Water withdrawal fee

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As water abstraction charges or water extraction tax , colloquially water cents or earlier Wasserpfennig , refers to the in some German states, according to state water laws for the extraction of groundwater and surface water collected fee . Are terms also water usage fee , water withdrawal fee , water abstraction levy and water rate , water control or release .

Among other things, the money will be used to compensate farmers for handling fertilizers responsibly and thus protecting the groundwater from contamination.

The basis is the EU Water Framework Directive : In accordance with the polluter pays principle , costs for water services including environmental and resource-related costs must be paid ( external costs ). The water fee is therefore an incentive tax . It is also a possible example of the confirmation of the double dividend hypothesis within an ecological tax reform .

In 2008, the federal states of Baden-Württemberg , Berlin , Bremen , Brandenburg , Hamburg , Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , Lower Saxony , North Rhine-Westphalia , Saarland , Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein levied a water abstraction fee. Saxony-Anhalt followed from 2012, Rhineland-Palatinate from January 2013.

Federal states

Baden-Württemberg

The Water Act (WG) originally came into force on January 20, 2005. It was changed on July 28, 2010 (effective January 1, 2011). The following fee ( water penny ) must be paid for the abstraction of groundwater and surface water :

  • For the use of water from surface waters or groundwater for the public water supply: 0.081 euros, from 1 January 2019 0.10 euros per cubic meter,
  • For the use of groundwater: 5.1 cents per cubic meter,
  • For the use of water from surface waters: 1 cent per cubic meter, from January 1, 2019 1.5 cents per cubic meter.

As an eco-discount (tariff reduction) for energy suppliers and other companies, the CDU / FDP government reduced the water abstraction fee by an eco-bonus of 25% for companies that make ecological investments , such as fish ladders , renaturation of the bank strips or lowering the temperature in July 2010 the reintroduction of cooling water, also when using environmental management systems according to EMAS or ISO 14001 with the economical use of water in the extraction of stones and earth and in the construction industry. With this economic steering instrument Eco-Bonus should be given to the producers. In return, exemptions for the exemption from the water abstraction fee have been deleted, thus creating legal certainty.

In a reconciliation of interests, according to Environment Minister Tanja Gönner , the clearly defined reduction of the Ökobonus “legal proceedings with an amount in dispute of around € 400 million” could be avoided. In addition to the reduction in bureaucracy , this also resulted in a waiver of income of 11 million euros. The Greens could not prevail in 2010 with a simultaneous doubling of this tax on water for cooling purposes from 1 cent to 2 cents per cubic meter.

Hesse

The groundwater levy introduced by the red-green state government expired at the end of 2003 during the time of the CDU state government in Koch. The reintroduction of a water cent will be discussed in early 2013.

North Rhine-Westphalia

The Landtag NRW has on 22 January 2004 Law on the imposition of a fee for the extraction of water from bodies of water (water abstraction charges law - WasEG) decided. It came into force on February 1, 2004 (Budget Accompanying Act 2004/2005 to relieve the budget).

The water abstraction fee is charged for the abstraction of water from bodies of water (groundwater and surface waters), provided that this water is used. Various withdrawals are exempt from the obligation to pay a fee (Section 1 (2) WasEG).

The fee is based on the amount of water withdrawn, the standard rate is 5 cents per m³ and is to be paid by the user (person liable to pay the fee). Depending on the type of cooling system, the use of cooling water is charged at a lower rate (from 0.3 cents per m³ for through-flow cooling) (Section 2 (2) WasEG).

The person liable for payment must submit a declaration to the State Environment Agency by March 1 of each year about the amount of water withdrawn in the previous year, the type of use and the documents required to prove this information (Section 3 (2) WasEG). For the respective assessment periods, advance payments must be made by July 1 of each year (Section 6 WasEG).

