The 1 August 2008 Act regarding environmental liability, which has been codified under articles L160-1 and following of the Environment Code, introduces new statutes in the French legal system regarding prevention and compensation of strict ecological damage, excluding damage to individuals and property.

The Act, which rigorously enactes the EC Regulation dated 21 April 2004, creates an administrative policy whilst applying the civil tort law principle of exemption through development risks.

These statutes, which do not make it mandatory to arrange insurance or a financial guarantee, essentially organise how prevention costs and payment of serious damage caused to tne environment will be paid, by applying a principle of objective liability, or liability without tort, to those activities which generate the highest risks.