Who is responsible? Laws and the responsibilities of public authorities
The extraction of raw materials is regulated in Germany by the German Federal Mining Act (BBergG). In 1982, it replaced the old mining laws of the Federal States and the numerous ancillary mining laws of the Federal Government and the governments of the Federal States. The overall control of the mining law within the Federal Government is the responsibility of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. The mining authorities of the Federal States implement the Act and also bear the responsibility for the authorisation and supervision of mining activities (depending on the natural resources in question). The Federal States have passed some of their own mining regulations in order to meet the specific requirements and characteristics of their own regions.
Responsible public authorities
Baden-Wuerttemberg
- Ministry of the Environment,
- Climate Protection and the Energy Sector
Bavaria
- State Ministry for Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy
Berlin
- Senate Administration for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises
Baden-Wuerttemberg
- Ministry for the Environment,
- Climate and Energy.
Bavaria
-
State Ministry for Economic
Affairs -
and Media, Energy and
Technology
Berlin
-
Senate Administration for Economic
Affairs, - Technology and Research
Brandenburg
- Ministry for Economic Affairs, Labour and Energy
Bremen
- Senator for Economic Affairs,
- Labour and Europe
Hamburg
- Authority for Economic Affairs, and Innovation
Brandenburg
- Ministry for Economic
- Affairs and Energy
Bremen
- Senator for Economic Affairs,
- Labour and Ports
Hamburg
- Department of Economic Affairs,
- Transport and Innovation
Hesse
- Ministry of the Environment,Climate Protection, Agriculture and Consumer Protection

Mecklenburg-Western-Pomerania
- Ministry for Energy, Infrastructure
- and Digitalization
Hesse
- Ministry for the Environment,Climate Protection,
- Agriculture and Consumer Protection

Mecklenburg-Western-Pomerania
- Ministry for Energy, Infrastructure
- and Regional Development
Lower Saxony
- Ministry for Economic Affairs, Labour, Transport and Digitalisation
North-Rhine Westphalia
- Ministry of Economic Affairs,
- Innovation, and Energy
Lower Saxony
- Ministry for Economic Affairs, Labour and Transport
North-Rhine Westphalia
- Ministry for Economic Affairs,
- Innovation, and Energy
Rhineland-Palatinate
- Ministry for Economic Affairs, Transport, Agriculture and Viticulture
Saarland
- Ministry for Economic Affairs,
- Labour, Energy and Transport
Saxony
- Ministry for Economic Affairs,
- Labour and Transport
Rhineland-Palatinate
- Ministry for Economic Affairs, Climate Protection,
- Energy and Regional Planning
Saarland
- Ministry for Economic Affairs,
- Labour, Energy and Transport
Saxony
- Ministry for Economic Affairs,
- Labour and Transport
Saxony-Anhalt
- Ministry of Economy, Science and Digitalisation
Schleswig-Holstein
- Ministry of Energy, Agriculture, the Environment, Nature and Digitalization
Thuringia
- Ministry of Environment, Energy, and Nature Conservation
Saxony-Anhalt
- Ministry for Sciences
- and Economic Affairs
Schleswig-Holstein
-
Ministry for Energy Transition,
Agriculture - the Environment and Rural Areas
Thuringia
-
Ministry for Agriculture, Forests,
the Environment and Nature - Conservation
Legal regulation
natural resources | |||
Legal | Unmined | Proprietary mineral resources (under | Landowner Mineral Resources |
Technical | Energy resources: coal, hydrocarbons (including oil and natural gas), geothermal energy Industrial minerals: fluorspar, graphite, lithium, phosphorus, all easily water-soluble salts, sulfur, barite, strontium, zircon metal ores: e.g. B. iron, copper, lead zinc ores etc. Also: All mineral resources in the area of the continental shelf and the coastal waters (including gravel, natural stones) | Industrial minerals: Bentonite and other clays rich in montmorillonite, feldspar, mica, kaolin, kieselguhr (diatomite), "pegmatite sand", quartz (sand and gravel), and quartzite (to the extent suitable for refractory products and ferrosilicon production), soapstone and talc, clay (if fireproof, acid-proof) Stone and earth: basalt lava (except columnar basalt), roofing slate, trass In addition: All underground mineral resources (i.e. also gypsum stone, natural stone, etc.) | Stone and earth (in open pit mining): anhydrite, gypsum stone, limestone and columnar basalt and other natural stones, gravel and sand, quartz and quartzite (unless suitable for the production of refractory products and ferrosilicon), and other raw materials not mentioned in this table Also: peat |
power of disposal over the | These mineral resources are "free", ie they do not belong to the landowner. Their exploitation requires the mining license and the approval of the mining authority. | These mineral resources belong to the landowner. The landowner is entitled to use them. | |
Type of | Regulated according to the Federal Mining | Regulated according to other areas of law, e.g. B. Building law (excavation law), water management law or state water law, federal immission control law, federal or state nature conservation law |
Germany differentiates between three groups of natural resources in terms of their legal regulation:
- Free-to-mine natural resources are not the property of the landowner. The exploration and extraction of these natural resources are subject to the BBergG (German Federal Mining Act) and must be approved by the mining authorities of the Federal States in a two-stage procedure: firstly, the granting of a mining license (public-law concession) and secondly, the site-specific approval of the operating plan procedure.
