Bavarian State Office for the Environment

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Bavarian State Office for the Environment (LfU)

Coat of arms of Bavaria.svg
State level Bavarian State Authority
position Environment Agency
Supervisory authority Bavarian State Ministry for the Environment and Consumer Protection
founding August 1, 2005
Headquarters augsburg
Authority management Claus Kumutat
Servants > 800
Web presence www.lfu.bayern.de

The Bavarian State Office for the Environment ( LfU ) is a state authority in the division of the Bavarian State Ministry for the Environment and Consumer Protection with its headquarters in Augsburg .

Emergence

The Bavarian State Office for the Environment emerged from the three former state offices for geology , environmental protection and water management as well as parts of the state office for occupational safety, occupational medicine and safety technology and began its work in its current form on August 1, 2005. Today the authority employs more than 800 people in eight offices. Many professional groups are represented, such as scientists, engineers, technicians, laboratory and administrative staff.

The origins of the Bavarian Geological State Office lie in the Royal Upper Mining Office, founded in 1879 and headed by Carl Wilhelm von Gümbel . After the First World War , it was renamed Geological State Survey and, like the other geological state offices in the German Reich, was incorporated into the Reich Office for Soil Research in 1939. In World War II , most of the library burned. After the Second World War there was again a Bavarian Upper Mining Office for a short time until the Bavarian State Geological Office was founded in 1948. It was on Prinzregentenstrasse and, from 1984, on Heßstrasse. The State Office for Environmental Protection as one of the predecessor institutions was founded in 1972, among other things due to the occurrence of new forest diseases.

Tasks and organization

The task of the State Office for the Environment is to collect and evaluate environmentally relevant data that provide information about the current and future state of the Bavarian environment. From the results obtained, the office and its various departments then develop strategies and goals for sustainable protection of the environment. The LfU acts as both a supervisory and a licensing authority and also prepares expert opinions and statements on inquiries from other authorities, public institutions or institutes. The office also advises independent companies and organizations and organizes congresses and specialist conferences. The LfU is organized into ten specialist departments as well as one department for central tasks and services. The LfU publishes an activity report every two years.

Main topics

The LfU collects and evaluates data on the state of the environment and acts as the central specialist authority for environmental and nature conservation, water management and geology in Bavaria.

waste

After waste avoidance (including reuse), recycling of waste - keywords circular economy, resource efficiency - is the most important principle of waste management. The LfU contributes to maintaining the state of the art in the prevention, recovery, treatment and disposal of waste.

Contaminated sites

The dangerousness of many chemicals was not previously known. The soil and, in some cases, the groundwater at former industrial and military facilities and under old landfills can therefore be contaminated. The LfU supports the recording and processing of all suspected areas and creates the technical specifications for their exploration, assessment and remediation.

Analytics / substances

We can no longer imagine our lives without them: plastics, pharmaceuticals, fertilizers, pesticides, cleaning agents, preservatives and solvents. Many of these substances and their breakdown products damage the environment. In order to avert dangers, the LfU measures what and how much pollutants enter the environment, whether and where they accumulate and how they work there.

ground

Soil forms our livelihood in several ways. The LfU develops concepts for sustainable and environmentally friendly land use through research, monitoring and mapping of Bavarian soils.

energy

Reducing energy requirements, increasing energy efficiency and using renewable energies - these are decisive steps in the restructuring of our energy system in view of climate change. The Ökoenergie-Institut-Bayern (ÖIB) in the LfU is developing energy guidelines, making energy-efficient technologies known and exploring Bavaria's geothermal resources. It is always important to ensure that the use of renewable energies is compatible with other environmental protection goals. With the Energy Atlas Bavaria, the ÖIB offers all those interested a wide range of information on renewable energies in Bavaria.

geology

The soil on which we live, with its raw materials and properties, is the foundation of our existence. The geologists at the LfU explore Bavaria's subsurface so that natural resources and groundwater can be used over the long term, geohazards can be identified early on and buildings can be built economically. Together with the Geophysics Section of the Department of Geo- and Environmental Sciences at the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, the LfU operates the Bavaria Seismological Service.

climate

Protecting the atmosphere from further increases in greenhouse gas concentrations and adapting to the consequences of climate change are among the greatest challenges that humanity is facing in the 21st century. In research associations (e.g. KLIWA), the LfU develops scenarios for climatic development in the Bavarian regions and their effects (e.g. on water management and drinking water supply) and contributes to the creation of adaptation strategies.

