In Baden-Württemberg, there are a few, mostly buried pipelines in which liquid and gaseous substances are transported. These include large supra-regional pipelines of the chemical industry, the mineral oil industry and the gas industry as well as cross-plant pipelines between industrial sites.
The approval and monitoring of pipelines is the responsibility of the regional councils. The legal basis is the Environmental Impact Assessment Act and the Federal Pipeline Ordinance. The technical requirements are derived from the Technical Rules for Pipelines, which are developed by the Committee for Pipelines (AfR).
Pipelines must be subjected to regular safety inspections by inspection bodies. An inspection body is any expert organisation or any inspection body approved under other legal provisions that has been recognised on application as an inspection body for pipeline systems.