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A project threatens nature or the landscape: how to have a say

A new road, a power line, a wind farm or a zoning plan threatens forest, a stream, the landscape or your quality of life. This guide shows where projects are published, how to inspect plans and environmental reports, who may object and by when, and what you can do if you are not personally affected: taking part in planning, submitting a petition, or informing an organisation entitled to appeal in good time.

Reviewed by a lawyer on 30 September 2026Official sources

Watch out

For rail facilities, national roads and high-voltage lines, the application is published in the official publication organs of the cantons and municipalities concerned and is placed on public deposit for 30 days. Anyone who can be a party to the proceedings – above all, anyone especially affected by the project – must lodge a written objection within this deposit period with the approval authority named in the publication. Anyone who does not object is excluded from the further proceedings. You can then no longer challenge the later decision. The exact end of the time limit is stated in the publication. For national roads the project is staked out on the ground before the deposit period; for buildings, with profiles. Objections to these markers must be raised immediately, at the latest before the end of the deposit period. Other federal projects, for example airports or military installations, are governed by their own acts. Follow the time limit and body stated in the publication for those.

EBG · Art. 18dEBG · Art. 18fNSG · Art. 27aNSG · Art. 27bNSG · Art. 27dEleG · Art. 16dEleG · Art. 16fVwVG · Art. 6

Building permits, zoning plans and other land-use plans of the municipality and canton are governed by cantonal law. Federal law only requires a few minimum standards: land-use plans must be placed on public deposit. There must be at least one legal remedy. The canton must admit at least everyone who would also be entitled to appeal to the Federal Supreme Court. And at least one appeal body must review the case in full. How long the objection period lasts, and where and in what form you must object, is determined by the canton. These time limits can be short. Do not simply assume 30 days. What is decisive is what is stated in the publication or on your canton's website. If nothing is stated there, ask your municipality's building department immediately. Expect that once you miss a time limit, you can no longer have a say.

RPG · Art. 33

Since 1 April 2026, there has been only one level of appeal in the canton for certain energy projects, namely the higher cantonal court. This applies to plan approvals for solar and wind energy facilities of national interest, and to land-use plans, permits and concessions for hydropower plants of national interest. After that, an appeal to the Federal Supreme Court remains available. Only someone who would also be entitled to appeal to the Federal Supreme Court may appeal, along with the cantons and municipalities affected. You can only argue that the law has been violated, not merely that another solution would be more appropriate. The courts are to decide within 180 days of the last exchange of submissions. Important: if a land-use plan that already conclusively fixes the project is placed on deposit, you must raise your objections there. What you do not raise there can no longer be argued in the later building-permit procedure.

EnG · Art. 14cBGG · Art. 89

Nationwide environmental and nature conservation organisations designated by the Federal Council in a list may object and appeal without being personally affected. Under the Environmental Protection Act, this applies to facilities that require an environmental impact assessment. Under the Nature and Cultural Heritage Act, it applies to decisions by which an authority carries out a federal task, and under the Forest Act, among other things, to clearing. These organisations too must observe the time limit: anyone who does not take part in an objection procedure cannot appeal later. They must already raise objections to a land-use plan that conclusively fixes the project at that stage. The national organisations can authorise their cantonal sections to lodge objections. So inform the cantonal section of such an organisation early, ideally as soon as the publication appears. Give it the publication, the end of the deposit period, and your observations on site, for example of rare animals or plants. Whether the organisation objects is for it to decide.

USG · Art. 55USG · Art. 55bNHG · Art. 12NHG · Art. 12cWaG · Art. 46VBO · Art. 1BGE 148 II 359, E. 3.1

If a federal project needs your plot, or part of it, or your right as a tenant, leaseholder or holder of an easement is restricted, you must register your claims within the 30-day objection period. These include the objection to the expropriation, the claim for replacement in kind (replacement in land instead of money) or for extending the expropriation to the rest of your plot, and the compensation you are claiming. Break down the compensation by its components and quantify it as far as possible. You can add details later in the settlement procedure. The publication must refer to this time limit. For rail, national road and high-voltage projects, it runs at the same time as the deposit period. For projects of the canton or municipality, expropriation is generally governed by cantonal law; keep to the time limit stated in the publication.

EntG · Art. 30EntG · Art. 33EBG · Art. 18fNSG · Art. 27dEleG · Art. 16f

If the decision has already been made, every day counts. Against a decision of a federal authority, for example a plan approval for a railway, a national road or a power line, you can appeal within 30 days of notification. Against decisions of the last cantonal instance or of the Federal Administrative Court, the time limit for an appeal to the Federal Supreme Court is likewise 30 days from notification of the complete decision. These statutory time limits cannot be extended. They stand still during three periods: seven days before to seven days after Easter, 15 July to 15 August, and 18 December to 2 January, each inclusive. Against decisions of a municipality or canton, the cantonal legal remedies apply first, with their own time limits. What matters is the instructions on legal remedies at the end of the decision: they state the time limit and the instance. In principle, only someone who took part in the proceedings beforehand, for example by objecting in time, and who is especially affected, can appeal.

