ORGANIZATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION (ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES) IN
THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY
By Biljana Djurovic, Senior Advisor for Air, Radioactivity and Environmental Standards
Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning of the Republic of Montenegro
The Federal Republic of Germany is a federation of 16 federal states or “Laender”. Brandenburg, the state we
visited, has been one of them since 1990. The state of Brandenburg covers an area of 30,000 square kilometers.
It has about 2.6 million people, which means that it is relatively sparsely populated. The state completely
encircles Berlin, the German capital and also an independent federal state of Germany, with 3.5 million people.
The local boroughs form rural districts and municipalities, which in turn build administrative districts. The state
involvement in environmental protection is spread between federal, regional and local governments.
Map of Brandenburg and Berlin
Map of Germany
The Administrative System
The federal system in the German Republic is based on three levels consisting of a national government, Federal
States and municipalities. All these levels have autonomous legislative capabilities as defined in the
Constitution. Each level exists in a separate political formal space and has separate responsibilities, producing a
diverse system of co-operation and control. Correspondingly, there is a three-tiered system of representative and
administrative organs (federation, states and municipalities). The system is complemented by the level of land
districts, which represents an amalgamation of municipalities.
The Constitutional Law is based on areas of “Exclusive Legislation”, the “Competitive Legislation” and the
“Framework Legislation”. Within theses frameworks, the Federal States enjoy far-reaching legislative autonomy
and, through their representative in the Federal Council (Bundesrat), can influence legislative processes at a
national level.
Through framework legislation of the federation, guidelines exist that allow the States to “fill-in” many areas of
administrative responsibility through their own legislation. These include basic elements of secondary education,
nature conservation, landscape preservation, land-use and regional planning, water resources management and
waste management.
The municipalities and autonomous towns have, by law, the responsibility to produce master plans, to draw up
their own operating budgets, to secure utility supply and disposal within the municipality as well as to organize
and finance the local education system. In addition, the municipalities are entitled to establish local land-use
ordinance – known as “Satzungen” – and use economic performance and cost-benefit criteria in service
provision, thus strengthening local finances.
Environmental legislation
In keeping with the federal structure, Germany’s administration is divided between the National Government,
Federal states and Local Government.
National Government and Federal States
Competence for laws and ordinances is divided between the federal and the regional (federal states) authorities.
If the federal authorities have acted as the legislature, the federal states always implement the provisions on their
own responsibility. Furthermore, the federal states are involved in the creation of many acts and ordinances. The
legal framework for nature conservation, countryside care, water protection and planning is set down by the
National Government leaving the detailed legislation to the individual federal state.
Under the Basic Law, the National authorities have three different levels of legislative competence:
- Exclusive legislative powers rest with the federal authorities in all international and EU matters, e.g. for
environmental protection treaties with other states or international organisations.
- Powers of outline legislation rest with the federal authorities for areas such as water resources management,
nature conservation and landscape management, and also regional development. The Federal states have to flesh
out and implement such legislation by means of laws of their own.
- Concurrent legislative powers exist in the fields of waste management, air quality control, noise abatement,
nuclear energy, radiological protection and chemicals safety. If the federal authorities make use of this right, the
principle that "federal law breaks regional law" applies. There is a special situation in the field of nuclear
legislation, where the federal authorities have extensive powers of direction vis-à-vis the Federal states.
The enforcement of environmental legislation is almost entirely the responsibility of the Federal states. This calls
for the creation of enforcement agencies and guidance for them. Federal states may pass state laws as required
for partial fields not covered by national legislation. A number of federal states are working together to develop
a strategy aimed at achieving the objective set out in the so called “Agenda 21”.
Regulations passed at the level of European Communities take precedence, however.
Local Authorities
The role of local authorities is of particular importance to the encouragement of sustainable development. By
virtue of their autonomy and planning independence, local governments assume considerable environmental
responsibility and have real influence over environmental policy in Germany.
Local authorities manage their own affairs on their own responsibility within the limits defined in the legal
provisions enacted by the federal and regional (federal states) authorities. These include in particular
development planning and physical development planning, on the basis of which residential and industrial areas
are designated. As a rule the communities also organise their own public transport, the supply of drinking water
and energy, and their waste water and solid waste management facilities, which frequently also means building
and operating sewage works, landfill sites and waste incineration plants. The communities also take care of the
creation and care of public green facilities.
Distribution of roles and responsibilities between National Government, Federal states and Local
Government in Germany
NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
Concurrent legislation, such as
 Waste management
 Clean Air Policy
 Noise abatement
 Chemicals safety
 Nuclear safety and protection
from ionising radiation
(enforcement under federal
mandate)
FEDERAL STATES
(LAENDER)
National
law
overrides
Federal
law
Federal legislation, for example




Federal water laws
Federal nature conservation
laws
Federal soil protection laws
State emergency
contingencies



Water resources management
Nature conservation
Landscape management
General Federal administrative
regulations





Technical Instructions (TA
Luft) on Air Quality Control
Technical Instructions (TA
Laerm) on Noise Abatement
Technical Instructions (TA
Abfall) for Waste Disposal
Environmental Impact
Assessment
Wastewater control regulations
With the
agreement
of the
Federal
States
Typical environmental
protection responsibilities
of local government
Traditional
responsibilities are:





Outline legislation, including
Definition
and
implem.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Federal enforcement tasks, for
example
 Authorising
- building and operation of
industrial facilities, power
stations, landfill sites and
waste treatment facilities
- transportation of hazardous
waste
- wastewater discharges into
rivers, streams and sewers
 Setting public charges
 Establishing monitoring and
assessment units
 Monitoring and controlling,
preparing emission and
immission registers
 Designating air quality, nature
Building planning and
landscape planning
Municipal cleaning
Water supply
Wastewater disposal
Advice for the public,
environment hotline
New responsibilities
demand:





Expansion of recycling
Rehabilitation of
contaminated sites
Replacement of old
sewage systems
Remediation and
precautions in the noise
abatement sector
Implementation of
nature conservation and
Fostering foreign relations
 Conclusion of bilateral and
multilateral treaties with
other countries
 Joining international
organisations

conservation, landscape
conservation and water
conservation areas
Prosecuting violations
Fostering foreign relations in
areas of Federal legislation with
consent of the National
Government
 Conclusion of bilateral and
multilateral treaties with other
countries
 Joining international
organisations

landscape management
Monitoring the
environmental impact
of energy production