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Operators of installations that fall under the scope of the 42nd BImSchV use the KaVKA-42.BV application to notify the competent authorities of these installations, report any exceedances of action values and communicate the results of inspections of proper installation operation.

On July 19, 2017, the Ordinance on Evaporative Cooling Systems, Cooling Towers and Wet Separators (42nd Ordinance on the Implementation of the Federal Immission Control Act - 42nd BImSchV) was promulgated in the Federal Law Gazette (BGBl. 2017, Part I, p. 2379).

Under certain conditions, evaporative cooling systems, cooling towers and wet separators can emit water droplets (aerosols) containing legionella, which can lead to severe pneumonia or even death if inhaled by humans.

Legionella are naturally occurring water bacteria that enter technical water systems from the environment in low concentrations. Under favorable conditions, they can multiply rapidly in these systems. If aerosols can escape from these systems into the ambient air, there is a risk that legionella can be carried into the outside air and thus pose a health risk in the vicinity of these technical systems.

Against the background of several outbreaks of legionellosis from technical water systems in Germany in previous years, the 42nd BImSchV 2017 was adopted as a nationwide ordinance to regulate the application of the state of the art and directly applicable technical and organizational obligations in the construction and operation of evaporative cooling systems, cooling towers and wet separators.

The regulation focuses on the monitoring of systems and documentation as part of operator responsibility. If increased legionella findings are detected by the operator during self-monitoring, these must be reported to the competent authority so that preventive measures can be taken at an early stage.

Notification of existing and new systems to the competent authority is planned in order to enable the creation of a system register. In the event of another outbreak of legionella, this register will be used to determine the cause and speed up research into possible sources of spread so that further infections can be prevented as quickly as possible.

To support operators of systems that fall under the scope of the 42nd BImSchV, the federal states have been providing the "KaVKA-42.BV" software available at the web address: https://kavka.bund.de since 19.07.2018.

The notification obligation in accordance with Section 13 of the 42nd BImSchV came into force on 19.07.2018. Existing installations had to be notified to the competent authority by 19.08.2018 at the latest. Further deadlines for the notification of a new installation, the modification or decommissioning of an installation and a change of operator are set out in Section 13 of the 42nd BImSchV.

To notify an installation, registration in the KaVKA-42.BV system is first required. After successful registration, the master data of the workplace (the location of the installation) and the installation can be recorded and the notification can be sent to the competent authority.

The 42nd BImSchV also obliges operators to carry out recurring laboratory tests of the process water (§§ 4 and 7). If a laboratory test for the Legionella parameter reveals that the action value has been exceeded, the competent authority must be informed (§ 10). This notification of an exceedance of the action value is also made electronically via the web application KaVKA-42.BV.

Operators must also arrange for a publicly appointed and sworn expert or an accredited type A inspection body to inspect the proper operation of the installation regularly every five years. In accordance with Section 14 (2) of the 42nd BImSchV, the operator must instruct the expert or inspection body to report the results of the inspections simultaneously to the operator and the competent authority within four weeks of completion of the inspection. This obligation is fulfilled if the results of the inspection by the expert or inspection body are uploaded electronically to the KaVKA-42.BV web application.

• You must be the operator of one or more installations that fall under the scope of the 42nd BImSchV.

There are no costs.

• Register for recording evaporative cooling systems, cooling towers and wet separators in accordance with the 42nd BImSchV
• Plant operators should use it to inform the responsible authorities
  • Notifications in accordance with § 13,
  • notifications in accordance with § 10 and
  • notifications in accordance with § 14 of the 42nd BImSchV electronically.
• The competent authorities should thereby
  • be quickly informed of any exceedances of the action values in order to be able to take prompt emergency measures, and
  • be supported in the event of legionella outbreaks in quickly identifying the source/causes.
• Registration and login are done online
• Responsible in Saarland: State Office for Environmental Protection and Occupational Safety

Responsible in Saarland: State Office for Environmental Protection and Occupational Safety

Forms available: No

Written form required: No

Informal application possible: No

Personal appearance necessary: No

Online services available: Yes