Technological Risk Prevention Plan (RTPP) — Normandy

The Technology Risk Prevention Plan (PPRT), defined by Act No. 2003-699 of 30 July 2003 on the prevention of technological and natural hazards and the repair of damage, is drawn up and adopted by the State under the authority of the Prefect. The content of the PPRTs and the implementing provisions are laid down by Decree No 2005-1130 of 7 September 2005 on plans for the prevention of technological risks. The objective of a PPRT is to respond to difficult urban situations inherited from the past and to better frame future urbanisation around existing high threshold SEVESO establishments for the protection of people. In order to address these situations, the operator of the Seveso establishment will have to implement all safety measures to achieve the lowest possible level of risk, taking into account the state of knowledge and practices on the one hand, and the vulnerability of the environment on the other. Controlling risks at source is the top priority. The Ministerial Order of 29 September 2005 amending the Order of 10 May 2000 known as Seveso Order and the Circular of 10 May 2010 make it possible to assess the ‘sufficient’ nature of risk control in establishments. PPRTs delimit around industrial sites classified as “Seveso high threshold” areas within which: requirements may be imposed on existing and future constructions, future constructions can be regulated. They also define the sectors within which: expropriation is possible because of very serious danger threatening human life, municipalities may give the owners a right of abandonment, municipalities may preempt property on the occasion of a transfer of ownership. The financing of the corresponding measures will be defined by agreements between the State, industry and local authorities, which will also specify the arrangements for the development of these areas, while the work made compulsory by the PPRTs and carried out on the main dwellings existing at the date of approval of the plan will give rise to a tax credit. As in the case of natural risk prevention plans, it is the prefect who prescribes, prepares and approves the plan after consultation, consultation with local authorities and public inquiry. The DREALs (Regional Directorates for the Environment, Planning and Housing) are responsible for the policy on the prevention of technological risks and the development of PPRTs. As such, they are responsible in particular for carrying out the process of moving from hazard studies, provided by industrialists, to hazard mapping. As part of the development of PPRTs, DREALs are working under the authority of the Prefects, in conjunction with the DDTs (Departmental Directorates of the Territories), to propose, often iteratively, alternative solutions between approaches to reducing risk at source and controlling urbanisation.