Installations classées pour la protection de l'environnement (ICPE)

As its name suggests, the aim of the procedure applying to installations classified for environmental protection (ICPE) is to protect the environment. However, the first version of decree no. 77-1133 of September 21 1977, as amended (article R. 512-6 of the French Environment Code), stipulated :

• on the one hand (in article 3-6°), that the application file for authorization to operate a classified facility includes, in addition to maps, plans, impact and hazard studies, "a notice concerning the compliance of the planned facility with legislative and regulatory requirements relating to the health and safety of personnel";

• secondly (in article 9) that the prefect could forward a copy of the file to the labor inspectorate for its opinion.

The presence of this notice, often referred to as the "Health and Safety Notice", in this type of file shows that issues relating to the protection of personnel working on a site covered by classified installations are not totally independent of those concerning environmental protection.