The Environment Chronicle

On 6 June 2008 the Bundestag adopted the Act on the promotion of renewable energies in the heat sector (“Erneuerbare-Energien-Wärmegesetz”). Owners of new buildings must cover part of their heat demand from renewable sources. All forms of renewables can be used. The Act will enter into force on 1 January 2009. All new buildings constructed after this date must comply with the Heat Act.

At the beginning of 2009, the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) is to take over responsibility for the Asse II mine.

The Climate Change Act became law in the UK on 26 November 2008. "The target for 2050 (1) It is the duty of the Secretary of State to ensure that the net UK carbon account for the year 2050 is at least 80% lower than the 1990 baseline. (2) “The 1990 baseline” means the aggregate amount of— (a) net UK emissions of carbon dioxide for that year, and (b) net UK emissions of each of the other targeted greenhouse gases for the year that is the base year for that gas."

The Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers to the UNECE Aarhus Convention, adopted in May 2003 in Kiev entered into force on 8 October 2009. The Protocol will help identify the biggest polluters in communities across Europe, including those spewing greenhouse gases, which contribute to climate change.

National Strategy for Sustainable Use and Protection of the Sea adopted by the Federal Cabinet on 1 October 2008. National Marine Strategyis an important building block developed by the federal government to ensure Germany is equipped with an integrated marine policy for the future.

Judgment of the European Court of Justice in Case C-237/07: Where there is a risk that the limit values for particulate matter may be exceeded, persons directly concerned can require the competent authorities to draw up an action plan. The Member States are obliged only to take such measures in the short term in an action plan as are capable of reducing to a minimum the risk that limit values may be exceeded and of ensuring a gradual return to a level below those values.

On July 7, delegates of the EU member states and European Commission (EC) endorsed a proposal for a regulation reducing so-called standby power consumption in household and office products. Once approved by the EU Parliament, the new regulations on electronic devices will take effect as of 2010. The EC Regulation will also be effective in all 27 EU Member States immediately. According to the regulation, there will be a maximum allowed power consumption in standby mode of no more than one watt in office and household devices as of the year 2010. If the devices have a display, the maximum may be increased to two watts. The admissible levels will be halved three years later. This directive is the first measure under the Ecodesign of Energy-Using Products Directive (Ecodesign Directive).

The EU will have new waste legislation which includes targets for re-use and recycling of waste to be attained by 2020. The directive sets out rules on recycling and requires Member States to draw up binding national programmes for waste prevention. Waste prevention targets will be considered by the Commission in the future. Incineration of waste will be categorised as a recovery operation rather than disposal, provided it meets a certain energy efficiency standard. It is expected that the directive will be adopted formally by the Council in autumn.

The Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 establishing a framework for community action in the field of marine environmental policy (Marine Strategy Framework Directive)comes into force on 15 July 2008. The objective of the agreement is to achieve the good environmental status for the European Union's marine waters of by 2020.

The fourth amendment to the Genetic Engineering Act entered into force in April 2008.

On 1 January 2008 the cities of Berlin, Cologne and Hanover introduced low emission zones to mitigate air pollution caused by fine particles. Low emission zones are identified by traffic signs and additional signs. The Thirty-fifth Ordinance on the Implementation of the Federal Immission Control Act (Ordinance on the marking of vehicles) stipulates that vehicles have to be marked with stickers (on the windscreen inside the vehicle) and lays down the criteria vehicles have to meet for the different kinds of stickers. Stickers are valid for all low emission zones in any city in Germany.

The Amendments of Act for Protection against Aircraft Noise entered into force on 7 June 2007.

The REACH Regulation entered into force on 1st June 2007 to streamline and improve the former legislative framework for chemicals of the European Union (EU).

The new German Washing & Cleaning Agnets Act entered into force on 5 May 2007. The new law aligns the regulations in force in Germany up to now with the guidelines of the EU Detergents Regulation (EC/648/2004) in effect since 8 October 2005.

The EU Environment Ministers adopted the Chemicals Directive REACH in Brussels today. This concludes the discussion on reforming the European chemicals policy which spanned several years. European Parliament, Council and Commission agreed on a compromise text in early December which was formally adopted today. The REACH Directive will enter into force on 1 June 2007.

