Chapter III: Compensation for ecological damage

Any person responsible for ecological damage is obliged to make reparation for it.

Ecological damage consisting of non-negligible harm to the elements or functions of ecosystems or to the collective benefits derived by man from the environment may be compensated in accordance with the conditions laid down in this Title. .

Action for compensation for ecological damage is open to any person with standing and an interest in bringing an action, such as the State, the French Biodiversity Office, local authorities and their groupings whose territory is concerned, as well as public establishments and associations approved or created for at least five years on the date the proceedings are brought which have as their object the protection of nature and the…

Compensation for environmental damage is primarily in kind. In the event that it is de jure or de facto impossible or that reparation measures are insufficient, the judge shall order the person responsible to pay damages, earmarked for environmental reparation, to the claimant or, if the claimant is unable to take appropriate measures to this end, to the State. The assessment of the loss takes into account, where applicable, any…

In the event of a penalty payment, this shall be liquidated by the judge in favour of the claimant, who shall allocate it to the repair of the environment or, if the claimant is unable to take the useful measures to this end, in favour of the State, which shall allocate it to the same end. The judge reserves the power to liquidate it.

Expenses incurred to prevent the imminent occurrence of damage, to avoid its worsening or to reduce its consequences constitute compensable loss.

Independent of compensation for ecological damage, the judge, on receiving an application to that effect from a person mentioned in Article 1248, may prescribe reasonable measures to prevent or stop the damage.