Immission control - applying for authorisation in the 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.
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 (among others, 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) BImSchG (hazardous incident operation),
- at least one installation that requires a licence in accordance with Section 60 (3) sentence 1 no. 2 or no. 3 of the Water Resources Act (WHG) 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
- You must prove that you will fulfil the obligations of the Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG) when constructing and operating a plant.
- The project does not conflict with any other public law regulations or occupational health and safety concerns.
Procedure
The authorisation procedure requires a written or electronic 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 competent immission control authority or the respective specialised authorities for an assessment, these must be submitted subsequently.
- The competent immission control authority shall involve the specialist authorities affected by the projectto determine the eligibility for authorisation . In contrast to the formal authorisation procedure, there is no public participation in the simplified authorisation procedure and therefore no presentation of the application documents.
- 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 permits, approvals, awards, authorisations and licences under public law. 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 the Guidelines for authorisation and notification procedures under 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.
In a simplified procedure, the processing time is 3 months after receipt of all the necessary documents. The deadline may 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 application for an immission control permit in the simplified or formal authorisation procedure is made using the same online application. The procedure variant is selected during the application process.
A major change to an installation requiring authorisation under immission control law also requires authorisation. The same forms or the same online procedure are used here.
When submitting an application electronically via the Baden-Württemberg service portal, use the online process "Submitting documents for immission control authorisation" for the subsequent submission of application documents.
Further information on the 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".
Legal basis
Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetz (BImSchG):
- § 4 Genehmigung
- § 6 Genehmiungsvoraussetzungen
- § 10 Genehmigungsverfahren
- § 19 Vereinfachtes Verfahren
Release note
machine generated, based on the German release by: Umweltministerium Baden-Württemberg, 27.03.2025