VwVG · Art. 50BGG · Art. 100VwVG · Art. 22BGG · Art. 47VwVG · Art. 22aBGG · Art. 46VwVG · Art. 48

What to do

  1. Projects that can be challenged are officially published. Projects approved by the Confederation appear in the official publication organs of the cantons and municipalities concerned; decisions that environmental organisations can challenge are published in the Federal Gazette or the cantonal official gazette. Projects of the canton and municipality can be found in the cantonal official gazette or the municipality's official notices, often online too. Read the publication carefully: it usually states where and until when you can inspect the plans, which body you can object to, and whether an environmental impact report is on deposit. Note down the final date immediately. If you find nothing, ask your municipality's building department whether and when the project will be placed on deposit. Look at the plans before deciding what to do.

    EBG · Art. 18dNHG · Art. 12bUVPV · Art. 15

  2. An objection does not have to be complicated. Write a letter with your name and address, the description of the project taken from the publication, and a sentence stating that you are objecting. Then explain why you in particular are affected, for example how far your house is away and what you will hear or see. After that comes what you are asking for – for example that the project be rejected, or that a noise barrier, a different location or the preservation of a hedge be required – and briefly, why. Photos, an excerpt from the plan, or information about rare animals and plants can help. Sign the letter. In federal proceedings, it is enough if you hand in the objection to the authority, or hand it to Swiss Post, at the latest on the last day of the time limit. Send it by registered post and keep the receipt. In cantonal proceedings, the rules of the canton apply; do not wait until the last day.

    VwVG · Art. 21

The law

For large facilities that could significantly burden the environment, the authority must examine the environmental impact before it decides. The Federal Council sets out in a list which facilities this applies to. The developer must submit an environmental impact report for this. It describes the current state, the project together with the planned protective measures, and the burden that is expected to remain. Anyone may inspect this report. You do not have to be affected to do so. Only parts for which overriding private or public interests require it remain confidential, along with manufacturing and business secrets. If the application must be placed on public deposit, the publication refers to the report. It is on deposit for 30 days, unless the procedure provides for a different deposit period. After the decision, the authority announces where you can inspect the report, the assessment of the environmental agency, and the decision, so far as it concerns the environmental review. The report shows you where the weak points of a project may lie, and helps you give an objection a sound basis.

USG · Art. 10aUSG · Art. 10bUSG · Art. 10dUVPV · Art. 15UVPV · Art. 20

In principle, forest may not be cleared. An exception is allowed only if important reasons outweigh the interest in keeping the forest. In addition, the project must be dependent on precisely this location, it must meet the requirements of spatial planning, and the clearing must not significantly endanger the environment. Purely financial reasons, for example cheap building land, do not count. Nature and heritage conservation must be taken into account, and the permit must be limited in time. If it concerns a renewable-energy facility or a power line, the national interest in such facilities counts as equal in weight to other national interests when balancing the interests. Recognised nature and heritage conservation organisations may also appeal against clearing permits. The conditions above will help you give an objection or a tip-off to an organisation a sound basis.

WaG · Art. 5WaG · Art. 46

For large solar and wind energy facilities of national interest, the canton conducts a single, combined plan-approval procedure. The plan approval decides at the same time on the use of the land, the servicing infrastructure, and the permits of the canton and municipality. Responsibility lies with the cantonal government or an administrative body to which it delegates this task. The authority must decide within 180 days of the documents being complete. The municipalities concerned must be involved early. The host municipality must consent, unless cantonal law provides otherwise. As long as a canton has not itself regulated the procedure, the rules for high-voltage facilities apply by analogy: the application is published and placed on deposit for 30 days, and anyone who does not object is excluded from the further proceedings. Whether a facility counts as one of national interest should be checked with the responsible cantonal body if it is not stated in the publication. This combined procedure does not apply to hydropower plants or to solar and wind facilities that are not of national interest; there, deposit and objection follow the canton's own procedure.

EnG · Art. 14aEleG · Art. 16dEleG · Art. 16f

Only someone who is more affected by the project than the general public, and who would gain a practical benefit if it were changed or set aside, may object and later appeal. You must also have taken part in the proceedings if you had the opportunity to do so. Typically affected are neighbours who will certainly, or very probably, be exposed to noise, dust, vibration, light or other effects of the facility. There is no fixed distance. If your plot is up to roughly 100 metres away, being affected is generally accepted. If you live further away, you must show, based on the specific circumstances, that you will clearly feel the effects, for example because access traffic in front of your house will clearly and noticeably increase. The fact that very many people are affected at the same time does not exclude your right, for example around an airport. Tenants too may object, not only owners. The cantons must grant this right at least to the same extent as federal law.

