2023-10-02 20:29:32
Laurent Wauquiez, president of the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region, during his arrival at the Jeunes Républicains campus, in Valence (Drôme), October 1, 2023. MICHAEL ZUMSTEIN/VU POUR “LE MONDE”
“I have decided that the region withdraws from the process. » Laurent Wauquiez announced, Saturday September 30, his intention to free the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, which he chairs, from the “zero net artificialization” (ZAN) system, managed by local authorities and included in the Climate and Climate law. resilience of 2021. This objective of reducing the concreteization of land, which must result, by 2050, in “zero net artificialization”, was the subject, on July 20, of a new law to facilitate its implementation.
“This “ruralicide” law is truly the incarnation of an administrative technocracy which consists of applying the same rule in a very uniform manner throughout the territory, said the elected representative of Les Républicains to AFP. We have people who will be on land where they can normally build and where we will tell them: “you will not have your permit”. This will create considerable resentment and anger. » Mr. Wauquiez believes that it is necessary “start from the Senate’s proposals”, which has already relaxed the application of the text, to “remake the law”.
The announcement angered many elected officials. It is “a demagogic attack which shows the direction of [Laurent] Wauquiez for rural areas: concreteization », criticized, in a press release, several environmental groups. The executive also reacted strongly: “If he does not respect the law, I hope that there will indeed be sanctions”, declared the government spokesperson, Olivier Véran. “Rejecting ZAN amounts to refusing to protect agricultural land, which is vital to our food sovereignty [et à] ignoring the need to preserve natural spaces, which harbor rich biodiversity and contribute to carbon storage”for his part recalled the Minister of Ecology, Christophe Béchu.
What is the “zero net artificialization” system?
LArticle 192 of the Climate and Resilience Law of August 22, 2021, inspired by the Citizens’ Climate Convention, defines the artificialization of land as “the lasting alteration of all or part of the ecological functions of a soil, in particular its biological, water and climatic functions, as well as its agronomic potential through its occupation or use”.
The law sets two main objectives to regulate what is commonly called “the concreteization of land”:
firstly an intermediate objective, by 2031, of reducing the consumption of natural, agricultural and forest areas by at least 50% compared to the last ten years; and, above all, the objective of achieving “ zero net land artificialization” by 2050.
Local authorities are at the heart of this system. Each region must in particular set, in its planning documents (the regional plans for planning, sustainable development and territorial equality, Sraddet), its own objectives for reducing artificialisation, before these are rolled out at the intercommunal and municipal level. The ZAN law, for example, prohibits the establishment of new peri-urban shopping centers on natural or agricultural land.
Faced with criticism from communities, who deplored incomplete or unsuitable law enforcement decrees, a law was adopted in July in order to strengthen “supporting local elected officials in implementing the fight against land artificialization ».
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers “Zero net artificialization”, a headache for local authorities
Why limit the artificialization of land?
Today, between 6% and 9% of soils are artificialized. Over the last ten years, according to the Ministry of Ecological Transition24,000 hectares of natural, agricultural and forest areas were consumed each year on average in France, the equivalent of five football fields per hour.
This change in land use is harmful to biodiversity. It amplifies global warming, since artificial soils lose their capacity to absorb CO2, and accentuate runoff phenomena and the associated risks of flooding. Not to mention the social and territorial consequences caused by urban sprawl: reduction of agricultural land, commercial vacancies in city centers, etc.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers Artificialization of soils: local elected officials are concerned about the distribution of surfaces
Can Laurent Wauquiez really “remove » its region of the ZAN system?
For many jurists, the right-wing elected official’s statement has no legal basis. “We wonder what was going through his head, is surprised by Pierre-Etienne Moullé, public law lawyer at the Lyon bar joined by The world. On a legal level, we do not see what levers he thinks he can activate to achieve this result. »
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« That he mobilizes against these objectives of artificialization by using legal means, such as asking for changes to the law, why not, but announcing that his region is not going to apply the laws of the Republic, I find that scandalousthunders lawyer specializing in urban planning law Laura Ceccarelli – Le Guen. This suggests that an elected official [peut ne pas] respect the law, even though we are in a state of law! »
First of all, Laurent Wauquiez’s projection clashes with the hierarchy of standards, which defines the order of priority between the different levels which govern a state of law. In this case, in France, laws, voted at national level by Parliament, cannot be called into question by the regions. “The region has a role to play through the Sraddet, but is far from being the only interlocutor. Alone, it does not have sufficient competence to defeat the application of the law”explains Me Moullé.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers Ecological transition: the government stuck in the concreteization of soils
Indeed, the objectives of the Climate and Resilience Law must be planned within the different levels of local authorities, not only at the regional level, according to a very specific timetable. The regions, for example, have until November 22, 2024 to integrate the objectives of reducing artificialization into the Sraddet. It is at this level that the president of the region probably intends to act, explains Me Ceccarelli – Le Guen, who distinguishes two possible options for Laurent Wauquiez:
either it approves a modified Sraddet which does not integrate the objectives of the ZAN; or it does not approve the modification of this plan within the time limits specified by law.
The sanctions for exceeding deadlines mainly target municipalities, specifies the lawyer, because, if they do not translate these objectives within the allotted deadlines, “this delay can paralyze all openings to urbanization in the municipalities”.
Even if Laurent Wauquiez opposed it, and the communities followed him, the ZAN system would end up being implemented by bypassing the president of the region. “It will then be up to the prefect to enforce the law, by ordering communities to fall into line”, explains Me Moullé. The Rhône prefect could notably put it on the agenda of the regional council and impose it on communities, the finest link on which the system is based.
What about a « sanction », as Olivier Véran suggested? The Climate and Resilience Law does not provide for this. But any regional development plan that ignores the ZAN provision would be very fragile, and could easily be attacked by associations, elected officials or even citizens, or even canceled by the administrative court. “The prefect can challenge this decision; or any environmental defense association can refer the matter to the administrative judge, on the grounds that the document is illegal because it does not take the law into account.explains Me Ceccarelli – Le Guen.
Thus, there is no chance that the ZAN law will not come into force in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. For Me Moullé, “It looks much more like a political smokescreen operation.”
Update, Monday October 2 at 10:12 p.m.: addition of Christophe Béchu’s reaction.
Update, Monday October 2 at 10:25 p.m.: correction of the deadline set for modifying or revising the Sraddet, and modification of a citation.
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