Immission control - Apply for partial authorisation for the construction and operation of a plant in accordance with BImSchG
The construction, operation and significant modification of an installation listed in Annex 1 of the Fourth Ordinance on the Implementation of the Federal Immission Control Act (Ordinance on Installations Subject to Authorisation - 4th BImSchV) require an immission control permit from the competent authority. All environmental impacts of the plant must be considered and assessed in the authorisation procedure.
Upon application, it is also possible to issue such a permit in stages or in stages by means of several partial permits. With a partial licence, you can already begin with the construction and operation of the approved project section. In individual cases, a partial permit can therefore help to speed up the realisation of a project.
Forms/Online Services
Responsible authority
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):
Department 5, Environment of the respective local regional councils are the competent immission control 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 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,
- 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.
Contact
Details
Prerequisite
A partial licence may only be granted if the licensing requirements for the part of the installation comprising the partial licence are met and there is a legitimate interest in granting a partial licence. In addition, it must be possible to confirm the overall approvability of the entire project in a preliminary forecast. Individual issues must not be excluded from this process.
Procedure
The application for a partial permit is made as part of an authorisation procedure under immission control law, which requires requires a written or electronic application. To apply for an immission control permit electronically, you can use the online application "Applying for a permit under the Federal Immission Control Act", which adapts to the information you provide, guides you through the application process and provides specific technical information.
The application 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 relevant specialised authorities for an assessment, these must be submitted subsequently.
The procedure for a partial permit corresponds to that of a formal or simplified permit procedure for the construction and operation of an installation requiring a permit under immission control legislation. The parts of the entire installation not covered by the partial licence must be approved by further partial licences.
Deadlines
You must obtain authorisation from the competent authority before constructing and starting to operate an installation that requires authorisation.
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 or the specialised authorities involved in the procedure 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.
The application must always be made using the forms for the application for authorisation under immission control law. The forms and further information on the immission control authorisation procedure can be found in the Guideline - Authorisation and notification procedure in accordance with the Federal Immission Control Act of 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 begin for the authorisation procedure under immission control law, which is seven months for new installations in a formal procedure and three months in a simplified procedure. For modification projects, the statutory period is six months in a formal procedure and three months 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 required documents.
The electronic application for a partial permit for an installation requiring a permit is made using the same online application that is used to apply for the construction and operation of a new installation. The procedure option is selected during the application process.
Legal basis
Bundesimmissionsschutzgesetz (BImSchG):
- § 4 Genehmigung
- § 5 Pflichten der Betreiber genehmigungsbedürftiger Anlagen
- § 8 Teilgenehmigung
- § 10 Genehmigungsverfahren
Vierte Verordnung zur Durchführung des Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetzes (Verordnung über genehmigungsbedürftige Anlagen - 4. BImSchV)
Neunte Verordnung zur Durchführung des Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetzes (Verordnung über das Genehmigungsverfahren - 9. BImSchV)
Release note
machine generated, based on the German release by: Umweltministerium Baden-Württemberg, 13.04.2026