Description
Environmental associations recognized under the Environmental Legal Remedies Act (Umweltrechtsbehelfsgesetz) have legally regulated options for taking legal action against violations of environmental law by filing an appeal, objection or lawsuit. In order to be able to file an appeal under the Environmental Legal Remedies Act, they require recognition under Section 3 of the Environmental Legal Remedies Act (UmwRG).
In Bavaria, the Bavarian State Office for the Environment has been responsible for this since 01.03.2011 in accordance with § 51c Zuständigkeitsverordnung (ZustV), if the association's area of activity does not extend beyond the territory of the Free State of Bavaria. The Federal Environment Agency (UBA) is responsible for the recognition of domestic associations with an area of activity that extends beyond the territory of the Free State of Bavaria and for the recognition of foreign associations.
Associations recognized under the Environmental Legal Remedies Act are recognized nature conservation associations if, according to their statutory remit, they focus on promoting the objectives of nature conservation and landscape management. These have special rights of participation and legal remedies in accordance with Sections 63 and 64 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act and Article 45 of the Bavarian Nature Conservation Act. The recognition shall specify the statutory scope of tasks to which the recognition applies; in particular, it shall state whether the association primarily promotes the objectives of nature conservation and landscape management, as well as the spatial area to which the recognition relates.
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.