JOHN CARLOS I

KING OF SPAIN

To all who present it and understand it.

Sabed: That the General Courts have approved and I come to sanction the following law.

PREAMBLE

I

Article 45 of the Constitution recognizes the right of citizens to enjoy an adequate environment as an indispensable condition for the development of the person, while establishing that those who do not comply with it the obligation to use natural resources rationally and to preserve nature will be obliged to repair the damage caused regardless of the administrative or criminal penalties that also apply.

This mandate has been the object of development through different legal norms that, despite their extension and updating, have not been able to prevent the repeated production of accidents of different nature that they have had very serious consequences for the natural environment. This shows the need for environmental legislation which will instruct new systems of responsibility to prevent environmental damage effectively and, in the case of cases where environmental damage will occur, to ensure a fast and proper repair.

This is a response to Directive 2004 /35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on environmental liability in relation to the prevention and repair of environmental damage, which this law In addition, it is necessary to incorporate into our legal system an administrative system of environmental liability of an objective and unlimited nature based on the principles of prevention and the "polluter pays". It is, in fact, an administrative system in which it institutes a whole set of administrative powers with which the public administration must ensure compliance with the law and the application of the responsibility that it incorporates. It is thus separated from the classic civil liability in which the conflicts between the cause of the damage and the injured party are settled in judicial headquarters.

Environmental liability is also an unlimited liability, as the content of the obligation to repair (or, where appropriate, prevention) the responsible operator assumes is to return natural resources. damaged to its original state, with the total costs borne by the corresponding preventive or restorative actions. By placing the emphasis on the total restoration of natural resources and the services they provide, the environmental value is premium, which is not understood to be satisfied with mere cash compensation.

Environmental liability is, finally, an objective liability in which the obligations for action are imposed on the operator outside of any fault, intent or negligence which may have existed in his or her behaviour. The legal framework for the protection of natural resources is completed in this way, since environmental damage to the commission of administrative or criminal offences has already been established by the various sectoral rules, which The Court of State held that the Court of State held that the Court of In addition, the principle of "polluter pays" is thus made effective by shifting the costs arising from the repair of environmental damage from society to the economic operators who are beneficiaries of the exploitation of the natural resources.

The restorative dimension of the new environmental liability regime should not, in any case, be minuscule its preventive dimension. On the contrary, it must be given special attention, both in its regulation and in its administrative application, because there is no better conservation policy than the policy of prevention against environmental damage. This view justifies the universalization of the law, making extensive its adoption for all types of activities and in the face of all types of behaviors, both in terms of prevention and avoidance of environmental damage. wilful or negligent, as merely accidental or unforeseeable.

II

The environmental liability law consists of 49 articles, grouped in six chapters, and a final part consisting of 14 additional provisions, one transitional and six final, as well as six annexes. Chapter I deals with the general provisions governing, first, the subject of the law and the definitions. As is already common to other Community rules, definitions play a key role in defining the scope of the rule. This is particularly relevant in Directive 2004 /35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 and, by extension, in law. Not all natural resources are protected by this law. Only those that have a place in the concept of environmental damage, namely: the damage to the waters; the damage to the soil; the damage to the riverbank and the rias; and the damage to the species of the wild flora and fauna present permanent or temporary in Spain, as well as the habitat of all indigenous wild species. The damage to air and the so-called traditional damage is excluded, i.e. damage to persons and their property (unless the latter constitute a natural resource). Equally, not all damage to these natural resources will generate environmental responsibility. In order for the law to be applied, it must be in the presence of threats of damage or damage itself that produce significant adverse effects on the natural resource itself. In the case of soils, the concept of damage also includes significant risks of adverse effects on human health.

The delimitation of the scope of the law is supplemented by the provisions of Article 3, which combines three elements to carry out such a delimitation: the type of economic or professional activity in question; the the class of action to be taken by the operator and the nature of the liability in which the operator may have incurred. These are three different scopes that can be described in the following terms:

(a) Article 3 governs, first, an objective liability regime under which the operator who develops an economic or professional activity listed in Annex IIl and causes environmental damage or threats that such damages occur shall take the measures of prevention, avoidance or redress in law.

(b) Second, a system of liability is also regulated, which is also objective but of a wider sectoral scope, which affects the threats of environmental damage caused by any type of economic activity or whether or not it is included in Annex III to the law. This scheme, which has lower mandatory content as it requires only the adoption of measures to prevent environmental damage or to prevent further environmental damage, is a novelty as far as the directive is concerned.

c) Third, a system of subjective liability is regulated which includes damage and threats of environmental damage caused by any type of economic or professional activity, whether or not included in the Annex III of the law, and that it requires the adoption of measures of prevention, avoidance and repair regulated by the law. The novelty of this regime with regard to the regulation which the directive makes is the extension of the natural resources which are the subject of their protection. The Community directive only provides for the inclusion of habitats and protected species in the same way, while the law also extends it to damage to the soil and water, as well as to the sea and water banks, thereby increasing the level of protection of the standard, in line with what is already required by Spanish legislation in the field.

The objective character of the environmental liability regime is reinforced by a presumption by virtue of which the economic or professional activities in Annex III are considered to have caused the damage or the threat of the damage occurs when taking into account its intrinsic nature or the way in which they have been developed are appropriate to cause it.

Finally, Article 3 itself delimits certain activities and certain damages which are excluded in any case from the law and identifies in which cases the damage caused by diffuse pollution will cause the mechanisms for environmental liability. For its part, Article 4 defines the temporary application of liability, stating that the law will not apply to environmental damage if more than 30 years have elapsed since the issue, the event or the incident that occurred. caused.

A particularly relevant issue in Chapter I is the question of the regulation of the concurrency of liability rules, taking into account the plurality of existing regimes-of different nature-through which the repair of damage to the environment can be demanded. In this respect, Article 5 states that the law does not apply in order to make good the damage suffered by individuals, property and rights (non-environmental damage), but it provides, in order to avoid double recovery of costs, that Such persons shall not be entitled to compensation for damages which have been irrogated to them in so far as they are repaired by the application of this law. And it is that, at times, such damage has the very nature of environmental damage, in which case, its repair can be carried out in accordance with this law. For this reason, non-environmental damage is regulated in an independent article, in which it is stated that these damages are excluded from the scope of protection of the law except in cases where they have the simultaneous condition of environmental and property or private ownership, in which case its repair can be carried out under the provisions of this law.

For its part, Article 6 deals with the alleged concurrency of environmental liability with the responsibility that can be derived from the commission of infractions or crimes. To this end, the precept enshrines the compatibility between environmental liability and the administrative or criminal penalties which may be imposed and defines the rules to be observed in the cases in which the processing of a the procedure of those regulated in this law with others which have as their object the imposition of administrative or criminal penalties. The law at all times guarantees effective prevention intervention in order to prevent it from being hindered by competitive or jurisdictional conditions. In addition, it ensures that the double recovery of costs is avoided in any case and respects at all times the scope of action of the authority sanctioning the administration and the punitive power of the courts.

Article 7 deals with administrative powers, establishing in general terms the autonomy of the law to enforce the law, while safeguarding the powers conferred on it by the legislation on water and coastal waters. to the General Administration of the State to protect the public domain property of state ownership. In addition, and in the light of the supra-regional nature of environmental damage, the law reinforces the obligation to cooperate between public administrations in order to achieve the best and most effective application of the law and imposes the obligation of to request a report from those authorities whose powers or interests may be affected by the intervention of other administrations in the application of the law. Finally, and as a forethought to major disasters, the precept recognizes the power of the General Administration of the State to, exceptionally and when required by reason of extraordinary gravity or urgency, to promote, coordinate or take all necessary measures to prevent irreparable environmental damage or to protect human health, with the assistance of the autonomous communities and in accordance with their respective powers.

The law preserves in any case the autonomy of the autonomous community to develop the state bases and, in addition, to adopt additional protection rules. In particular, the second provision expressly recognises the possibility for the autonomous communities, in the field of their powers, to take more stringent decisions in the field of prevention, avoidance or repair of damage. environmental, including the power to criminalise new infringements and penalties, as well as to submit other activities or other subject matter to the liability regime laid down in this law, without prejudice to the exclusions adopted by the basic legislator, such as those collected in the additional provision second or in the additional provision tenth.

III

Chapter II contains the rules on the allocation of responsibilities, in accordance with Article 9 the obligation for operators to carry out professional or economic activities to take preventive measures, avoidance and repair and the cost of the cost, whatever the amount, when it results from the application of the law. In addition, the operator has a generic duty of collaboration with the administration and the specific obligation to communicate those threats of environmental damage or those environmental damage of which he has knowledge. The objective character of the environmental liability of the operator is again reinforced in this article through a second presumption of agreement with which the fulfilment of the conditions imposed in any administrative titles the production of which is necessary for the development of the activities of Annex III does not exonerate the operator of the environmental liability in which it may incur. Presumption of bankruptcy in the cases referred to in Article 14, where it is the public administration itself that authorizes environmental damage whose causation is tolerable. Chapter II also incorporates special rules for cases where liability falls on a group of companies, in which case the provisions of Article 42.1 of the Trade Code and the cases in question shall apply. There is a plurality of persons responsible, in which case the rules of the joint responsibility will come into play whenever the operator's participation in the cause of the damage is proven. Rules are also incorporated for the identification of the subjects required to meet the money debts in the cases of death or extinction of the responsible operator, as well as in the cases of jointly and severally responsible persons.

The rules of Articles 14, 15 and 16 address the assumptions in which the operator is not obliged to bear the costs of preventive and remedial measures. Such precepts also identify the means by which it may recover the costs incurred by law enforcement, as required by the directive. Article 14 does not include grounds for exemption from liability, as the operator is obliged at all times to take the measures of prevention, avoidance or repair of environmental damage. It is, however, the case that where the circumstances provided for in Article 14 (1) and (2) are met, the operator may recover the cost incurred in adopting such measures. The circumstances referred to in paragraph 1 are the action of a third party outside the scope of the organisation of the activity concerned and independent of it, despite the existence of adequate security measures, and the enforcement of an order or a mandatory instruction issued by a public authority. The two circumstances of paragraph 2 only free up the cost of the operator when adopting remedial measures and operate only when there has been no fault, fault or negligence on their part. The first, which fails the presumption of Article 9, can be invoked where the issue or the fact that it is a direct cause of the environmental damage constitutes the express and specific object of an administrative authorisation granted in accordance with the rules applicable to the activities listed in Annex III. Furthermore, the operator has been strictly adjusted in the development of the activity to the determinations or conditions established for the purpose in the said authorization and to the regulations in force at the time of the emission or the event causing the environmental damage. As regards the second circumstance of Article 14 (2), it can be argued that the operator proves that the environmental damage was caused by an activity, an issue or the use of a product which, at the time of its use, was not considered as potentially harmful to the environment in accordance with the state of scientific and technical knowledge at the time. In the case of recovery of costs, in the cases referred to in Article 14 (1), the operator must claim against the third party responsible for the damage or require the administration which has issued the order for the damage. compensation, by the exercise of the corresponding actions in accordance with the provisions of the civil or administrative legislation applicable in each case. In the cases referred to in Article 14 (2), the costs shall be recovered either through the State Environmental Damage Repair Fund, as provided for in Article 34, or through the instruments providing for the rules to be laid down in Article 14. development of the law.

IV

Chapter III develops the obligations of operators in the field of prevention, avoidance and repair, as well as the obligations incumbent upon the public authorities and the powers granted to them by the law. to carry out their compliance. In accordance with Articles 17 and 18, in the event of a threat to the production of environmental damage resulting from any economic or professional activity, the operator has an obligation to take the measures of prevention and avoidance and communicating the event to the competent authority, which may require the operator to provide it with additional information or to take such measures. You may also provide you with instructions on how to implement such measures or, where appropriate, to execute them at your expense when the circumstances provided for in the law are met.

