Immission control - applying for a preliminary decision on a plant requiring authorisation in accordance with the BImSchG

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 immission control authorisation is the local lower immission control authority:

• 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 that is labelled with the letter E in column d of Annex 1 of the Ordinance on Installations Requiring a Permit,
• at least one operating area in accordance with Section 3 (5a) of the Federal Immission Control Act (hazardous incident operation),
• at least one installation which, pursuant to Section 60 (3) sentence 1 no. 2 or no. 3 of the Federal Water Act (Wasserhaushaltsgesetz), 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 established.

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 thereon that 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
• Operating sites with facilities used for the construction, significant expansion and significant modification of underground cavities.

Please ensure that you submit the application for a preliminary decision to the immission control authority responsible for your project.