Immission control; application for a permit for the construction and operation of a plant

The Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG) stipulates that the construction and operation of installations that can typically have a harmful impact on the environment (see Section 4 (1) sentence 1 BImSchG) require a permit under immission control law. The relevant types of installations are listed exhaustively in the Ordinance on Installations Requiring a Permit (4th BImSchV).

A distinction is made between the formal procedure under Section 10 BImSchG and the simplified procedure under Section 19 BImSchG. What both procedures have in common is that they require a written application and the submission of all documents relevant to the assessment as well as the involvement of other affected authorities. In the formal procedure, there is also a public announcement of the project, a public display of the application including documents and, if necessary, a discussion meeting. In certain cases, an environmental impact assessment must also be carried out (see Ordinance on the Approval Procedure - 9th BImSchV).

As a rule, the district administrative authority (= district administration office or district-free city) is responsible for the decision on the permit, in exceptional cases defined by law, the government or the mining authority (see Art. 1 of the Bavarian Immission Control Act BayImSchG).
If the operator intends to change the location, nature or operation of an installation requiring a permit, he must also obtain a permit for this if it is a significant change (see § 16 Para. 1 BImSchG). Other changes must be notified to the licensing authority at least one month before commencement (§ 15 Para. 1 BImSchG).

Approval procedure according to BImSchG:

The installations requiring approval under immission control legislation are specified in the Annex to the 4th BImSchV.

There are two types of procedure:

V installations: which are approved in the simplified procedure (without public display) G installations: requiring approval in the formal procedure, i.e. with public display of the application documents, installations marked E are installations in accordance with the Industrial Emissions Directive, which must meet the requirements in accordance with the BAT reference documents and are monitored more strictly.

It is also important for the approval procedure whether the installation falls into one of the following categories:

Installations listed in Annex 1 of the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (UVPG), installations or operating areas in which substances listed in Annex I of the Major Accidents Ordinance (12th BImSchV) are present and exceed the specified quantity thresholds.

Concentration effect

The approval procedure is regulated in §§ 4 - 21 BImSchG. It is important to note that the approval procedure under immission control law includes other approvals, grants, permits and authorizations under public law (concentration effect according to § 13 BImSchG). This means that, for example, the building permit or the permit in accordance with the
Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health must be submitted to the responsible immission control authority together with the application for immission control approval.

Installations requiring approval:

Installations that may typically have a higher pollution or hazard potential for the environment may only be erected if a permit has been issued for this in accordance with the Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG).

If the operator intends to make changes to the location, nature or operation of an installation that has been approved under immission control law, the approval authority must be notified at least one month before the start of the measure (Section 15 (1) BImSchG). If it is a significant change, a permit must be applied for in accordance with § 16 BImSchG.

As a rule, the approval authority is the district administrative authority, i.e. the City of Erlangen - Office for Environmental Protection and Energy Issues (lower immission control authority) - is responsible for plants in the city of Erlangen. The government of Middle Franconia is responsible for public energy supply and waste disposal facilities - see Article 1 of the Bavarian Immission Control Act (BayImSchG).

As part of the immission control licensing procedure, the effects of the plant applied for on the protected assets of humans, animals and plants, soil, water, the atmosphere as well as cultural and other material assets must be comprehensively examined and the requirements for construction and operation determined; for example, the effects of pollutant emissions, noise emissions, the waste produced, the use of energy or other hazards (fire, accident and others) must be examined.
hazards (fire, accident and others) that may emanate from the plant both during normal operation and in the event of a disruption to normal operation.

Installations requiring approval under immission control legislation must always be operated in such a way that

• harmful effects on the environment and other hazards, significant disadvantages and significant nuisances cannot be caused,
• precautions are taken against harmful effects on the environment and other hazards, significant disadvantages and significant nuisances, in particular by means of state-of-the-art measures,
• waste is avoided, recycled or disposed of without adversely affecting the public good,
• energy is used sparingly and efficiently,
• no harmful effects on the environment, other hazards, significant disadvantages and significant nuisances for the general public and the neighborhood can be caused after the cessation of operations.