As laid down in Article 19, in the event of an alleged environmental damage resulting from a professional activity listed in Annex III to the Act, the operator has an obligation to take the remedial measures. and the communication of the event to the competent authority. If the damage derives from activities other than those listed in Annex III, the operator must fulfil the obligations referred to above only when he or she is guilty or negligent. Article 20 imposes on the operator the obligation to draw up a proposal for remedial measures in accordance with the criteria set out in Annex II and to submit it to the competent authority, which shall be formally approved and, where appropriate, prioritised the order in which such measures shall be implemented. In addition, as in the case of a threat of damage, the Administration reserves the right to require additional information from the operator, in order to require it to take measures of an urgent nature or to adopt them itself, in order to require it the adoption of the remedial measures, in order to give instructions on the manner in which they are to be adopted or, finally, to implement such measures at the expense of the operator when the circumstances provided for in the law are met.

Chapter III closes with two regulatory forecasts. On the one hand, Article 22 contains the powers that the law recognizes the administration to ensure that the operator complies with the obligations imposed by the law on environmental liability, identifying the administrative actions which are to be put into practice in cases where the operator fails to fulfil its obligations. Second, Article 23 enables direct action by the Administration to implement the prevention, avoidance of new damage or repair measures provided for in this law by itself, where the most effective protection is required. of natural resources and circumstances warrant it.

V

Chapter IV deals with financial guarantees whose constitution is a prerequisite for the exercise of the professional activities listed in Annex III of the law. The aim is to ensure that the operator has sufficient financial resources to deal with the costs arising from the adoption of measures to prevent, prevent and repair environmental damage. Article 24 gives the competent authority the responsibility to lay down the amount of the financial guarantee for each type of activity, depending on the intensity and extent of the damage which may be caused, in accordance with the criteria laid down in the are to be regulated. The determination of this amount shall be carried out in accordance with the methodology for the economic assessment of the repair of environmental damage, the preparation of which also provides for paragraph 3 and the approval of which is the responsibility of the Government of the Member States. Nation, in order to provide it with a basic character to ensure its uniform application throughout the State.

Article 24 provides for up to three financial guarantees, which may be alternatively or supplemented by each other. Such embodiments are as follows:

(a) The subscription of an insurance policy with an insurance company authorized to operate in Spain. In this case, the functions referred to in Article 33 shall correspond to the Insurance Compensation Consortium.

b) The obtaining of an endorsement, granted by a financial institution authorized to operate in Spain.

(c) The establishment of a technical reserve by means of an "ad hoc" fund to respond to any environmental damage caused by the activity with materialisation in financial investments supported by the sector public.

The other articles set out the rules to govern the constitution and the functioning of such guarantees; they establish the risks and the costs that will be covered by them; they determine the rules on their validity and the quantitative limits on guarantees; and finally identify the subjects responsible for constituting the guarantees and the operators who are exempted from such an obligation. Such exemption benefits those operators who carry out activities liable to cause damage the repair of which is assessed by an amount of less than EUR 300 000 and to those where the repair of the damage falls within the scope of the EUR 300,000 and EUR 2,000,000 and credit for being permanently attached to an environmental management and audit system. This exemption also covers the use for agricultural and forestry purposes of plant protection products and biocidal products referred to in points (c) and (d) of Annex III, paragraph 8. Finally, the intervention of the Insurance Compensation Consortium is foreseen for the management of the Environmental Damage Compensation Fund, which will be constituted by the contributions of the operators who hire insurance. This Fund shall be designed to extend insurance cover for the insured liabilities in the original policy and for those damages which, having been caused by the activities authorised during the period of authorisation, are manifest or claim after the course of the periods of manifestation or claim accepted in the insurance policy and within a number of years, after the end of the policy term, equal to that in which the policy has been in force; the policy referred to above, with the maximum limit of 30 years referred to in Article 4. Under the same Fund, the Consortium shall also meet the obligations of those operators who have signed an insurance policy and whose insurance undertaking has been declared in competition or is subject to a procedure of An interim settlement or a settlement would have been taken by the Insurance Compensation Consortium itself.

In addition to the system of financial guarantees, Article 34 sets up a State Environmental Damage Repair Fund which will be managed by the Ministry of the Environment and which will be provided with resources from the General Budget of the State. This Fund shall bear the costs arising from the remedial measures of State-owned public domain property in those cases where the causes of the unenforceability of the obligation to cover costs are applicable. regulated in Articles 14.2 and 15.2. This is, moreover, a fund that is open to the participation of the autonomous communities through the instruments of collaboration provided for in the legislation in force.

VI

Chapter V of the law deals with the regime of violations and sanctions. In contrast to the environmental liability regime, where the concept of an operator encompasses both private and public persons, the regime sanctioning the law only provides for the imposition of sanctions on persons. private natural and legal. The infringements listed in Article 37 define those conduct which constitutes a breach of the obligations imposed on operators by the law, grouping them into two categories, which are very serious and serious, taking into account the damage, major or minor, which for natural resources can be derived from such behaviors. The sanctions, for their part, provide for fines ranging from EUR 50,001 to EUR 2,000,000 in the case of a very serious infringement, and between EUR 10,001 and EUR 50 000 in the case of serious infringements. In addition, the possibility of suspending the authorisation granted to the operator for a maximum period of two years in the very serious infringements and one in the case of serious infringements is foreseen in both cases.

Chapter VI deals with provisions of a procedural nature. The obligation to adopt measures for the prevention, avoidance and repair of environmental damage emanates directly from the application of the law. However, where the administration intervenes in the requirement of environmental liability by determining the responsible person or the measures to be taken, it shall do so in accordance with the appropriate procedure. The law does not regulate such a procedure, which is a matter for the autonomous communities, limiting itself to establishing certain procedural guarantees which have their origin, in most cases, in the directive itself. In particular, Article 41 regulates the ways in which environmental liability requirements are to be initiated, in a way that distinguishes two possibilities:

a) Initiation at the request of the party, either through the request of the operator itself, either through an application formalized by any interested party other than the operator.

(b) Of trade, either on the initiative of the competent authority itself, either at the request of another public administration or by complaint.

The most outstanding peculiarity comes from the assumptions in which the application for public intervention comes from a particular person other than the operator. These parties are the holders of legitimate property, rights or interests which may be affected by the environmental damage or by the threat of environmental damage, as well as those organisations which are among their aims. protection of the environment. In other words, the interested parties to Article 31 of Law 30/1992, of 26 November, of the Legal Regime of the Public Administrations and of the Common Administrative Procedure, as well as the non-profit legal entities that comply with the Following requirements:

(a) The protection of the environment in general or of any of its elements in particular shall be among the purposes accredited in its statutes.

(b) that they have been legally constituted at least two years prior to the exercise of the action and that they are actively exercising the activities necessary to achieve the objectives laid down in their statutes.

c) That according to its statutes they develop their activity in a territorial area that is affected by the environmental damage or the threat of damage.

The requests made by these interested parties must be in line with the provisions of this law and will give rise to the opening of the administrative procedure for environmental liability. Such a procedure shall be duly regulated by each public administration and must in any event respect the guarantees laid down by the Community Directive, namely the right of the person concerned to make observations and provide data; the processing of the hearing to the operator and the other parties concerned; and the obligation to resolve in a reasoned and informed manner the applicant and the other parties concerned within the maximum period of three months. As a counterweight to the legal value granted to requests for liability demanded by the interested parties and to avoid a spurious or abusive use of this legal figure, the law recognizes the power of the public administration. competent to refuse applications which are manifestly unfounded or abusive.

Also within Chapter VI the possibility of adopting provisional measures during the processing of the procedure is established, the basic content of the resolution of the procedure of demand of responsibility is regulated. In the case of the case-law of the Commission, the Commission considers that, in the light of the information provided by the Commission, the Commission will be able to take the necessary steps to ensure that the measures are not taken into account. the costs incurred as a result of the adoption of the measures taken by the prevention, avoidance and repair. This period is set at five years.

VII

As for the final part of the law, the additional provision first declares the preferential applicability of the regulatory legislation of emergency situations, both civil and sanitary, to the regime of The second sanctions the preferential application of any other rule that contains obligations in relation to environmental liability more demanding than those laid down in this law; the third one recognizes the the right of the operator to limit its liability in accordance with the provisions of the legislation The fourth deals with non-environmental damage caused by genetically modified organisms; the fifth sets out the obligation of public administrations to provide the Ministry with the right to -the data and information contained in Annex VI of the law for the proper fulfilment of the obligations laid down in the applicable Community rules; the sixth declares of social interest the occupation of certain goods and rights of private ownership; the seventh provides for the unenforceability of the guarantees The eighth recognizes the legitimacy of the Public Prosecutor's Office to intervene in the administrative and judicial processes in which causes that have its origin in the application of this law; the ninth extends the application of the environmental damage repair rules contained in Annex II to any obligation to repair this type of damage regardless of the legal origin of such damage. obligation; the tenth concrete the regime of environmental responsibility of the public works; the The Commission has already established a procedure for the assessment of the application of the law; the twelfth regulates the revision of the thresholds laid down for exemption from the obligation to provide financial guarantees; the thirteenth introduces the the obligation to repair the environmental damage caused outside the European Union; and the 14th regulates the compensation of those affected by the break of the Tous dam.

The single transitional provision declares non-application of the law to damages caused by an issue, event or incident occurring prior to its entry into force or to those caused by an issue, event or incident that is has been produced after the entry into force of this law, where the law is derived from a specific activity completed and completed before that date.

The final provisions, finally, deal with the definition of the titles of competences; they make explicit the work of transposition of Community law that makes the law; allow the government to carry out the development Regulation of the law; lay down the rules to be observed in order to fix the time schedule for the application of the obligations on financial guarantees; they regulate the cooperation between the State and the Autonomous Communities for the implementation of the of the law, and set as the entry into force of the law, the day following its publication in the 'Official State Gazette', with effect from 30 April 2007, with the exception of the provisions of Chapters IV and V.

As for the Annexes, the I sets out the criteria according to which it is necessary to determine whether a damage to a wild species or to a habitat is or is not significant. Annex II deals with the repair of environmental damage. The III lists the professional activities referred to in Article 3.1 of the Law. Annexes IV and V list the international conventions referred to in Articles 3.5.a) and 3.5.b) respectively. Finally, Annex VI describes the information and data referred to in the fifth additional provision.

CHAPTER I

General provisions

Article 1. Object.

This law regulates the responsibility of operators to prevent, prevent and repair environmental damage, in accordance with Article 45 of the Constitution and with the principles of prevention and the "polluter pays".

Article 2. Definitions.

For the purposes of this law,

following definitions shall apply:

1. "Environmental damage":

(a) Damage to wild species and habitat, that is, any damage resulting from significant adverse effects on the ability to achieve or maintain the favourable conservation status of those habitats or species. The significant character of those effects shall be assessed in relation to the basic state, taking into account the criteria set out in Annex I.

Damage to species and habitat shall not include previously identified adverse effects arising from an operator act expressly authorised under the following rules:

1. Article 6.3 and 4 or Article 13 of Royal Decree 1997/1995 of 7 December 1995 laying down measures to contribute to ensuring biodiversity by the conservation of natural habitats and wildlife wild flora.

2. The regulations, state or regional, in the matter of mountains, hunting and continental fishing, within the framework of the provisions of article 28 of Law 4/1989, of 27 March, of conservation of natural and flora and flora and wild fauna.

(b) Water damage, understood as any damage resulting in significant adverse effects both in the ecological, chemical and quantitative status of surface or underground water bodies, as in the potential ecological of the artificial and highly modified water bodies.

For such purposes, the definitions laid down in the water legislation will be available.

The adverse effects on water of application of Article 4.7 of Directive 2000 /60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 on the establishment of a single market shall not be considered to be harmful to water. Community framework for action in the field of water policy.

c) Damage to the sea and the rias, understood as any damage that produces significant adverse effects on their physical integrity and adequate conservation, as well as those others that involve difficulty or inability to achieve or maintain an appropriate quality level of that.