On 15 December 2006 the Act Concerning Supplemental Provisions on Appeals in Environmental Matters Pursuant to EC Directive 2003/35/EC (Environmental Appeals Act, in German: Umwelt-Rechtsbehelfsgesetz – UmwRG) came into effect. Germany thereby transformed European law into national legislation, thus improving the rights of the public by extending the associational claim (see also IV. Background information on the development of UmwRG). The UmwRG makes it possible for associations that encourage the objectives of environmental protection (hereinafter referred to as environmental associations) to take action against breaches of environmental law by means of appeal, i.e. opposition or lawsuit. In order to be able to file an appeal under the UmwRG environmental associations need to be recognised.

Act Concerning Supplemental Provisions on Appeals in Environmental Matters Pursuant to EC Directive 2003/35/EC (Environmental Appeals Act)

On 1 December 2006, the EC regulation 2037/2000 was implemented by the Chemikalien-Ozonschichtverordnung.

The act implementing Directive 2002/49/EC relating to the assessment and management of environmental noise was passed. The act introduces noise mapping and actions plans pursuant to the directive. For this purpose, in future all major roads, major railways, major airports and agglomerations will be mapped and the public informed about the results. Based on these noise maps, noise action plans will be drawn up in consultation with the public in order to prevent or reduce environmental noise and to prevent an increase of noise in quiet areas.

SEA (Directive 2001/42/EC) came into force in German law with the amendment of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) law (UVP-Gesetz) in June 2005.

The deposit of untreated waste from human settlement has become illegal without any further exceptions. A transition period of twelve years terminated end of May. Within this period communities and disposal industries have prepared for the amendment of the waste deposit regulation.

A revised schedule for the phasing out of oil tankers and a new regulation banning the carriage of heavy grade oil in single-hull oil tankers enter into force on 5 April 2005. The measures were adopted in December 2003 as amendments to Annex I of the MARPOL Convention, following the November 2002 sinking of the oil tanker Prestige off the Spanish coast.

The "Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act" (Act Governing the Sale, Return and Environmentally Sound Disposal of Electrical and Electronic Equipment) enters into force. From March, 26, 2006 on consumers may return aged electrical and electronic equipment to municipal collection points free of charge. Producers will have to take care for the disposal of the collected equipment. Germany is one of the first EU member states that implements Directive 2002/96/EC on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and Directive 2002/95/EC on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.

The new Flood Control Act entered into force on 10th May 2005. For the first time, the Flood Control Act lays down uniform and stringent legal provisions for the prevention of flood damage on a nationwide level. The Act is based on the Five-Point Programme which was presented by the German government immediately after the flood disaster of the Elbe river in the summer of 2002.

For the first time a German town has reached the permissible impact of fine dust. In Munich the daily value exceeded 50 Micrograms for 35 times this year ? the limit value of the EC (Directive 1999/30/EC). A similar exceeding is expected for several other towns (Berlin, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart, Hannover) in the near future. This has caused an extensive debate about counteractive measures.

Under the Kyoto Protocol which had been adopted in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, industrialized countries are to reduce their combined emissions of six major greenhouse gases during the five-year period 2008-2012 to below 1990 levels.. In order to enter into force, the protocol had to be ratified by at least 55 countries with a combined emission of at least 55% of all industrial nations. The number of ratifying countries had been reached very early, but not the required share of emission. The US who is the major polluter had bailed out the protocol. Finally, in November 2004, Russia ratified as the 128th party which raised the emission share to 61.6%.

A new Environmental Information Act enters into force. Citizens obtain considerably improved access to information on the environment. All public authorities of the federation as well as certain private institutions will be obliged to disclose information on the environment. The obligations of the state authorities will be regulated on the state level ? till then the EC Directive will be directly applicable. The federal administration is obliged to active disclosure of information more than before, increasingly by means of the Internet. The Environmental Information Act implements the amended Directive 2003/4/EC on public access to environmental information, as well as the Aarhus Convention.

