Permitting process (include LAP: emission regulation)

This LAP refers to the permitting process. It identifies what is the competent authority responsible for the permitting requirements, highlights the different steps of the process, and what are the different kinds of permits needed by the approval authority. Finally, it shows if the process is uniform throughout the country, how much time is needed to obtain the permit, and if there are some exemptions/simplified processes.

Glossary:

The process in which an applicant files forms to a (regulatory) agency/competent authority with required narratives, maps, etc., to ensure in advance that the proposed operation will be in compliance with the applicable standards.
Is it a barrier?
No
Assessment Severity
0
Assessment
The LAP is important for clarifying the permitting process and identifying of the hurdles by granting permits for the building of an industrial hydrogen production plant, if any.

Questions:

Question 1 What is the competent authority responsible for the permitting requirements? If more than one, list them
The responsible authorities vary among the states, normally this is the state Trade Supervisory Inspectorate (Gewerbeaufsichtsamt). The responsible authorities for granting building permits are the Building Regulatory Authorities.
Question 2 What are the different steps of the process? Please indicate which authority in charge of which step if different authorities are involved
The procedures for permitting a localised hydrogen production facility are the following: a) If considered as a production on an industrial scale - formal permit procedure with public participation according to § 10 of Federal Immission Control Act. (includes the building permit procedure and the environmental impact assessment, if required). b) if not considered as a production on an industrial scale - procedure according to §13 of Ordinance for Industrial Safety and Health for granting a construction and operation permit; - procedure according to the relevant Federal State Building Regulation for granting a building permit; The main steps of the permitting process are: 1. Definition of the scope of the project by the owner; 2. Identification of the applicable permit procedure, permit authority and stakeholders to be involved; 3. Submission of approval application accompanied by: – expert opinion of authorised inspection body (ZÜS report). The authorized inspection bodies are TÜV, DEKRA etc. The expert opinion shall be in accordance with the Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health and normally consist of description and assessment of planned facilities and operating procedures with regard to the safety requirements, fire and explosion protection as well as to the Ordinance on Hazardous Substances; – documents, describing the planned facility, processes, equipment, safety measures etc.; – site plan, construction drawings (required for the building permit). 4. Provision of information to the general public (in case of formal procedure with public participation): – public announcement of the project; – public disclosure of the approval application; – possibility of objections; – public display of the plans. 5. Issuing of construction and operation permit, including building permit. 6. Commissioning.
Question 3 Are there any exemptions/”simplified” process (e.g. for demonstration projects)?
According to the Federal Immission Control Act no permit is required for installations when they are used for research, development or testing of new feedstocks, fuels or processes in laboratories or in pilot plants. However, the pilot plants must be constructed and operated in such a way that environmental damage is prevented, where the state of technology allows; any unavoidable environmental impact must be kept to a minimum. Normally the hydrogen production in the pilot plants is not on an industrial scale and the described exemption is rather inapplicable for centralised production.
Question 4 What kind of permits are needed by the approval authority, and are they separated/integrated (single permit)? E.g. building permit , construction and operation permit for installations, environmental permit
For localised hydrogen production facility if the production is not considered as on an industrial scale have to be granted a construction and operation permit and a building permit.
Question 5 Is the process at local level uniform throughout a country? (uniform interpretation?)
There is a common legal framework for issuing construction and operation permits, although the permitting requirements and procedures, and also permitting authorities vary among the federal states. The requirements and procedures for building permits are regulated in the State Buildings Ordinances and may vary significantly.
Question 6 How long does it take to obtain a permit for the construction and operation of a hydrogen production facility? a - Is there a maximum response time for granting the permit
a - yes
Question 6 How long does it take to obtain a permit for the construction and operation of a hydrogen production facility? b - If yes, what is the response time?
b - After submitting of all required documents a) Procedure according to the Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health – 3 months; b) Formal permit procedure according to the Federal Immission Control Act – 7 months.
Question 6 How long does it take to obtain a permit for the construction and operation of a hydrogen production facility? c - What is the experience in practice?
c - In practice, after submission of application it takes 12-15 months to obtain permit in a formal procedure. The most common reason for the delay is that the submitted documents are incomplete or do not meet the requirements of the law or the responsible authorities
Describe the comparable technology and its relevance with regard to hydrogen
Plants for production of chemicals, gases

National legislation:

EU Legislation:

  • Directive 2012/18/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances (so-called SEVESO Directive)
    The Directive covers situations where dangerous substances may be present (e.g. during processing or storage) in quantities exceeding certain thresholds.

    It establishes:
    • General obligations on the operator (Article 5)
    • Notification (information on the form and amount of substances, the activity, and the surrounding environment) of all concerned establishments (Article 7),
    • The obligation to deploy a major accident prevention policy (Article 8),
    • The obligation to produce a safety report for upper-tier establishments (Article 10);
    • The obligation to produce internal emergency plans for upper tier establishments (Article 12);
    • Authorities to exert control of the siting of new establishments, modifications to new establishments, and new developments including transport routes, locations of public use and residential areas in the vicinity of establishments, (Article 13)
    • The obligation to conduct public consultations on specific individual projects that may involve risk of major accidents (Article 15)

    Annex I, Part 1, establishes Hydrogen as a dangerous substance (therefore within scope) and lists the quantity of hydrogen for the application of lower-tier requirements (≥ 5t) and upper-tier requirements (≥ 50t).

