Applying for exemptions from the provisions of the Hazardous Substances Ordinance

Prerequisite

The following conditions must be met for an exception to be authorised:

• The deviation from the law that you are requesting must be compatible with the protection of the persons employed.
• There is a disproportionate hardship.

Responsible department

The competent authority is

• the district office if the business premises are located in a district,
• the city administration if the business premises are located in a city district.

A deviating responsibility applies in the following cases (including companies that are subject to the European Industrial Emissions Directive, the Hazardous Incident Ordinance or mining law):

The respective locally competent regional councils are the competent authorities for business premises on which

• at least one installation marked with the letter E in column d of Annex 1 of the Ordinance on Installations Requiring a Permit,
• at least one operating area pursuant to Section 3 (5a) of the Federal Immission Control Act (Major Accidents Ordinance),
• at least one installation requiring a permit pursuant to Section 60 (3) sentence 1 no. 2 or no. 3 of the Federal Water Act or
• at least one landfill in accordance with Article 10 in conjunction with Annex I of Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 on industrial emissions (integrated pollution prevention and control), as amended
  exists or is to be constructed.

Department 9, State Office for Geology, Raw Materials and Mining at the Freiburg Regional Council is also the state-wide competent immission control authority for

• Operational sites, including the facilities and activities located thereon that are subject to mining supervision,
• Operational sites with cable cars and funicular railroads that are used for passenger transportation,
• Operational sites with high-pressure gas pipelines that are used to supply gas as energy facilities within the meaning of the Energy Industry Act and that are designed for a maximum permissible operating pressure of more than 16 bar,
• Facilities for underground waste disposal and
• Operational sites with facilities that are used to create, significantly expand and significantly modify underground cavities.

Please ensure that you submit the notification to the authority responsible for your premises.

Procedure

After you have applied for exemptions from the provisions of the Hazardous Substances Ordinance, the competent authority will review your application and request additional documents if necessary. You will receive a notice of authorisation.

Deadlines

none

Required documents

The following information is required to apply for the exemption:

• Reasons for requesting the exemption (description of the facts, justification, quantity of the hazardous substance to be used each year, description of the activity and process)
• Number of employees affected
• Planned measures to ensure the health and safety of the employees concerned
• Technical and organisational measures to reduce or prevent employee exposure
• if applicable, photos, certificates, risk assessments

Costs

EUR 200,00 to EUR 2.500

Miscellaneous

An exception may also be requested in connection with administrative procedures under other legislation.

Appeal

Further information on how to lodge an objection can be found in the notification of your application.

Legal basis

Verordnung zum Schutz vor Gefahrstoffen (GefStoffV):

• § 19 Absatz 1 Behördliche Ausnahmen, Anordnungen und Befugnisse

Release note

machine generated, based on the German release by: Umweltministerium Baden-Württemberg, 05.05.2025