Industrial emissions; plant monitoring

EU Directive 2010/75 on industrial emissions (IED), which was recently amended by EU Directive 2024/1785, 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) installations that fall under this directive (so-called IE installations) 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:

• Industrial plants marked "E" in Annex 1 of the 4th BImSchV, such as refineries, chemical plants and many power plants.
• Independent wastewater treatment plants that are approved in Germany in accordance with Section 60 (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 installations are brought into line with a uniform technology standard, the so-called best available techniques (BAT). In addition, the IED contains detailed requirements for installation 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 government 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 supervisory authority(ies) for

• E facilities 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,
• The Bavarian State Office for the Environment is responsible for landfills in the deposition and decommissioning phase.

The locally responsible monitoring authorities determine the monitoring frequency for on-site inspections by carrying out a risk assessment for each individual IE installation in their area of responsibility. 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 shall draw up 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 on IE installations issued after January 2013 can also be found on the website of the approval authority.

Please note the reference to our topic page "Implementation of the Industrial Emissions Directive" under the further links.

• Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on industrial emissions (integrated pollution prevention and control)
• Directive (EU) 2024/1785 amending Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on industrial emissions (integrated pollution prevention and control) and Council Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste
• § Section 52a of the Act on Protection against Harmful Environmental Impacts from Air Pollution, Noise, Vibration and Similar Phenomena (Federal Immission Control Act - BImSchG)
• § Section 8 (5) Ordinance on the Regulation of the Procedure for the Approval and Monitoring of Industrial Wastewater Treatment Plants and Water Uses (Industrial Wastewater Treatment Plant Approval and Monitoring Ordinance - IZÜV)
• § Section 9 Ordinance on the Regulation of the Procedure for the Approval and Monitoring of Industrial Wastewater Treatment Plants and Water Uses (Industrial Wastewater Treatment Plant Approval and Monitoring Ordinance - IZÜV)

• Monitoring program of the LfU for the area of immission control
• Monitoring of landfills
• Implementation of the Industrial Emissions Directive

• Immission control; information on the inspection and monitoring of installations
• Immission control; issuing orders