The terms "emissions" and "immissions" treated in the previous section are taken from the above-cited Federal Immission Control Act (Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetz) (available in German and English), which also plays a major role in the context of noise abatement, as its purpose is to "protect human beings, animals and plants ... against any harmful effects on the environment and to prevent the emergence of any such effects". This act enshrines both the important polluter pays principle and the principle of precaution. The Federal Immission Control Act is characterized by a wide scope.

It is a federal act implemented by the Länder governments. The Ordinance on the Responsibilities according to the Federal Immission Control Act (Verordnung über Zuständigkeiten nach dem Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetz, BImSchGZuVO) (available in German) of the Land of Baden-Württemberg contains the responsibilities of the different local authorities for the implementation of the Federal Immission Control Act. These responsibilities cover above all the licensing for the construction and operation of installations, their monitoring, the determination of emissions and immissions as well as subsequent orders.

Subsequent orders occur in the context of complaints for example, with the "best available techniques" and the aspect of technical "proportionality" being important standards of assessment. Other important terms within the Federal Immission Control Act are "harmful effects on the environment" (see above) as well as "installations", which are divided into installations "subject to licensing" and "not subject to licensing".

The Ordinance on Installations subject to licensing (Verordnung über genehmigungsbedürftige Anlagen, 4th Federal Immission Control Ordinance) (available in German) with its index of installations subject to licensing plays a significant role in practice.

According to § 3 (5) of the Federal Immission Control Act, installations are:

1. any operating plants and other stationary facilities,

2. any machines, equipment and other non-stationary technical facilities as well as vehicles and craft unless they are subject to the provisions of Article 38 below (i.e. unless they take part in public transport, e.g. forklifts) and

3. any premises used to store or deposit materials or to carry out work likely to cause emissions, with the exception of routes used for public transport.

The definition of the installation term shows that it is not restricted to commercial facilities (operating plants) but also covers the private and domestic domain as well as leisure time, sports and hobby.

Besides the above-mentioned definitions, the following provisions within the Federal Immission Control Act are relevant for noise abatement issues:

The provisions on the construction and operation of installations (§§ 4 to 31a of the Federal Immission Control Act),

the provisions on the nature of installations, substances, products, fuels and lubricants (§§ 32 to 37 of the Federal Immission Control Act),

the provisions on the nature and operation of vehicles and craft, construction of and alterations to roads and rail tracks (§§ 38 to 43 of the Federal Immission Control Act),

the provision on noise abatement plans (§ 47a of the Federal Immission Control Act),

the provision on planning (§ 50 of the Federal Immission Control Act).

The planning principle standardized in § 50 of the Federal Immission Control Act is binding for all planning authorities on the national, federal and municipal level: "In the case of regional planning projects and associated measures, the land earmarked for specific types of use shall be zoned in such a manner that harmful environmental effects ... on areas that are exclusively or predominantly used for residential purposes as well as on any other areas worthy of protection are kept to a minimum."

This provision establishes a close link between pollution control rights and land use planning, an important aspect of municipal noise protection. The new provision on noise abatement plans (§ 47a of the Federal Immission Control Act) also affects municipal concerns, especially as the regulation, according to the Federal Immission Control Act in Baden-Württemberg, assigns the responsibility of drawing up noise abatement plans to the municipalities (see section 6.1).

Technical details on the implementation of the Federal Immission Control Act are laid down in ordinances and administrative regulations. The Federal Immission Control Act contains the following ordinances and administrative regulations on noise issues(all available in German):

"Traffic Noise Ordinance" (Verkehrslärmschutzverordnung, 16th Federal Immission Control Ordinance),
 
"Ordinance on the Prevention of Noise from Sports Facilities" (Sportanlagenlärmschutzverordnung, 18th Federal Immission Control Ordinance),
 
"Ordinance on Road Noise Protection Measures" (Verkehrswege-Schallschutzmaßnahmenverordnung, 24th Federal Immission Control Ordinance)
 
"Ordinance on Equipment Noise Protection" (Geräte- und Maschinenlärmschutzverordnung, 32nd Federal Immission Control Ordinance)
 
Sixth General administrative regulation to the Federal Immission Control Act - TA Lärm
 

The above-mentioned ordinances and provisions show that the complex field of construction noise was refined within the scope of the Federal Immission Control Act. This includes the administrative regulations enacted for the protection from construction noise within the framework of the previous act, whereas the Building Noise Act (Baulärmschutzgesetz) itself was repealed by § 72 No.2 of the Federal Immission Control Act in 1974. Emission limit values for single types of building machines are to be added according to the provisions of the Ordinance on Noise Caused by Building Machines (15th Federal Immission Control Ordinance). Building machines are part of a special category of equipment operated outdoors, which are also listed in the EU directive 2000/14/EC (EU-Richtlinie-2000-14-EG) (available in German and English) on noise emissions for outdoor equipment. The directive gives the maximum noise emissions for 63 types of machines and equipment when placed on the market.

What does not belong to the scope of the Federal Immission Control Act is aircraft noise, which has its own act (see section 3.2).

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