Reporting environmental pollution

What to do?

If you suspect an environmental violation or crime, you can report it in several ways:

• You can report to the police, the municipality, the water board (for serious water pollution) or the environmental or executive service. Acute serious complaints can be reported 24 hours a day to the environmental complaints line of the province of Limburg: 043-3617070. You can also report other complaints outside office hours (Monday through Thursday between 16.30 and 08.30 and in the weekend from Friday 12.30 to Monday 08.30) to the environmental complaints line of the province of Limburg: 043-3617070. To report environmental complaints at other times (during office hours), please contact the municipality of Kerkrade under the telephone number: 14 045.The hotline of the province will pass on urgent complaints directly to the picket service working for the municipality of Kerkrade. Non-urgent environmental complaints are passed on to the municipality of Kerkrade by the hotline at the beginning of each working day. If another agency is responsible, the municipality will forward your complaint.
• Furthermore, you can also submit a request for enforcement. You then ask the municipality to send a warning within a certain period of time stating that the municipality will apply administrative coercion if the environmental violation continues. Also, in certain cases, you can ask the municipality to take other measures, such as imposing a penalty payment.
• Under the Civil Code, you can sue in court in tort. In fact, an environmental violation can also be unlawful against the suing party.

How does it work?

For example, you can file a report if a person or company is causing air pollution, soil pollution, odor pollution or noise pollution. But also, for example, if someone is dumping waste illegally or keeping protected animals illegally.

The role of the municipality

The municipality must protect the environment in its territory. It must prevent undesirable situations. For this purpose, the municipality has supervisors. They check that everyone obeys the rules. They also provide information.

The role of the police

The police also monitor environmental regulations. The police can often recognize wrong situations early on and take action against them.

The municipal supervisors

Does a supervisor think environmental regulations are being violated? Then he may:

• enter businesses and other places (other than homes)
• view documents and make copies
• Taking samples and examining stuff
• stopping and examining vehicles
• request information

Everyone must give full cooperation to the supervisor. A supervisor may request the assistance of the police. A supervisor must always be able to provide identification.

Other agencies

It is not only the municipality and the police who check that everyone is complying with environmental regulations. Other agencies do this as well. For example, the province, Rijkswaterstaat, the water board, the Inspection Service of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation (NVWA) and the Environmental and Transport Inspectorate.