The legal base for land-use planning are the "Baugesetzbuch" and in the "Baunutzungsverordnung", both texts federal law. The goal of land-use planning (the "Bauleitplanung") is to organize the use of land, ie. of parcels and lots. It consists of the preparatory zoning plan ("Flächennutzungsplan") and of the legally binding land-use plan ("Bebauungsplan"). It is the local authority's responsability to devise those plans, as defined by the german Basic Law, the Grundgesetz. Formal procedures exist to create, modify and abolish land-use plans. The Baugesetzbuch formalises those proceedings, but they may differ from Land to Land, depending on how the state regulates the enactment of statutes. The procedure is basically the same for the zoning plan and for the land-use plan. The zoning plan, however, must always be approved by the higher ranking administration unit, the Bezirksregierung.