InternalThe precondition for the construction of a complex facility like the XFEL is the successful conclusion of a public plan-approval procedure (Planfeststellungsverfahren). The official approval resolution for the European XFEL was enacted on 20 July 2006.
A state treaty concluded by the federal states of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, which came into force as a law on 1 January 2005 stipulates that a public planning approval procedure has to be carried out for the construction and operation of the European XFEL, under the direction of the corresponding authority for mining, energy and geology in Clausthal-Zellerfeld. This approval procedure comprises all the necessary permissions required for the construction and operation of the facility.
The DESY research centre initiated the approval procedure for the European XFEL on 27 April 2005, and handed over 10 files containing a total of 1410 pages, including 85 plans, detailed descriptions of the construction and operation of the facility, the environmental impact study, several experts’ reports etc., to the authority in Clausthal-Zellerfeld. The official approval statement was then enacted on 20 July 2006.
The public planning approval procedure is an official authorization process specially designed for new large-scale projects, which includes the public in a specific way. It is employed for projects that have complex and intricate effects on man and the environment, and has to be applied for by the initiator of the project (i.e. DESY in this case). Typical examples are the construction of freeways, railroad lines, airports or the construction and operation of garbage combustion plants. The procedure is concluded by an official approval resolution issued by the corresponding authority. The great advantage is that this resolution replaces all the individual permissions that would otherwise be necessary.
The goal of the public planning approval procedure is to bring together all the interests of the people concerned: All the citizens affected by the construction project and all the representatives of public interests (local authorities and departments, nature conservation and other associations, public utilities etc.) are given the opportunity to express their concerns. For that, the whole planning documents are announced to the persons involved and made accessible to the public for one month. During that time and until two weeks later, the persons concerned can submit their statements and objections. Public announcements, for instance in daily newspapers, inform about these deadlines.
The public planning approval authority then examines all the objections and statements, and prepares a discussion hearing in which the arguments of the persons involved are negotiated verbally in presence of the applicant. After these negotiations, which for large projects can take up to several days, the approval authority decides how to proceed with each objection, considering the various interests, and eventually comes to a final resolution. This can stipulate conditions or changes to the proposed project. The official approval resolution is then published and made accessible to the public for two weeks. Legal action against it can be taken before the administrative courts, should someone feel his own rights infringed by the resolution.