Notification of changes according to § 15 BImSchG

According to § 15 BImSchG, the competent authority (Office for Environmental Protection and Energy Issues / Lower Immission Control Authority) must be notified in writing of any change to the location, nature or operation of an installation requiring a permit, unless a permit has been applied for, at least one month before the change is to begin if the change may affect the protected goods (humans, animals and plants, soil, water, atmosphere as well as cultural and other material goods). The notification must be accompanied by documents that are required to assess whether the project
is subject to approval.

What are changes to an installation?

• A change in location refers to a change in the spatial relationship of an installation to its surroundings.
• A change in the nature of an installation is, for example, when parts of the installation (machines, devices, equipment) are replaced, technical equipment, installations are changed or additionally installed.
• The change in operation concerns, for example, procedural changes with effects on the input materials, the intermediate, by-products or end products, the noise emissions or immissions, the energy sources used and changes to the operating times and capacity of the installation.

Receipt of the notification of change in accordance with § 15 BImSchG must be confirmed immediately by the licensing authority; additional documents may be requested if those submitted are not sufficient for the assessment. The plant operator can start modifying the plant as soon as the licensing authority informs him that the modification does not require a permit or has not issued a statement within one month. The one-month period under Section 15 (2) sentence 1 BImSchG does not begin until the authority has received all the necessary documents.

The concentration effect according to § 13 BImSchG does not apply in the case of a notification of change according to § 15 BImSchG, so that any other official permits required for the change to the installation (e.g. building permit, approval according to the Industrial Safety Ordinance, determination of suitability under water law) must still be obtained separately. However, an independent approval procedure in accordance with, for example, the Bavarian Building Code, the Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health or the Water Act can only be applied for once it has been established that the project does not require a modification permit in accordance with Section 16 BImSchG.

Significant change according to § 16 BImSchG

According to Section 16 BImSchG, a permit is required for changes to the location, nature or operation of a plant requiring a permit (see approval procedure) if the change could have adverse effects.
A permit is always required if the modification or extension of the operation of an installation requiring a permit in itself reaches the performance limits or installation sizes of the Annex to the Ordinance on Installations Requiring a Permit (from column 2 to column 1 of the Annex to the 4th BImSchV).

The materiality of a change is not dependent on the question of whether or not the protected interests of the Federal Immission Control Act may actually be impaired in the specific case. Rather, the decisive factor is whether a change gives rise to a re-examination of the licensing issue. The decisive factor is therefore not the result of the review, but the reason for it. Carrying out the review is the task of the approval procedure in accordance with § 16 BImSchG. (see BVerwG judgment of July 6, 1984 - BVerwG 7 C 71.82) Please use the application form for an application for a substantial change.

For a change requiring notification, a permit can also be applied for voluntarily instead of the notification (§16 Para. 4 BImSchG) with the advantages of legal certainty and the concentration effect of the immission control permit. Under certain circumstances, the concentration effect means that the modification permit under Section 16 BImSchG can be issued more quickly than if a notification under Section 15 BImSchG and subsequent application, e.g. for planning permission, is made.

• Application documents for immission control depending on the individual case
  

  vgl. zur Art der Unterlagen §§ 3 ff 9. BImSchV (siehe Link "Rechtsgrundlagen")

Approval procedure according to BImSchG:

Preliminary discussion on the permit application

Detailed documents must be submitted for the permit application. It is strongly recommended that you contact the immission control authority at the Office for Environmental Protection and Energy Issues of the City of Erlangen before submitting your application. We offer a detailed preliminary discussion of the planned approval procedure. We will draw up a checklist of the required application documents for you. Complete application documents shorten the processing time considerably.

For the application, please use the application form for a new permit or for a modification permit according to § 16 BImSchG.