noise

More than two thirds of the population feel annoyed by traffic noise. Noise is therefore the most strongly perceived environmental pollution. The sources are diverse: road, rail and air traffic, parking lots, industrial and leisure facilities. The LfU assesses noise pollution and suggests measures to reduce noise.

air

Industry, road traffic and households pollute our air with pollutants. High concentrations of it can damage people, animals, plants and materials. How high any pollution is, where it comes from and how it can be minimized, are questions that the LfU is investigating. The LfU has been operating the Bavarian Air Hygiene Monitoring System (LÜB) since 1974 with over 50 measuring stations across the country.

nature

Plants, mushrooms, animals, landscapes - of great diversity and sometimes fascinating beauty, they make our lives possible and give us quality of life. The extinction of species is one of the greatest challenges in environmental protection. The LfU collects data on distribution and existence and develops concepts for species protection measures and a forward-looking, environmentally compatible use of nature and landscape.

radiation

Everyone is exposed to a certain amount of radiation. Part of it comes from natural sources - space and earth's crust. There are also artificial sources of radiation, for example X-ray examinations, the use of radioactive substances in medicine and technology, mobile communications and power lines. The LfU monitors various radiation sources and types of radiation to protect the population and informs the population about them.

water

Rivers and lakes are living space, food and energy sources and serve as transport routes. In the event of flooding, waters can also pose a threat to people. The threads for monitoring water quality, water levels and water protection come together in the LfU. With the flood news service Bavaria , low water information service (NID) and the avalanche warning service , the LfU provides information about the current situation.

Locations

The State Office for the Environment has its headquarters in Augsburg, not far from the university. Further offices are located in Hof , Kulmbach ( Steinenhausen Castle ), Marktredwitz and Wielenbach . The authority also operates the state bird sanctuary in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and, since 2014, the Bionicum in Nuremberg Zoo, an information and visitor center on bionics . The LfU has been participating in the European community system for environmental management and environmental auditing (EMAS) since 2002.

Augsburg office

The location of the LfU main office in Augsburg is on the southern edge of the old airport in Augsburg's university district on Bürgermeister-Ulrich-Straße. The building, designed in modern glass architecture with a green roof, was inaugurated in autumn 1999 after two and a half years of construction. With an investment of around 144 million marks, the aim was to create a resource-saving environmental center that should serve as a role model with regard to its environmentally friendly construction. However, due to incorrect calculations regarding the energy requirement, the energy-saving building concept was not successful in all respects. In 2001, the Supreme Audit Office even reprimanded the building project as being an “energy thrower”. The concept of climate-neutral heating was finally abandoned and a connection to the district heating network of the municipal utilities was established.

With the intention of merging the laboratories operated at different locations in Augsburg, plans for an extension were put forward in 2009. This project came under fire because biotope areas south of the existing building wing were to be sacrificed for the new laboratory building, which were newly laid out in the course of the establishment of the office in 1999. After long negotiations, the biotope was relocated with a compensation factor of 1: 5 to a nearby compensation area (former runway) and finally the construction of the laboratory wing began. The project, which cost around 16.3 million euros, was officially inaugurated in spring 2013 after several years of construction.

Most of the outdoor facilities at the Augsburg site have existed since 1999 and were planned as a model for the design of near-natural outdoor facilities on public buildings. From 2009 to 2012 they were expanded and supplemented by nature conservation law compensation areas. Their total area is approx. 64,000 m 2 (including green roofs). In the Augsburg office on the Bürgermeister-Ulrich-Straße, the specialist topics of cross-media environmental protection, air, noise, plant safety, waste management, radiation protection, nature conservation, landscape development, water protection, central laboratory with laboratory control center for the environment, flood protection and natural alpine hazards are dealt with. In a branch at Haunstetter Straße 112, the specialist topics hydraulic engineering, geology and soil south, deep geothermal energy, geophysics and geohazards are located.

Office yard

In 2006 the second largest LfU office with the seat of the Vice President was established in the premises of the former Schmidt Bank in Hof. In Hans-Högn-Straße 12, the specialist topics of groundwater protection, water supply, water quality, area hydrology, contaminated sites, geology, economic geology, hydrogeology, near-surface geothermal energy, soil protection, climate, wildlife management and landscape conservation are dealt with. In the branch at St.-Lukas-Weg 25, the specialist topics economic geology, raw material analysis, drill core archive, rock collection are located.

Kulmbach office

The LfU Kulmbach office went into operation in 1988. The specialist topics waste monitoring, air quality measurement in Northern Bavaria, radiation protection in Northern Bavaria and radiotoxicology are dealt with here. The office is located in the listed Steinenhausen Castle with its natural outdoor facilities.

