Waste Law, Energy Law and Water Law

One of the core tasks of the Unit is the assessment of the permissibility of installations from a legal perspective. This includes operational plants, machinery, equipment, devices, pipelines and land on which substances are stored or work is carried out. These projects are examined by legal and technical experts and, if the outcome is positive, approved by the authorities. Other tasks are derived from the Environmental Information Act, for example, or arise on the basis of interventions by the Ombudsman Board.

We anticipate major challenges for the coming years when weighing the promotion of Styria as a business location against spatial planning and nature conservation. Industrial plant law with its extensive activities will make an important contribution here - as it has in the past - to successfully meeting these challenges. When new facilities are built, special attention must be paid to their environmental compatibility, the conservation of land and the aspects of water, energy and waste. Moreover, the balance between the central region that is growing at a fast pace and the other regions of Styria will gain special strategic importance.

The unit comprises three areas:

• Power current line law (plant permits including the establishment of a right of coercion)
• Electricity industry law (approval procedures for power generation plants, control of network disputes, legal issues of distribution grid companies)
• Green power(approval procedure pursuant to the Green Electricity Act)
• Gas and pipeline law(plant permits)

• Water law procedures pursuant to the Water Rights Act 1959 (according to statutory jurisdiction)
• Preparation of regulations and ordinances in this respect
• Handling of shipping matters in accordance with the Navigation Act 1997 --> more
• Role of supervisory authority

Area manager and deputy head of unit:
Mag.a Agnes Schmidhofer, phone extension 

• Approval and/or monitoring of all waste treatment plants (with the exception of publicly accessible recycling centres, collection points for problematic substances/hazardous waste, and/or facilities listed in Sec. 37 para 2 Waste Management Act 2002)
• Granting permits to collect and/or treat waste and/or inspection of all waste collectors and/or waste treatment operators --> more
• Inspection of all original producers of hazardous waste
• Involvement in legislative projects
• Involvement in environmental impact assessment procedures
• Supervision of waste management associations
• Electronic data management

Area manager:
Mag.a Sarah Kastner, phone extension 4420

• Contact Point for Renewable Energy -->  more
• Coordination in environmental matters
• Role of supreme authority
• Legislative processes
• Matters under European law
• Environmental information/Environmental Report
• Animal welfare -->  more

Department 13 Environment and Regional Planning is the supreme authority in terms of legislation governing industrial and operational plants. Department 13 Environment and Regional Planning is also the supreme authority and market surveillance authority with regard to mining law and boiler systems.