Wastewater levy
The wastewater charge is in Germany a charge for the discharge of waste water into a water . It is collected by the federal states.
Wastewater within the meaning of the Wastewater Tax Act is that which has changed in its properties through domestic, commercial, agricultural or other use and the water that runs off together with it in dry weather (dirty water) as well as the water that runs off and collected from precipitation from the area of built-up or paved areas (rainwater) . Liquids discharged from and collected from facilities for treating, storing and depositing waste are also considered wastewater.
The term wastewater tax is not identical to the term wastewater fee .
The wastewater tax as an environmental steering instrument was introduced through the passing of the wastewater tax law of September 13, 1976. The wastewater tax has been levied since 1981.
Whoever discharges wastewater directly into a body of water or puts it underground is liable to pay the fee. The taxpayers are: municipalities, waste water associations, industrial, commercial and agricultural companies. Discharges from households with less than 8 per cubic meter day wastewater (known Kleineinleiter) are designated by the countries of corporations under public law subject to duty. As a rule, these are the municipalities , which in turn can pass on the wastewater levy to be paid for small dischargers by issuing a corresponding statute .
calculation
The amount of the fee depends on the harmfulness of the discharged wastewater when discharging wastewater. The dirt load is determined for the relevant delivery parameters:
- Chemical oxygen demand (COD)
- Phosphorus (P)
- inorganic nitrogen (N anorg.)
- Organic Halogen Compounds (AOX)
- Metals: mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb) and copper (Cu)
- Toxicity to fish eggs (GEi)
The pollution loads for the delivery parameters are determined from the monitoring values under water law and the annual polluted water volumes, which can usually be found in the discharge permit. Compliance with the monitoring values is monitored by the state environmental agencies. According to a system provided for in the law, excesses lead to an increase in the wastewater tax. The harmfulness is expressed by the measured value "harmful unit" (SE). An SE corresponds roughly to the harmfulness of untreated wastewater from one resident per year (resident equivalent). The lower the harmfulness of a wastewater, the lower the wastewater release. The wastewater tax should therefore encourage people to reduce the harmfulness of the wastewater through preventive measures, namely wastewater treatment (sewage treatment plants), the introduction of low-wastewater or wastewaterless production processes and the introduction of environmentally friendly products.
For small discharges and rainwater from public sewers, the pollutant units are set according to the number of connected residents or, for rainwater from commercial areas, according to the size of the paved area. If certain requirements are met, there is the option of exemption from the tax.
A tax rate must be paid per unit of damage (SE), which has increased from DM 12 in 1981 to DM 70 in 1997. Since the assessment year 2002 the tax rate is 35.79 euros.
As far as municipalities have to pay a wastewater tax for the discharge of wastewater from their drainage facilities into a body of water, they can pass the costs on to the users of the wastewater disposal facility via the wastewater fees.
Earmarking
The revenue from the wastewater tax is earmarked for measures that serve to maintain or improve the water quality.
Individual evidence
- ↑ § 1 of the Waste Water Charges Act - AbwAG-
- ↑ § 2 Paragraph 1 of the Waste Water Tax Act - AbwAG-
- ↑ § 9 Paragraph 1 of the Waste Water Tax Act - AbwAG-
- ↑ § 9 Paragraph 2 of the Waste Water Tax Act - AbwAG-
- ↑ § 3 Paragraph 1 i. V. m. Annex to Section 3 of the Waste Water Tax Act
- ↑ § 7 of the Waste Water Charges Act - AbwAG-
- ↑ § 9 Paragraph 4 of the Waste Water Tax Act - AbwAG-
- ↑ Local tax laws of the individual countries
- ↑ § 13 of the Waste Water Charges Act - AbwAG-