Introduction of Environmental Act possibly further postponed

The implementation of the Environment Act on January 1, 2023, is in jeopardy. The reason: the Senate has postponed the vote on this effective date. The senators fear software problems during the implementation of the law.

To enable implementation on January 1, 2023, the Senate must approve this date by the end of this month. However, the Senate wants to await an investigation by the ICT Assessment Advisory Board. This investigation will examine whether the adjustments made to the software in recent months are sufficient.

Notarial investigation obligation
The software isn't the only issue with the new Environmental Act. Recently, Annerie Ploumen, chair of the Royal Dutch Association of Civil-Law Notaries (KNB), pointed out to the Minister for Housing and Spatial Planning, Hugo de Jonge, the consequences of the removal of the notarial investigation requirement for several public-law restrictions upon the implementation of the new Environmental Act. This means that some of the notarial consumer protections will be lost. According to De Jonge, this could be solved with a consumer brochure.