Environmental badge; purchase

Since January 1, 2008, there have been environmental zones in several cities in Bavaria in which driving bans apply to vehicles with particularly high exhaust emissions. In these zones, only vehicles that are marked with a corresponding sticker or that are exempt from the driving ban are allowed to drive.

Four groups of pollutants have been defined, three of which are identified by stickers. These environmental stickers must be clearly visible on the vehicle behind the windshield. In order to ensure smooth control of vehicles in the environmental zones, it is advisable to affix them to the right-hand edge of the windshield.

The environmental badge is valid nationwide. The validity is not limited in time. If the vehicle is re-registered and the license plate number changes, a new sticker is required, as the number entered on the sticker must match the license plate number.

You can obtain the environmental badge from the following locations:

• Vehicle registration authorities of the independent cities or districts
• Recognized bodies that are permitted to carry out exhaust emission tests (e.g. AU workshops, approved testing organizations such as TÜV Süd, DEKRA, FSP, GTÜ, KÜS)

These offices determine whether your vehicle can be issued with an environmental badge and if so, which one. It will then be issued to you.

The following vehicle groups do not require a fine dust sticker to enter the environmental zone:

• Mobile machines and devices
• Working machines
• Agricultural and forestry tractors
• Two- and three-wheeled motor vehicles
• Ambulance and emergency ambulance
• Motor vehicles driven or driven by persons who are exceptionally disabled, helpless or blind and who can prove this by means of the marks "aG", "H" or "BI" entered in the severely disabled person's pass in accordance with Section 3 (1) Nos. 1 to 3 of the Severely Disabled Person's Pass Ordinance (Schwerbehindertenausweisverordnung)
• Vehicles for which special rights can be claimed in accordance with Section 35 of the Road Traffic Act
• Classic cars (pursuant to Section 2 No. 22 of the Vehicle Registration Ordinance) bearing a license plate pursuant to Section 9 (1) or Section 17 of the Vehicle Registration Ordinance as well as vehicles registered in another member state of the European Union, another contracting party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or Turkey if they meet equivalent requirements
• Vehicles belonging to non-German troops from states not party to the North Atlantic Treaty that are in Germany as part of military cooperation, insofar as they are used for journeys for urgent military reasons
• Civilian motor vehicles used on behalf of the Bundeswehr, insofar as these are journeys that cannot be postponed in order to fulfill official Bundeswehr duties

Other notes:

• Quads and trikes:
  If your quad bike is registered as a "motorcycle" or "agricultural and forestry machine", you do not need a sticker. Quads that are registered as "passenger cars", on the other hand, require a sticker. Trikes are three-wheeled vehicles and as such are not subject to the entry bans in the low emission zone.
• Motorhomes:
  The same requirements apply to motorhomes as to other motor vehicles: without a sticker, driving in the low emission zone is prohibited.
• Local exemptions:
  There may be special local exemptions for the low emission zones. Please refer to the information provided by the cities on the individual low emission zones linked below.

You will receive an environmental badge for your vehicle if it belongs to one of the pollutant groups 2 to 4:

• Pollutant group 2: red sticker
  • Diesel vehicles with Euro-2 / II emissions standard
  • Diesel vehicles with emission standard Euro-1 / I that have been retrofitted with particulate filters.
• Pollutant group 3: yellow sticker
  • Diesel vehicles with Euro-3 / III emissions standard
  • Diesel vehicles with Euro-2 / II emissions standard that have been retrofitted with particulate filters
• Pollutant group 4: green sticker
  • Diesel vehicles whose particulate emissions do not exceed 5 mg/km
  • Diesel vehicles with Euro-4 / IV, Euro-5 / V and EEV (enhanced environmentally friendly vehicle) emission standards, i.e. particularly environmentally friendly vehicles that exceed the Euro-V emission standard (EEV standard is only defined for heavy commercial vehicles)
  • Vehicles with gasoline engines from Euro-1 / I (gasoline or gas-powered)
  • Vehicles with gasoline engines prior to Euro standard status, but with regulated catalytic converter (G-KAT), provided they either comply with Annex XXIII StVZO or have been retrofitted with a regulated catalytic converter in accordance with the 52nd exemption regulation to the StVZO
  • Vehicles with electric motor

If your vehicle falls into emission group 1 (older petrol vehicles before Euro 1 and older diesel vehicles with emission standard Euro 1 or worse), no sticker can be issued.

The classification of your vehicle into one of the four pollutant groups is based on the emission code numbers that you will find in the vehicle documents:

• old vehicle registration document: digit 1, the fifth and sixth digit
• new registration certificate part I: box 14.1, the right two digits

• at the vehicle registration authorities: approx. 6 euros
• the other issuing offices are generally based on this fee
• Issuing offices that offer online ordering with shipping incur higher total costs due to the required verification and shipping

• § Section 40 (1) of the Act on Protection against Harmful Environmental Impacts from Air Pollution, Noise, Vibration and Similar Processes (Federal Immission Control Act - BImSchG)

  Traffic restrictions

• § Section 47 Act on Protection against Harmful Environmental Impacts from Air Pollution, Noise, Vibrations and Similar Processes (Federal Immission Control Act - BImSchG)

  Clean air plans, plans for measures to be taken in the short term, state ordinances

• 35th Ordinance on the Implementation of the Federal Immission Control Act (Ordinance on the Labeling of Motor Vehicles with a Low Contribution to Pollution - 35th BImSchV)

• Sticker calculator of the Verkehrsclub Deutschland

  Here you can check whether and which sticker your vehicle will receive.

• Database for fine dust stickers and retrofitting options
• Low emission zone in Munich
• Environmental zone in Augsburg
• Low emission zone in Regensburg

Unauthorized entry into an environmental zone is a violation of the road traffic regulations, which is punishable by a fine of €100 according to the catalog of fines.