German Federal Ministry of the Environment (UBA)

Application

The individual scientific groups have to make their requests to UBA independently.

Small changes to the request due to inquiries by UBA are often made by E-mail.

Request form and email exchange have to be taken on board so that in case of doubt clarification of the requested work can be achieved on site.

Permits

The applicant is responsible for the strict compliance of the UBA permit. This does not only refer to the obligations given in the permit but also to the work being conducted "as requested".  This means for instance that the number of requested samples is adhered and only the requested methods and devices are used.

If UBA sends an authorisation of a permit to AWI, it is checked and also the applicant has to check the whole permit not only the obligations.

If there arise problems with the obligations in the permit, the applicants have 1 month for discussing the issue with UBA or to officially object it.

Permits and email exchange have to be taken on board so that in case of doubt clarification of the requested work can be achieved on site.

On board

Permits of the individual groups on board are available to the  chief scientist. This applies to German working groups, which work with an UBA permit, as well as permits of foreign working groups that belong to another ATCM member nation.

AWI and UBA have no control or means of handling of work that is authorised by foreign permits. Legal experts have confirmed that permits of other ATCM member nations have to be accepted and must not be scrutinized except the permits are obviously fake or are against the basic constitutional law .

The permits for cooperational work between german and foreign scientist shoud be obtained in the country that mainly plans and coordinates the work.

In case unforseen changes to the applied works become necessary (e.g. additional samples) , the AWI contact person has to be contacted before the additional work is conducted. The contact person than will inform UBA about the changes and if necessary apply for a modification of the permit. This can usually be performed quick and without problems often in less than 24 hours.