French Government instructions for ICPE inspections in 2016

Every year, the Ministry responsible for ecology indicates the themes on which the inspection of classified facilities subject to specific environmental protection legislation (ICPEs) must undertake priority action. This year, the list is long once again.

The main points relating to industrial sites include:

• Implementation of the water framework directive (WFD) for industrial facilities
• Formal notice to facilities that have not sent their compliance record
• Re-examination of the authorisation conditions for the facilities concerned by the publication of their conclusions on the “main” best available technologies, i.e. the glass, steel, cement, tanning, chlorine and sodium, refining, pulp, paper and cardboard industries
• IED facilities
• End of preparation of technological risk prevention plans and implementation of approved plans
• Implementation of public utility easements, notably around transmission pipelines, and preservation of the memory of risk points (soil diagnosis on sensitive sites)
• Accident risk inspections – Seveso
• Safety inspections
• Inspections on the safeguarding of Seveso sites in case of loss of electricity supply
• Inspection of chemical substances: specialised inspections for the purpose of checking the replacement of the most dangerous substances, compliance with the restrictions introduced as part of the REACH regulations, reduction of VOC emissions due to the use of organic solvents in solvents and paints
• Continued inspection of biogas facilities
• Inspection of cooling towers at sites having exceeded the 100,000 CFU/L threshold or repeatedly (but not necessarily consecutively) exceeding the 1,000 CFU/L threshold, as well as at sites geographically close to cases of Legionnaires’ disease
• Inspections of the airborne emissions from “air” priority facilities
• Search for and inspection of sites unknown to the authorities in the field of pyrotechnics
• Inspection and supervision of illegal end-of-life vehicle and waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) disposal sites

This gives an idea of the topics that will be examined as a matter of priority in your inspection if you are an ICPE.

More information on ICPE regulations governing classified facilities concerned by specific environmental protection legislation