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Applying to supplement or amend a special operating plan for mining

  • Bauen und Immobilien

If your mining operation has an approved special operating plan and you wish to amend or supplement it, you must apply for approval from the relevant mining authority.

  • Basic information

    An operating plan is an instrument used in German mining law for approval and operational monitoring. In order to establish and operate a mining operation, you as an entrepreneur need an approved operating plan. The responsible mining authority can oblige you to draw up special operating plans for special work and facilities that are not suitable for inclusion in the main operating plan due to their level of detail.

    If you wish to subsequently supplement this special operating plan or change individual components, you must apply for approval.

    The approval is issued by the mining authority of the federal state in which your exploration, extraction or processing operation is located.

    An operating plan generally includes comprehensive explanations and planning documents for planned mining measures, for example

    • Location and extent,
    • technical implementation
    • time planning,
    • possible effects on people and the environment,
    • measures to avoid and minimize negative effects on the environment
    • operational and occupational safety.

    To supplement or amend a special operating plan, please specify which parts of the special operating plan are to be amended and/or which additional measures and activities you wish to carry out as part of this special operating plan. The information you have to provide depends on the scope of the planned amendment or supplement. You can coordinate the scope and content with your competent authority.

    Requirements

    In order for you to obtain approval for your supplement and/or amendment to the special operating plan, certain requirements must be met, although these may already have been examined in the procedure for approval of the special operating plan:

    • Your project must not conflict with any overriding public interests.
    • You must be able to prove that you have the official authorization for the exploration or extraction of non-mining mineral resources or the rights to mining mineral resources.
    • You must be able to prove that your company and your managerial staff or representatives have the necessary reliability as well as the required expertise and physical fitness.
    • You must take all necessary safety measures to prevent risks to life and health and to protect property, employees and third parties in the company.
    • Your work must not impair other mineral resources whose protection is in the public interest. The earth's surface must be protected in the interests of personal safety and public traffic.
    • The waste produced must be properly reused or disposed of.
    • You must take precautions to ensure that
      • the surfaces can subsequently be made usable again to the extent required by the circumstances,
      • the safety of other mining operations is not jeopardized,
      • the exploration or extraction of mineral resources does not result in any harmful consequences for the general public and, in the case of mining operations on the continental shelf or in coastal waters:
        • shipping facilities and signs are not impaired and
        • shipping and shipping lanes, airspace, fishing and flora and fauna are not unreasonably impaired
        • underwater cables and pipelines as well as oceanographic or other scientific research are not impaired more than is unavoidable under the circumstances and
        • the damaging effects on the sea are kept to a minimum.
    • You may have to provide the competent authority with evidence of a security deposit with an appropriate sum insured, a bank guarantee, letter of comfort or similar covering the above-mentioned risks.

  • Procedure

    You can apply for approval to amend or supplement your special operating plan online via the "BergPass" platform or in writing to your competent mining authority

    Apply for approval to amend or supplement your special operating plan online via the "BergPass" platform:

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

    Apply directly to the competent mining authority for approval to amend or supplement your special operating plan:

    • You must prepare your (amended) special operating plan in such a way that both the approval requirements and other concerns such as groundwater and nature conservation are comprehensively described. For complex projects, it is advisable to contact your responsible mining authority and coordinate the required application documents.
    • Submit all the necessary documents to your competent mining authority.

    Further procedural steps:

    • The competent authority will receive your application and check the documents submitted. If any documents are missing, the authority will contact you.
    • If your special operating plan contains measures that affect the area of responsibility of other authorities or the municipalities as planning authorities, the mining authority will include them in the approval procedure.
    • You will receive a notification electronically and by post informing you of the decision on your approval.
    • You will also receive a notification of costs. Pay the fees.

    More information

    Legal remedy:

    • Objection, which is processed by the competent mining authority
    • If necessary, subsequent appeal to the administrative court

  • Necessary Documents
    • You can clarify which documents are required in your case together with your responsible mining authority.

      Depending on the scope of the change and/or addition, the following information may be required:

      • Proof of permission under water law, if applicable
      • Full description of the site situation with distance to protected areas and existing infrastructure:
        • geological reports
        • hydrogeological reports
        • Nature conservation contributions
        • Technical descriptions of the required facilities, including for drilling, machinery and processing
        • Information on operational safety (from shut-off to time records) and operational monitoring
        • Proof of proper waste disposal and access routes (compliance with all relevant requirements)
        • Description and assessment of possible impacts on the environment and planned measures to avoid and reduce them, nature conservation contributions, noise reports
      • Water management measures
      • Measures to provide for the reutilization of the surface
      • Measures for immission control
      • Description of the operating facilities, such as office and social rooms, parking spaces, storage areas, workshops, filling stations

      You do not need to list all the information already provided in the existing special operating plan again.

  • Competent Department

  • Online Services

  • Fees / Costs

    172,50 EUR bis 1.725,00 EUR Several factors are included in the calculation of the actual costs, for example: the economic value, the time spent, expenses for official business outside the office or advice to the contractor plus the costs for the involvement of other authorities.

  • Deadlines & processing time

    What deadlines must be paid attention to?

    You may only begin with the additions and/or amendments described in your special operating plan once you have received approval for the additions and/or amendments to your special operating plan.

    How long does it take to process

    7 days bis 6 months The processing time varies greatly depending on the scope and complexity of the planned changes. As a guide, you can expect processing times of a few days to several months.

  • Legal Bases

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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

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