BGG · Art. 89VwVG · Art. 48RPG · Art. 33BGE 136 II 281, E. 2.3.1BGE 140 II 214, E. 2.3BGer 1C_145/2022 vom 6. April 2023, E. 1.4

If you are not affected by the project any differently from the rest of the population, you cannot object or appeal yourself. This applies even if the matter is very important to you and you are convinced that the project violates environmental law. An appeal brought only in the interest of the general public (a popular appeal) is not permitted. The Federal Supreme Court refers such concerns to the political route. You can still achieve a great deal: by taking part in the planning early, submitting a petition, getting politically involved, and above all informing an environmental or nature conservation organisation that is itself entitled to object.

BGG · Art. 89BGE 146 I 145, E. 5.5

For guideline plans, zoning plans and other plans under the Spatial Planning Act, the authorities must inform the public about the aims and the process. They must ensure that the public can take part in a suitable way. The plans are public. Anyone may take part. You need not be especially affected, nor entitled to vote in the municipality. Participation often takes place through a public deposit of the draft, during which you can submit suggestions and objections in writing, or through information events. Participation gives you influence, but no legal entitlement: the authority does not have to adopt your proposals. It takes place while the balancing of interests is still open. This is often the best opportunity to raise concerns about nature and the landscape. Participation does not replace an objection. If the plan is later placed on public deposit and you are especially affected, you must object within the time limit then running.

RPG · Art. 4BGE 135 II 286, E. 4.2.3

Anyone may address a petition to an authority, for example to the municipal council, the cantonal government or a parliament. You can raise a concern in it and collect signatures for it. You need neither voting rights nor a particular age for this, and it must not cause you any disadvantage. The authority must take note of the petition. The Federal Constitution does not require a reply or a particular outcome. A petition is therefore a political tool: it can draw attention, but it does not stop any proceedings and does not preserve any time limit. If you are entitled to object yourself, you must still file the objection in time.

BV · Art. 33

An exception applies to small residential buildings: nature and heritage conservation organisations may not appeal against decisions on residential buildings with less than 400 square metres of floor area within the building zone. Their right of appeal remains, however, if such a residential building is in a townscape of national importance, directly affects a historic site or a cultural monument, or is to be built in its immediate vicinity. It also remains if it is in a biotope of national, regional or local importance. Outside these cases, only people who are themselves especially affected, for example neighbours, can act against small residential buildings.

NHG · Art. 12

Costs

For objections to zoning plans and building applications, you may not, in principle, be charged the costs of the objection procedure. The Federal Supreme Court wants to prevent fear of costs from discouraging those affected from speaking up. It is different if you then appeal: the ordinary cost rules then apply. In appeal proceedings under federal law, the losing party generally bears the costs of proceedings. You must first pay an advance on costs; otherwise the appeal is not considered, unless the authority waives this for special reasons. The fee for disputes with no financial interest is 100 to 5000 francs. Before the Federal Supreme Court too, the losing party generally bears the court costs, and must generally reimburse the other party's necessary lawyer's costs according to the court's scale. Cantonal courts have their own scales.

BGE 143 II 467, E. 2.6VwVG · Art. 63BGG · Art. 66BGG · Art. 68

Advice

If your plot is being claimed, or you live nearby and a decision has already been made, get advice quickly from a lawyer experienced in construction, planning or environmental law. The appeal time limit keeps running while you look for someone. Advice is also worthwhile if expropriation compensation is at stake, if the project is very large, or if you want to support your objection with expert reports, for example on noise or on nature. You can find specialised lawyers through your canton's bar association.

Help

Your municipality's building department gives information on which projects are currently on deposit, where you can inspect the plans, and until when objections are possible. The cantonal environmental agency answers questions about environmental impact reports and environmental conditions. The environmental and nature conservation organisations entitled to appeal are listed in the annex to the ordinance on the designation of organisations entitled to appeal (SR 814.076). Many have cantonal or regional sections that take tip-offs about projects. In an acute emergency, for example if oil or chemicals are flowing into a body of water, call the fire brigade (118) or the police (117).

Scope

Taking part in planning, inspecting plans and environmental impact reports, objecting to federal projects (rail, national roads, high-voltage lines), the basics for cantonal and communal projects, the new procedural rules for large solar, wind and hydropower facilities, forest clearing, the right of appeal of environmental organisations, expropriation claims, appeal time limits and costs. The guide also makes clear what is not possible: anyone who is not especially affected cannot object themselves.

Not covered: Disputes between neighbours about heat pumps, hedges, barbecue smoke and similar matters; reports of environmental pollution; applications for environmental information; climate actions – separate guides exist for these. Cantonal objection time limits and formal requirements are not listed, because they differ from canton to canton.

Sources

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