
Ordinance on Medium-Sized Combustion, Gas Turbine and Internal Combustion Engine Plants
The Ordinance on Medium-Sized Combustion, Gas Turbine and Internal Combustion Engine Plants (44th Ordinance on the Implementation of the Federal Immission Control Act [44th BImSchV]) came into force on 20.06.2019. It serves to implement EU Directive 2015/2193 of 25.11.2015 (MCP Directive) on the limitation of emissions of certain pollutants from medium-sized combustion plants, gas turbines and internal combustion engines.
The directive revises existing regulations for small and medium-sized combustion plants that do not require a permit (1st BImSchV) and for combustion plants that require a permit (4th BImSchV, TA-Luft).
In addition to stricter emission limits and shorter measurement intervals, this also results in new obligations for plant operators in terms of verification, documentation and reporting.
What does the ordinance regulate?
The ordinance regulates - irrespective of the fuel used - the construction, quality and operation of combustion plants, including gas turbine and internal combustion engine plants
- with a rated thermal input of at least 1 megawatt and less than 50 megawatts, both if they require a permit and if they do not require a permit, and
- with a rated thermal input of less than 1 megawatt if they require a permit.
The Ordinance applies to joint combustion plants within the meaning of Section 4 of the 44th BImSchV if the rated thermal input is at least 1 megawatt. If the output is over 50 megawatts and the joint combustion plant falls under the Large Combustion Plants Ordinance (13th BImSchV), this takes precedence over the 44th BImSchV. Further exceptions are contained in Section 1 (2) of the 44th BImSchV.
Display of a firing system
Operators must register their systems electronically or in writing with the lower immission control authority of the city of Jena using a form.
Detailed information on registering your installations and the corresponding form can be found on the city's service portal:
The 44th BImSchV obliges, among other things, operators of installations according to § 1 of the regulation to register installations
- that were already in operation before 20.12.2018 or
- were approved by 19.12.2017 in accordance with Section 4 or Section 16 of the BImSchG and commissioned by 20.12.2018 at the latest,
to the lower immission control authority of the city of Jena by 01.12.2023 at the latest.
Installations that were only approved after 19.12.2017 or commissioned after 20.12.2018 must be reported immediately. Installations currently under construction must be notified before commissioning.
In addition to the information in Annex 1 of the 44th BlmSchV, the notification form also contains information on emission-relevant changes, a change of operator or the final decommissioning of a combustion plant. These changes must also be reported using this form.
In the case of joint combustion plants in accordance with § 4 of the 44th BlmSchV, a separate notification form must be provided for each individual plant with a rated thermal input of at least 1 megawatt.
After the notification form has been returned, the lower immission control authority of the city of Jena carries out the notification procedure and makes the information contained in the plant register publicly accessible on the website of the city of Jena in accordance with the provisions on access to environmental information (Plant register 44th BImSchV [PDF]) (§ 36 of the 44th BImSchV).
Record-keeping and retention obligations of the operator
According to § 7 of the 44th BImSchV, the operator must document the operating hours of the plant, the type and quantity of fuels used, malfunctions/failures of the flue gas cleaning system and exceedances of the emission limit values and the corresponding measures taken and submit them to the lower immission control authority of the city of Jena on request.
In addition, the permit to operate the combustion plant or proof of registration of the combustion plant by the competent authority and, if available, the updated version of the permit or registration as well as the information sent by the competent authority relating to the permit or proof of registration and the monitoring resultsmust be kept.
Measurement obligations of the operators
Section 3 of the 44th BImSchV describes the far-reaching obligations for plant operators with regard to the regular measurements to be carried out in the flue gas of combustion plants. This obligation to provide evidence begins for some of the existing plants before 20.06.2020 (see Section 31 of the 44th BImSchV). The measurement reports must be submitted to the authority immediately after the measurements. Extensive exemptions must be observed for the measurement obligations.