Installations classified as environmental protection (ICPE)

To determine if a project is a PCI, consult the nomenclature PCIs.

If the risk to the environment is lower, the installation shall be subject to declaration.

The registration system differs from the authorization system in that the requirements for installations are standardized.

If the project is covered by an authorization (A), registration (E), declaration (D and DC), declaration (D) scheme, it is a PCI. This classification also determines whether installations are affected by major accident hazards (Seveso high or low threshold) or by the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).

A PCI is operated or owned by a natural or legal person, public or private. For example, a plant, a Seveso plant, a quarry, a waste storage facility, a onshore wind farm, etc.

PCI can also be an Iota.

Schemes A, E, DC and D identify the applicable procedures for obtaining permits to operate the installations and the texts to be complied with.

The inspection of classified installations shall be competent for the instruction and control of such installations.

Below the threshold of the declaration, the installation is said to Non-Classified (CN) and is subject to the mayor's police: the departmental health regulations apply.

Depending on the different schemes identified for the project, different procedures may apply:

• If the project is subject to authorization for at least one heading, the environmental authorization procedure shall apply.
• If the project is not subject to environmental authorization, the PCI registration or declaration procedure applies depending on the scheme identified.

The preparation of an application file for an authorization, registration or declaration may require the use of a design office.

The application file for an environmental authorization, for a PKI registration, is examined by an instructing officer of the State services.

On the administrative side of the inquiry, the petitioner can contact the environmental offices (or counters). They are based either in the Prefecture, or in DDT, or in the Departmental Unit of DREAL (in the department where the IOTA is located).

This administrative aspect may concern in particular the following points:

• Receipt of file (unless deposit is dematerialized)
• Organization of the public consultation phase
• Organization of the Consultative Commission
• Management of the adversary
• Signature of the decision

On the technical side of the case, the petitioner must contact the coordinating training officer located in one of the following departments (in the department where the Aiot is located):

• Departmental unit of DREAL (Regional Directorate for Environment, Planning and Housing): for non-livestock and non-agri-food PCIs (with exceptions).
• In DDPP (Departmental Directorate of Population Protection): for Aiot/ICPE livestock and agri-food (except exceptions)

An ITO that may pose serious risks to the environment, public health or safety, or significant impacts on the aquatic environment is subject to environmental authorization.

The operator or the developer must prepare a file and apply for an environmental permit before it is put into service or carried out. This application shall include in particular all the measures envisaged to demonstrate the acceptability of the project in the light of the risks and impacts. The IOTA may not be operated or carried out until such authorization has been obtained.

Exchanges between the project owner and the administration in the upstream phase of the environmental authorization are recommended and may facilitate the preparation of the dossier. After submission to the Administration, the file shall be examined by the coordinating instructor. It shall then be subject to public consultation. At the end of the procedure, the prefect may issue an authorization or refusal order. The duration of the procedure is generally between 9 and 12 months.

You can consult the page of the ministry in charge of the environment on the environmental authorization, and the information card.

Scheme E is a simplified authorization which differs from the authorization scheme in that the risk management measures are similar from one site to another for the same heading.

This procedure applies within certain size limits to installations such as livestock farms, fuel warehouses, cold stores for example.

The operator must apply for registration before it can be put into service. It must demonstrate that it complies with the technical measures for the prevention of risks and nuisances laid down in a ministerial decree of general requirements.

Once the file is complete and regular, a public consultation will be carried out, then the prefect will sign the simplified authorization or refusal decision closing the procedure.

In the case of simplified authorization, the prefectural decree will cover the ministerial decree of general requirements to be complied with as well as any specific requirements.

The duration of instruction is generally between 5 and 6 months.

Any borehole more than 10 m in depth must also be the subject of a declaration sent by the contracting authority to the prefect at least 1 month before the work begins.

Who can take the step?

To apply for registration, a petitioner must provide a document certifying:

• Either he's the owner of the land
• Either he has the right to carry out his project there
• Either a procedure is under way to confer that right on him

How do I prepare my file?

You may need to shed light on environmental issues, address issues or questions about the project, ask for details about the procedure and the time limits for the investigation.

To this end, you have the opportunity to contact the environmental inspectorate (prior to the filing of the application for registration) in order to build a file of better quality that will facilitate the subsequent investigation.

Drop Folder

City planning Procedures

A PCI project may also be subject to city planning authorization (e.g. building, development, demolition or advance work declaration).

Administrative formalities concerning the city planning shall be filed separately in the registration file.

If a project is inconsistent with the city planning document in force, the file may be refused.

If a building permit has been applied for, it can be granted but the work cannot be carried out until the prefect has issued the simplified authorization order (registration).