Marktredwitz office

The LfU office in Marktredwitz has been located in the Kßeine shopping center since 1999. After the remediation of contaminated sites, the shopping center was built on the site of a former chemical factory. In the LfU office in Marktredwitz, the specialist topics soil and rock analysis are processed.

Wielenbach office

The Wielenbach office goes back to 1912, when it was founded as the “Royal Bavarian Pond Farming Experimental Station”. There are 145 fish ponds in the outdoor area. The department deals with the specialist topics of water ecology, limnology, aquatic toxicology and the assessment of substances and chemicals.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen office

The state bird protection station is located in the LfU office in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. She has been part of the environmental department since 1995. The main tasks are in the areas of monitoring, avifaunistics, species protection, conflict management birds, advice and public relations.

Munich office

The avalanche warning service and the geoscientific collection are located in the LfU office in Munich's Heßstrasse.

Nuremberg Office (Bionicum)

With the Bionicum, the LfU created a competence center for bionics. Components are the visitor center in the zoo in Nuremberg, research projects and a cooperation platform between science, business and environmental education.

Publications

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ years of departure. The new LfU
  2. ↑ Jutta Köhler, Joachim Nittka, Michael Außenendorf, Ludwig Peichl: Long-term observation of immission effects - 30 years of bioindication in Bavaria. In: Hazardous substances - cleanliness. Air . 68, No. 6, 2008, ISSN  0949-8036 , pp. 227-234.
  3. ↑ We. Bavarian State Office for the Environment, accessed on March 22, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Bavarian State Office for the Environment: Overview of the units and departments in the LfU. Retrieved March 22, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Reports and Events 2015/2016 - Water, Soil, Air, Nature - Publication Shop of the Bavarian State Government. Retrieved March 22, 2019 .
  6. ↑ waste. Bavarian State Office for the Environment, accessed on March 22, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Contaminated sites. Bavarian State Office for the Environment, accessed on March 22, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Analysis / substances. Bavarian State Office for the Environment, accessed on March 22, 2019 .
  9. ↑ soil. Bavarian State Office for the Environment, accessed on March 22, 2019 .
  10. ↑ energy. Bavarian State Office for the Environment, accessed on March 22, 2019 .
  11. ↑ Geology - Home - LfU Bavaria. Retrieved March 22, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Home - Earthquake in Bavaria. Retrieved March 22, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Climate change, climate protection | KLIWA - Climate Change and Consequences for Water Management. Retrieved March 22, 2019 .
  14. ↑ Climate. Bavarian State Office for the Environment, accessed on March 22, 2019 .
  15. ↑ noise. Bavarian State Office for the Environment, accessed on March 22, 2019 .
  16. ↑ Luft - Homepage - LfU Bayern. Retrieved March 22, 2019 .
  17. ↑ Immission measurements LÜB - LfU Bavaria. Retrieved March 22, 2019 .
  18. ↑ nature. Bavarian State Office for the Environment, accessed on March 22, 2019 .
  19. ↑ radiation. Bavarian State Office for the Environment, accessed on March 22, 2019 .
  20. ^ Avalanche warning service Bavaria: Avalanche situation report. Retrieved March 22, 2019 .
  21. ↑ Water homepage - LfU Bavaria. Retrieved March 22, 2019 .
  22. ↑ Eco-Audit. Bavarian State Office for the Environment, accessed on March 22, 2019 .
  23. ^ BauNetz Media GmbH: Bavarian Environmental Competence - State Office for Environmental Protection inaugurated in Augsburg. November 29, 1999, accessed March 22, 2019 .
  24. ↑ Energy role model in Augsburg - dhz.net. Retrieved March 22, 2019 .
  25. ↑ Controversial construction plans in Augsburg - excavators against ant - Bavaria - Süddeutsche.de , accessed on April 10, 2019
  26. ↑ Design of open spaces in Augsburg. Bavarian State Office for the Environment, accessed on March 22, 2019 .
  27. ↑ State Office for the Environment in Kulmbach - Steinenhausen Castle - publication shop of the Bavarian State Government. Retrieved March 22, 2019 .
  28. ^ LfU in Wielenbach - 100 years of fish, water, environmental research - publication shop of the Bavarian State Government. Retrieved March 22, 2019 .
  29. ↑ bionicum - ideenreich natur - publication shop of the Bavarian State Government. Retrieved March 22, 2019 .