The Environment Chronicle

When signing the new Convention on the Protection of the Rhine in Bern on 12 April 1999, the Governments of the five countries bordering the Rhine and the representative of the European Community formally confirmed their determination to reinforce their co-operation with a view to a continued protection of the valuable character of the Rhine, its banks and its flood plains. This convention substitutes the Bern Convention signed in 1963. The Convention entered into force on 1st January 2003.

This ordinance sets out the requirements, for the areas listed in the appendices, to be met when applying for permission to release waste water into water bodies.

On 1st of April the "Act on the Introduction of the Ecological Tax Reform" entered into force with the first phase of this reform. The mineral oil tax has been raised and the electricity tax was introduced. The "Act on the Continuation of the Ecological Tax Reform" (16 Dec. 1999) provided for further raisings of the mineral and electricity taxes in four steps from 2000 to 2003.

The purpose of the act is to conserve the marine environment and protect it from pollution by waste and other substances or objects. As a licensing authority, the FEA is able to prevent the disposal of hazardous waste at sea.

The Aarhus Convention is a international "Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters" by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

The purpose of the act is to safeguard the life and well-being of animals out of responsibility for them as fellow creatures. No person may harm an animal or cause it to suffer without good reason.

The purpose of the act is 1. to protect plants, especially crop plants, from harmful organisms and other harm. 4. to avoid hazards which might arise from the use of crop protection agents or other measures, especially for human and animal health and for the balance of nature. 5. to implement European Community law on crop protection. The legislature extends the competence of the FEA to cover testing the effects of crop protection on the balance of nature in its entirety.

Ordinance on taking back and disposing of used batteries and accumulators: the aim is to reduce pollution from batteries in waste, by removing certain types of battery from circulation, taking back used batteries for proper and harmless disposal, and encouraging the production of reusable, long-lived batteries.

The purpose of the act is to ensure or recover soil function sustainably. Harmful soil change is to be prevented, contaminated land and subsequent water contamination is to be cleaned up and preventative measures against negative impact on soil are to be taken. Where soil is affected, impairment of its natural functions, including as an archive of natural and cultural history, should be avoided where at all possible.

The German Act Implementing the Environmental Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty (Environmental Protocol Implementation Act) is designed to protect the Antarctic environment and the ecosystems that are associated with or depend on it. This Act transposes into Germany’s national law the international regulations set out in the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (Environmental Protocol) and names the Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt – UBA) as the national competent authority.

§1 The entire territory of the Federal Republic of Germany and the regions of which it is made up shall be developed, organized and protected by integrative general regional plans and the harmonizing of regionally significant plans and measures. 1(2) The overall concept ... is that of sustainable regional development which will bring the social and economic demands made on an area into line with its ecological functions and result in a stable order which will be well-balanced on a large scale.

The Used Cars Ordinance comes into force, in conjunction with a voluntary commitment by car manufacturers to recycle used cars.

The Federal Economics Ministry may, with the agreement of the Employment Ministry and the upper house of the German parliament, determine that information on the consumption of energy and other resources by household appliances should be made available, and set out upper limits on energy consumption by household appliances.

§1a (1) As a part of the ecobalance the waters are to be managed in such a way that they serve the general well-being and, in harmony with this, also serve the purposes of an individual and in such a way that any avoidable damage does not occur.

This guideline provides measures avoid and, where this is impossible, reduce emissions ... to air, water and soil - including measures affecting waste - in order to achieve a high level of protection for the environment, without prejudice to other relevant community regulations.

§1 The purpose of this Act is to ensure the effective implementation of an EU directive ... on the voluntary participation of commercial companies in a common system for environmental management and inspection.

The Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) is the largest of its kind developed so far under CMS. It was concluded on 16 June 1995 in the Hague, the Netherlands and entered into force on 1 November 1999. The AEWA covers 255 species of birds ecologically dependent on wetlands for at least part of their annual cycle. The agreement covers 118 countries and the European Community (EC) from Europe, parts of Asia and Canada, the Middle East and Africa. Of the 118 Range States and the EC currently 62 countries have become a Contracting Party to AEWA.

Art 1 No.2: "After Art 20 the following Art 20a will be inserted: "The state also has a responsibility to protect the natural basis for life for future generations, within the constitution by legislation, execution of the law and in legal judgements."

