Since January 1, 2024, the Omgevingswet has been in effect. The Omgevingswet contains a new instrument: the environmental plan. The environmental plan replaces the zoning plan, but is much broader than that. It includes new subjects, as well as rules of the state. The environmental plan contains all rules for the (physical) living environment at the local level. The physical environment deals with buildings, land, roads, water, greenery, air, soil, and so on. The municipal council adopts one environmental plan for the entire municipality.

With the entry into force of the Omgevingswet on January 1, 2024, municipalities are not yet required to have a new environmental plan. On that date, municipalities will receive an "environmental plan by operation of law. A temporary environmental plan. This plan contains the current zoning plans, the Odor Ordinance and the 'dowry'. The dowry consists of about 600 rules from the current national regulations of the Activities Decree, Building Decree and Environmental Law Decree.

Then, municipalities have until the end of 2032 to convert the temporary environmental plan into a full-fledged new environmental plan. This means that we will soon be in a transition period in which "the store remains open" for new developments and policy changes. At the same time, we are working on the transition to a single new environmental plan. This is quite a job that will take several years. It has advantages to accelerate the transition and move as quickly as possible to a single environmental plan with all the rules on the physical environment.

At the same time, as a municipality we face major tasks, for example in the area of housing, and we must be realistic. We assume that we will need a large part of the transition period. Given the scale of the task, the VNG also recommends that the environmental plan be built in stages.

You can access the (temporary) environment plan at Rules on the Map.

Animation Omgevingswet and Environment Plan

This animation explains the Environmental Plan and latitude. The environmental plan makes clear to governments, residents and initiators which developments and initiatives are possible within an area. Together they can achieve the desired living environment.

Learn more about the Environmental Plan at https://iplo.nl/regelgeving/instrumenten/omgevingsplan/