A provisional regulation has been issued in relation to a permit for operating a facility for sulphite pulp and paper. The provisional regulation included emission limits for certain chemicals.

The provisional regulation was appealed to the Environmental Court, which meant that it could not be revised during its probationary period if the requirements of Chapter 24 section 8 of the Environmental Code were not fulfilled. The company having received the permit was of another opinion. It also meant that the regulation was stricter than necessary.

The Environmental Court of Appeal stated that the point of provisional regulations is that the conditions should be possible to revise during the probationary period, and that this is a more free type of regulation than final regulations. However, the Environmental Court of Appeal agreed that it is not possible to adopt a stricter regulation during the probationary period. As the company requested a relaxation of the conditions, the Court did not see that Chapter 24 section 8 precluded a revision.

Regarding the material matters, the Environmental Court of Appeal revised the emission limits on a few points where the conditions were seen as too strict, but kept most of the original provisional regulation.