Immission control; notification of the appointment of an immission control officer and/or hazardous incident officer

As a rule, you must appoint an immission control officer and/or a hazardous incident officer if:

• you are the operator of one or more installations that are subject to the Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG) and/or the Major Accidents Ordinance (12th BImSchV) or
• this has been ordered by the competent authority for the operation of your system that does not require approval under the BImSchG.

The competent authority must be notified immediately of the appointment of an immission control officer and/or major accident officer, together with information on the designation of their duties. The competent authority must also be notified immediately of any changes in their area of responsibility and their dismissal.

The duties of the operator and the requirements for immission control officers and hazardous incident officers are defined and described in Sections 53 to 58d BImSchG and the 5th BImSchV.

The responsible immission control authority is

• the government
  • for public supply systems
    • for the generation of electricity, steam, hot water, process heat or heated waste gas through the use of fuels in a combustion plant, with the exception of plants for the use of biogas and untreated wood with a rated thermal input of less than 10 MW,
    • for electrical transformation with an overvoltage of 220 kV or more, including the switch panels,
  • for public waste disposal facilities for the thermal treatment of waste and for the storage or treatment of hazardous waste for disposal,
  • for rendering plants and collection centers,
• the mining authority for installations subject to the supervision of the mining authority,
• otherwise the district administrative authority.

Your company is required or ordered by the authorities to appoint one or more immission control and/or hazardous incident officers in accordance with Sections 53 to 58d BImSchG.

Orders or changes to the area of responsibility must be reported immediately.

None

• §§ Sections 53 to 58d of the Act on Protection against Harmful Environmental Impacts from Air Pollution, Noise, Vibration and Similar Phenomena (Federal Immission Control Act - BImSchG)
• Fifth Ordinance on the Implementation of the Federal Immission Control Act (Ordinance on Immission Control and Major Accidents Officers - 5th BImSchV)
• Article 1 Bavarian Immission Control Act (BayImSchG)

The acceptance of the merely informative notification by the competent authority is not contestable.

An action for annulment would be admissible against an official request for notification in accordance with Section 42 (1) of the German Code of Administrative Court Procedure (VwGO). In this case, the plant operator is entitled to challenge the decision in accordance with Section 42 (2) VwGO.

As the operator, you must immediately notify the competent authority in writing or by e-mail of the appointment of immission control officers and hazardous incident officers and the designation of their tasks and changes in their area of responsibility or their dismissal.

If the competent authority has any queries after receiving the notification or requires further evidence, it will contact you.

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