User:Milton Beychok/Sandbox

The Federal Environment Agency of Germany was founded in 1974 and is the central federal authority for environmental matters in Germany. The agency is commonly referred to as the UBA, an acronym for its German language name of Umweltbundesamt.

The UBA is part of Germany's Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and is responsible for protecting the environment as well as human health and well-being from adverse environmental impacts. Its key mandates are:

• To provide scientific support to the: Federal Ministries of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety; Health; Education and Research; and Transport, Building and Urban Affairs.
• Implementation of environmental laws such as emissions trading, authorization (approval) of chemicals, pharmaceuticals and pesticides.
• To provide public information about environmental protection issues.

Organization and staffing

The UBA is headquartered in the city of Dessau and also has offices in the cities of Berlin, Langen, and Bad Elster as well as monitoring stations at seven other locations nationwide. As of 2009, the agency had a total staff of about 1,400 working at 13 locations and an annual budget of about €100,000,000. About 800 of the total staff work in the Dessau headquarters.

The UBA's organization chart is summarized below. The agency is governed by the Office of the President consisting of a President and a Vice-President, assisted by a Council of Environmental Advisors, an Internal Audit and Corruption Prevention Unit, a Press Officer and other functional entities.

As shown in the chart below, there are four operational groups (Division I, II, III and IV), an administrative management and services group (Division Z) and a special group for air pollution emissions trading (Division E). Most of the functions depicted in the chart are located in the headquarters site in Dessau, but some are in Berlin and the other locations (Langen and Bad Elster).

(PD) Drawing: Milton Beychok
Organization chart of the UBA.

Major task areas

The detailed task areas for which the UBA is responsible can be categorized by the four operational Divisions shown in the above organization chart.

Division I: Environmental planning and sustainability strategies

Sustainable strategies and scenarios International environmental protection Environmental law Economic and social environmental issues Environmental reporting

Environment and spatial planning Climate protection Energy strategies and scenarios Renewable energies Energy efficiency

Energy supply and energy data Emissions situation Environment and transport Transport noise abatement Transport pollution abatement

Transport energy saving Industrial noise abatement Protection of the Antarctic

Division II: Environmental health and ecosystems protection

Environment and health aspects Health-related toxicology monitoring Health-related indoor hygiene Microbiological risks Environmental medicine Exposure assessments Water quality and management

Discharges to surface waters Marine environment protection Inland surface waters Water analysis laboratory Soil quality and protection Soil monitoring Soil use and agriculture

Drinking water hygiene Swimming pool hygiene Drinking water treatment Water distribution Water microbiology Water toxicology

Air quality control Air quality assessment Air pollution effects Air quality standards Air quality monitoring

Division III: Sustainable production and waste management

Product-related environmental protection Sustainable consumption Product responsibility Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act Eco-design and environmental labeling Substance-related product issues

Municipal waste management Hazardous wastes Focal point to Basel Convention Cross-sectoral aspects Resource conservation Minerals and metal industry

Chemical industry Energy production Plant safety Waste technology Waste water management Waste monitoring methods

Division IV: Chemical and biological safety

International chemicals management Biocides Plant protection products Health pests and their control Chemical safety information systems

Pharmaceuticals Washing and cleansing chemicals Chemicals Ecotoxicological laboratory Artificial ponds and streams