Industrial emissions; plant monitoring

EU Directive 2010/75 on industrial emissions (IE Directive) is an important element of European environmental protection and was transposed into national law in 2013.

It aims to prevent, reduce and, as far as possible, eliminate environmental pollution of air, water and soil. This is achieved by closely monitoring (industrial) facilities that fall under this directive (known as IE facilities) and publishing the results of these on-site inspections. In addition, a permit is required for the operation of every IE installation.

The IE Directive applies to

• Industrial plants marked "E" in Annex 1 of the 4th BImSchV, such as refineries, chemical plants and many power plants.
• Stand-alone wastewater treatment plants that are approved in Germany in accordance with § 60 Para. 3 Sentence 1 No. 2 WHG,
• Landfills that fall under No. 5.4 of Annex 1 of the IED.

For the cross-media, integrated protection approach of the IED, IE facilities are brought into line with a uniform technology standard, the so-called best available techniques (BAT). In addition, the IED contains detailed requirements for plant monitoring, reporting and the associated publication obligations. These measures are also intended to create a level playing field in the EU.

Monitoring plans are drawn up for each administrative district to ensure the scheduled and transparent monitoring of IE installations. These apply to all IE installations and are published on the websites of the seven governments. On the basis of these monitoring plans, a monitoring program is drawn up for the IE installations by the locally responsible monitoring authority, which is published on the website of the respective monitoring authority. Please also refer to the links at the bottom of this page.

Competent monitoring authority(ies) for

• electrical installations are the governments, the Bavarian State Office for the Environment, the district administrative authorities or the mining authorities,
• independent wastewater treatment plants are the district administrative authorities,
• Landfills in the deposition and decommissioning phase are the Bavarian State Office for the Environment.

The locally responsible monitoring authorities carry out a risk assessment for each individual IE facility in their area of responsibility to determine the monitoring frequency for on-site inspections. Among other things, the size, complexity and operating time of the installation are taken into account, as well as the substances used or any noise pollution. The regular inspections take place every one to three years; more frequent inspections are also possible if there is a specific reason.

After each on-site inspection of an IE installation, the competent monitoring authority prepares a monitoring report with the relevant findings on compliance with the permit requirements. The monitoring report is published on the website of the competent monitoring authority within four months of the on-site inspection. All notices issued for IE installations after January 2013 can also be found on the website of the approval authority.

Approval notices for IE installations

The permit notices and the name of the BAT reference document for installations in accordance with the Industrial Emissions Directive (IE Directive) must be published on the Internet (Section 10 (8a) sentence 1 BImSchG). This applies to notices issued since January 7, 2013, but not to permits issued earlier.

For the plant "Hans Meyer Entsorgungs GmbH", location: Willy-Grasser-Straße 16 (facility for the temporary storage of hazardous waste), the BAT reference document for waste treatment facilities (Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/1147 of August 10, 2018 on conclusions on best available techniques (BAT) in accordance with Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on waste treatment) is applicable.

For the plant "Erlanger Schlachthof GmbH", location: Dechsendorfer Straße 11 (plant for the slaughter of animals) there is currently no BAT information sheet available.

The approval notices for the IE plants in the city of Erlangen, which have been issued since January 7, 2013, can be viewed soon under "Forms".

Monitoring reports of the IE plants

According to § 52 a BImSchG, installations in accordance with the Industrial Emissions Directive (IE installations) must be regularly monitored by means of on-site inspections. The monitoring authority must prepare a report on each on-site inspection. The report must be made available to the public in accordance with the regulations on access to environmental information within four months of the on-site inspection.

The Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) concerns installations that are particularly likely to cause harmful effects on the environment. It provides for regulations to prevent and, if this is not possible, to reduce emissions to air, water and soil and to avoid waste in order to achieve a high level of protection for the environment as a whole.

There are two IE plants in the area of responsibility of the City of Erlangen. The monitoring reports can be viewed shortly under "Further links".