(d) Soil damage, i.e. any contamination of the soil posing a significant risk of adverse effects on human health or the environment due to the deposit, discharge or introduction direct or indirect substances, preparations, organisms or micro-organisms in the soil or subsoil.

2. "Damage" means the adverse and measurable change of a natural resource or the detriment of a natural resource service, whether directly or indirectly.

The damage to environmental damage caused by air-borne elements is included in the concept of damage.

3. "Risk": Function of the probability of occurrence of an event and the amount of damage it can cause.

4. 'Wild species' means the species of flora and fauna referred to in Article 2.3 (a) of Directive 2004 /35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on environmental liability in relation to the prevention and repair of environmental damage or which are protected by Community, state or regional legislation, as well as by the International Treaties in which Spain is a party, which are in a wild state on the Spanish territory, both on a permanent and seasonal basis. In particular, the species included in the National Catalogue of Endangered Species or in the catalogues of threatened species established by the Autonomous Communities in their respective territorial areas.

The invasive alien species are excluded from the above definition, being understood by those introduced deliberately or accidentally outside their natural distribution area and which are a threat to the habitat. or indigenous wild species.

5. 'Habitat' means terrestrial or aquatic areas differentiated by their geographical, abiotic and biotic characteristics and referred to in Article 2.3 (b) of Directive 2004 /35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004, on environmental liability in relation to the prevention and repair of environmental damage, or which are protected by other Community rules, by state or regional legislation, or by the International Treaties in which Spain is part.

6. "State of conservation":

a) With respect to a habitat, the sum of influences that act on it and on its typical species that may affect in the long term its natural distribution, its structure and its functions, as well as the long-term survival the term of their typical species in the area of natural distribution of that habitat in the Spanish territory.

A habitat conservation status will be considered "favorable" when all of the following conditions are met:

1. That your area of natural distribution and areas spanning that extent are stable or growing.

2. The specific structure and functions required for long-term maintenance are met and it is likely that they will continue to be continued for the foreseeable future.

3. That the conservation status of its typical species is favourable, as defined in point (b).

b) With respect to a species, the sum of influences that act on it that may affect its long-term distribution and the abundance of its populations in the area of natural distribution of that species in the territory

The conservation status of a species will be considered "favorable" when all of the following conditions are met:

1. That the population dynamics data for the species concerned indicate that it is being maintained in the long term as a viable component of their habitat.

2. The natural distribution area of that species is not being reduced or likely to be reduced in the foreseeable future.

3. That there is a sufficiently large habitat to maintain its long-term populations and is likely to continue to exist.

7. "Waters": All continental waters, both surface and underground, coastal and transitional defined in the recast of the Water Law, approved by the Royal Legislative Decree 1/2001, of July 20, as well as the remaining elements which are part of the hydraulic public domain.

8. "Ribera del mar y de las rias": The land-land public domain property regulated in Article 3.1 of Law 22/1988, of July 28, of Costas.

9. "Soil": The upper layer of the earth's crust, located between the rocky bed and the surface, composed of mineral particles, organic matter, water, air and living organisms and which constitutes the interface between the earth, the air and the water, which gives it the ability to perform both natural and use functions. No such consideration shall be given to those permanently covered by a surface water sheet.

10. "Operator" means any natural or legal person, public or private, who performs an economic or professional activity or who, by virtue of any title, controls such activity or has a determining economic power over its technical functioning. For their determination, account shall be taken of what the sectoral, state or regional legislation provides for each activity on the holders of permits or authorizations, registrations or communications to the Administration.

Without prejudice to Article 14.1.b), the contracting authorities of public administrations are not included in this concept when exercising the prerogatives granted to them by the law on procurement public in relation to administrative or other contracts which have been concluded with any kind of contractor, who shall be the operator for the purposes of this law.

11. 'economic or professional activity' means any activity carried out on the occasion of an economic activity, business or undertaking, irrespective of its public or private nature and whether or not it has a profit or profit.

12. 'Emission' means the release into the environment, derived from human activities, substances, preparations, organisms or micro-organisms.

13. "imminent threat of damage": A sufficient probability of environmental damage occurring in the near future.

14. 'preventive measure' or 'prevention measure' means a measure taken in response to an event, an act or an omission which has posed an imminent threat of environmental damage, in order to prevent its production or to minimise such damage.

15. 'new damage avoidance measure' means a measure which, having already produced an environmental damage, is intended to limit or prevent further environmental damage, by controlling, containing or eliminating the factors which have caused the damage, or by coping with the damage; to them in any other way.

16. 'Repair measure' or 'repair measure' means any action or set of actions, including those of a provisional nature, intended to repair, restore or replace the natural resources and services of damaged natural resources, or to facilitate an alternative equivalent to them as provided for in Annex II.

17. "Natural resource": Wild species and habitats, water, sea and river banks and soil.

18. 'Natural resource services' means the functions that a natural resource plays for the benefit of another natural resource or the public.

19. 'Basic State' means that the natural resources and natural resources services at the time they suffered the damage, considered from the best information, would have been found if the environmental damage had not occurred; available.

20. "Recovery", including "natural recovery": dealing with water and wildlife and habitat, the return of natural resources and damaged natural resources services to their basic state; soil, in addition, the elimination of any significant risk of adverse effects on human health.

21. "Costs" means any expenditure justified by the need to ensure the proper and effective implementation of this Law in the event of an environmental damage or threat of environmental damage, whichever is the case. In particular, all expenditure incurred in carrying out the correct implementation of preventive measures, the avoidance of new damage and repair measures, the assessment of environmental damage and the imminent threat of such damage, shall be included. damage occur; those aimed at establishing the possible options for action and choosing the most appropriate; those generated to obtain all relevant data and those aimed at ensuring monitoring and monitoring. Understanding, among such costs, of the administrative, legal, and material and technical costs necessary for the exercise of the above actions.

22. 'competent authority' means the competent authority responsible for carrying out the tasks provided for in this Law, which designate the General Administration of the State, the Autonomous Communities and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla in their respective fields of competence; for the implementation of this Law, as provided for in Article 7.

23. "Public" means any natural or legal person, as well as their associations, organisations and groups constituted in accordance with the rules applicable to them.

Article 3. Scope of application.

1. This law shall apply to environmental damage and to imminent threats of such damage occurring, where they have been caused by the economic or professional activities listed in Annex III, even if there is no intent, fault or negligence.

It shall be presumed, unless proof to the contrary, that an economic or professional activity listed in Annex III has caused the damage or imminent threat of such damage occurring when, having regard to its intrinsic nature, or the way it has been developed, be appropriate to cause it.

2. This law shall also apply to environmental damage and to imminent threats of such damage occurring, where they have been caused by economic or professional activities other than those listed in Annex III, in the following terms:

(a) When you mediate, blame or negligence, prevention, avoidance and repair measures shall be required.

(b) Where it is not the fault, the fault or the negligence, prevention and avoidance measures shall be required.

3. This Law will only apply to environmental damage, or to the imminent threat of such damage, caused by diffuse pollution, where it is possible to establish a causal link between the damage and the activities of operators. concrete.

4. This law shall not apply to environmental damage or to any imminent threat of such damage occurring when it has been caused by any of the following:

(a) An act derived from an armed conflict, from hostilities, from civil war or from an insurrection.

b) A natural phenomenon of exceptional, inevitable and irresistible character.

c) Activities whose main purpose is to serve national defense or international security, and activities whose sole purpose is protection from natural disasters.

5. This law will not apply to the following damages:

(a) To environmental damage or to imminent threats of such damage occurring when they originate in an event whose consequences for liability or compensation are established by any of the international conventions listed in Annex IV, including any future amendments, in force in Spain.

(b) To nuclear risks, to environmental damage or to imminent threats of such damage occurring, caused by activities employing materials whose use is regulated by rules derived from the Treaty (a) establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, or any incidents or activities the liability regime of which is established by any of the international conventions listed in Annex V, including any such international conventions; future amendments, in force in Spain.

Article 4. Temporary scope of environmental liability.

This law will not apply to environmental damage if more than thirty years have elapsed since the issue, the event or the incident that caused them occurred.

The deadline will be computed from the day on which you have completed or last produced the issue, event, or incident causing the damage.

Article 5. Damages to individuals.

1. This Law does not cover the exercise of actions for injuries caused to persons, damage caused to private property, any type of economic loss or affect any right relating to this type of damage or any other damages property which does not have the condition of environmental damage, even if they are the result of the same facts that give rise to environmental liability. Such actions shall be governed by the rules applicable in each case.

2. The injured individuals referred to in the preceding paragraph may not require compensation for any environmental damage which has been irrogated to them, in so far as such damage is repaired by the application of this law. The person responsible for dealing with this double repair may claim that the refund or the compensation that comes from the injured party is impaired.

3. In no case shall the claims of individuals harmed in any proceedings or proceedings exonerate the operator responsible for the full and effective adoption of the prevention, avoidance or repair measures resulting from the application of this law and shall not prevent administrative action to be taken.

Article 6. Concurrency between environmental liability and criminal and administrative sanctions.

1. Without prejudice to Article 36.3, the liability laid down in this law shall be compatible with the administrative penalties or penalties to be imposed for the same acts as the one that originated.

2. The following rules shall apply in the case of an environmental liability case with criminal proceedings or penalties:

(a) This law shall in any event apply to the repair of environmental damage caused by operators of economic or professional activities listed in Annex III, irrespective of the processing of the other procedures.

(b) This law shall apply, in any event, to the adoption of measures for the prevention and avoidance of further damage by all operators of economic or professional activities, irrespective of the processing of the other procedures.

(c) The adoption of measures for the repair of environmental damage caused by economic or professional activities other than those listed in Annex III shall be required only where in the administrative procedure or The corresponding penalty has been determined by the dolo, the fault or the negligence.

Any compensatory measures that are necessary to avoid double recovery of costs will be taken in any case.

3. If, by application of other laws, prevention, avoidance and repair of environmental damage have been achieved at the expense of the person responsible, it will not be necessary to process the actions provided for in this law.

Article 7. Administrative powers.

1. The legislative development and enforcement of this law correspond to the autonomous communities in whose territory the damage caused or the imminent threat of such damages are located.

In the same cases, it is up to the cities of Ceuta and Melilla to implement this law.

2. If the damage or the threat of damage to the water catchment area is affected by State-owned water catchment areas or public domain property, the report of the competent State body shall be mandatory, and binding only as regards the prevention, avoidance or repair measures to be taken in respect of such goods.

3. Where, pursuant to the provisions of the legislation of the waters and the coast, it is for the General Administration of the State to ensure the protection of the public domain property of State ownership and to determine the preventive measures, avoidance and repair of damage, that will apply this law in its field of competence.

4. Where the territories of several autonomous communities are affected, or where those territories and the General Administration of the State are required to act in accordance with the previous paragraph, the authorities concerned shall establish those mechanisms for cooperation. which they consider relevant for the proper exercise of the powers laid down in this law, which may provide for the designation of a single body for the processing of the relevant administrative procedures. In any case, they will adjust their actions to the principles of mutual information, cooperation and collaboration.

5. In any case where the decisions or actions of the Acting Administration may affect the interests or powers of others, they shall be required to report them before they are resolved.

6. By way of exception, and where there are grounds for extraordinary seriousness or urgency, the General Administration of the State may promote, coordinate or take all measures necessary to prevent irreparable damage or damage to the environment. to protect human health, with the collaboration of the autonomous communities and in accordance with their respective competences.

Article 8. Cross-border damage.

1. Where environmental damage or an imminent threat of environmental damage affects or is likely to affect another Member State of the European Union, the competent authority which is aware of this shall inform the Member State immediately of the damage. Ministry of the Environment.

2. The Ministry of the Environment, in collaboration with the competent authority concerned and through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, shall adopt the following measures

(a) It shall provide the competent authorities of the Member States concerned with any relevant information so that they may take the measures they deem appropriate in relation to the event causing the damage or the damage caused by the damage. threat of damage to occur.

(b) Establish mechanisms for collaboration with the competent authorities of other Member States to facilitate the adoption of all measures aimed at preventing, preventing and repairing damage. environmental.

