Installation classified for environmental protection or ICPE
Define key terms: ICPE and operator, activity and facility

The notion of ICPE appeared in environmental law with the loi n° 76-663 du 19 juillet 1976 law on environmentally classified facilities. It followed on from existing texts on the industrial environment: the imperial decree of 1810 and the law of 1917 on dangerous, inconvenient or unhealthy establishments.

Since 1976, this concept has remained in force, even though the law has been codified in articles L. 511-1 to L. 517-2 of the Code de l’environnement.

Accordingly, ICPEs are defined by law as: "factories, workshops, warehouses, construction sites and, in general, installations operated or owned by any natural or legal person, public or private, which may present...