- Privately-owned natural resources are the property of the landowner and are subject to mining law (see § 2(1), No. 1 BBergG). The prospecting and extraction of these mineral resources does not require any mining authorisation, but is subject to approval by the mining authorities of the Federal States.
- Landowners’ natural resources are natural resources that are neither free-to-mine nor privately owned. They are the property of the landowner, but are not subject to mining law and the supervision of the mining authorities. The approval procedure for landowners’ natural resources is carried out in accordance with the regulations of the Federal Immission Control Act or in accordance with legal state regulations (e.g. excavation , water and construction laws).
Legal division of natural resources in Germany
Own presentation. Partial source: State Geological Service of the Federal Republic of Germany, Securing of Raw Materials 2008
Coal Phase-Out Act
On August 14, 2020, the Act to Reduce and End the Use of Coal for Electricity Generation (Coal Phase- Out Act) came into force.1 The aim of this Act is to phase out power generation from coal-fired power plants in Germany in a socially acceptable manner to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The use of coal for power generation will be reduced as steadily as possi- ble and will end at the latest in 2038. At the same time, however, it must be guaranteed that the whole population can be provided with secure, affordable, efficient and climate-friendly electricity. The Coal Phase-Out Act provides for the reduction and termination of hard coal and lignite-based power generation, the continuous review of supply security, the cancellation CO2 certificates becoming available, an authorisation to compensate electricity consumers for an increase in electricity rates due to the phase-out of coal-based power generation, and an adjustment allowance for older employees in the coal sector (see State subsidies and tax concessions). The target for the expansion of renewable energies is raised to 65 percent in 2030 to make up for the decline in coal-fired power generation. In addition, the promotion of combined heat and power generation will be extended to encourage the adoption of flexible and more climate-friendly power supply options.2
As a first step, hard coal-based power generation will be gradually reduced between 2020 and 2027. To this end tenders for hard coal power plants participating in the electricity market will be carried out. In the tender, plant operators will have to specify a bid value at which they are willing to withdraw from burning coal in their plant. By participating in the tender, plant operators can receive appropriate financial compensation for the coal phase-out. Small-scale lignite plants up to 150 megawatts (MW) can also participate in the tenders. This procedure is designed to achieve the targets for 2022 (15 gigawatts (GW) of hard coal and lignite each), 2030 (8 GW of hard coal, 9 GW of lignite) and 2038 (zero GW). The possible maximum price per reduced MW decreases from €165,000/MW in 2020 to €89,000/MW in 2027
Structural Strengthening of Coal Regions Act
The end of coal-fired power generation also means the end of coal extraction in Germany. Whereas hard coal production in Germany already ended on December 31, 2018 (see State subsidies and tax concessions) and the remaining hard coal plants are operated with imported coal, lignite-based power plants are operated exclusively with lignite from domestic production. This production will be reduced in accordance with the decommissioning plan set out in the Coal Phase-Out Act and will end by 2038. The Structural Strengthening of the Coal Regions Act6 came into force at the same time as the Coal Phase-out Act to mitigate the consequences of the phase-out of coal-fired power generation and to promote economic growth in the regions affected by the coal phase-out. Until 2038, the lignite regions will receive grants of up to €14 billion for particularly significant investments that support structural changes in the affected Federal States and municipalities. In addition, the German government will support the regions through further measures under its own responsibility with up to €26 billion until 2038, for example by expanding research and funding programmes, expanding transport infrastructure projects or relocating existing or creating new federal institutions in the affected regions.
1 https://www.bgbl.de/xaver/bgbl/start.xav?startbk=Bundesanzeiger_BGBl&start=//*[@attr_id=%27bgbl120s1795.pdf-%27]#__bgbl__%2F%2F*%5B%40attr_id%3D%27bgbl120s1795.pdf%27%5D__1623399086602
2 See core content of the Coal Phase-Out Act https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/DE/Downloads/J-L/kerninhalte-kohleausstiegsgesetz-strukturstaerkungsgesetz.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=8
3 Following the approval under state aid law, there will be an adjustment to the tendering system in the future, which will affect the year 2027. The last tender round in 2027 is to be omitted to ensure a consistently high level of competition in the tenders.
4 There is no publicly available information on the calculation of the compensation amounts.
5 https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/DE/Downloads/M-O/oeffentlich-rechtlicher-vertrag-zur-reduzierung-und-beendigung-der-braunkohleverstromung-entwurf.pdf? blob=publicationFile&v=4
6 https://www.bgbl.de/xaver/bgbl/start.xav?startbk=Bundesanzeiger_BGBl&start=//*[@attr_id=%27bgbl120s1818.pdf%27]#__bgbl__%2F%2F*%5B%40attr_id%3D%27-bgbl120s1818.pdf%27%5D__1618224258343