    For quantities of less than 5 tonnes of hydrogen, none of the obligations above would apply.

    The Directive is relevant for both the approval of bunkering / landing installations as well as on board transport of hydrogen
  • ATEX Directive 2014/34/EU - covering equipment and protective systems intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres
    The Directive defines the essential health and safety requirements and conformity assessment procedures (Article 4) to be applied before products are placed on the EU market and is significant for the engineering of hydrogen production plants. It covers inter alia equipment and protective systems intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres.

    The Directive requires employers to classify areas where hazardous explosive atmospheres may occur into zones. The classification given to a particular zone, and its size and location, depends on the likelihood of an explosive atmosphere occurring and its persistence if it does.

    The Directive requires the manufacturers to design their equipment to be suitable for use within their customer’s explosive atmosphere. Therefore, manufacturers of equipment rely upon their customer to give them information about the classification of the zone and the flammable substance(s) within that zone.

    The Directive describes the rules and regulations for all actors in the value chain, with respect to ensuring that only safe equipment for use in potentially explosive atmospheres are sold and applied. It provides regulation of how the equipment shall be constructed, produced and documented, as well as the rules for CE-labelling.

    It also contains, inter alia conformity assessment procedures (Art 13) EU declaration of conformity (Art 14) and General principles of the CE marking (Art 16)

    The Directive is relevant for the approval of landing / bunkering installations
  • Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions (integrated pollution prevention and control (IED)
    The Directive, which applies to the production of hydrogen (production on an industrial scale by chemical or biological processing) (Annex I, point 4.2) contains inter alia:
    • Basic obligations of the operator (Article 11)
    • The content of permitting applications (Article 12)
    • Permitting Conditions (Article 14)
    • Emission limit values, (Article 15)
    • Monitoring requirements (Article 16)
    • Access to information and public participation (Article 24)

    The meaning of "production on an industrial scale by chemical or biological processing in Annex I section 4" has been clarified by the EU Commission, in support of transposition and implementation measures. :

    Annex I Section 4 (“chemical industry”) refers to “production on an industrial scale” and contains no quantitative capacity thresholds. The scale of chemical manufacture can vary from a few grams (of a highly specialised product), to many tonnes (of a bulk chemical product); yet both may correspond to “industrial scale” for that particular activity.

    Various criteria should be taken into account to decide whether production is “on an industrial scale”, including such factors as the nature of the product, the industrial character of the plant and machinery used, production volume, commercial purpose, production solely for own use, environmental impact. Such considerations should take account of the primary objective of the IED as expressed in Article 1 as to "prevent or, where that is not practicable, to reduce emissions into air, water and land and to prevent the generation of waste, in order to achieve a high level of protection of the environment taken as a whole", complemented by the general principle set in Article 11 (c) that "no significant pollution is caused".

    The fact that the activity is carried out for "commercial purposes" may be a strong indicator of "industrial scale", […] However, it may not be sufficient to use the “commercial purpose” of an activity as the sole determinant of "industrial scale". It may also be important to take into account the potential environmental impact of a production sequence.


    Directive 2010/75/EU established an integrated approach towards prevention and control. This integrated approach means that the permits must take into account the whole environmental performance of the plant, covering e.g. emissions to air, water and land, generation of waste, use of raw materials, energy efficiency, noise, prevention of accidents, and restoration of the site upon closure. The permit conditions including emission limit values must be based on the Best Available Techniques (BAT).
  • Directive 2014/52/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 amending Directive 2011/92/EU on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment).
    The Directives (and their subsequent amendments) define a strategic environmental impact assessment procedure. The procedure is summarized as follows: the developer may request the competent authority define what should be covered by the EIA information to be provided by the developer (scoping stage); the developer must provide information on the environmental impact (EIA report – Annex IV); the environmental authorities and the public (and affected Member States) must be informed and consulted; the competent authority decides, taken into consideration the results of consultations. The public is informed of the decision afterwards and can challenge the decision before the courts.

    In line with the EIA Directive, Production and Storage of Hydrogen falls within the projects listed in Annex II (6a and 6c -production of chemicals; and storage facilities for chemical product), for which Member States shall determine whether the project shall be made subject to an assessment or not. In some EU countries, storage of 5 tons of hydrogen or more falls within the scope of the Directives.

    The latest amendment, (Directive 2014/52/EU) introduces minimum requirements with regards to the type of projects subject to assessment, the main obligations of developers, the content of the assessment and the participation of the competent authorities and the public.
  • Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (EIA Directive)
    The Directives (and their subsequent amendments) define a strategic environmental impact assessment procedure. The procedure is summarized as follows: the developer may request the competent authority define what should be covered by the EIA information to be provided by the developer (scoping stage); the developer must provide information on the environmental impact (EIA report – Annex IV); the environmental authorities and the public (and affected Member States) must be informed and consulted; the competent authority decides, taken into consideration the results of consultations. The public is informed of the decision afterwards and can challenge the decision before the courts.

