A. Public utility easements

The public utility easements, i.e. the SUP, are formally set up through a prefectoral decree. This is done at the request of the operator or on the initiative of the prefect or the mayor. It implies consultation with the owners of the land concerned, as the soil pollution may have affected land outside the quarry, and these owners may therefore be private individuals. When there are less than five owners, there will only be a consultation of the latter. However, if there are more than five owners for these lands that could be subject to easements, a public inquiry will be held.
The servitudes are not only the object of a prefectoral decree. They are also annexed to the town hall's urban planning document and are therefore imposed on any urban planning authorization. Thus, these easements are imposed on any person, natural or legal, who wishes to use the land on which the easements apply. In the event of non-compliance with these easements, the mayor or the public establishment of inter-communal cooperation competent in matters of local urban planning may refer the matter to the judicial judge in order to obtain the demolition or the bringing into conformity of any work built or installed in spite of the easements put in place.
These easements can take different forms. They can regulate the use that can be made of the land by, for example, reminding people of the possible uses, by imposing a study before other uses are allowed or by simply prohibiting any new use of the land. As the soil also includes the water table, easements may also be used to prohibit the use of the water table, both inside and outside the site. Access easements can also be put in place to guarantee the monitoring of the water table. These easements may also restrict access to the site or impose special precautions in the event of work affecting the soil. In order to decide on the terms and conditions of these easements, the administrative authority will base itself on the technical elements provided by the operator, who may also make proposals as to the restrictions he would like to see instituted.
The Environmental Code defines the procedure for the establishment of these easements, specifying the terms of the public inquiry, the communication of the project to the mayors concerned so that they can express an opinion if they so wish, and the manner in which the act must be notified once it has been passed by the departmental council.
Finally, it should be noted that easements are not attached to the parcel ad vit aeternam. Article L515-12 of the Environmental Code specifies that: "when a public utility easement has become irrelevant, it may be removed at the request of the former operator, the mayor, the owner of the land, or at the initiative of the State representative in the department. There is therefore an end to public utility easements and this end coincides with the disappearance of the pollution, its objective being to apply to polluted land.
B. Restriction of use between parties

Restrictions on use between parties, known as RUPs, occur in a contract between two private parties, one of whom must necessarily be the owner of the land. In this contract, the owner will impose surveillance or maintenance obligations on himself, but he will also be able to undertake to limit the use of his land. This contract can have successive owners as parties but it can also have the owner and the operator who rents the land in question when the latter stops his activity.
These restrictions may concern the limitation of the use of the soil, subsoil and water table, they may also contain conditions for the modification of these limitations and even concern the monitoring of the site.
These restrictions of use will be declared in the deed of sale in order to reduce the new risks in case of new uses but also in order to avoid that the buyer turns against the seller, the last operator. The use of the deed of sale makes it possible to impose these restrictions on subsequent purchasers. Moreover, the existence of the contract must also be brought to the attention of the mayor of the municipality in which the land is located so that these restrictions can be taken into account by the urban planning documents. In legal terms, this is a personal obligation and the purchaser is obliged to respect these restrictions and therefore cannot take action against the previous owner.


C. Conventional restriction of use for the benefit of the State

This is an agreement between the owner and the State, and is set up outside the sale of the land. The owner or the operator may wish to set up this agreement, which makes it possible to set up restrictions on use in a simple and rapid manner, thus agreeing to limit his right to dispose of his property. It should be noted, however, that the implementation of this type of restriction cannot be imposed by regulation, as the State cannot force an owner to reduce his right of ownership. Here, the owner undertakes to respect the restrictions and also to reproduce them in subsequent deeds of sale so that the State has a guarantee that these restrictions are respected. These restrictions can be the same as the restrictions in the restriction of use between parties.
This avoids the need for recollection minutes or the imposition of new restrictions by the State. The conventional restrictions of use for the benefit of the State, known as RUCPE, can be published at the land registry office and it is also recommended that they be brought to the attention of the planning authority.

D. The project of general interest

The project of general interest, or PIG, is based on article L.121-9 of the Urban Planning Code. The purpose of setting up this type of restriction is to assert interests that go beyond the limits of the municipality in which the parcel in question is located. In order to do so, this project will necessarily be taken into account in the local urban plan, or PLU. In order to obtain this restriction, it is necessary, as specified in the aforementioned article, that the project be of public utility. This qualification belongs only to the prefect and the project of public interest will only have effect through the urban planning document that takes it into account.
Article L.102-1 of the town planning code stipulates that a project of general interest may be qualified as "any project of work, works or protection of a public utility nature and meeting the following two conditions 1° To be intended for the realization of a development or equipment operation, for the operation of a public service, for the reception and housing of disadvantaged persons or of modest means, for the protection of the natural or cultural heritage, for the prevention of risks, for the development of natural resources, for agricultural and rural development or for the preservation or restoration of ecological continuity; 2° To have been the subject : a) Either a decision of a person with the capacity to expropriate, deciding on the principle and conditions of the project, and made available to the public; b) Or a registration in one of the planning documents provided for by the laws and regulations, approved by the competent authority and having been the subject of a publication." Once these conditions have been met, the project must be deliberated by the State, the region, the department or the municipality and then made available to the public. If the project is not made available, it could be unenforceable.