(c) Take into account the recommendations made to it by the competent authorities of the other Member States concerned and communicate them to the competent authority concerned.

(d) Take the necessary measures to ensure that operators responsible for environmental damage or imminent threat of damage assume the costs incurred by the competent authorities of the Member States concerned with subject to the criteria of reciprocity established in international treaties or in the rules of those states.

3. Where a Spanish competent authority on the grounds of the matter identifies damage or an imminent threat of damage to its territory, caused by an economic or professional activity in the territory of another Member State of the European Union, inform the European Commission or any other Member State concerned, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. It may also take the following measures:

(a) Make recommendations for the adoption of preventive or remedial measures, which shall be transmitted to the Member State in which the damage has been caused through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.

b) Initiate the procedures for recovery of costs caused by the adoption of preventive or remedial measures, in accordance with the provisions of this law and the other applicable provisions.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation shall immediately inform the Ministry of the Environment and the competent authorities concerned of all information from other Member States on damages. Cross-border environmental protection.

CHAPTER II

Attribution of responsibilities

Article 9. Responsibility of the operators.

1. The operators of the economic or professional activities included in this law are obliged to adopt and implement the measures of prevention, avoidance and repair of environmental damage and to cover their costs, whatever their value, when they are responsible for them.

Compliance with the requirements, precautions and conditions laid down by the laws and regulations or those laid down in any administrative titles to be obtained for the financial year an economic or professional activity, in particular in integrated environmental authorisations, shall not exempt the operators listed in Annex III from environmental liability, without prejudice to the provisions of Article 14.

2. Operators of any economic or professional activities included in this law are required to immediately inform the competent authority of the existence of environmental damage or the imminent threat of such damage, which they have caused or that they may cause.

3. Operators of economic or professional activities included in this law are obliged to cooperate in the definition of remedial measures and in the implementation of those measures adopted by the competent authority.

4. The public administration which has awarded a contract or authorised an activity whose development does not give rise to environmental damage or to the threat thereof shall cooperate with the competent authority, without being liable for liability. the environmental of the public administration by the actions of the operator, except in the case provided for in Article 14.1.b).

Article 10. Liability of groups of companies.

In the event that the operator is a trading company that is part of a group of companies, as provided for in Article 42.1 of the Commercial Code, the environmental liability regulated in this law may be also extend to the dominant company where the competent authority appreciates the abusive use of the legal person or the law.

Article 11. Plurality of persons responsible for the same damage.

In cases where there is a plurality of operators and their participation in the causation of the damage or the imminent threat of causing it is proven, the responsibility shall be communicated, unless by special law that results Another thing is available.

Article 12. Death or extinction of responsible persons.

In the cases of death or extinction of persons responsible under this law, their duties and, in particular, their subsequent pecuniary obligations, shall be transmitted and shall be required in accordance with the provisions of the obligations tax.

Article 13. Supportive and subsidiary officers.

1. They shall be jointly and severally liable for the payment of the pecuniary obligations resulting from this law for the subjects referred to in Article 42.2 of Law 58/2003 of 17 December, General Tax.

2. The following subjects shall be responsible for the duties imposed in this law, and in particular for the corresponding pecuniary obligations:

(a) Managers and administrators in fact and law of legal persons whose conduct has been a determining factor in the liability of such persons.

(b) the managers or administrators of those legal persons who have ceased their activities in respect of the duties and obligations outstanding at the time of the cessation, provided that they have not done what is necessary for their compliance with, or have adopted, agreements or measures causing non-compliance.

(c) Those that happen for any concept to the person responsible for the ownership or the exercise of the activity causing the damage, with the limits and exceptions provided for in article 42.1.c) of Law 58/2003, 17 of December.

(d) members of conformed administrations and liquidators of legal persons who have not performed what is necessary for the performance of the duties and obligations arising prior to such duties; situations.

3. These pecuniary responsibilities shall be declared and shall be required in the implementing procedures, in accordance with the terms laid down in the tax and revenue collection legislation under public law.

Article 14. Unenforceability of the obligation to cover costs.

1. The operator shall not be obliged to bear the costs attributable to the prevention, avoidance and damage repair measures where it demonstrates that the environmental damage or the imminent threat of such damage was caused exclusively by any of the following causes:

(a) The action of a third party outside the scope of the organisation of the activity concerned and independent of it, despite the existence of adequate security measures.

(b) Compliance with a mandatory order or instruction issued by a competent public authority, including orders given in respect of a contract as referred to in the contract law of the Administrations Public.

Except for assumptions in which the order or instruction was dictated to address an issue or incident previously generated by the operator's own activity.

The approval of projects by public administrations, when required by the applicable regulations, will not have the consideration of order or instruction, for the purposes of this paragraph. In particular, projects approved by the contracting authority may not be regarded as a mandatory order or instruction for the purposes of this paragraph in respect of environmental damage not expressly provided for in the impact declaration. environmental or equivalent instrument.

Where environmental damage is the result of defects in a project developed by the Administration in a contract of works or manufacturing supply, the operator will not be obliged to bear the cost of the measures which are adopted.

2. The operator shall not be obliged to bear the cost of the remedial measures when it proves that it has not incurred any fault, wilful or negligence and that any of the following conditions are met:

(a) that the issue or the fact that it is a direct cause of the environmental damage constitutes the express and specific object of an administrative authorization granted in accordance with the rules applicable to the activities listed in

annex III.

Additionally, it will be necessary for the operator to have strictly adjusted in the development of the activity to the determinations or conditions established to the effect in the said authorization and to the regulations that are applicable at the time of the occurrence of the emission or the event causing the environmental damage.

b) That the operator proves that the environmental damage was caused by an activity, an issue, or the use of a product which, at the time of its performance or use, was not considered to be potentially harmful to the environment in accordance with the state of scientific and technical knowledge at that time.

3. Where the circumstances provided for in paragraphs 1 and 2 are met, the operator shall, in any event, be obliged to adopt and implement the measures for the prevention, avoidance and repair of environmental damage. The costs incurred shall be recovered in accordance with the terms laid down in Article 15.

Article 15. Cost recovery.

1. Where, in accordance with Article 14.1, the operator is not required to bear the costs attributable to the measures for the prevention, avoidance or repair of environmental damage, he may recover the costs by exercising the repetition vis-à-vis third parties referred to in Article 16 or claiming responsibility for the assets of the public authorities at whose service the public authority which issued the order or the instruction is located.

The competent authority may also require the third party to bear the costs of the measures that have been taken.

2. In the cases referred to in Article 14 (2), the operator shall be entitled to recover the costs attributable to the measures for the repair of environmental damage in accordance with the terms laid down in the autonomous rules, except as provided for in Article 14 (2). 34.

Article 16. Actions against third parties.

1. An operator who has taken measures to prevent further damage or repair may take action against any other person who, under this or any other rule, is responsible or liable, with or without fault, the environmental damage or the threat of environmental damage caused by the adoption of those measures.

2. Where the damage or threat of damage is caused by the use of a product, the operator may claim to the manufacturer, the importer or the supplier the amount of the costs incurred, provided that the operator has adjusted strictly in the development of its activity to the conditions laid down for the use of the product and the rules in force at the time of the occurrence of the emission or the fact causing the environmental damage.

CHAPTER III

Prevention, avoidance and repair of environmental damage

Section 1. Prevention and avoidance of environmental damage

Article 17. Obligations of the operator in terms of prevention and avoidance of further damage.

1. In the event of an imminent threat of environmental damage caused by any economic or professional activity, the operator of such activity has the duty to take without delay and without warning, requirement or administrative act prior to appropriate preventive measures.

2. In addition, where environmental damage caused by any economic or professional activity has occurred, the operator of such activity has the duty to take appropriate measures to prevent further damage in the same way as whether or not it is subject to the obligation to take remedial action in accordance with the provisions of this law.

3. For the purposes of determining the prevention and avoidance of new damage, the criteria laid down in point 1.3 of Annex II shall be met as far as possible, without prejudice to the additional criteria for the same objective. establish the autonomous communities.

4. Operators shall bring to the immediate attention of the competent authority all aspects relating to environmental damage or the threat of such damage, as provided for in Article 9.2, as well as prevention and avoidance measures. adopted.

If the threat of damage is not removed despite the adoption of new damage prevention or avoidance measures, the operator shall immediately inform the competent authority of the damage.

Article 18. Administrative powers in the field of prevention or avoidance of new damage.

The competent authority, where it considers that there is a threat of damage or production of further damage, may take at any time and by means of a reasoned decision rendered in accordance with Chapter VI, any of the following decisions:

a) Require the operator to provide information on any imminent threat of environmental damage production where there are indications that it will occur.

b) Require the operator to immediately take measures to prevent and prevent such damage and require compliance.

(c) Give the operator instructions for compliance with the prevention or avoidance of new damage measures to be taken or, where appropriate, to leave without effect.

d) To execute at the expense of the responsible subject the prevention or avoidance measures when the circumstances provided for in Articles 23 and 47 are met.

Section 2. Environmental Damage Repair

Article 19. Obligations of the repair operator.

1. The operator of any economic or professional activity listed in Annex III which causes environmental damage as a result of the development of such activities is obliged to bring it to the immediate knowledge of the authority competent and to take any remedial action pursuant to the provisions of this law, even if it has not been committed to it, fault or negligence.

2. The operator of an economic or professional activity not listed in Annex III causing environmental damage as a result of the development of such an activity is obliged to put it to the immediate knowledge of the competent authority and to adopt avoidance measures and, only when you measure dole, fault or negligence, to take the remedial measures.

In any case, operators who have failed to fulfil their duties on the prevention and avoidance of damage measures are obliged to take remedial measures.

Article 20. Repair measures.

1. In accordance with Article 19, where environmental damage has occurred, the operator, without delay and without the need for warning, requirement or prior administrative act:

a) Adopt all interim measures necessary to immediately repair, restore or replace the natural resources and services of damaged natural resources, in accordance with the criteria set out in the Annex II, without prejudice to the additional criteria which the autonomous communities will establish with the same objective. It shall inform the competent authority of the measures taken.

(b) Subject to the approval of the competent authority, in accordance with Chapter VI, a proposal for remedial measures for environmental damage caused in accordance with the provisions of Annex II, without (a) prejudice to the additional criteria which the autonomous communities will establish with the same objective.

2. Where this is possible, the competent authority shall enable the operator to be able to choose between different appropriate measures or between different forms of implementation.

3. Where several environmental damage has occurred, in such a way as to make it impossible for all the necessary remedial measures to be taken at the same time, the resolution shall set the order of priorities to be observed.

To this end, the competent authority shall take into account, inter alia, the nature, extent and severity of each environmental damage, as well as the potential for natural recovery.

In any case, the measures aimed at the elimination of risks to human health shall be of a preferential nature.

Article 21. Administrative powers with regard to damage repair.

The competent authority may, in the event of environmental damage, adopt at any time and by means of a reasoned decision rendered in accordance with Chapter VI of any of the decisions referred to above. below:

a) Require the operator to provide additional information regarding the damage produced.

(b) Adopt, require the operator to adopt or instruct the operator in respect of all possible urgent measures to immediately control, contain, remove or otherwise deal with the contaminants in question and any other harmful factors to limit or prevent further environmental damage and adverse effects on human health or further damage to services.

(c) Require the operator to take the necessary remedial measures in accordance with the provisions of Annex II.

d) Give the operator instructions to enforce the remedial measures to be taken or, where appropriate, to leave without effect.

e) Run at the expense of the responsible subject the remedial measures when the circumstances provided for in Articles 23 and 47 are met.

Section 3. Common Provisions

Article 22. Failure to comply with the obligations of prevention, avoidance or repair of environmental damage.

1. The competent authority shall ensure that the operator takes the measures of prevention, avoidance or repair of environmental damage, as well as to observe the other obligations laid down in this law, in the terms therein. intended.

To do this, you will exercise the powers attributed to you by this and any other rule of law.