    In line with the EIA Directive, Production and Storage of Hydrogen falls within the projects listed in Annex II (6a and 6c -production of chemicals; and storage facilities for chemical product), for which Member States shall determine whether the project shall be made subject to an assessment or not. In some EU countries, storage of 5 tons of hydrogen or more falls within the scope of the Directives.

    The latest amendment, (Directive 2014/52/EU) introduces minimum requirements with regards to the type of projects subject to assessment, the main obligations of developers, the content of the assessment and the participation of the competent authorities and the public.
  • Directive 2001/42/EC on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment (SEA Directive)
    The Directives (and their subsequent amendments) define a strategic environmental impact assessment procedure. The procedure is summarized as follows: the developer may request the competent authority define what should be covered by the EIA information to be provided by the developer (scoping stage); the developer must provide information on the environmental impact (EIA report – Annex IV); the environmental authorities and the public (and affected Member States) must be informed and consulted; the competent authority decides, taken into consideration the results of consultations. The public is informed of the decision afterwards and can challenge the decision before the courts.

    In line with the EIA Directive, Production and Storage of Hydrogen falls within the projects listed in Annex II (6a and 6c -production of chemicals; and storage facilities for chemical product), for which Member States shall determine whether the project shall be made subject to an assessment or not. In some EU countries, storage of 5 tons of hydrogen or more falls within the scope of the Directives.

    The latest amendment, (Directive 2014/52/EU) introduces minimum requirements with regards to the type of projects subject to assessment, the main obligations of developers, the content of the assessment and the participation of the competent authorities and the public.
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  • Council Directive 98/24/EC of 7 April 1998 on the protection of the health and safety of workers from the risks related to chemical agents at work
    The requirements of this Directive apply where hazardous chemical agents are present or may be present at the workplace (Article 1.2). When applicable, the Directive imposes certain obligation on the employers
    • Determination and assessment of risk (Article 4)
    • General principles for prevention of risks (Article 5)
    • Specific protection and prevention measures (Article 6)
    • Arrangements to deal with accidents (Article 7)
    • Information and training for workers (Article 8)
  • Directive 2004/35/CE of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on environmental liability with regard to the prevention and remedying of environmental damage
    The Environmental Liability Directive (“ELD”) establishes a framework of environmental liability, based on the "polluter-pays" principle, to prevent and remedy environmental damage. The ELD places the financial consequences of certain types of harm caused to the environment on the economic operator who caused this harm. It covers: (a) “damage to protected species and natural habitats” (b) “water damage” and (c) “land damage”.

    Additionally, where imminent threats exist or when required by the competent authority operators are required to take preventive measures.

    The Directive applies to the production to Hydrogen by reference to Annex I, point 4.2 of Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions
  • European Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances [CLP regulation]
    The CLP Regulation (Classification, Labelling and Packaging of substances and mixtures) entered into force on the 20th of January 2009 and replaced the two previously existing laws or legal instruments, the Dangerous Substance Directive (DSD) and the Dangerous Preparation Directive (DPD). CLP is based on the Globally Harmonized System (GHS), a set of recommendations drafted by the United Nations. The CLP Regulation is applied to substances since 2010 and to mixtures since June 2015.

    The Regulation includes hydrogen in its list of substances of hazardous substances (Part 3, Table 3.1) establishes rules for the harmonised classification and labelling of hydrogen.
  • Directive 2009/104/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September 2009 concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for the use of work equipment by workers at work
    The general provisions of Chapter II (Employers obligations) apply. However, this legislation applies broadly and is not to be regarded as hydrogen specific.
  • Directive 1999/92/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 1999 on minimum requirements for improving the safety and health protection of workers potentially at risk from explosive atmospheres
    Directive 1999/92/EC lays down minimum requirements for the safety and health protection of workers potentially at risk from explosive atmospheres which will apply to facilities involved in the production, storage and distribution of hydrogen. It sets out a number of specific obligations on the employer, including inter alia:

    • Prevention of and protection against explosions
    • Assessment of explosion risks
    • Special requirements for work equipment and workplaces
  • Directive 2014/68/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to the making available on the market of pressure equipment.
    The Pressure Equipment Directive, applies to the design, manufacture and conformity assessment of pressure equipment and assemblies with a maximum allowable pressure greater than 0.5 bar.

    Technical requirements and classification according to an ascending level of hazard, depending on pressure, volume or nominal size, the fluid group and state of aggregation, as well as conformity assessment procedures are laid down and required by the Directive

    Hydrogen is a fluid which falls under Group 1. Group 1 consists of dangerous fluids (flammable, toxic and/or oxidizing). As a result, a large part of the equipment for H2 production, storage and distribution must meet the technical requirements set out in the Pressure Equipment Directive (PED).

    The Directive is relevant for the approval of landing / bunkering installations