuella tillståndet. / This thesis surveys Swedish law governing mining operations in Sweden and then examines the application of Swedish law specifically to the mining industry in Kaunisvaara, Sweden. The standard procedure is for the Land and Environmental Court to review mining permits, but other legally and duly qualified government and non-government organisations may also be granted this authority. Such was the case in Kaunisvaara when in 2010 the Finnish-Swedish Border River Commission, a legally qualified non-government organisation, reviewed and granted a mining permit to Northland Resources AB. The permit did not contain detailed conditions on how the operations should be conducted in order to avoid environmental damage. In 2014 the County Administrative Board of Norrbotten (within whose jurisdictions Kaunisvaara lies) filed several police reports against Northland Resources for environmental infractions claiming that the company failed to abide by the conditions of their mining permit. Shortly thereafter Northland Resources declared bankrupcy. In 2018 a new mining company, Kaunis Iron AB, obtained mineral rights to the same mine in Kaunisvaara formerly operated by Northland Resources with the intent of conducting mining operations in the same manner as the previous owner and operating under the original permit granted to Northland Resoures. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency petitioned the Land and Environmental Court for a partial withdrawal of the original mining permit arguing that Northland Resources violated the original terms of the permit and that Kaunis Iron AB, by conducting mining operations in the same manner, would be similarily violating the terms of original permit.

<p>The purpose of environmental impact assessments (EIA) is to increase the consideration for environmental matters and management of resources in the decision-making through a regulated process of consultation, irrespective of whether they are about projects of environmentally hazardous activities and water activities or plans of physical planning (land planning of natural and agricultural landscapes). The clarifcation of consultation in the environmental code connected to Legislation the planning and building Act, as well as its practical application in cases of significant impact, has catched my interest in environmental policy. The consultation should enable insight and influence from the ones particularly concerned, as well as the public and other actors that are to strive toward a sustainable development alongside the developer. Through systematically retrieving data from literature, practical application by authorities, and case studies, several important problems have been discerned in the consultations since the environmental code was introduced. The intention is to augment the public's insight and influence in the process by means of clarificationed in the environmental code, which is connected to the Legislation the planning and building act and the regulation of environmental impact assessment since 2004/ 2005.</p><p>The clarification involves that concerns should be entered on an early stage, for instance already in stages where location and design are surveyed, and be included in the basic data for decision-making during the entire process up to a decision. Above all, it is important that standpoints are observed before projects and plans are fully developed, in order for proposed locations to be changed to alternative locations before the proceedings become too lengthy and the costs unreasonably high.</p><p>The consultation-related problems may also be solved by creating a democratic collaboration from the start through planned communication planning. This will provide the conditions for a constructive and durable dialogue between different interested parties in the process and favour the environmental concerns, as well as saving costs up to the decision. In Legslation the planning and building Act, it is important to already in ”program consultation” discuss if the implementation of the plan may entail significant impact, in order for the consultations about EIA and plan to take place in a context in ”the plan consultation”. This makes it easier for interested parties in the consultation to understand the significance of the interference with the environment from the start, and thus counteracts conflicts. What has been found in the case studies by EIA:s from the time after the alteration of consultation, is that the wider stakeholder analysis is introduced earlier and that they have a clearer process and a shorter decision-making timeframe. In some project–EIA:s, however, the application made by the authorities is not fully clear in the environmental assessment process. This may entail that different interested parties in the consultation will not come in from the start, and/or that the project will not receive the environmental assessment process that is necessary. The actual consequences of the fact that environmental impact are being made visible through follow-up of the consultation and environmental impact in the EIA, is that the experiences are returned to monitoring and that the need of additional measures may be detected.</p>

I den industrialiserade delen av världen är luftföroreningar ett allvarligt miljö- och hälsoproblem. Det har resulterat i att man i EU och Sverige har tagit fram normer för att skydda människors hälsa. Normerna benämns miljökvalitetsnormer för utomhusluft och de fastställer nivåer för vilken luftföroreningsmängd som är tillåten. Nivåerna sätts utifrån vad som människor och naturen beräknas tåla. Det är främst urban miljö, d.v.s. i stadsmiljöer, som problem med höga halter av luftföroreningar uppstår och utsläpp från trafiken utgör en stor del av luftföroreningarna. Hur städerna är planerade påverkar den föroreningsmängd som människor utsätts för eftersom att täta gaturum och stadsmiljöer medverkar till att luftföroreningarna inte sprids. Därför är stadsplanering ett viktigt verktyg för kommunerna i arbetet med att förbättra luftkvaliteten. God stadsplanering kan bidra till mindre trafik samt till en utformning av stadsbebyggelsen som inte stänger inne luftföroreningar. Huvudsyftet med denna uppsats är att genom intervjuer studera vilken hänsyn två svenska kommuner tar till miljökvalitetsnormerna för utomhusluft i planeringsarbetet av externhandelsområden. Uppsatsens syfte uppfylls genom en kvalitativ intervjustudie av kommunala politiker och tjänstemän. Slutsatserna av studien är att arbete och förhållningssätt till miljökvalitetsnormerna skiljer sig åt mellan de studerade kommunerna. Kommunernas organisationsstruktur upplevs av intervjuade politiker och tjänstemän i studien påverka arbete och hänsyn till miljökvalitetsnormerna i planeringsarbetet. De intervjuade upplever en tydlig eller mycket tydlig målkonflikt mellan externhandeln och arbetet med att säkerställa en god luftkvalitet. Det finns en rädsla i kommunerna för att luftmätningar ska visa på höga föroreningsnivåer i och med att luftförbättrande åtgärder medför stora kostnader. Större ansvarstagande och ekonomiska resurser från nationell nivå efterfrågas av kommunerna.