Biodiversity raw data repository

It is mandatory to provide raw biodiversity data used in development projects submitted for approval to the administrative authority.

The data must be provided before the decision of the administrative authority.

An installation covered by the reporting scheme (D) under PCI is an activity which does not present serious hazards or nuisances. It must nevertheless comply with requirements in the context of its operation.

The declaration shall include the installations, works, works and activities (IOTA) which are necessary for the classified installation owing to their interconnection or whose proximity is such as to modify significantly the hazards or disadvantages thereof.

For new installations, the operator shall must make a pre-project teledeclaration.

You can consult the list of component parts a report application file.

Within the same teleprocedure, the following declarations may be made (in addition to an initial declaration):

• Modification (of the location, nature or capacity of the installations, mode of operation of the installations, specification(s) applicable to the installation): for more information, see the chapter on Modification
• Acquired rights (grandfathering in case of modification of the PCI nomenclature): For more information, see the chapter "Acquired rights"
• Change of operator: For more information, see the chapter "Change of operator"
• Discontinuance: For more information, see the chapter "Discontinuance"

For all the information on teleprocedure and the preparation of the file, you can consult the booklet and the guide to preparing the PCI reporting teleprocedure.

The template file referred to in this guide is available online:

• Warrant of deposit (for example, where a research firm files on behalf of the petitioner).

For a remote declaration of an initial project

Proof of lodgment of the declaration shall be issued immediately by electronic means and shall be made available to the public on the website of the Prefecture for a minimum period of 3 years.

On-line declaration of a classified installation for the protection of the environment (ICPE)

The registrant must wait at least 15 days from the proof of filing of his PKI teledeclaration before he can start up and operate his installation. If an environmental assessment is requested, the notifier will have to wait until he has an environmental authorization to operate before he can put his facility into service.

If the project is concerned by a Natura 2000 site (in particular because it is located in or near a Natura 2000 site, or because one or more land application plots are located in Natura 2000 area), the registrant must attach a Natura 2000 impact assessment to his declaration file and must wait for the approval of the administration before being able to operate. You can visit the Natura 2000 section on the website Ministry of Ecological Transition.

The completeness and accuracy of the declared elements are the responsibility of the declarant. In case of inaccurate information or omission of elements, there will be a lack of reporting and the operator will be subject to administrative or criminal sanctions under the Environmental Code.

A PCI project can also be submitted to a city planning authorization (e.g. building permit, development permit, demolition permit or advance work declaration).

The operator undertakes to submit, together with his declaration, his application for a building permit if necessary. If a project is inconsistent with the city planning document in force, the file may be rejected.

It is mandatory to provide raw biodiversity data used in development projects submitted for approval to the administrative authority.

Any borehole more than 10 m in depth must also be the subject of a declaration sent by the contracting authority to the prefect at least 1 month before the work begins. This is not necessary where the drilling has been subject to an IOTA or environmental authorization.

Installations which, after having been regularly put into service, are subject, under a decree on the classification of classified installations, to the PCI scheme concerned. They may continue to operate without this declaration, provided that the operator has already made himself known to the prefect of the department or makes himself known to him within one year of the entry into force of the decree.

This provision shall also apply where the origin of the change in classification of the installation is a change in the hazard classification of a substance, mixture or product used or stored in the installation. The one-year period shall, in this case, be calculated from the date of entry into force of that change of classification.

For the installations concerned covered by the authorization and registration system, a declaration must be made to the prefect of department.

For the relevant installations covered by the reporting scheme, the operator of the installation falling within the scope of the classification of classified installations must make the remote declaration of the benefit of acquired rights by entering the information by clicking on the following link:

On-line declaration of a classified installation for the protection of the environment (ICPE)

The prefectural decree for environmental authorization, registration or declaration shall cease to have effect if the project has not been put into service or carried out within three years from the date of notification or within the period laid down in the act, where applicable.

This period may be extended in the event of force majeure or of a justified and accepted request for an extension of the period.

The Prefectural Decree shall lapse if the holding has been interrupted for more than three consecutive years. In such cases, a new application must be made in accordance with the rules in force.

Any cessation of the operation of a PCI subject to environmental authorization or registration must be notified to the prefect at least 3 months before the date of the permanent cessation. This period shall be extended to 6 months for a waste storage facility, a carbon dioxide geological storage site or a quarry.

This period shall be 1 month for a PCI subject to reporting. The information should be entered by clicking on the following link:

On-line declaration of a classified installation for the protection of the environment (ICPE)

The operator has an obligation to secure and restore the site.

The provisions applicable in the event of a shutdown of the installation for the safety and restoration of the site depend on the use of the site and the regime of the installation (A, E).

The more sensitive the future use, the more important the measures to be taken.