2. In the event of a total or partial failure to comply with the obligations of operators to carry out prevention, avoidance or repair measures for environmental damage, the competent authority shall give a reasoned decision in accordance with the established in Chapter VI, requiring the operator to comply with it.

3. The provisions of the above paragraph are without prejudice to the application of the sanctioning regime which is the result of the non-compliance.

Article 23. Direct action by the Administration.

1. In order to ensure the most effective protection of natural resources and the services provided by them, the competent authority may agree and implement the measures for the prevention of new damage or repair provided for in the this law, taking into account, inter alia, the following circumstances:

(a) That the responsible operator has not been identified and cannot be expected without danger of environmental damage.

b) That there are a number of responsible operators and an effective distribution in time and space that ensures the correct implementation of the measures is not possible.

c) That studies, knowledge or technical means are required to be advised.

d) That action be taken on the goods of public administrations or on private property of third parties which make it difficult or inconvenient for the operator to perform it.

e) That the severity and transcendence of the damage so require.

2. In cases of emergency, the competent authority may act without having to deal with the procedure provided for in this law to fix the remedial, avoidance or prevention of environmental damage or to require its adoption.

Once such circumstances have disappeared, the competent authority, after the instruction of the relevant procedure, will dictate the amount of the costs of the measures implemented pursuant to this Article. and the obligated or obliged to satisfy them, which will be liable to enforced execution.

3. The competent authority shall recover from the operator or, where appropriate, the third party which has caused the damage or the imminent threat of damage, the costs incurred in the adoption of such prevention measures, the avoidance of further damage or damage to the repair.

However, the competent authority may agree not to recover the full costs when the costs necessary to do so are higher than the recoverable amount. To take this agreement, it will be necessary to draw up an economic memory that justifies it.

CHAPTER IV

Financial Collateral

Section 1. Compulsory Financial Guarantee

Article 24. Establishment of a compulsory financial guarantee.

1. Operators of the activities listed in Annex III shall have a financial guarantee which enables them to meet the environmental responsibility inherent in the activity or activities they intend to carry out.

2. The quantity which must be guaranteed and which does not limit in any sense the responsibilities laid down in the Law, shall be determined by the competent authority according to the intensity and extent of the damage which the operator's activity may cause, in accordance with the criteria to be laid down in regulation.

3. The competent authority shall justify the fixing of the amount to be determined by using the method to be established by the government, after consulting the autonomous communities. This method shall be based on technical criteria which ensure a homogeneous assessment of the risk scenarios and the repair costs associated with each of them and ensure a uniform definition of the definition of the hedges which are required for each activity or for each installation.

Article 25. Liability covered by the guarantee.

1. The guaranteed amount shall be specifically and exclusively intended to cover the environmental responsibilities of the operator arising from his or her economic or professional activity.

2. The guarantee regulated in this section shall be foreign and independent of the coverage of any other liability, whether criminal, civil, administrative or other, and, as a result, shall not be reduced or exhausted by expenditure, claims or requirements not related to such environmental responsibilities, nor may it be applied to any other purpose than the one which has justified its constitution. The guaranteed amount shall also be independent of the amount which may support activities which are subject to different authorisations, granted by both the environmental authority and others. They shall also not be subject to total or partial pignorprayer or mortgage.

Article 26. Embodiments.

The financial guarantee may be constituted through any of the following modalities, which may be alternative or complementary to each other, both in terms of value, and in the guaranteed facts:

(a) An insurance policy that complies with Law 50/1980, of October 8, of a Insurance Contract, signed with an insurance company authorized to operate in Spain. In this case, the functions referred to in Article 33 shall correspond to the Insurance Compensation Consortium.

b) The obtaining of an endorsement, granted by a financial institution authorized to operate in Spain.

(c) The establishment of a technical reserve by providing an "ad hoc" fund with the implementation of public sector-backed financial investments.

The financial collateral to be subscribed may provide for the limiting or limiting conditions of the damage provided for in this chapter or others which are determined to be determined.

Article 27. Secured subjects.

The operator of the economic or professional activity shall be considered as a guaranteed subject, and subcontractors and professionals working with such operator may also be included as additional guaranteed subjects. in the performance of the authorized activity.

Article 28. Exemptions from the obligation to set up a compulsory financial guarantee.

exempted from the obligation to provide mandatory financial collateral:

(a) Operators of those activities liable to cause damage whose repair is assessed for a quantity of less than EUR 300,000.

(b) Operators of activities liable to cause damage the repair of which is assessed by an amount of between EUR 300,000 and EUR 2,000,000 by means of the presentation of certificates issued by bodies which are permanently and continuously attached to the Community environmental management and audit scheme (EMAS), or to the UNE-EN ISO 14001:1996 environmental management system.

(c) The use of plant protection products and biocidal products referred to in paragraph 8.c) and d) of Annex III for agricultural and forestry purposes.

Article 29. Costs covered.

The content of the security provided through the modalities referred to in Article 26 shall cover the coverage of the following costs:

(a) The derivatives of the operator's obligations under Article 17, provided that the damage that is intended to be avoided or limited has been caused by contamination.

(b) derivatives of the operator's obligations under Articles 19 and 20, provided that the damage to be avoided or limited has been caused by pollution. To the extent that such damage affects the waters, the wild species and their habitat or the riverbanks and the rias, the guaranteed expenditure is limited to those covered by the concept of 'primary repair' defined in paragraph 1. 1.a) of Annex II.

Article 30. Quantitative limits of the guarantee.

1. The coverage of the mandatory financial guarantee shall never exceed EUR 20,000,000.

2. The amount to be determined shall be applied as a limit per event and annuity, and it may be admitted that the operator, as a franchise, is charged an amount which does not exceed 0,5 per cent of the amount to be secured in each case. For the above purposes, the set of claims for environmental damage arising from the same emission, event or incident shall be deemed to be the same and unique event, even if those claims occur at different times, whatever the number of affected, being applicable to that event unit or serial event, as a limit, the amount per event and annuity of the insurance established in the guarantee.

3. It may also be accepted that the costs related to the prevention and avoidance of new damage obligations under Article 17 are specifically limited. In any event, that sub-limit shall be at least 10% of the amount to be fixed in each case.

Article 31. Validity of the warranty.

1. The security must be lodged from the date on which the necessary authorization for the exercise of the activity takes effect. The operator must maintain the guarantee in force throughout the period of business. The competent authority shall establish the appropriate control systems to verify the validity of such guarantees, to the effect that the insurance institutions, the financial institutions and the operators themselves must provide the competent authority the necessary information.

2. The exhaustion of guarantees or their reduction by more than 50% shall determine the obligation of the operator to return them within six months from the date on which the amount is known or is estimated with a reasonable degree of certainty of the guaranteed obligation.

Article 32. Limitations of the temporary scope of the warranty.

1. The temporary scope of the guarantee may be limited, in such a way as to include those responsibilities in which the following circumstances are taken together:

(a) That the beginning of the emission causing the contamination or the beginning of the situation of imminent risk of contamination is identified and demonstrated to have occurred within the period of the guarantee.

(b) that the first evidence of contamination has occurred within the period of the guarantee or within three years from the date of termination of the guarantee. First manifestation is the moment when the existence of a contamination is first discovered, whether it is considered dangerous or harmful or not.

c) That the claim to the operator for the contamination has taken place within the warranty period or within three years from the termination of the warranty period.

2. For the purposes of the preceding paragraph, contamination shall be considered to have caused accidental and random contamination, i.e. that it is extraordinary and that it has not been generated by any of the following reasons:

a) Intentionally.

b) As a normal and planned consequence of the possession of buildings, facilities or equipment at the service of the authorised activity.

(c) As a result of an intended and agreed by the operator, occurring within the enclosure in which the activity is carried out or in the geographical area for which the activity has been authorised.

(d) For non-compliance known to the insured person, or which could not be ignored by the insured person, of the mandatory rules applicable to the insured activity, both in the environmental field and in any other matter.

e) By conscious misuse or lack or defect of maintenance, repair or replacement of facilities or mechanisms and their components.

f) Due to the abandonment or prolonged lack of use of facilities, without taking appropriate measures to prevent the deterioration of their conditions of protection or safety.

g) As a result of popular riots, riots, strikes, internal disturbances, sabotage and acts of terrorism or armed gangs.

Article 33. Insurance Compensation Consortium environmental damage compensation fund.

1. The Insurance Compensation Consortium will manage and manage, in an independent financial manner and in a manner consistent with the rest of the activities it carries out, an environmental damage compensation fund to be set up with the contributions from operators who take out insurance to ensure their environmental liability, by means of a surcharge on the insurance premium.

The Fund shall be intended to extend the coverage of the Fund for the liabilities secured in the original policy, and in its same terms, for those damages which, having been caused by the activities authorized during the the period of validity of the insurance, is manifested or claimed after the time of the periods of manifestation or claim admitted to the policy, and is claimed in the course of, at most, a number of years equal to that during which it was the insurance policy, which has been counted since this term and with the limit of 30 years.

2. Under the same Fund, the Consortium will also address the obligations that, in the terms and limits of this section, correspond to those operators who have signed an insurance policy, and whose insurance institution would have been declared in competition or, having been dissolved, and finding itself in a situation of insolvency, it would be subject to an interim settlement procedure or would have been taken over by the Insurance Compensation Consortium itself.

3. The liabilities of the Fund shall in each case correspond to the amounts which, according to each type of activity, have been determined in accordance with Article 24 and, in the case of those referred to in the first paragraph of this Article, In addition, the total amount shall be limited to the total amount.

Section 2. State Environmental Damage Repair Fund

Article 34. State Environmental Damage Repair Fund.

1. A State Environmental Damage Repair Fund is set up to cover the costs arising from measures to prevent, prevent or repair State-owned public domain property where the costs are applicable. provided for in Article 7.3, in connection with Articles 14.2 and 15.2.

This Fund will be managed by the Ministry of the Environment and will be provided with resources from the State Budget.

2. The Autonomous Communities may participate in the financing and management of the State Environmental Damage Repair Fund, through any of the cooperation instruments provided for in Title I of Law No 30/1992 of 26 November 1992. of the Legal Regime of Public Administrations and of the Common Administrative Procedure.

In such cases, the scope of the Fund's coverage may be extended to other environmental damage, in terms of the terms referred to in the instruments of collaboration.

CHAPTER V

Violations and penalties

Article 35. Subjects responsible for the infringements.

May be sanctioned by the facts of the administrative offences governed in this chapter by natural and legal persons who are operators of economic or professional activities and who are responsible for the same.

Article 36. Violations.

1. Administrative violations are the actions and omissions that are typified in the following articles, as well as those that, where appropriate, establish the autonomic legislation for the development of this law.

2. If the same act or omission were to constitute two or more infringements, only the one with the greatest sanction shall be taken into consideration.

3. Acts which have been punishable by criminal or administrative punishment shall not be punishable in cases where the identity of the subject, fact and substance is assessed. In cases where the offences may be a crime or a fault, the competent authority shall pass the fault to the competent jurisdiction and shall refrain from pursuing the sanctioning procedure while the competent authority is responsible. judicial has not been pronounced.

If the existence of a crime has not been estimated, the Prosecutor's Office will bring it to the attention of the competent authority, which will be able to continue the sanctioning file, taking into account in any case the facts that the courts have been considered tested.

4. The processing of a sanctioning procedure for the infringements regulated in this chapter will not delay the requirement of the obligations to adopt measures of prevention, avoidance of new damages or reparation provided for in this law, which shall be independent of the sanction imposed.

Article 37. Classification of the infringements.

1. The offences listed in this law are classified as very serious and serious.

2. The following violations are very serious:

(a) Not to take the preventive or avoidance measures required by the competent authority to the operator pursuant to Article 17, where this results in the damage that was intended to be avoided.

(b) Not to comply with the instructions received from the competent authority pursuant to Article 18 in order to implement the preventive or avoidance measures to which the operator is obliged, where this has the the damage that was intended to be avoided.