The purpose of environmental impact assessments (EIA) is to increase the consideration for environmental matters and management of resources in the decision-making through a regulated process of consultation, irrespective of whether they are about projects of environmentally hazardous activities and water activities or plans of physical planning (land planning of natural and agricultural landscapes). The clarifcation of consultation in the environmental code connected to Legislation the planning and building Act, as well as its practical application in cases of significant impact, has catched my interest in environmental policy. The consultation should enable insight and influence from the ones particularly concerned, as well as the public and other actors that are to strive toward a sustainable development alongside the developer. Through systematically retrieving data from literature, practical application by authorities, and case studies, several important problems have been discerned in the consultations since the environmental code was introduced. The intention is to augment the public's insight and influence in the process by means of clarificationed in the environmental code, which is connected to the Legislation the planning and building act and the regulation of environmental impact assessment since 2004/ 2005. The clarification involves that concerns should be entered on an early stage, for instance already in stages where location and design are surveyed, and be included in the basic data for decision-making during the entire process up to a decision. Above all, it is important that standpoints are observed before projects and plans are fully developed, in order for proposed locations to be changed to alternative locations before the proceedings become too lengthy and the costs unreasonably high. The consultation-related problems may also be solved by creating a democratic collaboration from the start through planned communication planning. This will provide the conditions for a constructive and durable dialogue between different interested parties in the process and favour the environmental concerns, as well as saving costs up to the decision. In Legslation the planning and building Act, it is important to already in ”program consultation” discuss if the implementation of the plan may entail significant impact, in order for the consultations about EIA and plan to take place in a context in ”the plan consultation”. This makes it easier for interested parties in the consultation to understand the significance of the interference with the environment from the start, and thus counteracts conflicts. What has been found in the case studies by EIA:s from the time after the alteration of consultation, is that the wider stakeholder analysis is introduced earlier and that they have a clearer process and a shorter decision-making timeframe. In some project–EIA:s, however, the application made by the authorities is not fully clear in the environmental assessment process. This may entail that different interested parties in the consultation will not come in from the start, and/or that the project will not receive the environmental assessment process that is necessary. The actual consequences of the fact that environmental impact are being made visible through follow-up of the consultation and environmental impact in the EIA, is that the experiences are returned to monitoring and that the need of additional measures may be detected.

<p>I den industrialiserade delen av världen är luftföroreningar ett allvarligt miljö- och hälsoproblem. Det har resulterat i att man i EU och Sverige har tagit fram normer för att skydda människors hälsa. Normerna benämns miljökvalitetsnormer för utomhusluft och de fastställer nivåer för vilken luftföroreningsmängd som är tillåten.</p><p>Nivåerna sätts utifrån vad som människor och naturen beräknas tåla. Det är främst urban miljö, d.v.s. i stadsmiljöer, som problem med höga halter av luftföroreningar uppstår och utsläpp från trafiken utgör en stor del av luftföroreningarna. Hur städerna är planerade påverkar den föroreningsmängd som människor utsätts för eftersom att täta gaturum och stadsmiljöer medverkar till att luftföroreningarna inte sprids. Därför är stadsplanering ett viktigt verktyg för kommunerna i arbetet med att förbättra luftkvaliteten. God stadsplanering kan bidra till mindre trafik samt till en utformning av stadsbebyggelsen som inte stänger inne luftföroreningar.</p><p>Huvudsyftet med denna uppsats är att genom intervjuer studera vilken hänsyn två svenska kommuner tar till miljökvalitetsnormerna för utomhusluft i planeringsarbetet av externhandelsområden. Uppsatsens syfte uppfylls genom en kvalitativ intervjustudie av kommunala politiker och tjänstemän. </p><p>Slutsatserna av studien är att arbete och förhållningssätt till miljökvalitetsnormerna skiljer sig åt mellan de studerade kommunerna. Kommunernas organisationsstruktur upplevs av intervjuade politiker och tjänstemän i studien påverka arbete och hänsyn till miljökvalitetsnormerna i planeringsarbetet. De intervjuade upplever en tydlig eller mycket tydlig målkonflikt mellan externhandeln och arbetet med att säkerställa en god luftkvalitet. Det finns en rädsla i kommunerna för att luftmätningar ska visa på höga föroreningsnivåer i och med att luftförbättrande åtgärder medför stora kostnader. Större ansvarstagande och ekonomiska resurser från nationell nivå efterfrågas av kommunerna.</p>

No description available.

