Autobahn A 40 in Essen has to be closed to Euro 5 diesel

Administrative court Gelsenkirchen: Driving bans indispensable

For the first time with the busy A 40 in Essen also a highway of diesel driving bans up to and including the Euro 5 standard affected. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia has so far not implemented sufficient measures to improve air quality, so that the binding limit values ​​for nitrogen dioxide were not met, the Administrative Court of Gelsenkirchen ruled on Thursday, November 15, 201 (ref .: 8 K 5068/15). In another decision, the court also ordered a driving ban on a busy street in Gelsenkirchen (Az .: 8 K 5254/15). Thus, the German environmental aid could gain further judicial success in complaints for clean air.

In the case of Essen, the administrative judges ruled that a so-called "Blue Environmental Zone" had to be set up within the current green environmental zone, covering large parts of the city of Essen, including the Autobahn 40. In this zone, as of July 1, 2019, no Euro 2 and older petrol and diesel vehicles with Euro 4 engines and older are allowed to drive. From 1 September 2019, the diesel ban will also apply to vehicles in the Euro 5 class.

The Deutsche Umwelthilfe had complained that the limit value for harmful nitrogen dioxide in the amount of 40 micrograms per cubic meter is far exceeded. Unlike driving bans, clean air for the affected residents can no longer be achieved.

This was followed by the administrative court. Thus, in 2017, the limit in Essen had not been adhered to nationwide. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia is therefore obliged to update the air quality plan Ruhrgebiet West for the city of Essen by April 1, 2019. The district government was required to order a zonal ban on driving in Essen's urban area along federal motorway 40 and parts of B 224 including these routes, in addition to the air rescue measures planned so far. ".

The driving bans are "indispensable" in the clean air plan to be updated, the court emphasized. Only then could the health of residents, visitors and road users be protected. The district government was also obliged to create a "current stress map" for the entire city of Essen, in order to expand the driving restrictions if necessary.

For the city of Gelsenkirchen, the administrative judges ordered a distance-related driving ban for Kurt-Schumacher-Straße. In 2017, the annual average nitrogen dioxide load was 46 micrograms per cubic meter. Also this distance-related driving ban is "indispensable" for the health protection of the citizens. Above all, it was necessary "to achieve the fastest possible compliance with the mandatory limit of almost nine years," said the Administrative Court. After the verdict, a current stress map must also be drawn up for Gelsenkirchen.

Both judgments may be appealed to the Higher Administrative Court (OVG) of North Rhine-Westphalia in Münster.

The German environmental aid welcomed the judgments. "With the first-time blockage of a federal highway for diesel cars, buses and trucks, a Chancellor Merkel must recognize that she has failed with her policy against health protection and for securing the profit of a fraudulent industry," said Federal Director Jürgen Resch.

Overall, the environmental aid lawsuits for "clean air" in so far 29 cities submitted five more will follow in November 2018.

According to calculations by the European Environment Agency, nitrogen dioxide was already responsible for 13,100 premature deaths in Germany alone in 2015, emphasized the environmental aid. Dirty diesel cars contribute significantly to more than 800,000 new cases of diabetes and asthma every year.

On 8 November 2018, the Administrative Court of Cologne ruled that the cities of Cologne and Bonn also had to introduce driving bans for diesel cars with Euro 5 engines and older Beniners (Ref .: 13 K 6684/15 and 13 K 6682/15; JurAgentur message from the following day).

The Administrative Court (VGH) Baden-Württemberg had also decided on November 9, 2018, that the state of Baden-Württemberg for the city of Stuttgart driving restrictions must immediately fix (Az .: 10 S 1808/18; 10 S 2316/18; JurAgentur message from November 12, 2018).

Other cities such as Mainz, Berlin and Dusseldorf have to adjust to several judicial decisions on driving bans. fle / mwo / fle