(c) Not to take the remedial measures required of the operator pursuant to Articles 19 and 20, where this results in a detriment to the remedial effectiveness of such measures.

d) Not to comply with the instructions received from the competent authority pursuant to Article 21 when implementing the remedial measures to which the operator is obliged, where this results in a detriment to the repair efficiency of such measures.

e) not to inform the competent authority of the existence of an environmental damage or of an imminent threat of damage produced or likely to be produced by the operator and of which it has knowledge, or to do so with unjustified delay, where this has the effect that its effects will be aggravated or will actually occur.

f) Failure to comply with the obligation to conclude in the terms of this law the financial guarantees to which the operator is obliged, as well as the fact that the time remaining to be held does not remain in force obligation.

3. The following violations are serious:

(a) Not to take the preventive or avoidance measures required by the competent authority to the operator pursuant to Article 17, where it is not a very serious infringement.

(b) Not to comply with the instructions received from the competent authority pursuant to Article 18 when implementing the preventive or avoidance measures to which the operator is obliged, where it is not a constituent very serious infringement.

(c) Not to take the remedial measures required of the operator by the competent authority pursuant to Article 19, where it is not a very serious infringement.

(d) Not to comply with the instructions received from the competent authority pursuant to Article 21 to implement the remedial measures to which the operator is obliged, where it is not an infringement. very severe.

e) not to inform the competent authority of the existence of an environmental damage or of an imminent threat of damage produced or likely to be produced by the operator and of which it has knowledge, or to do so with unjustified delay, where it is not a very serious infringement.

(f) Not to provide the information required by the competent authority to the operator, or to do so late, in accordance with Articles 18 and 21.

(g) Not to provide the operator concerned with the assistance required by the competent authority for the implementation of the remedial, preventive or avoidance measures, in accordance with Article 9.

h) The omission, resistance or obstruction of those actions that are enforced, in accordance with the provisions of this law.

Article 38. Penalties.

1. The offences referred to in Article 37 shall give rise to the imposition of all or some of the following penalties:

a) In the case of a fatal violation:

1. Mull from 50,001 to 2,000,000 euros.

2. Extinction of authorization or suspension of authorization for a minimum period of one year and a maximum of two years.

b) In the case of serious violations:

1. Mull from 10,001 to 50,000 euros.

2. º Suspension of authorization for a maximum period of one year.

2. If environmental damage is caused or the damage caused by the failure, delay, resistance or obstruction by the operator in the performance of obligations under this law, whose non-compliance is to be caused The operator shall, in any event, be obliged to take the measures of prevention, avoidance and repair regulated in this law, irrespective of the appropriate sanction.

3. Each year the competent authorities shall make known, once firm, the penalties imposed for infringements of the law, the facts constituting such infringements, as well as the identity of the operators responsible.

Article 39. Graduation of penalties.

In the imposition of sanctions, public administrations should be required to maintain adequate adequacy between the seriousness of the fact of the infringement and the sanction applied, considering to this effect the criteria laid down in the Article 131 of Law 30/1992 of 26 November.

Article 40. Limitation of infringements and penalties.

1. Very serious infractions will be prescribed at three years and the serious ones at two years.

The limitation period shall begin to be counted from the day on which the infringement was committed or, in the case of continued activity, since its completion.

2. Penalties imposed for serious misconduct will be prescribed at two years and those imposed for very serious misconduct at three years.

The limitation period for penalties shall begin to be counted from the day following that in which the decision imposing the sanction is final.

CHAPTER VI

Rules applicable to environmental liability requirements procedures

Article 41. Procedure initiation.

1. The environmental liability requirements laid down in this law shall be initiated either on their own initiative or at the request of the operator or any other person concerned.

2. Where the initiation of the environmental liability requirements is requested by a person other than the operator, the application shall be formalised in writing and shall in any event specify the damage or the threat of damage to the resources. natural protected by this law. The application shall specify, and where possible, the following aspects:

a) The action or omission of the presumed responsible.

b) The identification of the suspected person responsible.

c) The date on which the action or omission occurred.

d) The place where the damage or threat of damage to natural resources has occurred.

e) The causality relationship between the action or the omission of the alleged liability and the damage or threat of damage.

Article 42. Interested.

1. They shall have the status of an interested party for the purposes of this law:

(a) Any natural or legal person in which any of the circumstances provided for in Article 31 of Law 30/1992 of 26 November 1992 are present.

b) Non-profit legal persons who demonstrate compliance with the following requirements:

1. Having between the purposes accredited in their statutes the protection of the environment in general or that of any of its elements in particular.

2. º that they had been legally constituted at least two years before the exercise of the action and that they are actively exercising the activities necessary to achieve the ends provided for in their statutes.

3. º That according to its statutes they develop their activity in a territorial area that is affected by the environmental damage or the threat of damage.

(c) Holders of land where measures of prevention, avoidance or repair of environmental damage are to be carried out.

d) Those others who establish the legislation of the Autonomous Communities.

2. The parties concerned may make the submissions they deem appropriate and provide the information they deem relevant and shall be considered by the competent authority to which they are addressed.

3. The competent authority shall give a hearing to the holders of the grounds referred to in paragraph 1 (c), the operator and the other persons concerned, in order to ensure that they consider what they consider appropriate or to provide the additional documentation they consider to be appropriate. appropriate.

Article 43. Access to the information.

The public may request the public authorities to provide information on environmental damage and on measures to prevent, prevent or repair such damage.

Article 44. Provisional measures.

1. In the course of the procedures, all preventive measures and measures to prevent further damage which are necessary to ensure that the situation does not worsen, or to cause environmental damage, may be taken on a provisional basis. especially, to ensure human health.

2. For the same purpose, provisional measures must be taken prior to the initiation of the procedure, subject to the limits and conditions laid down in Article 72.2 of Law 30/1992 of 26 November.

3. The provisional measures may consist in imposing on the operator the performance of the necessary action and which, in the event of non-compliance, will be liable to be enforced, as well as in actions to be carried out by the operator. competent authority, even at the expense of the person responsible.

Article 45. Resolution.

1. The competent authority shall, in a reasoned and express manner, express the procedures for requiring environmental liability, either by requiring the operator to carry out the environmental liability in which it has incurred, or by declaring that it does not exist. that responsibility.

In any case they may be refused, in a reasoned manner, those manifestly unfounded or abusive requests.

2. At least the following shall be determined in the resolution:

a) Description of the threat or environmental damage to be removed.

b) Assessment of the threat or environmental damage.

(c) Where appropriate, definition of the prevention or avoidance measures for further damage to be adopted, accompanied, where appropriate, by appropriate instructions on their proper implementation.

(d) Where appropriate, definition of the repair measures to be adopted, accompanied, where appropriate, by appropriate instructions on their correct implementation. This definition shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Annex II or in the additional criteria which the autonomous communities shall establish with the same objective, taking into account the proposal made by the operator.

e) Identification of the subject to be applied by the measures.

f) Deadline for execution.

(g) the amount and the obligation to pay the measures which the competent authority has adopted and implemented where appropriate.

h) Identification of the actions to be performed by the Public Administration.

3. The competent authority shall resolve and notify within the maximum period of 3 months. In scientific and technically complex cases, the authority may extend this period to an additional three months by notifying the parties concerned of such extension. For the sole purpose of guaranteeing the right of the persons concerned to the administrative and judicial protection, after the period referred to above, the application shall be deemed to be dismissed or the procedure shall lapse where the application has been initiated without delay. prejudice to the inexcusable obligation of the competent authority to resolve.

This period may be suspended for the time between the request of the operator to submit the proposal for remedial measures referred to in Article 20.1 (b) or, where appropriate, for the subsane to be present, and its cash compliance by the recipient.

4. The decisions of the competent authority shall be enforceable in accordance with the provisions of Title VII of Law No 30/1992 of 26 November 1992 and other applicable rules.

Article 46. Conventional termination.

1. At any time in the proceedings, agreements may be concluded between the competent authority to resolve and the operator or operators responsible for the purpose of establishing the content of the final decision as regards the following: extremes:

(a) The content and scope of the measures to be taken by the responsible or responsible.

b) The shape of their execution.

c) The phases and priorities and the partial and total execution times.

d) The administrative means of address or control.

e) Compliance guarantees and how many contribute to ensuring the effectiveness and feasibility of the measures.

f) The measures to be implemented by the competent authority, at the expense of those responsible.

2. The agreements must in any event guarantee the objectives of this Law.

3. The competent authority and responsible operators may propose the agreement.

The start of the negotiations will suspend the deadline to resolve for a maximum period of two months, after which the competent authority will have to continue processing the procedure until no agreement has been reached. their termination.

4. If other interested parties are involved, they shall be notified of the start of the negotiations and shall be given a hearing for a period of 15 working days. They will also be notified of the agreement.

5. If an agreement is reached, the agreement shall be incorporated in the resolution unless, in particular, taking into account the arguments of other interested parties, the body responsible for resolving the dispute shall understand its refusal or amendment on grounds of legality, case shall dictate the resolution that proceeds as far as possible with the terms of the agreement.

New negotiations can also be initiated to modify the agreement as needed.

6. The agreements will be binding on the signatories. The competent authority shall ensure compliance.

Article 47. Enforced execution.

1. In the event of non-compliance, administrative decisions imposing the duty to carry out the measures for the prevention, avoidance and repair of environmental damage shall be subject to enforcement, subject to prior warning. Such implementation may be encouraged by the parties concerned.

2. The competent authority shall proceed to subsidiary enforcement, in particular where the environmental damage is serious or the threat of damage is imminent.

3. Where it is deemed appropriate not to cause delays which may endanger the natural resources concerned, the competent authority may impose successively up to a maximum of five periodic penalty payments, each of them for an amount maximum of ten per cent of the estimated cost of the set of measures being implemented.

Article 48. Recovery of costs by the public administration.

1. Where the competent authority has taken measures to prevent further damage or repair in accordance with Articles 23 and 47 by itself, it shall require the operator responsible for the obligation to satisfy the requirements laid down in Articles 23 and 47. generated costs.

2. The competent authority shall have a period of five years to require the responsible operator to meet the costs referred to in the previous paragraph. That period shall start from the later of the following dates:

a) Aquella in which the execution of the measures is complete.

b) That in which you have identified the person responsible.

3. The term computation shall be interrupted for the following reasons:

(a) By any action of the competent authority carried out with the formal knowledge of the person responsible, he shall require the same facts to do so in respect of any kind of liability under this or any other law.

b) By criminal prosecution instruction for the same facts as generators of regulated liability in this law.

c) By the request of interested parties, with formal knowledge of the person responsible, in accordance with Article 44.

d) For any performance of responsibility recognition by the obligor.

4. The decision imposing the obligation to pay the costs and any other act, even agreed as a provisional measure, imposing the payment of a liquid amount, shall be implemented in accordance with Article 10 of Law 47/2003 of 26 May 2003. November, General Budget.

Article 49. Applicable rules.

As not provided for in this law, the procedures to be applied in their application shall be governed by Law 30/1992 of 26 November and by the law applicable to each competent public administration.

Additional disposition first. Emergency situations.

The provisions of this law will apply without prejudice to civil protection legislation for emergency situations; the regulation contained in Articles 24, 26 and 28 of Law 14/1986 of 25 April, General of Health; the forecasts for health emergencies contained in the Organic Law 3/1986 of 14 April, of special measures in the field of public health; and of the applicable autonomous legislation in the field of civil protection and health emergencies.

Additional provision second. Application of more demanding environmental regulations.

1. This law shall apply without prejudice to more stringent Community rules on environmental liability.

2. The State or the Autonomous Communities, within the scope of their respective powers, may maintain or adopt more stringent provisions on the prevention, avoidance and repair of certain environmental damage or on certain activities.

3. This law shall not prevent the allocation of responsibilities to subjects other than operators, by application of other environmental standards.

4. Autonomous communities may subject other activities or other subjects to the liability regime established in this law.

5. Environmental damage caused by activities whose main purpose is to serve national defence or international security is excluded from the subsequent legislative developments referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2. above.

