Environmental zones

The European Union has set itself the goal of reducing air pollutants that are harmful to human health and the environment. To this end, the EU has issued an "Air Quality Framework Directive". The German government has implemented this directive by setting limit values for various pollutants.

Pollutant measurements on road sections in various towns and municipalities in the district of Ludwigsburg have shown that the limit values for the air pollutants particulate matter (PM 10) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) are sometimes exceeded. Measures are therefore required to ensure that these limits are complied with again.

The following environmental zones have been set up in Baden-Württemberg for this purpose:
Balingen (from 1.4.2017), Freiburg, Heidelberg, Heidenheim, Heilbronn (partially lifted on 01.01.2024), Herrenberg, Ilsfeld, Karlsruhe, Leonberg/Hemmingen and surroundings (lifted on 01.01.2024), Ludwigsburg and surroundings, Mannheim, Mühlacker, Pfinztal, Pforzheim, Reutlingen, Schramberg, Schwäbisch Gmünd, Stuttgart, Tübingen, Ulm, Urbach and Wendlingen.

The Stuttgart regional council has also set up environmental zones in the Ludwigsburg district. Only vehicles with a green fine dust sticker are allowed to drive in these zones. Vehicles without a red or yellow sticker are not allowed to drive.

The federal highways are exempt from the driving bans of the environmental zones. This also applies to the A 81 federal highway, which runs through the environmental zones, whereas the driving bans of the environmental zones apply to the federal highways (e.g. B 27 and B 10).

On 01.01.2013, the regional environmental zone "Ludwigsburg and surroundings" was established. This replaced the Ludwigsburg, Markgröningen and Pleidelsheim/ Ingersheim/ Freiberg am Neckar environmental zones that had been in force until then.

On January 1, 2017, this was extended to include the municipal area of Remseck am Neckar and the Kornwestheim-Pattonville district.

The regional environmental zone "Ludwigsburg and surrounding area" now includes the following towns and municipalities

• Asperg
• Bietigheim-Bissingen
• Freiberg am Neckar
• Großingersheim
• Kornwestheim
• Ludwigsburg
• Markgröningen
• Möglingen
• Pleidelsheim
• Remseck on the Neckar
• Tamm

The environmental zone in the Leonberg / Hemmingen and surrounding area was lifted on 01.01.2024. Specifically, this involves the abolition of the following measure:
"Year-round driving ban for motor vehicles of pollutant groups 1, 2 and 3 in accordance with the labeling ordinance, i.e. motor vehicles with a green sticker free", defined in the Heidenheim (2011), Heilbronn (2011), Herrenberg (2012), Leonberg (2011) and Hemmingen (2013) sub-plans as measure M1.
The year-round ban on trucks (from 3.5 t, delivery traffic free) in the core town of Leonberg as well as in the districts of Höfingen, Gebersheim and in the core town of Ditzingen including the district of Hirschlanden, which was established as measure M1 in the Leonberg sub-plan in 2011, remains in place.

Update 2023 on the abolition of the environmental zones / sub-plans
(as of November 2023)

Who is allowed to drive in the low emission zone is regulated by the "Ordinance on the identification of motor vehicles with a low contribution to pollution" (§ 35 BImSchV). This divides vehicles into four pollutant groups. Vehicles in pollutant group 1 do not receive a sticker, vehicles in pollutant group 2 receive a red sticker, vehicles in pollutant group 3 receive a yellow sticker and vehicles in pollutant group 4 receive a green sticker.

You can find out which pollutant group your vehicle is assigned to on the website of the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Transport "Environmental zones in Baden-Württemberg".

You can obtain fine particle stickers from the registration authorities, from recognized exhaust emission test workshops and from technical inspection organizations such as TÜV, DEKRA and GTÜ.

You can also order the fine particle stick er online from us.

Vehicles of pollutant groups 1-3 (no, red or yellow sticker) may not be driven in the environmental zones of Baden-Württemberg. Vehicles in pollutant group 4 (green sticker) may drive in all environmental zones.

1. exemptions by law:

The legislator has exempted the following vehicles from the driving ban. These vehicles may also be used in the low emission zone without a fine dust sticker or with a fine dust sticker that is no longer valid:

