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Law no. 2023-973 of October 23, 2023, or the "Green Industry" law, aims to accelerate the ecological transition and decarbonization of industry, as well as to specify the national strategy for green industry for the period 2023-2030.
This law addresses a number of issues, including :
- the establishment and development of strategic industries;
- the commitments expected from all stakeholders, particularly in terms of reducing environmental impact;
- the energy needs of industrial development, in particular those linked to the consequences of electrification.
The law is structured around a number of key points.
Facilitating and accelerating the establishment of industrial facilities
The "Green Industry" law provides for measures to speed up the establishment of new plants, notably by modifying the appraisal procedure for projects subject to environmental authorization.
In this context, the examination of an environmental authorization application, once it has been deemed complete and in order, takes place in two phases rather than three. The examination and consultation phases now run in parallel. This measure reduces the theoretical time required for the environmental authorization procedure.
The format of public participation for projects subject to environmental authorization has also been modernized. It is no longer a public inquiry but a specific consultation for this type of project.
Lastly, as the review and consultation phase has been parallelized, the three-month maximum duration of the review phase for renewable energy projects in acceleration zones has been abolished.
Encouraging the redevelopment of brownfield sites
The law will also facilitate the redevelopment of brownfield sites for industrial use.
In this context, it is newly specified that, in the absence of agreement between the operator and local stakeholders responsible for town planning, the use adopted to determine the state in which the site is to be put is a use comparable to that of the facilities for which authorization or registration is requested.
At the same time, we have made it possible to activate the "third party applicant" procedure prior to the cessation of activity. For example, a "third-party applicant" can now apply in advance to the representative of the State in the département for authorization to take the place of the operator in the event of a future cessation of activity. Similarly, it is now possible for a "third party applicant" to ask to take the place of the operator in order to carry out all or part of the measures required to make the facility safe (the first stage in a cessation of activity), in addition to rehabilitation.
In addition, to make the financing of site restoration more effective following the cessation of activity, the obligation to set up financial guarantees for certain classified facilities subject to the ICPE registration or authorization regime has been abolished. It is replaced by targeted measures for cases of illegal operation and judicial liquidation.
Reinforcement of certain penalties
In parallel with these measures, the "Green Industry" law reinforces certain sanctions. These concern :
- operating installations or structures, or carrying out works, operations, activities or developments, etc., without having obtained the required authorization, registration, approval, certification or declaration. In this context, the competent administrative authority may now order payment of an administrative fine of up to €45,000, either in the same document as the formal notice or in a separate document.
It may also, at any time, in order to guarantee full compliance with the measures taken, order the payment of a daily penalty payment of up to €4,500 and, in addition to the penalty payment, impose an administrative fine of up to €45,000;
- failure to comply with waste prevention and management regulations. In particular, it is now punishable by four years' imprisonment and a €150,000 fine to:
- abandoning, depositing or having deposited, in conditions contrary to regulations, waste ;
- deliver waste or have waste delivered to anyone other than the operator of an authorized facility, ...
- the illegal shipment of cross-border waste. The amount of the administrative fine can be up to five times the cost of treating the waste involved in the illegal shipment. The fine can now be imposed up to three years after the illegal shipment was detected.
- failure to draw up or submit a greenhouse gas emissions report. If the company fails to draw up or transmit the report, an administrative fine of up to €50,000 is imposed, and €100,000 in the event of a repeat offence.
Other provisions introduced by the "Green Industry" law include:
- the possibility of postponing the deadline for the installation of shading systems incorporating a renewable energy production process (link to the "Renewable energies law (ENR): what impact on companies?" page on the EHS blog) for parking lots with a surface area of over 10,000 m². An extension may be granted if the manager can provide proof of a commitment contract with an advance payment by December 31, 2024 at the latest, and a purchase order signed before December 31, 2025 for photovoltaic panels whose technical and environmental performance, as well as supply resilience, are specified by decree, and providing for their installation before January 1, 2028;
- the possibility of obtaining energy saving certificates for industrial operations that result in a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, notably following the relocation of activity;
- the modernization of biodiversity compensation mechanisms, by transforming natural compensation sites (NCS) into natural restoration and renaturation sites (NRRS).
Over the coming months, these provisions will be specified in a number of implementing decrees.
Tennaxia's EHS regulatory watch (link to the EHS blog page " EHS watch") provides an exhaustive overview of all these forthcoming texts.