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What is DLO?
To prevent forest fires from starting and spreading, the French Forestry Code imposes legal obligations to clear undergrowth (OLD) on certain owners of dwellings, buildings, installations and equipment.
Undergrowth clearance refers to "operations to reduce plant fuels of all kinds in order to reduce the intensity and limit the spread of fires. This may include pruning of trees and removing slash.
Who is affected?
This OLD applies to owners of land located less than 200 meters from a wood or forest:
- Located in a department particularly exposed to fire risk;
- Classified as a fire hazard.
The decree of February 6, 2024 lists the departments particularly exposed to fire risk (Article 3), as well as woods and forests classified as fire-risk when the department is not included in the list of those exposed to fire risk (Appendix 1).
The decree also excludes woods and forests particularly exposed to risk:
- forest areas of less than 0.5 hectares in a single block [located in departments particularly exposed to fire risk];
- as well as other forest areas at lower risk of fire in departments particularly exposed to fire (Appendix 2).
How is the DLO applied?
The OLD applies to land located less than 200 meters from the woods and forests identified in the decree of February 6, 2024, and in particular in the following situations:
- in the vicinity of buildings, construction sites and installations of any kind, to a depth of 50 meters (up to 100 meters by decision of the mayor);
- in the vicinity of private roads giving access to these constructions, building sites and installations of any kind, to a depth set by the Prefect within a maximum limit of 10 metres on either side of the road;
- in the vicinity of ICPEs classified as SEVESO, for a depth of 100 meters from the property limits of the establishment (up to 200 meters by decision of the prefect);
- in the vicinity of public roads and railroads;
- overhead power transmission or distribution lines.
If the DLO extends beyond property boundaries, it is necessary to :
- inform the owner or occupant of the neighboring property (if he/she is not the owner) in order to obtain authorization to enter the property to carry out the brush clearing operation;
- remind the owner that in the absence of authorization given within one month, these obligations will be borne by the owner;
- inform the mayor if authorization has not been given.
Access authorization is valid for 3 years, and may be revoked by the person who granted it. Where applicable, the owner is responsible for clearing the undergrowth.
In the event of overlapping DLOs on the land of a third party not covered by a DLO, each of the parties subject to these obligations must clear the areas closest to the boundaries of the land where the construction, worksite, equipment or installation of any kind for which they are responsible is located.
Brushwood clearing obligations also apply to areas at particular risk of wildfire, outside the fire-risk areas mentioned above. These areas are identified at local level by prefectoral decree issued by the State representative in the département.
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