• mobile machinery and equipment,
• work machines,
• agricultural and forestry tractors,
• two- and three-wheeled motor vehicles,
• Ambulances, doctors' vehicles with the corresponding "emergency doctor" marking (in accordance with Section 52 (6) of the Road Traffic Licensing Regulations)
• Motor vehicles driven or driven by persons who are exceptionally disabled, helpless or blind and can prove this by the entries "aG", "H" or "Bl" in the severely disabled person's pass,
• Vehicles for which special rights can be claimed in accordance with Section 35 of the Road Traffic Regulations,
• Vehicles belonging to non-German troops from states not party to the North Atlantic Treaty that are in Germany as part of military cooperation, provided they are used for journeys for urgent military reasons,
• civilian motor vehicles used on behalf of the Bundeswehr, insofar as they are used for journeys that cannot be postponed in order to fulfill the Bundeswehr's official duties,
• classic cars (pursuant to Section 2 No. 22 of the Vehicle Registration Ordinance - FZV -) bearing a license plate pursuant to Section 9 (1) or Section 17 of the Vehicle Registration Ordinance, as well as vehicles registered in another member state of the European Union, another contracting party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or Turkey, if they meet equivalent requirements.
• Foreign classic cars can prove the date of first registration with the vehicle documents.

In addition, according to Annex 2 to Section 41 (1) StVO, No. 44.3, motor vehicles for the transportation of severely disabled persons with exceptional walking disabilities, bilateral amelia or phocomelia or with comparable functional impairments as well as blind persons are exempt from the ban on road use. Proof of this must be provided by means of the EU-standard blue parking permit.

In addition, vehicles can only be driven in the environmental zones for test, trial and transfer drives with short-term license plates, with red license plates or with export license plates. This is regulated in the general decree for the regional environmental zones "Ludwigsburg and surroundings" (see box above right).

In individual cases, exceptions may be granted on request for journeys to and from certain facilities that are necessary in the public interest or to safeguard overriding and urgent individual interests, in particular for

• journeys to supply the population with essential goods or services
• journeys by special vehicles with high purchase or conversion costs and low mileage in the environmental zones
• Necessary regular visits to the doctor (e.g. dialysis patients, etc.)
• Severely disabled persons who are unable to walk and can prove this with the "G" mark on their severely disabled person's pass or persons with an orange parking permit for special groups of severely disabled persons
• shift workers who are unable to use public transport
• the maintenance of manufacturing and production processes such as
  • the supply and disposal of construction sites
  • Delivering goods to production plants and shipping goods from production, including factory transport, if alternatives are not available

Exemption decisions generally apply to all environmental zones in Baden-Württemberg if the purpose of the journey is the same, except for the city of Stuttgart (where more extensive driving bans apply). Certain special regulations apply for journeys in the Balingen environmental zone or for journeys in the Remseck a.N. municipal area and in the Kornwestheim-Pattonville district as part of the Ludwigsburg regional environmental zone and surrounding area.

a) Vehicle cannot be retrofitted.

You can find out whether retrofitting is possible for your vehicle, e.g. via the databases of TÜV/Dekra, Gesellschaft für technische Überwachung GmbH - GTÜ.

If your vehicle cannot be retrofitted, this must be certified by a test engineer or a test organization (e.g. TÜV, DEKRA, GTÜ,...). A certificate from a workshop or vehicle manufacturer is not sufficient.

Retrofitting is also reasonable if the costs are higher than the current value of the vehicle.

Please contact the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control for information on funding opportunities for retrofitting particle reduction systems in diesel vehicles.

b) No other suitable vehicle or means of public transport can be used

c) An exemption can only be granted for a vehicle with a yellow sticker if the vehicle was registered to the current owner before 01.01.2010. In the municipal area of Remseck a.N. and the district of Kornwestheim-Pattonville as part of the regional environmental zone of Ludwigsburg and the surrounding area, the cut-off date for this is 1.1.2017.

d) Procurement of a replacement vehicle is not economically reasonable

• For private individuals , this is the case if the monthly net income does not exceed certain limits.
• In the case of tradespeople , a statement from a tax advisor or auditor must prove that the procurement of another vehicle that can drive in the low emission zone would jeopardize their livelihood.

e) Special regulation for motorhomes

Motorhomes registered in an environmental zone may be granted an exemption for the start and end of vacation trips if retrofitting is not technically possible and a test engineer or technical inspection organization certifies this.

Note: In the areas added to the low emission zone on January 1, 2017, there are special regulations for vehicle fleets (with at least four trucks or coaches).

For infrequent journeys in the low emission zone, e.g. with a motorhome, we charge a fee of €30. This exception is also valid for one year.

The application must be submitted to the Ludwigsburg District Office, Building and Immission Control Department, Gänsfußallee 8, 71636 Ludwigsburg.

Please use the application form in the box on the right and enclose the following documents:

• Copy of the vehicle registration certificate or registration certificate part I
• Certificate of non-retrofittability from a test engineer or a monitoring organization
• For traders, a declaration from the tax consultant or auditor
• For private individuals, an income tax assessment notice or a payslip
• any evidence required in individual cases (e.g. certificate from the treating doctor or employer)

Ludwigsburg District Office

Building and Immission Control Department
Gänsfußallee 8
71636 Ludwigsburg

Immission control