Environmental badge; purchase

Only vehicles that meet certain minimum requirements in terms of pollutant emissions are allowed to drive in the designated environmental zones. To prove this, the vehicle must have a corresponding environmental badge, also known as a fine dust badge.

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 marked with an appropriate sticker or exempt from the driving ban are allowed to drive.

Four pollutant groups 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 sticker from the following offices:

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

These organizations will determine whether your vehicle can be issued with an emissions sticker 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 machinery and equipment
• Work machines
• Agricultural and forestry tractors
• Two- and three-wheeled motor vehicles
• Ambulances and emergency vehicles
• Motor vehicles driven or driven by persons who are exceptionally disabled, helpless or blind and can prove this by means of the "aG", "H" or "BI" markings 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) that bear a registration number pursuant to Section 9 (1) or Section 17 of the Vehicle Registration Ordinance and vehicles that are 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, provided they are used for journeys for urgent military reasons
• Civilian motor vehicles used on behalf of the Bundeswehr, insofar as they are used for journeys that cannot be postponed in order to fulfill the Bundeswehr's sovereign tasks

Other information:

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

• Registration certificate Part I or vehicle registration document

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 emission standard Euro-2 / II
  • Diesel vehicles with Euro-1 / I emission standard that have been retrofitted with a particulate filter.
• Pollutant group 3: yellow sticker
  • Diesel vehicles with Euro-3 / III emission standard
  • Diesel vehicles with Euro-2 / II emission standard that have been retrofitted with a particulate filter
• 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 specified for heavy commercial vehicles)
  • Vehicles with gasoline engines from Euro-1 / I (gasoline or gas-powered)
  • Vehicles with petrol engines prior to Euro standard status, but with a 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 an 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 can find in the vehicle documents:

• old vehicle registration certificate: number 1, the fifth and sixth digits
• new registration certificate part I: field 14.1, the right two digits

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

Unauthorized entry into an environmental zone is a violation of the Road Traffic Act, which is punishable by a fine of €100 according to the catalog of fines.