Compensatory Application Provisions of Plant Protection Products to Protect Biodiversity

For the protection of biodiversity, the German Federal Environmental Agency (UBA) pursues the goal of establishing compensation areas to balance unavoidable indirect effects on nature and the environment caused by the application of plant protection products. Whether there is a legal basis for this within either European Union or national law is one of the most debated and pressing issues currently in the authorisation procedure for plant protection products in Germany. The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive legal assessment of whether it is legally permissible to make plant protection product authorisations contingent to compensatory application provisions to protect biodiversity.

A COMPUTERIZED INFORMATION SYSTEM ON CRUDE OILS

ABSTRACT In cooperation with the German Federal Environmental Agency, a one-year investigation was made by the Institute for Water Research in Dortmund to collect physical and ecological information on 200 crude oil species. Data of primary interest were the composition of crude oils, the boiling points of their refinery fractions, their pour points, densities, viscosities, surface tensions, and flammabilities, and the dependence of these parameters on temperature and weathering. Biodegradability data and specification of cleanup methods for the different types of crude oils give efficient support to oil spill emergency authorities. For fast and easy retrieval, data are stored in an IBM 4341/3031 computer as a substructure of the already operational “Databank on Harmful Substances,” which is an information system on physical, chemical, and ecological properties of 20,000 chemicals, developed in cooperation with the German Federal Environmental Agency.