soil pollution and clean up orders in the Netherlands
The Netherlands first enacted statutory clean up regulations in 1983, in the Interimwet bodemsanering (Interim Soil Clean up Act), which was replaced in 1994 and 1995 by the Wet bodembescherming (Soil Protection Act). The new regulations brought a shift in emphasis: not only the Government but also the private sector has to ensure that surveys and clean ups are carried out. Surveys and clean ups by the government now take second place. The measures must be undertaken primarily by the polluter, owner or leaseholder of the site. A leaseholder is the holder of a longterm lease (erfpacht), under Netherlands law a right in rem (not in personam). Under article 12 of the Interim Soil Clean up Act, the Minister already had the right to order the owner of a site to undertake cleanup measures, but this right was never exercised. The intention was that this would change under the new clean up regulations. Under the clean up regulations of the Soil Protection Act, it is no longer the Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment, but the Provincial Executive of the relevant province which is authorized to issue orders, the only exception being the 29 designated cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Haarlem, Zaanstad, Heerlen, Arnhem, Tilburg, Almelo, Amersfoort, Eindhoven, Enschede, Helmond, Hengelo,