The draft relates to plants used for storing, filling or handling water-polluting substances. Components of such plants are construction products, pressure equipment within the meaning of Directive 2014/68/EU on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to the making available on the market of pressure equipment, as well as machinery within the meaning of Directive 2006/42/EC on machinery.

Draft Act introducing a permit pursuant to water law for leachate treatment plants and amending the regulations regarding the suitability assessment for plants used for storing, filling or handling water-polluting substances

The draft Act contains changes with regard to the suitability assessment for plants used for storing, filling or handling water-polluting substances (§ 63 of the Federal Water Act [WHG]). Pursuant to the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) of 16 October 2014 (Case C-100/13) regarding construction products, Building Regulations List B, Part 1, which contains additional requirements for construction products harmonised at a European level, shall be repealed. For construction products harmonised at a European level, there will therefore be no general building inspectorate approvals in future. This change in the legal position is also the reason for the need to amend § 63 of the Federal Water Act which, among other things, regulates the abolition of the suitability assessment for construction products for which building inspectorate usability certificates have been issued (§ 63(3), sentence 1, point 2 of the current Federal Water Act). Because of the changes referred to in building law, the current equal treatment of construction products harmonised at a European level and those that are only regulated at a national level can no longer be continued in future once the suitability assessment has been abolished. Consequently, on the basis of the changes in building law, corresponding differentiated requirements are provided for in future in § 63(4) (for construction products harmonised at a European level, in paragraph 4, sentence 1, point 1, and for construction products that are only regulated at a national level, in paragraph 4, sentence 1, points 2 and 3). The previous abolition of the suitability assessment is to be replaced by a notional assessment of suitability for the relevant construction products. The notional assessment means that the plant components in question no longer require separate testing as part of the suitability assessment for the plant as a whole.

The revised regulations in § 63(4) of the Federal Water Act due to the CJEU judgment of 16 October 2014 is also taken as an opportunity to revise other points of § 63 of the Federal Water Act, which is in need of an overhaul, particularly in order to improve the systematic approach and comprehensibility of the regulations. With this objective, various changes shall be made to § 63(1) to (3). In this connection, among other things, the requirement for a suitability assessment is extended to cover substantial changes to plants used for storing, filling or handling water-polluting substances (§ 63(1), sentence 1 of the Federal Water Act). Against this background, the possibility of issuing a suitability assessment for plant components and technical safety measures (§ 63(1), sentence 2 of the current Federal Water Act) will be abolished in future.

Under the new § 63(4), sentence 1, points 4 and 5, a notional assessment is also envisaged under certain preconditions for pressure equipment and machinery. This type of special treatment for pressure equipment and machinery is not available under the current § 63 of the Federal Water Act.

Finally, the draft act provides for a new authorisation for leachate treatment plants, if these plants are not already covered by disposal authorisation. This draft, together with the corresponding amendments to the Industrial Waste Water Treatment Plant Authorisation and Monitoring Ordinance (Article 2), ensures that the provisions of this Ordinance are also used for the authorisation process and monitoring of these types of plant.