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

If you need to appoint a new immission control and/or hazardous incident officer for your company or operating area, or if there are changes in their area of responsibility, you must report this to the responsible immission control authority.

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 plant not subject to BImSchG approval.

The competent authority must be notified immediately of the appointment of an immission control and/or hazardous incident 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 plants
    • 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 using biogas and untreated wood with a rated thermal input of less than 10 MW,
    • for electrical substations with an overvoltage of 220 kV or more, including switchgear 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 points,
• the mining authority for facilities subject to the supervision of the mining authority,
• otherwise the district administrative authority.

• certificate of competence
• Proof of reliability
• If necessary, further evidence must be submitted in the original or as a copy at the request of the competent 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.

The acceptance of the merely informative notification by the competent authority cannot be contested.

An action for annulment pursuant to Section 42 (1) of the German Code of Administrative Court Procedure (VwGO) would be admissible against an official request for notification. 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 email of the appointment of immission control officers and hazardous incident officers as well as 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.

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

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