According to Section 8 (1) WasEG, public water suppliers have the option of an eco-discount: Payments for measures to protect the withdrawn raw water that arise in the assessment year as a result of cooperation with agriculture can be offset against the stipulated water withdrawal fee as an expense. It mentions water protection advice for agricultural businesses and water protection measures . You are also asked to provide information on this in the declaration form. In 2004, it was also decided to use the revenue from the water abstraction fee from 2006 onwards for the expenses arising from the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive , i.e. for environmental protection (Section 9 WasEG). Surpluses flow into the state budget.

In September 2009 the government coalition of the CDU and FDP decided to abolish the water abstraction fee. From January 2010 the tax was initially reduced by ten percentage points annually. It should expire completely at the end of 2018.

In July 2011 the state parliament in North Rhine-Westphalia decided with the votes of the SPD , the Greens and Die Linke , against the votes of the CDU and FDP , to repeal the gradual abolition of the water abstraction fee and at the same time to increase the fees slightly. Since July 30, 2011 the water withdrawal fee has been 4.5 cents per cubic meter. For withdrawals for the purpose of using cooling water, 3.5 cents / m³ are to be paid. If the water is returned to the body of water immediately after the cooling water has been used (flow cooling), the water withdrawal fee is 0.35 cents / m³. The use of the income (Section 9 WasEG) was expanded to include the tasks of remediation and treatment of contaminated sites.

In 2013 the fee was increased to 5.0 cents per m³. The increase is justified with the Living Waters program in the course of the EU Water Framework Directive, as well as the assurance of the quality of the public water supply.

Rhineland-Palatinate

In Rhineland-Palatinate, the State Water Withdrawal Fee Act (LWEntG) came into force on January 1, 2013. The Rhineland-Palatinate LWEntG provides for four different rates of charge:

  • 6.0 cents per m³ for withdrawals from the groundwater
  • 2.4 cents per m³ for withdrawals from surface waters
  • 0.9 cents per m³ for withdrawal to use cooling water (flow cooling) or for extraction / processing of mineral resources (e.g. gravel washing)
  • 0.5 cents per m³ for withdrawals for through-flow cooling when operating highly efficient combined heat and power plants, provided they only use renewable energy sources, natural gas or waste materials (eco-bonus discount).

According to information from the responsible Environment Minister Ulrike Höfken from the Greens , the water abstraction fee will lead to a burden on private households of around 3 euros per person per year. The entire revenue from the water abstraction fee is subject to a statutory purpose : It may - after deduction of the administrative expenses - be used exclusively for sustainable water management within the meaning of the Water Management Act (Section 5 LWEntG).

Saxony

According to Section 91 of the Saxon Water Act of July 12, 2013, the Free State of Saxony levies a water abstraction tax.

Saxony-Anhalt

A water abstraction fee has been payable in Saxony-Anhalt since 2012. For withdrawals for the public water supply, 0.05 € / m³ are to be paid, for other purposes between 0.0025 and 0.07 € / m³.

Thuringia

The first version of the Thuringian Water Act of May 10, 1994 provided for a water withdrawal fee to be levied from January 1, 1996. With one of the first changes to the law, the regulations were deleted from the law, so that the water abstraction fee in Thuringia was not levied for the time being. In the summer of 2012, the Thuringian state government presented a bill according to which a fee of € 0.08 should be provided for every cubic meter of water from 2013. After massive objections, the plans to introduce a water abstraction fee were stopped.

Pros and Cons - Perspectives

According to the Federal Constitutional Court , the water abstraction fee is objectively justified because it represents a benefit levy . Since water, as a scarce natural resource, is a common good, its use gives the individual an advantage over all those who are not allowed to use the good in question, or not to the same extent.

The political enforceability of a tax with a sufficient steering function is controversial. "If the levy is set too low, it has no effect, if it is too high, it can lead to social hardship and distortions of competition". The empirically determined price elasticity would only lead to a decrease in water consumption of 15% with a price increase of 100 percent. The representatives of an eco-social market economy consider the ideal solution to be the extensive redistribution of incentive taxes for services promoting the common good to the economy, for compensatory measures, and a per capita repayment to citizens indirectly burdened by increases (revenue neutrality). In Switzerland, for example, the repayment of which is VOC tax and the CO 2 -Abgabe practiced.

