Dienstleistungsportal Bayern

Description

Prerequisites

Recognition shall be granted if the association

1. according to its statutes, promotes the objectives of environmental protection on a non-material and not merely temporary basis,
2. has existed for at least three years at the time of recognition and has been active within the meaning of No. 1 during this period,
3. offers the guarantee of appropriate performance of its tasks, in particular appropriate participation in official decision-making procedures; the nature and scope of its previous activities, the circle of members and the capacity of the association shall be taken into account,
4. pursues charitable purposes within the meaning of § 52 of the German Tax Code, and
5. allows any person to join as a member who supports the objectives of the association; members are persons who, upon joining, are granted full voting rights in the association's general meeting; in the case of associations at least three quarters of whose members are legal entities, the requirement set out in the first subparagraph may be waived, provided that the majority of such legal entities meet this requirement.

Procedure

You must register via BayernID in the BayernPortal (username/password is sufficient) to apply for recognition as a Bavarian environmental association. Use the contact details of the authorized representative(s) (name, address, telephone number, e-mail) as registration data. Agree to an electronic response via the BayernID mailbox before sending the application and include the name of the association.

With an informal application for recognition as a Bavarian environmental association, the supporting documents listed under "Required documents" must be submitted. This can be done in writing or via the secure contact form (see under "Online procedure"). The application and attachments are transmitted in encrypted form via the secure contact form. You therefore do not need to distinguish between documents that need to be protected and those that do not. As a rule, we ask for files in pdf format.
Please note: An attachment may not be larger than 2 MB, no more than 5 attachments may be sent at once, and the message as a whole may not be larger than 5 MB. If necessary, please send multiple messages to submit all documents.

If the check for fulfillment of the requirements reveals a need for clarification, the Bavarian State Office for the Environment will contact the applicant via the BayernPortal.

If all requirements are met, the Bavarian Environmental Agency issues a notice of recognition and a fee notice. If the requirements are not met, the applicant is given the opportunity to withdraw his or her application. Otherwise, a fee notice will be issued for the rejection. You will also receive these notices via the BayernPortal if you have agreed to the electronic reply.

Special notes

The decision is binding. If the recognition requirements are met, recognition must be granted. The recognition requirements must therefore be proven.

Deadlines

none

Processing time

Approximately 3 to 6 months, depending on the delivery of complete and meaningful documents by the applicant

Required documents

• the statutes or articles of association of the association for which recognition is sought

  This should show:

  • Date of formation
  • purpose of the association
  • spatial and technical area of activity, if applicable nationwide activity and promotion of nature and landscape conservation.

  If the statutes or articles of association contain no or incomplete information on this, the association should send other suitable documents from which the necessary information can be obtained.

• an up-to-date membership list showing the number of members

• a confirmation that your association accepts as a member any person who supports the aims of the association (must be stated in the statutes)

• Information on the professional, organisational and financial resources and performance of your association

• if it is an umbrella organisation: the statutes of the member organisations

• if available: an extract from the register of associations or the commercial register

• proof of the pursuit of charitable purposes

  (e.g. with a current notice of exemption due to the pursuit of charitable purposes; exemption from corporation tax in accordance with § 5 Para. 1 No. 9 KStG) or submission of documents proving the selfless promotion of the general public in the material, spiritual or moral sphere

• Documents evidencing the association's activities over the past three years;

  Information on the association's activities over the last three years (type and scope of activities to date), e.g. through annual reports, minutes of meetings, press reports

• a copy of the certificate of recognition, if the association is already recognized under federal or state nature conservation law

• Information as to whether your association promotes the objectives of nature conservation and landscape management as its main focus (must be stated in the statutes)

Online procedures

• Umweltvereinigung - Sicheres Kontaktformular des Bayerischen Landesamts für Umwelt

  You can submit the documents to be submitted to the authority via the secure contact form.

Fees

• Fee range: 100 to 2,000 EUR (see Tariff No. 8.VIII.0 of the Annex to the Ordinance on the Enactment of the Schedule of Costs to the Act on Costs (Schedule of Costs - KVz))

Legal bases

• § 3 Abs. 1 Gesetz über ergänzende Vorschriften zu Rechtsbehelfen in Umweltangelegenheiten nach der EG-Richtlinie 2003/35/EG (Umwelt-Rechtsbehelfsgesetz - UmwRG)
• § 51c Zuständigkeitsverordnung (ZustV)
• § 52 Abgabenordnung (AO)
• § 63 Gesetz über Naturschutz und Landschaftspflege (Bundesnaturschutzgesetz - BNatSchG)
• § 64 Gesetz über Naturschutz und Landschaftspflege (Bundesnaturschutzgesetz - BNatSchG)
• Art. 45 Gesetz über den Schutz der Natur, die Pflege der Landschaft und die Erholung in der freien Natur (Bayerisches Naturschutzgesetz – BayNatSchG)

Remedy

An appeal against a negative decision can be filed with the competent administrative court.

Links to more information

• Umwelt- und Naturschutzvereinigungen
• Anerkennung von Umwelt- und Naturschutzvereinigungen