Cynthia-Sophie Pfalzgraf Umweltprüfung, Umweltbericht und Monitoring

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Environmental Assessment, Environmental Report and Monitoring in Planning Law – Illustrated by the Example of Building Law and in Comparative Consideration of Parallel Regulations in Sectoral Legislation

European law has increasingly shaped German urban land-use planning law for several decades. With the implementation of the Directive on Strategic Environmental Assessment (Directive 2001/42/EC), the environmental assessment, the environmental report, and monitoring were incorporated into the procedure of land-use planning. The German legislator opted to integrate these instruments into the existing procedure for preparing planning instruments. Despite this integration, uncertainties regarding their legal design and practical application persist up to this day. The instruments have fundamentally transformed land-use planning law, particularly because monitoring had previously been unknown to German law.

This study is devoted to a systematic analysis of these instruments and their incorporation into the Federal Building Code (Baugesetzbuch). Beginning with the classification of the environmental assessment within the BauGB, the focus lies on the environmental report pursuant to section 2(4) BauGB and monitoring pursuant to section 4c BauGB. Their substantive interrelationship and functional autonomy are examined. In particular, the study investigates whether monitoring continues the insights gained in the environmental report or whether both instruments exist independently of one another.

A comparative legal analysis of parallel sectoral regulations – especially in immission control, water and nature conservation law – is undertaken. This comparison highlights differences in purpose and scope of application. On this basis, the study assesses the normative systematics, practical feasibility and legal legitimacy of monitoring.

Finally, questions of legal protection are addressed, in particular the classification of individual procedural steps as procedural requirements, their judicial reviewability, and the significance of the provisions governing the preservation of planning acts.

This comprehensive examination contributes to a deeper understanding of environmental assessment in land-use planning law, clarifies its systematic structure, and evaluates its effectiveness. At the same time it identifies potential avenues for further development of the existing legal framework.