Discharge of waste water into private sewage treatment plants Apply for exemption from the permit requirement

Would you like to discharge wastewater into a private sewage plant and be exempted from the permit requirement? In this case, an application for exemption from the permit requirement must be submitted to the competent authority of the respective federal state.

For the discharge of wastewater (industrial wastewater, commercial wastewater) into a private wastewater plant (indirect discharge), an exemption from the permit requirement can be applied for in Germany, provided that compliance with the legal requirements is ensured by contract with the operator of the private wastewater plant. The exemption from the permit requirement shall be granted by the competent authorities.

For the sectors and activities (such as chemical industry, paper production, metal processing, cooling water use, steam generation) in which pollutants are to be expected in the wastewater that are not sufficiently purified in a municipal sewage treatment plant, the legislator has laid down requirements in the industry-specific annexes of the Wastewater Ordinance.

In order to comply with these requirements, special measures and wastewater pretreatment plants are required to reduce the pollutant load so that the wastewater can then be treated harmlessly in a private sewage treatment plant.

The required documentation depends on the type and quantity of wastewater (industrial wastewater, commercial wastewater) to be discharged into the private wastewater plant.

In any case, it is necessary:

• Application for exemption with details of the waste water (type / quantity / ingredients / place of origin)
• Contractual provisions (excerpts if applicable)

The designation and execution of the individual forms, if any, is different in the individual registration authorities. In general terms, there are application forms, checklists and leaflets as declarations or forms.

• If applicable, links to the aforementioned forms: specific federal state
• Online procedure possible: specific federal state
• Written form required: State specific
• Personal appearance required: specific federal state

On application, exemption from the permit requirement can be granted if compliance with the legal requirements is ensured by contract with the operator of the private sewage plant.

An objection may be lodged against the decision granting or not granting the exemption within one month of notification (Section 68 of the Code of Administrative Court Procedure).

The application must be submitted at an early stage, as wastewater may only be discharged into a private sewage plant with exemption from the permit requirement.

The processing time depends on the quality and scope of the applications submitted and documents submitted as well as the procedure to be followed.

• Administrative costs are payable to the competent authority for the administrative service.
• The amount of the administrative costs depends on the respective provisions of state law on administrative costs.