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Immission control - applying for authorisation in a simplified procedure for a plant in accordance with the BImSchG

The construction and operation of an installation listed in Annex 1 of the Fourth Ordinance on the Implementation of the Federal Immission Control Act (Ordinance on Installations Requiring Authorisation - 4th BImSchV) requires an immission control permit from the competent authority. The significant modification of such an installation is also subject to authorisation.

Authorisations for installations of a certain type or scope can be granted in a simplified procedure instead of a formal one. In these cases, the procedure is carried out without public participation.

The cases in which a simplified authorisation procedure is possible can be found in the legal basis.

Related forms and processes

Prerequisite

The permit must be granted if it is ensured that the obligations arising from the Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG) and its ordinances are fulfilled and that other public law regulations and occupational health and safety concerns do not conflict with the construction and operation of the plant. A simplified authorisation procedure can only be used if the legal basis allows this.

Responsible department

The responsibilities in the area of immission control are regulated in the Immission Control Competence Ordinance of the state of Baden-Württemberg.

In most cases, the competent authority for installations requiring authorisation under immission control legislation is the local lower immission control authority, i.e.

  • the district office if the premises with the plant are located in a district,
  • the city administration if the premises with the installation are located in a city district.

A different responsibility applies in the following cases (e.g. for companies that are subject to the European Industrial Emissions Directive, the Hazardous Incident Ordinance or mining law):

Departments 5, Environment of the respective locally responsible regional councils are the competent immission control authorities for company 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 Licence,
  • at least one operating area in accordance with Section 3 (5a) of the Federal Immission Control Act (hazardous incident operation),
  • at least one installation that requires a licence 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 of the Freiburg Regional Council is also the state-wide competent immission control authority for

  • Operational sites, including the facilities and activities located on them, which are subject to mining supervision,
  • Operating sites with cable cars and funicular railways used for passenger transport,
  • Operating sites with high-pressure gas pipelines which, as energy installations within the meaning of the Energy Industry Act, serve to supply gas and which are designed for a maximum permissible operating pressure of more than 16 bar,
  • Underground waste disposal facilities and
  • Industrial premises with installations used for the construction, significant expansion and significant modification of underground cavities.

Please ensure that you submit your licence application to the immission control authority responsible for your facility.

Procedure

The authorisation procedure requires a written application, which must be accompanied by the drawings, explanations and other documents required to check the authorisation requirements. If further documents are required by the responsible immission control authority or the respective specialised authorities for an assessment, these must be submitted subsequently. In simplified authorisation procedures, there is no public display of the application documents. The licensing authority requests the authorities to be involved to submit their comments on the licensing requirements. Once the licensing authority has determined all the circumstances that are relevant to the granting of a licence, a decision must be made on the application. The authorisation decision must be substantiated in writing.

Pursuant to Section 13 BImSchG, the immission control permit includes other official decisions relating to the installation, in particular public law permits, approvals, awards, authorisations and approvals. Excluded from this are planning approvals, approval of operating plans under mining law, official decisions based on nuclear regulations and water law permits and authorisations.

As part of the application, the approval of an early start in accordance with Section 8a BImSchG or the granting of a preliminary decision in accordance with Section 9 BImSchG as well as the division into several partial authorisations in accordance with Section 8 BImSchG can be applied for.

Deadlines

The operator must obtain authorisation from the competent authority before installing and operating the system.

Required documents

The application must be accompanied by the documents required for an assessment. These are, for example

  • Descriptions of the project, including information on plant components, process steps, material and product data,
  • schematic diagrams and flow charts,
  • Information on possible disruptions to normal operation,
  • Information on emissions and immissions,
  • Information on waste and waste water,
  • Construction documents: site plan, construction drawings, construction description.

The competent authority may request further documents if necessary. Coordinate in advance with the responsible immission control authority regarding the documents required for an assessment.

If official decisions concerning the installation are communicated as part of the authorisation procedure (e.g. building permit), the documents required for this must also be submitted.

If no online procedure is available, please use forms 1 to 11 of "Annex 1" of theGuidelines for authorisation and notification procedures under the Federal Immission Control Actof the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Environment.

Costs

The fees are based on the investment costs for the system.

Processing time

As a rule, the licensing authority must check whether the documents are complete within one month of receiving the application. If the application documents are not sufficient for an assessment, they must be completed by the applicant.

Once the application documents are complete, the statutory deadlines of three months begin for the authorisation procedure under immission control law in a simplified procedure. The deadlines can be extended by three months if this is necessary due to the difficulty of the examination or for reasons attributable to the applicant.

Miscellaneous

Coordinate in advance with the responsible immission control authority regarding the documents required for an assessment.

The significant modification of an installation requiring authorisation under immission control law also requires a permit. The same forms or the same online procedure (if offered by the responsible immission control authority) are used here.

The same online application must be used for the simplified authorisation procedure under immission control law as for the formal authorisation procedure. The procedure variant is selected during the application process.

Further information on the formal immission control authorisation procedure can be found in the description of the administrative management"Immission control - applying for the construction and operation of an installation requiring authorisation".

Appeal

If the responsible immission control authority refuses to authorise the project, an appeal can be lodged against this or, in the case of decisions by the regional councils, an action can be brought.

Legal basis

Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetz (BImSchG)

  • § 4 Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetz (BImSchG) (Genehmigung)
  • § 5 Bundes-Immissionschutzgesetz (BImSchG) (Pflichten der Betreiber genehmigungsbedürftiger Anlagen)
  • § 6 Bundes-Immissionschutzgesetz (BImSchG) (Genehmiungsvoraussetzungen)
  • § 10 Bundes-Immissionschutzgesetz (BImSchG) (Genehmigungsverfahren)
  • § 19 Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetz (BImSchG) (vereinfachte Verfahren)

Neunte Verordnung zur Durchführung des Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetzes (Verordnung über das Genehmigungsverfahren)

Vierte Verordnung zur Durchführung des Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetzes (Verordnung über genehmigungsbedürftige Anlagen)

Release note

machine generated, based on the German release by: Umweltministerium Baden-Württemberg, 29.04.2024