If you apply for a preliminary decision on an immission control permit for the construction and operation of an installation requiring a permit, the competent authority will first decide on individual authorisation requirements and the location of the installation.
If the effects of the planned installation can be adequately assessed and there is a legitimate interest in issuing a preliminary decision, the competent authority should issue a preliminary decision.
If individual authorisation requirements have been conclusively assessed in the preliminary decision, the approval authority is bound by this in the subsequent approval procedure. However, the preliminary decision does not authorise you to construct or operate the plant. This is only possible once the immission control licence has been issued.
The responsibilities in the area of immission control are regulated in the Immission Control Competence Ordinance of the state of Baden-Württemberg.
In most cases, the competent authority for installations requiring immission control authorisation is the local lower immission control authority:
A different responsibility applies in the following cases (among others, for companies that are subject to the European Industrial Emissions Directive, the Hazardous Incident Ordinance or mining law):
Departments 5 - Environment of the respective locally responsible regional councils are the competent immission control authorities for company premises on which:
exists or is to be established.
Department 9 - State Office for Geology, Raw Materials and Mining of the Freiburg Regional Council is also the state-wide competent immission control authority for:
Please ensure that you submit the application for a preliminary decision to the immission control authority responsible for your project.
The competent authority must be able to sufficiently assess the authorisation requirements affected by the preliminary decision from the application submitted by you and the required documents. In addition, a preliminary forecast must confirm the overall approvability of your overall project and demonstrate a legitimate interest in issuing a preliminary decision.
The application for a preliminary decision on an installation requiring authorisation is made as part of an immission control approval procedure, which requires a written or electronic application. To apply electronically for an immission control permit, you can use the online application "Apply for a permit under the Federal Immission Control Act", which adapts to the information you provide, guides you through the application process and provides specific technical information.
The application must be accompanied by the drawings, explanations and other documents required to check the authorisation requirements. If further documents are required by the responsible immission control authority or the respective specialised authorities for an assessment, these must be submitted subsequently.
As soon as the competent authority has completed its examination of the authorisation requirements affected by the preliminary decision and a positive preliminary overall assessment has been fulfilled, you will receive a corresponding decision from the competent authority.
If individual authorisation requirements have been conclusively assessed in the preliminary decision, the approval authority is bound by this in the subsequent approval procedure (staged procedure). However, the preliminary decision does not authorise the construction or operation of the plant. This is only possible when the final authorisation is applied for and granted.
The preliminary decision becomes invalid if you do not apply for authorisation of the installation within two years of the preliminary decision becoming invalid. In justified exceptional cases, the period of validity of the preliminary decision can be extended by up to two further years.
The application must be accompanied by the documents required for an assessment. These are, for example
The competent authority may request further documents if necessary. Coordinate in advance with the responsible immission control authority regarding the documents required for an assessment.
If official decisions concerning the installation are communicated as part of the authorisation procedure (e.g. building permit), the documents required for this must also be submitted.
The application must always be made using the forms for the application for authorisation under immission control law. The forms and further information on the immission control authorisation procedure can be found in the Guideline - Authorisation and notification procedure in accordance with the Federal Immission Control Act of the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Environment.
The fees are based on the investment costs for the system.
As a rule, the licensing authority must check whether the documents are complete within one month of receiving the application. If the application documents are not sufficient for an assessment, they must be completed by the applicant.
Once the application documents are complete, the statutory deadlines for the authorisation procedure under immission control law commence; for new installations, this is seven months in a formal procedure and three months in a simplified procedure. For modification projects, the statutory deadline is six months in a formal procedure and three months in a simplified procedure. The deadlines can be extended by three months if this is necessary due to the difficulty of the examination or for reasons attributable to the applicant.
Coordinate in advance with the responsible immission control authority regarding the required documents.
The electronic application for a preliminary decision on an installation requiring authorisation is made using the same online application that is used to apply for the construction and operation of a new installation. The procedure variant is selected during the application process.
When submitting an electronic application via the Baden-Württemberg service portal, use the online process "Submit documents for immission control permit" for the subsequent submission of application documents.
Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetz (BImSchG):
machine generated, based on the German release by: Umweltministerium Baden-Württemberg, 11.03.2026