The act applies to the cross-border transport of waste into or out of Germany.

§1 The purpose of this Act is to promote closed substance cycle waste management (Kreislaufwirtschaft), in order to conserve natural resources and to ensure environmentally compatible disposal of waste.

Official statistics are to be collected for use in environmental policy-making.

§1 The purpose of this Act is to protect man and the environment from the harmful effects of dangerous substances and preparations, in particular to identify them, avert them and prevent their occurrence.

The UNFCC is first ratified by c. 50 states, by Mai 1997 by 166. The convention's goal is to stabilise the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at a level which prevent dangerous destruction of our climate system.

The Agreement on the Conservation of Populations of European Bats is an international treaty that binds the Parties on the conservation of bats in their territories. The agreement was concluded in September 1991 and entered into force on 16 January 1994, after the required number of five states (Germany, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and UK) had ratified it. The Bat Agreement aims to protect all 45 species of bats identified in Europe, through legislation, education, conservation measures and international co-operation with Agreement members and with those who have not yet joined.

The ITTA's core aims are sustainable use and marketing of tropical timber, cooperation in management and technology transfer, and reclaiming degraded tropical forests. It is legally binding in civil law.

§1 The purpose of this Act is to ensure free access to the information on the environment possessed by authorities and the distribution of this information, as well as to lay down the fundamental prerequisites according to which information of this nature is to be made available.

The Voluntary Environmental Year provides an opportunity for personal development with an emphasis on environmental awareness. Full-time voluntary work is available at suitable institutions and other bodies concerned with conservation and the environment. The act was last amended on 24.3.1997

Within the portfolio of the Environmental Minister, an independent Federal Nature Protection Agency shall be set up.

The EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) is a management tool for companies and other organisations to evaluate, report and improve their environmental performance. The scheme has been available for participation by companies since 1995 (Council Regulation (EEC) No 1836/93 of 29 June 1993) and was originally restricted to companies in industrial sectors.

The 21st Regulation (BlmSchV) of 7 October 1992 order that a fuel vapor recovery system to limit hydrocarbon emissions be installed at every large fuel station.

Art.3(1) sets up a coherent European network of specially protected sites under the name "Natura 2000". The areas must preserve or recreate the natural and man-made habitats listed in appendices I and II.

The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic comes into force internationally on 28.03.1998. It deals with the environment and biodiversity in the Atlantic area. It is legally binding in civil law.

The CBD was agreed at the UN Rio conference. Its core goals are protecting ecosystems, species and genetic diverstiy, as well as their sustainable use. A further aspect is fair distribution of the profits from genetic resources. It is legally binding in civil law.

26 states sign the Antarctic treaty; exploitation of natural resources is banned for 50 years. A legally binding (under civil law) Protocol on Environmental Protection is part of the treaty, containing the goal of conserving biodiversity and the ecosystem in the Antarctic. The Protocol is embodied in German law with an Act Implementing the Protocol of Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty.

The Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic and North Seas (ASCOBANS) was concluded in 1991 under the auspices of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS or Bonn Convention) and entered into force in 1994. In February 2008, an extension of the agreement area entered into force which changed the name to “Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas”. ASCOBANS covers all species of toothed whales in the Agreement Area, with the exception of the sperm whale.

The Vienna Convention is embodied in German law with this ordinance. Such regulations have resulted in cuts of over 40% relative to 1986 in CFC use, 95% in the case of Germany.

The Espoo Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (EIA) stipulates the obligations of Parties to assess the environmental impact of certain activities at an early stage of planning. It also lays down the general obligation of States to notify and consult each other on all major projects under consideration that are likely to have a significant adverse environmental impact across boundaries. The Espoo Convention entered into force on 10 September 1997.

The Convention on the Protection of the Alps aims to conserve and protect the Alps with careful, sustainable use of their resources. It is legally binding in civil law.

§1 If a person's life is lost, body or health impaired or property damaged as a result of the environmental impact of a plant listed in the Appendix, its operator is required to compensate the person for this damage.

This act regulates the use of and payment for electricity generated exclusively from water or wind power, solar energy, landfill, sewage or biomass gas within Germany by electricity suppliers. The act has been replaced by the Renewable Energy Sources Act.