Section III: Provisions relating to the investigation of claims for compensation.

Farmers and owners of agricultural and forestry land submit claims for compensation for damage caused by the agricultural spreading of sewage sludge to the Prefect, who acknowledges receipt. The composition of the compensation claim file is set by order of the Minister for the Environment. The persons mentioned in the first paragraph have the option of grouping their application for one or more parcels concerning them. If the Prefect considers…

I.-A national expert committee, chaired by the Minister for the Environment or his representative, issues an opinion on the eligibility of claims for compensation by the guarantee fund, with regard to the conditions mentioned in article L. 425-1. It may also be consulted by the Minister for the Environment on draft regulations relating to the sewage sludge referred to in article R. 424-1. Annual national statistics concerning the production and…

I.-The Commission is informed of the possibility of insurance cover for the risks and damage mentioned in the first paragraph of I of article L. 425-1. It may request any additional scientific investigations and expert reports that it deems necessary in order to issue its opinion. II.The Commission’s opinion takes particular account of the following factors: 1° Compliance with the regulations governing the spraying in question; 2° The origin of…

In the light of the opinion issued by the Commission nationale d’expertise, the ministers responsible for the environment and the economy respectively either reject the claim for compensation in a joint, reasoned decision, or decide to continue investigating the claim. In the latter case, the minister responsible for the environment refers the matter to the prefect, who initiates the damage assessment phase and informs the claimants. If the Ministers have…

The Estates Department will provide an estimate of the value of the agricultural or forestry land affected by the claim for compensation, in the event that the damage has not occurred, within two months of the claim being referred to it by the Prefect. Improvements of any kind, such as plantations, various installations, acquisitions of goods, which may have been made to the parcel or parcels concerned do not give…

The Prefect shall arrange for an assessment of the losses suffered by the farmers. To assess these losses, the scale provided for in article D. 361-14 of the French Rural and Maritime Fishing Code and the principles set out in article D. 361-27 of the same code are applied. This assessment is based on the latest scale in force on the date the application for compensation is submitted. The prefect…

In the light of the prefect’s proposals, the ministers responsible for the environment and the economy issue a final decision on the claim, by joint order, and, if the claim is found to be well-founded, set the amount of damages to be covered by the guarantee fund, taking into account the fund’s available funds. If the joint order is not made within six months of the decision to continue the…