Environmental law

Environmental law has a very large scope of application and covers all regulations that pertain to environmental protection.

Environmental law traditionally includes a “general” component that covers the following regulations:

• environmental authorisationsrequired prior to commencing an activity regarded as “classified” due to its theoretical impact on the environment (environmental declarations, environmental permits, unique permits);
• evaluation of environmental impact;
• public access to information, public participation in the decision-making process, public access to legal recourse;
• the investigation and prosecution of environmental crime;
• environmental liability.

This component of the regulations also applies to all the other so-called “sectorial” branches of environmental law that concern particular sectors of environmental law, including:

• protection of air; 
• protection of water;
• protection of soil;
• waste processing;
• preservation of animal well-being.

These environmental law sectors constitute the “special” component of environmental law and are each the subject of particular regulations.