If the income flows directly into the state budget, it can be used for debt servicing or the state financial equalization . In terms of the EU Water Framework Directive, this is not: According to the polluter pays principle "water users are to be appropriately involved in the costs incurred as a result of water abstraction for the maintenance or restoration of typical natural habitats and water ecosystems" (earmarking or partial earmarking).

Further articles

Web links

Wiktionary: Wasserpfennig  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Water withdrawal fees . (PDF; 7 MB) Federal Environment Agency, as of January 2011.
  2. ↑ WFD-Info 19. (PDF; 326 kB) circular of the GRÜNEN LIGA e. V., December 2009, p. 3.
  3. ↑ Water Act for Baden-Württemberg (WG) of January 20, 2005 (Journal of Laws p. 219)
  4. ↑ Water Act (WG) § 17 e , amended version effective from January 1, 2011. Baden-Württemberg state law.
  5. ↑ Water Act for Baden-Württemberg (WG) § 104 , version valid from January 1, 2015. Landesrecht BW Bürgerservice.
  6. ↑ a b Environment Committee of the State Parliament approves the new regulation of the "Wasserpfennig" . State Parliament of Baden-Württemberg, July 22, 2010, accessed January 2, 2013.
  7. ↑ Water Act § 17 g (eco bonus) , valid from January 1, 2011 Baden-Württemberg state law
  8. ↑ Water Act § 17 f (Environmental Management Systems ISO 14001) , valid from January 1, 2011 Baden-Württemberg state law
  9. ^ Arnold Rieger: Land gives eco-discount on water penny . In: Stuttgarter Nachrichten , February 1, 2010.
  10. ↑ Environment Committee of the State Parliament approves the new regulation of the "Wasserpfennig" ( Memento from February 17, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
  11. ^ Minutes: Debate and decision on Wasserpfennig . ( Memento from August 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 1.2 MB) Baden-Württemberg State Parliament, July 28, 2010, pp. 6694–6696.
  12. ↑ GREEN: An environmental protection program for Hessen , January 11, 2013 .
  13. ^ FDP parliamentary group Hessen on the water cent: New dimension of green paternalistic policy reached , January 11, 2013 ( Memento from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  14. ↑ a b NRW: Law on the collection of a fee for the abstraction of water from bodies of water (Water Removal Fee Act - WasEG), January 27, 2004 , Law and Ordinance Gazette (GV.NRW.) Edition 2004, No. 3 of January 30, 2004 , Pp. 29-40.
  15. ↑ Law to abolish the water abstraction fee in NRW. ( Memento from June 26, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 39 kB) 2009.
  16. ↑ Law amending the Water Withdrawal Fee Act in North Rhine-Westphalia, July 25, 2011 .
  17. ↑ State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia , law amending the Water Withdrawal Fee Act of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia , December 12, 2012 ( Memento of February 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  18. ↑ Law amending the Water Withdrawal Fee Act of North Rhine-Westphalia in North Rhine-Westphalia , March 21, 2013 .
  19. ↑ Rhineland-Palatinate: Water abstraction fee ( Memento from December 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  20. ↑ Ordinance on the collection of a fee for the abstraction of water from bodies of water for the State of Saxony-Anhalt (Water Removal Fee Ordinance for the State of Saxony-Anhalt - WasEE-VO LSA) of December 22, 2011, GVBl. LSA 2011, page 889
  21. ↑ State administration office: Water abstraction fee in Saxony-Anhalt ( Memento from March 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), as of October 2014.
  22. ↑ Sections 31-36 Thuringian Water Act of May 10, 1994 (GVBl. P. 445)
  23. ^ Third law amending the Thuringian Water Act of February 24, 1995, GVBl. P. 234.
  24. ↑ Without warning: Thuringia is planning a water withdrawal tax . tlz.de, accessed on August 3, 2012.
  25. ↑ For the time being no water abstraction fee in Thuringia , accessed on February 8, 2013.