Our employees only speak German in the office and on the phone.

Apply for a site-specific preliminary assessment to determine whether an environmental impact assessment (EIA) is required in mining

  • Abfall und Umweltschutz
  • Unternehmensstart und Gewerbezulassung

If you are planning a new, modified or expanded mining project or if projects are cumulative, in certain cases you must initiate a site-specific preliminary assessment to determine whether an environmental impact assessment must be carried out.

  • Basic information

    If your company is active in the mining industry and you are planning a new mining project, modification or expansion, or if projects are cumulative and the requirements for the mandatory site-specific preliminary assessment are met, the competent authority must carry out a site-specific preliminary assessment. With this site-specific preliminary assessment, the authority determines whether an environmental impact assessment (EIA) is mandatory for your project. The site-specific preliminary assessment takes place in 2 stages:

    Stage 1:

    • The authority checks whether there are special local conditions at your project site.
    • If this is the case, stage 2 follows.

    Stage 2:

    • The authority checks whether the new project may have significant adverse environmental impacts that affect the particular sensitivity or conservation objectives of the area.
    • The authority bases its assessment on the following criteria:
      • Characteristics of the project
      • Location of the project
      • Type and characteristics of possible impacts.

    You are obliged to prepare the preliminary assessment and provide the competent authority with suitable information on the characteristics of the new or expansion project, the location and the potential significant environmental impacts.

    The following projects, for example, require a site-specific preliminary assessment:

    • Water transport pipelines for transporting water from open-cast mine drainage or pipelines for transporting saline water from the extraction and processing of potash and rock salt, including those from potash dumps, which exceed the area of the operating site with a length of 2 km to less than 25 km
    • Underground natural gas storage facilities with a capacity of 100 million cubic meters to less than 1 billion cubic meters
    • Underground storage facilities for crude oil, petrochemical or chemical products with a capacity of 10,000 tons to less than 50,000 tons
    • other deep wells from a depth of 1,000 meters for the exploration of mineral resources,
    • other projects subject to operational planning requirements, including measures subject to operational planning requirements for the implementation of mining projects

    In addition to the site-specific preliminary assessment, there is also a general preliminary assessment. You can find out which projects qualify for the site-specific preliminary assessment in the list "Projects subject to EIA" in Annex 1 of the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (UVPG) and the Ordinance on the Environmental Impact Assessment of Mining Projects (UVP-V Mining).

    During the preliminary assessment, the authority takes into account whether significant adverse environmental impacts are obviously excluded by the characteristics of the project, the site or by your precautions. If the authority has the results of upstream environmental assessments or other legally required investigations into the environmental impacts of the project, it includes these results in the preliminary assessment.

    Requirements

    • You and your company are active in the mining industry and are planning a new mining project, modification or expansion, or
    • Your project is closely related to other projects of the same type (independent of the company) and the requirements for the obligation to carry out a site-specific preliminary assessment are met in total or
    • You have not yet applied for an environmental impact assessment or the test values are reached or exceeded again
    • Your project is either:
      • listed in the EIA Mining Ordinance as a site-specific preliminary assessment or
      • listed in the UVPG, Annex 1, column 2 with "S

  • Procedure

    You can apply for the site-specific preliminary assessment online via the "BergPass" platform or in writing to your competent mining authority.

    Apply for a site-specific preliminary assessment online via the "BergPass" platform:

    • Call up the "BergPass" online platform and log in.
      • To register, you will need a bundID and an identity card or residence permit with an active online ID function or
      • a company account.
    • Call up the application and fill it out completely and truthfully.
    • Upload the required documents as a file and send the application.

    Apply directly to the responsible mining authority for a site-specific preliminary assessment:

    • Contact your responsible mining authority and coordinate the required application documents.
    • Submit the application and all required documents to your competent mining authority.

    Further procedural steps:

    • The competent mining authority checks whether an environmental impact assessment is required for the permit or carries out a preliminary EIA assessment at the request of the project developer
    • If the competent authority has carried out a preliminary assessment, it announces the result of the determination of the EIA obligation to the public and states the main reasons for the existence or non-existence of the EIA obligation.
    • If an EIA is to be carried out, the next step is usually to determine the scope of the investigation for the EIA report. The mining authority will inform and advise you at an early stage about the content, scope, level of detail and the methods to be used for the investigations.
    • The competent authority can give you the opportunity to discuss the scope of the investigation.
    • You will also receive a notice of costs. Pay the fees.

    More information

    Legal remedy:
    You cannot contest the determination of the EIA obligation. If the determination is based on a preliminary assessment, the only thing that can be examined in court proceedings is whether the preliminary assessment was carried out in accordance with the statutory requirements and whether the result is comprehensible.

  • Necessary Documents
    • You must provide different information in stages 1 and 2 of the preliminary check:

      In stage 1:

      • Information on special local conditions and relevant protection criteria

      If you yourself come to the conclusion that your project is subject to special local conditions, you can complete stage 2. If the competent authority determines that there are special local circumstances, you must complete stage 2.

      In stage 2:

      • Details of the physical characteristics of the overall project and demolition works,
      • information on the location of the project and the ecological sensitivity of the areas, as well as the protected assets that may be affected by the project.
      • Possible significant impacts of the project on the protected assets concerned as a result of
        • the expected residues and emissions and, where applicable, the generation of waste
        • the use of natural resources, in particular land, soil, water, animals, plants and biodiversity.
          Results of upstream environmental assessments or other legally required studies on the environmental impacts of the project.
    • Results of upstream environmental assessments or other legally required studies on the environmental impacts of the project.

  • Competent Department

  • Online Services

  • Fees / Costs

    bis 96,73 EUR Cost amount according to time spent: For a civil servant in career group II, second entry-level post (A13 - A16) or employees in a comparable pay group.
    bis 79,31 EUR Cost amount according to time spent: For a civil servant in career group II first entry level (A9 - A13S) or employees in a comparable pay group.
    bis 62,88 EUR Cost amount according to time spent: For a civil servant in career group I, second entry level (A5 - A9S) or employees in a comparable pay group.

  • Deadlines & processing time

    What deadlines must be paid attention to?

    There is no deadline.

    How long does it take to process

    6 weeks

  • Legal Bases

  • More Information

Feedback on quality

Your feedback will help us to identify and solve problems. You will not receive a personal response. Please do not submit any personal data.

Did you find what you were looking for?
How do you rate this page?*
*Mandatory field

This page has been automatically translated by DeepL. We cannot guarantee that the translation is correct.

The official information in German is complete and correct. 24.02.2026

Dienstleistungen · syfq nzm