The Act on granting priority to renewable energy sources (Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, EEG) of 21 July 2004 makes it compulsory for operators of power grids to give priority to feeding electricity from renewable energies into the grid and to pay fixed prices for this. The entry into force of the Renewable Energy Sources Act in the year 2000 triggered the desired boom in the construction of new installations.

The POP Convention (POP stands for persistent organic pollutants) aims for a worldwide ban on the manufacture and use of 12 of the most hazardous chemicals. Among these are eight plant protection agents, for example DDT, and dioxins and furans, as well as polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and hexachlorobenzene. These substances are distinguished by their toxicity, longevity, and their characteristic of becoming concentrated in the environment and the food chain. The continued, restricted use of DDT will be permitted in order to combat mosquitoes carrying malaria, as effective, affordable substitutes are not available in all countries. The Convention was signed in Stockholm in May 2001 and was the result of negotiations led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

Regulation 1830/2003 on labelling and traceability provides for comprehensive information by labelling all food and feed containing, consisting of or produced from a GMO. The purpose is to inform consumers and farmers about the exact nature and characteristics of the food or feed, so that they can make informed choices.

The Convention establishes the principle that export of a chemical covered by the Convention can only take place with the prior informed consent of the importing party. The Convention establishes a "Prior Informed Consent procedure," a means for formally obtaining and disseminating the decisions of importing countries as to whether they wish to receive future shipments of specified chemicals and for ensuring compliance with these decisions by exporting countries.

The Executive Body adopted the Protocol on Heavy Metals on 24 June 1998 in Aarhus (Denmark). It targets three particularly harmful metals: cadmium, lead and mercury. According to one of the basic obligations, Parties will have to reduce their emissions for these three metals below their levels in 1990 (or an alternative year between 1985 and 1995). The Protocol aims to cut emissions from industrial sources (iron and steel industry, non-ferrous metal industry), combustion processes (power generation, road transport), and waste incineration.

On 29 January 2000, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted a supplementary agreement to the Convention known as the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. It entered into force on 11 September 2003. The Protocol seeks to protect biological diversity from the potential risks posed by living modified organisms (LMO) resulting from modern biotechnology.

The textile dye "Navy Blue 018112" may no longer be used or sold for the purpose of dyeing textile or leather goods within the European Union (EU). The permanent ban has been published in the European Community's Official Journal. The EU member states are obliged to transpose this directive into national law by June 2004. It has been almost exactly ten years since the Federal Environmental Agency (UBA) called for such a ban after tests were conducted on the substances as part of the Chemicals Act.

The German Ordinance on the Management of Municipal Wastes of Commercial Origin and Certain Construction and Demolition Wastes (Commercial Wastes Ordinance) entered into force. The ordinance mainly regulates an improved waste separation and pre-treatment.

The new Drinking Water Regulation implements the amendment of the EC- Drinking Water Directive (98/83/EC, 03.11.1998) as a national law. It is substantially based on the Infection Protection Law. Besides that, it reconfirms and redefines liabilities of the water supplying enterprises. The duties of the public health authorities and of the house owners have been enhanced and rendered more precisely.

The law regulating mandatory deposits on non-reusable beverage packaging entered into force. The amount of the deposit is dependent on the volume of the product. By way of example the deposit on cans or plastic bottles containing beer, mineral water, or carbonated soft drinks with a volume of up to 1.5 liters is 25 cents. For packaging with volumes greater than that the deposit is 50 cents. This requirement is based on packaging regulations adopted in 1991. The deposit requirement was to remain in abeyance as long as the share of returnable beverage packaging remained above 72 percent. As of the end of last year this figure had declined to below 60 percent.

The Landfill Ordinance contains detailed technical, operational and organisational requirements for the construction, state, operation, decommissioning, and aftercare of landfills and long-time deposits. These requirements are legally binding to each operator. Ecologically insufficient facilities must not be operated from 2009 on. The target is to restrict the quantities and their toxic content to some justifiable limit according to environment and health. Jointly with the waste deposit regulation of 2001, which requires a pre-treatment of the waste to be deposited, the landfill ordinance implements the Council Directive on the landfill of waste (1999/31/EC).

The Environmental Noise Directive 2002/49/EC came into force on 18 July 2002.