Environment in foundry - classified installations

Any industrial operation, such as a foundry, likely to generate risks or cause pollution or nuisance, particularly for the health and safety of local residents, is known as a Classified Installation.

Legislation governing classified facilities gives the State powers :

• authorization or refusal to authorize the operation of a facility,

• regulations, with compliance with certain technical provisions,

• control,

• sanction.

Under the authority of the prefect, these operations are entrusted to the Inspection des Installations Classées, in this case the DREAL (Direction Régionale de l'Environnement de l'Aménagement et du Logement); the inspectors are sworn government agents.

Classified installations are subject to specific regulations under the articles of Title I ^er of Book V of the French Environment Code (legislative and regulatory parts). The activities concerned are defined by a nomenclature that classifies them under the declaration, registration or authorization regime, depending on the seriousness of the hazards or inconveniences they may present.

The nomenclature of classified facilities is constantly being adapted to technological developments and new knowledge of risks. These modifications sometimes lead to changes in the classification regime for certain facilities.

The Conseil Supérieur de la Prévention des Risques Technologiques (CSPRT) is responsible for assisting the minister in charge of classified facilities. It is made up of the five Grenelle parties: administration, representatives of environmental protection associations, representatives of operators' interests, representatives of employees working in classified facilities and representatives of mayors. The council also includes current and former inspectors of classified facilities, two representatives of the French High Council for Public Health, and professionals in the field of classified facility law. The CSPRT's opinion is obligatory for draft decrees relating to the nomenclature, draft general prescription orders, and certain derogations when they are provided for in the prescription orders. Its opinion is optional for all other texts (bills, decrees, orders).

The aim of the article is to present the regulations that apply to foundries, according to their level of production capacity, and to give manufacturers the tools they need to compile applications for operating permits. The list of headings cited in the document should enable manufacturers to avoid classification errors when compiling applications....