Plants & production

These procedures must address the increasingly complex legal and technical requirements for plants and production processes. On the one hand, the increasingly demanding procedural requirements for public participation and environmental impact assessments must be taken into account, also with a view to subsequent challenges to the approval by third parties using environmental law remedies. On the other hand, project-specific aspects of product law must be taken into account. During the operational phase, plants are subject to a wide range of operator obligations and intensive monitoring by the authorities.

We advise on all legal issues related to the construction and operation of business locations and production facilities. We support our clients in administrative proceedings from the preparation of the application to the granting of approval. In doing so, we draw on our specialised expertise in relation to approvals, permits and licences, for example under emission control law, waste law, water law and mining law. During ongoing operations, we advise on operator obligations and in the context of official monitoring measures. We act as litigators with many years of experience in court proceedings.

Access to official information is becoming increasingly important: useful information can be used for operational purposes, and trade and business secrets must be protected. In addition to the general right of access to files under administrative procedure law, there are numerous other provisions governing access to information held by public authorities, such as the Freedom of Information Act and the Federal Environmental Information Act, as well as corresponding regulations of the federal states.

Our clients benefit from our extensive experience in the field of access to official information. We enforce our clients' rights to access information, defend against unjustified requests and ensure that their interests affected by access to information are effectively protected, in particular trade and business secrets.