Immission Control Act
Immission Control Act refers to the German Federal Immission Control Act [Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetz BImSchG]. Both terms are short designations for the Act on the Prevention of Harmful Effects on the Environment Caused by Air Pollution, Noise, Vibrations and Similar Phenomena [Gesetz zum Schutz vor schädlichen Umwelteinwirkungen durch Luftverunreinigungen, Geräusche, Erschütterungen und ähnliche Vorgänge].
It is part of the environmental protection legislation which is intended to protect people, animals, plants and real assets in Germany from harmful environmental effects, hazards, considerable disadvantages and sources of inconvenience as well as to prevent harmful environmental effects from occurring in the first place.
As a result, owners/operators of plant and machinery are required to ensure that members of the general public are not affected by any harmful environmental effects and do not suffer considerable disadvantages or inconvenience. The benchmark for the precautions taken to prevent harmful environmental effects is the current tried-and-tested state of the art.
In the context of centrifugal pump engineering, the Immission Control Act regulates the emission of harmful noise and vibrations as well as issues relating to the permissible rise in temperature of natural water bodies (e.g. that associated with cooling water supply for power stations).