Additional provision third. Limitation of liability arising out of claims for maritime and inland waterway rights.

This law shall be without prejudice to the right of the operator to limit its liability in accordance with the 1996 Protocol amending the Convention of 19 December 1976 on the limitation of the liability of The European Parliament has also called on the Commission to take the necessary steps to ensure that the European Parliament and the Council are in a position to take the necessary steps to ensure that the development of both international instruments.

Likewise, the provisions of this law shall be without prejudice to the provisions of Article 108 of Law 62/2003 of 30 December, of Fiscal, Administrative and Social Order Measures and of their implementing legislation, in relationship with the system of monitoring and information on the maritime traffic of dangerous goods.

Additional provision fourth. Non-environmental damage to crops by the release of genetically modified organisms.

Non-environmental damage to crops resulting from the release of genetically modified organisms shall be repaired by the compensation for damages which, where appropriate, corresponds to the laws of the Member States. civil.

Additional provision fifth. Referral of information to the Ministry of the Environment.

1. Public administrations shall provide the Ministry of the Environment with the data and information set out in Annex VI for the proper fulfilment of the obligations laid down in the applicable Community legislation.

2. The Ministry of the Environment will make public the information sent to the Commission.

Additional provision sixth. Declaration of social interest of the temporary occupation of certain private property and rights.

1. The temporary occupation of the goods and rights of private ownership is declared to be of social interest, when it is necessary to carry out the repair of the environmental damage or to prevent or prevent its production. Public administrations may declare the urgency of such occupation when the circumstances warrant it.

2. For the purpose of the temporary occupation provided for in this provision and for the compensation of the damages incurred by it, it shall be in accordance with the legislation on compulsory expropriation in the field of compensation for temporary occupancy.

Additional provision seventh. Unenforceability of the mandatory financial guarantee for public legal persons.

1. Article 24 does not apply to the General Administration of the State, nor to the public bodies connected or dependent on it. It shall not apply either to local authorities or to the self-employed bodies or to public law entities that are dependent on them.

2. The autonomous communities shall determine the applicability of Article 24 to their administration and their dependent public bodies.

Additional disposition octave. Legitimization of the Fiscal Ministry.

1. In accordance with the provisions of Article 19.1.f) of Law 29/1998 of July 13, the regulator of the Jurisdiction-Administrative Jurisdiction, the Prosecutor's Office shall be entitled to any legal-administrative proceedings that may be the application of this law.

For the purposes of the foregoing paragraph, the competent authority shall inform the Prosecutor's Office of all the environmental liability assumptions arising from this law.

2. Public Administrations shall take appropriate measures to ensure that their authorities and the personnel at their service provide the Prosecutor's Office with the technical assistance, material or other nature which may be required for the exercise of their duties. functions in the administrative-administrative proceedings referred to in the previous paragraph, in accordance with the provisions of Article 4.3 of Law 50/1981 of 30 December 1981 governing the Organic Statute of the Ministry of Justice Prosecutor.

Additional provision ninth. Application of Annex II to judicial and administrative procedures.

The rules in Annex II or those set out in addition to the autonomous rules with the same objective shall apply in the determination of the obligation to repair environmental damage, irrespective of whether or not such an obligation is required in a civil, criminal or litigation-administrative or administrative procedure.

Additional provision 10th. Environmental liability of public works.

In accordance with the provisions of Article 2.1 of this Law and the additional provision fourth to Royal Decree-Law 1302/1986 of 28 June of the Evaluation of Environmental Impact in public works of general interest, the the competent authority may not require the measures provided for in this law to be taken, nor shall it be implemented in the subsidiary, where the procedure laid down for the assessment of its impact has been followed in accordance with existing information; and comply with the requirements set out in the environmental impact statement.

The autonomous rules applicable to the matter shall determine the application of the provisions of the paragraph above to the environmental impact declaration or equivalent figure of the public works whose ownership corresponds to the Autonomous communities.

Additional provision eleventh. Assessment of the implementation of the Law.

The Ministry of Environment will raise the Environmental Advisory Council with a biennial periodicity, a report evaluating the implementation of this law, and the need, if appropriate, to implement the measures. legislative or administrative measures necessary to improve the effectiveness of the environmental liability regime; in particular, the effectiveness of the derogation provided for in Article 28 (b) shall be reviewed.

For the preparation of the report, the Ministry will consult the autonomous communities and obtain the information they need.

Additional disposition twelfth. Review of the thresholds regulated in Article 28 of the Act.

The thresholds set out in Article 28 of this Act to determine which operators are exempted from the obligation to provide financial guarantees will be studied and reviewed by the Government in the light of experience. arising from the application of the method referred to in Article 24 for the fixing of the coverage of the said guarantees. Before 31 December 2015, the Government shall submit a report proposing the maintenance or, where appropriate, the modification, upward or downward, of the above thresholds.

Additional disposition thirteenth. Environmental liability abroad.

1. Operators engaged in economic or professional activities governed by this Law in States which are not part of the European Union shall be obliged to prevent, prevent and repair environmental damage in accordance with the provisions of this Law. international agreements, principles, objectives and norms which, in this field, Spain subscribes, and may be applicable, by virtue of the same, as many measures of prevention, avoidance and repair of damages that are regulated in this Law, with the Scope and purpose in which it is intended.

2. Operators who fail to comply with the obligations laid down in the previous paragraph and who are beneficiaries of public support instruments for Spanish investment abroad will be obliged to return all public support to the public. investment abroad received for the development of the activity of environmental damage and will not be able to receive similar aid over a period of two years, in addition to the sanction that they may be subject to the application of the agreements entered into by Spain referred to in the previous paragraph.

3. The provisions of the foregoing paragraphs shall not exempt from the fulfilment of any other legal obligation existing in the State in which the activity is carried out causing the environmental damage.

Additional disposition fourteenth. Compensation for damage caused by the break of the Tous dam.

1. Those affected by the break of the Tous dam referred to in the motion adopted by the Senate of 8 May 2007 shall be entitled to receive, in accordance with the criteria and under the conditions laid down in the judgment of the Chamber of Court of Justice of the Supreme Court of 20 October 1997, the compensation to which they would have been entitled if they had been included in the lists of affected persons incorporated into the process. In the event that the beneficiaries initially identified have passed away, the right to compensation shall be transmitted to their testamentary or legitimate successors.

2. The beneficiaries of this compensation must, prior to their receipt, expressly and in writing, give up all legal proceedings which they have brought or may have the right to initiate in any administrative or administrative way. National and international courts to obtain compensation for the damages referred to in this provision.

3. The Ministry of the Environment will dictate the appropriate provisions and instructions to ensure effective compliance with this precept.

Single transient arrangement. Damages prior to the entry into force of the law.

1. This law will not apply to the following damages:

a) Those caused by an issue, event, or incident that occurred before April 30, 2007.

(b) Those caused by an issue, event or incident that occurred after 30 April 2007, when they arise from a specific activity completed and completed prior to that date.

2. The irretroactivity of this law in the terms described in the above paragraph shall not prevent any of the following measures from being taken:

a) That liability be required in accordance with other rules that are applicable.

(b) Measures to prevent or prevent further damage are imposed in accordance with the provisions of this Regulation.

(c) The repair of the part of the damage not excluded in paragraph 1 shall be required.

Final disposition first. Competitive titles.

1. This law has the character of basic environmental protection legislation, without prejudice to the powers of the autonomous communities to lay down additional standards of protection in accordance with the provisions of Article 149.1.23. Constitution, except for the following provisions:

The eighth additional provision, which constitutes procedural law issued under Article 149.1.6. of the Constitution.

Section 1 of Chapter IV, which constitutes basic insurance legislation issued pursuant to Article 149.1.11

Section 2 of Chapter IV, issued pursuant to Article 149.1.14. of the Constitution in the field of General Finance and State Debt.

2. They are not basic: the period laid down in Article 45.3; the time limits laid down in Article 46.3 and 4; and the provisions of paragraph 1 of the seventh additional provision, which shall apply only to the General Administration of the State, to its bodies public and state agencies.

Final disposition second. Incorporation of Community law.

This law incorporates into Spanish law Directive 2004 /35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on environmental liability in relation to the prevention and repair of damage environmental.

Final disposition third. Development authorization.

1. The Government is empowered, after consulting the Autonomous Communities, to issue in its field of competence how many provisions are necessary for the development and implementation of Chapter IV and the Annexes to this Law.

In particular, the Government will adopt by means of a royal decree, by 31 December 2008 and after consultation of the Autonomous Communities, the development of the provisions of Chapter IV and the definition of the method of evaluation of the damage for the purposes of Article 24.

2. The Government is empowered to amend the Annexes, after consulting the Autonomous Communities, in order to adapt them to the amendments which, if necessary, are introduced by Community legislation.

Final disposition fourth. Application of the mandatory financial guarantee.

1. The date from which the constitution of the compulsory financial guarantee for each of the activities of Annex III will be required shall be determined by order of the Minister of the Environment, after agreement of the Commission Delegated Commission for Economic Affairs, and after consulting the Autonomous Communities and the sectors concerned.

The order will set a specific calendar for activities that would have been authorized prior to publication.

2. The ministerial orders referred to in the previous paragraph shall be adopted from 30 April 2010 and shall be drawn up in the light of the report of the European Commission referred to in Article 14.2 of the Directive. 2004 /35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004, as well as the ability of financial markets to have a comprehensive and comprehensive guarantee offer at reasonable prices.

Final disposition fifth. Collaboration between public administrations.

The General Administration of the State will promote the subscription of instruments for collaboration and cooperation with the autonomous communities in order to develop protocols for action to ensure coordinated and effective action. of the public administrations competent to implement this law.

Final disposition sixth. Entry into force.

This law shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the "Official Gazette of the State". However, its effects shall be rolled back to 30 April 2007, except as provided for in Chapters IV and V.

Therefore,

I command all Spaniards, individuals and authorities, to keep and keep this law.

Madrid, 23 October 2007.

JOHN CARLOS R.

The President of the Government,

JOSE LUIS RODRIGUEZ ZAPATERO

ANNEX I

Criteria referred to in Article 2.1.a)

1. The significant nature of the damage resulting from adverse effects on the ability to achieve or maintain the favourable conservation status of the species or habitats shall be assessed in relation to the conservation status of the species. the damage, with the benefits offered by the recreational possibilities they generate and with their capacity for natural regeneration. Significant adverse changes in the basic state shall be determined by measurable data such as:

a) The number of individuals, their density, or the extent of their area of presence.

b) The rarity of the damaged species or habitat (assessed at the local, regional and higher levels, including the community plan), as well as their degree of threat.

c) The role of individual individuals or the damaged area in relation to the species or the conservation of their habitat.

d) The ability to spread and the viability of the species (depending on the specific dynamics of the species or population concerned) or the natural regeneration capacity of the habitat (according to the specific dynamics of its species damaged characteristics or populations).

e) The capacity of the species or habitat, after having suffered the damage, to recover in the short term, without more intervention than the increase of the protective measures, a state that, only by virtue of the dynamics of the species or habitat, from place to a state equivalent to or greater than the basic one.

Damage with demonstrated effects on human health should be classified as significant damage.

2. They will not have the following significant damage:

(a) Negative variations below natural fluctuations considered normal for the species or habitat concerned.

(b) Negative variations that are due to natural causes or are derived from interventions related to the current management of protected natural spaces or the sites of the Natura 2000 Network, as defined in their respective management plans or equivalent technical instruments.

c) Damage to species or habitat with proven ability to recover, in the short term and without intervention, the basic state or a state that, by virtue of the dynamics of the species or the habitat only, results in a state equivalent or greater than the basic.

ANNEX II

Repairing environmental damage

This annex establishes a common framework to be followed in order to choose the most appropriate measures to ensure the repair of environmental damage.

