What are the legal frameworks?
Who is responsible? Laws and responsibilities of public authorities
Latest Update: November 2024
Interesting Facts
In Germany, the extraction of natural resources is for example regulated by the Federal Mining Act (BBergG), which replaced the old mining laws of the Federal States as well as numerous ancillary mining laws of the Federal and Federal State governments in 1982. The BBergG is complemented by various regulations on mining law matters. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK) is responsible for mining law within the Federal Government. The mining authorities of the Federal States (see figure 1 below) implement the law and are responsible for approving and supervising mining activities, depending on the mineral resources. For certain natural resources not covered by the BBergG, some Federal States have adopted their own regulations for these landowners’ natural resources in the so-called Excavation Law of the Federal States.
With regard to their legal regulation, a distinction is made between three groups of natural resources in Germany:
- Free-to-mine natural resources are not the property of the landowner. The exploration and extraction of these natural resources is subject to the BBergG, requires a mining license and must be approved by the mining authorities of the Federal States in a two-stage application procedure: firstly, the granting of a mining license (concession under public law) and then the site-specific approval of the operating plan procedure.
- Privately-owned natural resources are owned by the landowner and are subject to mining law (see Section 2(1) number 1 BBergG). The exploration and extraction of these mineral resources do not require a mining license, however they require approval (operating plan procedure) by the mining authorities of the Federal States.
- Landowners’ natural resources are all natural resources that are not free-to-mine or privately-owned and are owned by the landowner. They are not subject to mining law and are therefore not supervised by the mining inspection authorities. Instead, the approval procedures for the landowners’ natural resources are carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG) or in accordance with provisions of state law (e.g. Excavation Laws, Water or Building Law, Nature Conservation Law).
Depending on the Federal State, natural resource and type of extraction, middle and lower-management levels of governmental bodies are responsible for the latter group of landowners’ natural resources.
Overview of the mining authorities of the Federal States
Baden-Wuerttemberg
Ministry of Environment Climate and Energy
District President Freiburg, State Office for Geology, Mineral Resources and Mining
Bavaria
State Ministry for Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy
Government of Upper Bavaria,Mining Office of Southern Bavaria
District Government of Upper Franconia, Mining Office of Northern Bavaria
Berlin
Senate Administration for Economic Affairs, Energy and Industry
State Office for Mining, Geology and Natural Resources, Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Ministry for Economic Affairs, Labour and Energy
State Office for Mining, Geology and Natural Resources, Brandenburg
Bremen
Senator for Economic Affairs, Ports and Transformation
State Office for Mining, Energy and Geology Hanover
Hamburg
Authority for Economic Affairs and Innovation
State Office for Mining, Energy and Geology Hanover
Hesse
Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, Viticulture, Forestry, Hunting and Homeland
Regional Council of Darmstadt Occupational Safety and Environment Dpt. Wiesbaden, Regional Council of Gießen,Department IV “Environment”, GießenRegional Council of Kassel,Department III “Environmental Protection”
Lower Saxony
Ministry of Economy, Transport, Construction and Digitalisation
State Office for Mining, Energy and Geology Hanover
North-Rhine Westphalia
Ministry of Economy, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy
Arnsberg District Government Department of Mining and Energy in North-Rhine Westphalia
Rhineland-Palatinate
Ministry for Economic Affairs, Transport, Agriculture and Viticulture
State Office for Geology and Mining
Saarland
Ministry for Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digital Affairs and Energy
Upper Mining Office of the Saarland Mining Office of Saarbrücken
Saxony
Ministry for Economic Affairs, Labour and Transport
Saxony-Anhalt
Ministry of Economy, Tourism, Agriculture and Forestry of Saxony-Anhalt
State Office for Geology and Mining of Saxony-Anhalt
Schleswig-Holstein
Ministry of Energy Transition, Climate Protection, Environment and Nature
State Office for Mining, Energy and Geology Hanover
Thuringia
Ministry of Environment, Energy, and Nature Conservation
Thuringian State Office for the Environment, Mining and Nature Conservation
Legal regulation
Legal division of natural resources in Germany
| natural resources | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legal breakdown | Free-to-mine natural resources (subject to mining law) | Privately-owned natural resources (subject to mining law) | Landowners’ natural resources (not under mining law) | |||
| Subject-specific division | Energy resources: coals, hydrocarbons (including oil and natural gas), geothermal energy Industrial minerals: fluorite, graphite, lithium, phosphorus, all salts that are readily soluble in water, sulphur, barite, strontium, zirconium Metal ores: e.g. iron, copper, lead, zinc ores, etc. Also: all natural resources in the area of the continental shelf and coastal waters (including gravel and natural stones) 1 | Industrial minerals: bentonite and other montmorillonite clays, feldspar, mica, kaolin, diatomaceous earth (diatomite), ‘pegmatite sand’, quartz (quartz sand and gravel) & quartzite (if suitable for refractory products and ferrosilicon production), soapstone, talk and clay (if fireproof and acid-proof). Quarried natural resources: basaltic lava (except columnar basalt), roofing slate, trass. Also: all privately-owned natural resources, which have been extracted underground (incl. gypsum, natural stone, brick clays etc.). | Quarried natural resources (in opencast mining): anhydrite, gypsum, limestone, basalt columns and other natural stones, gravel and sand, quartz and quartzite (if unsuitable for the manu- facture of refractory products and ferrosilicon) and other natural resources not listed in this table Also: peat | |||
| Right of disposal over natural resources | These natural resources are “free”, i.e. they do not belong to the landowner. Their exploitation requires mining rights and the permission of the mining authorities. | These mineral resources belong to the landowner. The landowner is entitled to use them. | ||||
| Type of legal regulation | Regulated pursuant to the BBergG § 3 (3) § 3 (4) | Governed by other legal jurisdictions, e.g., construction law (Excavation Law), Water Resources Act or State Water Act, Federal Immission Control Act, Federal or State Nature Conservation Act. | ||||
Own presentation. Based on the following source: State geological service of the Federal Republic of Germany
URL: Infogeo – Staatliche Geologische Dienste Deutschlands – Rohstoffsicherung in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland – Zustandsbericht – PDF (Accessed: 5 December 2022)
1 In the territory of the former GDR, special requirements may exist for free-to-mine natural resources under the Unification Treaty.