Recall that the original public inquiry was established to protect private property . In the case of expropriation proceedings , it was intended to determine the public good nature of the project so as not to injure the owner. It was only later that a new type of public inquiry appeared with another object , that of environmental protection . The survey called " Bouchardeau " was established by Act No. 83-630 of 12 July 1983 "On the democratization of public inquiries and environmental protection ." This type of investigation concerned the operations or projects likely to affect the environment according to their nature, their size or the area concerned ( sensitive areas, eg Natura 2000 area).
Over time, the classes of investigations have multiplied and the European Commission stressed the multiplicity of public inquiries making the system very complex to read. The Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development has also identified nearly 180 types of surveys found in different codes. In addition, the European Commission had pointed the lack of the right to public participation in the decision-making process under the Aarhus Convention of 25 June 1998. This right has been included in the Charter of environment which has now constitutional value.
The Grenelle 2 Law of 12 July 2010 has reformed the public inquiry to rationalize and to simplify it (Articles 236-242 of the Act). It puts together in particular all public inquiries into two main categories: on the one hand, those related to public interest which fall under the Code of expropriation and ,on the second hand , those related to the protection of health and the environment which fall under the environmental Code . (...)