1. Repair of damage to the waters, wild species and habitats and the riverside of the sea and the rias:

As far as water, wild species and habitat and sea and river banks are concerned, the repair of environmental damage is achieved by restoring the environment to its basic state through remedial measures. primary, complementary and compensatory, being understood by:

a) "Primary Repair": Any corrective measure that restores or approximates the natural resources or services of natural resources damaged to their basic status.

(b) "Complementary Repair" means any corrective measure taken in relation to natural resources or natural resources services to compensate for the fact that primary repair has not resulted in full restitution of natural resources or damaged natural resource services.

(c) "compensatory repair" means any action taken to compensate for the provisional loss of natural resources or natural resources services that take place from the date of the damage to the time when the damage occurred; Primary repair has had its full effect. It does not consist of financial compensation to the public.

(d) "Provisional losses": losses arising from the fact that natural resources or damaged natural resources services cannot perform their ecological functions or provide services to other natural resources or to the public until primary or complementary measures have taken effect.

If the primary repair does not result in the return of the environment to its basic condition, a complementary repair will be carried out. In addition, a compensatory repair will be made to compensate for the provisional losses.

Repairing environmental damage consistent with damage to water or wildlife and habitat also means eliminating any significant threat to human health adverse effects.

1.1 Objectives of the repair.

The purpose of the primary repair.

1.1.1 The purpose of primary repair is to restore or approximate natural resources or damaged natural resource services to their basic state.

The purpose of the supplemental repair.

1.1.2 If the natural resources or services of damaged natural resources are not restored to their basic state, complementary repairs will be carried out. The purpose of the additional repair is to provide a level of natural resources or natural resources services-including, if applicable, an alternative location-similar to that which would have been provided if the damaged site had been restored to its basic state. To the extent that it is possible and appropriate, the alternative site shall be geographically linked to the damaged site, taking into account the interests of the affected population.

Purpose of compensatory repair.

1.1.3 The compensatory repair will be made in order to compensate for the temporary loss of natural resources and natural resource services during the recovery. This compensatory repair consists in providing additional improvements to wildlife and habitat or water, either in the damaged place or in an alternative location, and not in compensating the public financially.

1.2 Identification of repair measures.

Identification of primary repair measures.

1.2.1 Action options will be explored to directly restore natural resources and natural resource services to their basic state of accelerated form, or through natural recovery.

Identification of complementary and compensatory remedial measures.

1.2.2 When determining the magnitude of the complementary or compensatory remedial measures, the use of resource-resource or service-service equivalence criteria shall be considered first. According to these criteria, actions will be considered in the first place to provide natural resources or services of natural resources of the same type, quality and quantity as those damaged. If this is not possible, natural resources or alternative natural resource services will be provided. For example, a decrease in quality could be offset by an increase in the number of remedial measures.

1.2.3 If it is not possible to use preferred criteria of resource-resource equivalence or service-service, alternative valuation techniques will be applied. The competent authority may prescribe the method to determine the extent of the necessary complementary and compensatory remedial measures. If it is possible to assess the natural resources or services of lost natural resources but it is not possible to assess the replenishment of the resources or services within a period or at reasonable costs, the competent authority may decide to take measures repairers whose cost is equivalent to the approximate monetary value of natural resources or lost natural resource services.

The complementary and compensatory remedial measures must be designed in such a way as to provide for the natural resources and services of additional natural resources to obey the preferences in time and chronology. of the remedial measures. For example, the longer it takes for the basic state to be reached, the higher the compensatory repair measures to be carried out (on equal terms).

1.3 Choice of Repair Measures.

1.3.1 Reasonable remedial measures should be valued using the best available technologies, taking into account all of the following criteria:

The effect of each measure on public health and safety.

The probability of success of each measure.

The extent to which each measure will be used to prevent future damage and to avoid collateral damage as a result of its application.

The extent to which each measure will benefit each component of the natural resource or environmental service.

The extent to which each measure will take into account the relevant social, economic and cultural interests and other relevant factors specific to the locality.

The period of time required for the repair of environmental damage to be effective.

The extent to which each measure manages to repair the site that has suffered the environmental damage.

The geographic link to the damaged place.

The cost of applying the measure.

1.3.2 When assessing the different remedial measures identified, primary repair measures may be chosen which do not completely restore to their basic state the waters or wild species and the habitats that have suffered damage, or do it more slowly. This decision may be taken only if the natural resources or damaged environmental services are compensated by an increase in the complementary or compensatory measures provided by a similar level of resources or services. Those additional remedial measures shall be determined in accordance with the rules set out in point 1.2.2.

1.3.3 However, the rules set out in point 1.3.2, and in accordance with Article 21, the competent authority may decide that no further remedial measures are to be taken if:

1. The remedial measures already adopted ensure that there has already been no significant threat of adverse effects on human health, water or wildlife and habitat; and

2. The cost of remedial measures that should be taken to achieve the basic state or a similar level is disproportionate in comparison with the environmental benefits to be obtained, in which case it will be necessary. to be covered by a supporting economic memory which shall be public.

2. Repair of damage to the ground.

Within the framework of Articles 27 and 28 of Law 10/1998 of 21 April of Waste and Royal Decree 9/2005 of 14 January establishing the relationship of potentially polluting soil activities and the criteria and standards for the declaration of contaminated soils, as well as in the rules on soil quality protection approved by the Autonomous Communities, shall be adopted the necessary measures to ensure at least that remove, control, contain or reduce substances, preparations, organisms or micro-organisms harmful substances in such a way that contaminated soil no longer poses a significant threat to the occurrence of adverse effects on human health or the environment. The current use or future planned use of the ground at the time of damage will be taken into account.

This use of the soil will be determined according to the regulations of the planning of the territory or, where appropriate, other relevant regulations that were in force at the time of the damage. If it does not exist, it shall be the nature of the area in which the damage has occurred that determines its use, taking into account its development expectations.

The possibility of opting for a natural recovery, that is, without any direct intervention of the human being in the recovery process, will be studied.

ANNEX III

Activities referred to in article 3.1

1. The operation of facilities subject to an authorisation in accordance with Law 16/2002 of 1 July of Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control. This includes all the activities listed in Annex I, except for installations or parts of facilities used for the research, development and testing of new products and processes.

It also includes any other activities and establishments subject to the scope of Royal Decree 1254/1999 of 16 July 1999 approving measures to control the risks inherent in accidents serious substances in which dangerous substances are involved.

2. Waste management activities, such as the collection, transport, recovery and disposal of hazardous waste and waste, as well as the supervision of such activities, which are subject to permit or registration in accordance with the Law 10/1998, 21 April.

These activities include, inter alia, the exploitation of landfill sites and the management following their closure in accordance with Royal Decree 1481/2001 of 27 December 2001 regulating the disposal of waste by means of the the landfill and the operation of incineration plants, as established by Royal Decree 653/2003 of 30 May 2003 on the incineration of waste.

3. All discharges into surface inland waters subject to prior authorisation in accordance with Royal Decree 849/1986 of 11 April, approving the Regulation of the Hydraulic Public Domain and the applicable autonomous legislation.

4. All discharges into groundwater subject to prior authorisation in accordance with Royal Decree 849/1986 of 11 April, and the applicable autonomous legislation.

5. All discharges into inland waters and territorial waters subject to prior authorization in accordance with the provisions of Law 22/1988, of 28 July, of Costas and of the applicable autonomous legislation.

6. The discharge or injection of pollutants into surface water or groundwater subject to permission, authorisation or registration in accordance with the Royal Legislative Decree 1/2001 of 20 July, approving the recast of the Law of Waters.

7. The collection and enforcement of waters subject to prior authorization in accordance with the Royal Legislative Decree 1/2001 of 20 July.

8. Manufacture, use, storage, processing, bottling, release into the environment and transport on site of:

(a) Dangerous substances as defined in Article 2.2 of Royal Decree 363/1995 of 10 March 1995 approving the Regulation on the notification of new substances and classification, packaging and labelling of substances dangerous.

(b) Dangerous preparations as defined in Article 2.2 of Royal Decree 255/2003 of 28 February 2003 approving the Regulation on the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous preparations.

(c) Plant protection products as defined in Article 2.1 of Royal Decree No 2163/1994 of 4 November 1994 imposing a harmonised Community system of authorisation to place on the market and use products plant protection.

(d) Biocides as defined in Article 2.a) of Royal Decree 1054/2002 of 11 October 2002 regulating the assessment process for the registration, authorisation and placing on the market of biocidal products.

9. Transport by road, rail, inland waterway, sea or air of dangerous or polluting goods in accordance with the definition set out in Article 2 (b) of Royal Decree 551/2006 of 5 May 2001 on the operations for the transport of dangerous goods by road on Spanish territory or in Article 2 (b) of Royal Decree 412/2001 of 20 April 2001, which regulates various aspects relating to the transport of dangerous goods by rail or in Article 3.h) of Royal Decree 210/2004 of 6 February 2004 establishing a system of monitoring and information on maritime traffic.

10. The operation of installations which, while being subject to authorisation in accordance with Council Directive 84 /360/EEC of 28 June 1994 on the fight against air pollution from industrial installations in the Community, the release into the atmosphere of any of the pollutants covered by the abovementioned Directive, require an authorisation in accordance with Law 16/2002 of 1 July of Integrated Prevention and Control of the Pollution.

11. Any contained use, including transport, of genetically modified micro-organisms, in accordance with the definition of Law 9/2003 of 25 April establishing the legal regime for the contained use, voluntary and marketing of genetically modified organisms.

12. Any deliberate release into the environment, transport and marketing of genetically modified organisms in accordance with the definition of Law 9/2003 of 25 April.

13. Cross-border shipment of waste within, to or from the European Union subject to authorisation or prohibited in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 on the transfer of waste of waste.

14. The management of waste from the extractive industries, as provided for in Directive 2006 /21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 on the management of waste from extractive industries and amending the Directive 2004 /35/EC.

ANNEX IV

International conventions referred to in Article 3.5.a)

1. International Convention of 27 November 1992 on civil liability arising from damage caused by oil pollution.

2. International Convention of 27 November 1992 establishing an International Fund for the Compensation of Oil Pollution Damage.

3. International Convention of 23 March 2001 on civil liability arising from damages due to oil pollution for ships ' fuel.

4. International Convention of 3 May 1996 on liability and compensation for damage to the sea transport of harmful and potentially dangerous substances.

5. Convention of 10 October 1989 on civil liability for damage caused during the transport of dangerous goods by road, rail and inland waterways.

ANNEX V

International conventions referred to in Article 3.5.b)

1. Paris Convention of 29 July 1960 on civil liability in respect of nuclear energy and the Supplementary Convention of Brussels of 31 January 1963.

2. Vienna Convention of 21 May 1963 on civil liability for nuclear damage.

3. Convention of 12 September 1997 on supplementary compensation for nuclear damage.

4. Common Protocol of 21 September 1988 on the implementation of the Vienna Convention and the Paris Convention.

5. Brussels Convention of 17 December 1971 on civil liability in the field of maritime transport of nuclear substances.

ANNEX VI

Information and data referred to in the fifth additional provision

1. The reports referred to in the fifth additional provision shall include a list of cases of environmental damage and cases of liability under this law, each with the following data and information:

a) Type of environmental damage, the date on which the damage occurred and/or discovered the damage and date of action under this law.

b) Classification code of the activities of the responsible person or legal persons.

(c) Interposition, where appropriate, of a judicial remedy, either by parties with responsibility or by legitimate entities (the type of plaintiffs and the outcome of the proceedings must be specified).

d) The result of the repair process.

e) The procedure's completion date.

2. Public administrations may include in their reports any other data and information they consider useful for the correct assessment of the functioning of this law, for example:

(a) Costs occasioned by prevention and repair measures, in accordance with the definition of this law:

1. º Suffered directly by those responsible, when this information is available;

2. º Restituted by those responsible a posteriori;

3. No Restituting for those responsible (the reason for the backout must be specified).

(b) Results of the promotion actions and the implementation of the financial collateral instruments used in accordance with this law.

c) An assessment of the additional administrative costs incurred annually by the Public Administration for the creation and operation of the administrative structures necessary to implement and enforce this law.