Water is the most important natural resource for mankind’s survival and it’s a resource that must be protected for current and coming generations. Legal instruments have been used to assure preservation of these resources and one of these instruments is the water framework directive 2000/60/EG which is deployed to secure water resources inside the European Union. Sweden is working actively to reach the directives environmental goals and to obtain environ- mental quality standards, but in the same time be able to deliver renewable energy through hydroelectric power sources. To be able to reach said goals, a new law has been enacted in January 1, 2019 which regulates modern environmental conditions to produce hydroelectric power. This entails a big adaptation for producers of hydroelectric power because the new mod- ern environmental conditions demand that environmental measures must be considered to pro- duce electricity. Swedish hydroelectricity is characterized with conflict of interest between the interests of energy and the environment. To adhere to the interests, the Swedish parliament has announced the Energy agreement which should result that renewable energy further can be produced and in the same time follow environmental measures to adhere to the interest of pro- tecting the environment. Through effective collaboration between authorities and concerned actors within the hydroelectric industry, the modern environmental conditions should be ap- plied to follow EU regulations and to make sure that all involved parties’ interests are consid- ered. This will result that Sweden can secure the preservation of water as a resource and in the same time be able to produce hydroelectricity and adhere to modern environmental require- ments. / <p>Presentation via zoom.</p>

The number of climate litigations brought to court by non-governmental organ-izations promoting environmental protection have increased. In Sweden such organizations can challenge the decisions of public authorities through chapter 16 section 13 of the environmental code. The implementation of art. 9(2) and art. 9(3) of the Aarhus convention in different directives of the EU, but especially through the case-law of court of justice of the European Union has led to a sig-nificant increase of the impact of the Aarhus convention in Swedish law mostly led by EU-consistent interpretation of the right to challenge the decisions of the authorities in Swedish case law. This have been achieved by connection the con-vention with primary union law and by concluding that art. 9(3) of the conven-tion is part of union law. The effects of this have largely been to ensure the mem-ber states lives up the environmental standards of the union. In Sweden what constitutes an environmental organization is determined by if it has publicsupport. Further the Swedish courts have tended to allow envi-ronmental organizations to challenge most decisions by the authorities, even out-side of the environmental code, even when the link to union law has not been entirely clear. The exception to thishas been a decision about consultation be-tween a public authority and an individual regarding logging. The case has on the other hand lead to some unwanted consequences and might not be in line with union law and the Aarhus convention.According to the function theory of law the aims of administrative and envi-ronmental procedural law is to as far as possible ensure that the aim of environ-mental law gets realized through the court procedure. This is mostly ensured by affects individuals and institutions ways of acting in broader society. Another important function of procedural and especially environmental law is to allow the courts to clarify vague laws. The theory falls in that conceptualizes common interests as a collection of “smaller” individual interests rather than, such in en-vironmental law, actual common interests. In a procedural order where physical and legal individuals are the only ones who can challenge a decision a contradic-tion between the common interest and the individual form of the litigant is inev-itable. This contradiction would not be alleviated by letting individuals use com-mon interests-arguments when arguing for a personal interest or through a public interest agency. Letting a public authority challenge decisions in line with the common interests leads to among others, problems other with the law-making function of the court. The thesis concludes by stating that environmental organ-izations have a vide ability to challenge decisions and that this order is flawed but the least flawed option.

No description available.

<p>Stone walls in agricultural land are incorporated in the general protection of biotopes. They are protected because they provide a habitat for endangered species. Therefore it is illegal to carry out proceedings in an area that is included in the protection of biotopes. In order to do that, exemption is needed which can only be granted if there are special reasons. The essay stipulates what these special reasons are.</p><p>In an exemption errand the interest for nature conservation must be weighed against a public or a private interest. Administrators have varying opinions on how the interest for nature conservation, contra individual and public interests shall be evaluated. The interest for nature conservation has a lower value if the wall lacks endangered species or if stone walls are common in the area. But a lower value, in itself, can never be considered as special reasons.</p><p>When it comes to a public interest, it must be an important one in order to bring about an exemption. Examples of important public interests are animal and health protection.</p><p>Private interests are often constituted by the desire to improve the farming profitability. This is however rarely considered as an “unforeseen situation”, and therefore - according to preparatory work - it is not judged as special reasons.</p><p>One conclusion is that the County Administrative Boards need improved guidance. Another conclusion is that exemption shall be used restrictively. Exemptions are not supposed to solve all problems due to protection of stone walls in agricultural land. They ought to be the solution when no other reasonable alternatives can be found.</p>