Before mid-2024, 22,000 municipalities were required to have a municipal protection plan (PCS). However, to date, only 14,000 have done so. As for the 1,100 intercommunal authorities of which at least one municipality has a PCS, they have until the end of 2026 to adopt an intermunicipal safeguard plan (PICS). “The PCS is a mandatory and necessary document,” recalled Éric Ménassi, the mayor of Trèbes, (Aude, 11,397 inhabitants), on November 21, 2024 during an information point on 106e congress of mayors. It is built from events that have already occurred and allows for the unpredictable to be anticipated, so that teams are on duty in the event of a crisis.” The issue is essential and the PCS must be perfectly clear so that the municipal team can understand the operational method during the crisis, by following the automation of the checklist it contains.
However, many PCS are poorly written and imprecise. “Over the years, they have become collections in ten volumes, in body 6, and we do not know where they are,” warned Sébastien Leroy, mayor of Mandelieu-La Napoule (Alpes-Maritimes, 21,828 inhabitants). ), co-chair of the risks and crises working group of the Association of Mayors of France (AMF). “Be careful, if the document is not updated or if it is poorly written, the mayor or even the department heads or even a town hall secretary risk being placed in police custody or indicted. There will be no consideration of the unpredictability of the event that occurred or its harshness. If a sentence is poorly written and leaves room for interpretation, or if a sentence has not been applied, the mayor will automatically be responsible. He can also be criticized for not having adopted a PCS and not having anticipated the crisis.”
Beware of gas plants
“At the beginning, we often build a gas plant which does not work, because it is too complex and we drown rather than reassure ourselves,” testified Alain Barbe, mayor of Matelles (Hérault, 2,098 inhabitants), president of the community of communes of Grand-Pic-Saint-Loup (36 communes, 50,000 inhabitants). This is why Les Matelles, which quickly adopted its PCS, then enriched and amended it. In 2013, the intercommunality built its PICS. “We noted the disparity in the municipalities’ PCS, and the first work was to analyze them, simplify them and make them more operational,” continued Alain Barbe. This is why the community of municipalities provides engineering to the municipalities. A vice president has been appointed in charge of risk and ecology, in conjunction with the officer of the departmental fire and rescue service (SDIS) who is one of the mayors. Responsible for supporting elected officials, he met with them all to help them simplify their plan and offer them a common model of municipal information document on risks (Dicrim). Intended to raise awareness among the population, Dicrim is another obligation of mayors. At the community of municipalities, a project manager coordinates the subject and for several weeks, he has had secretarial and administrative assistance, “because the work is immense”. This pooling of resources makes it possible to help the mayor and not leave him alone. There is also a steering committee, to structure crisis management with Cerema, SDIS, forestry engineers, Predict (a service for anticipation and management of meteorological phenomena)… Indeed, to trigger the alert , it is imperative that the mayor has the right information. In addition to this system, there are municipal forest fire committees, led by mayors with delegation to a deputy or municipal councilor. These are volunteers who act all year round on all risks and who can be mobilized at any time. They have perfect knowledge of the territory and, in the event of a crisis, can provide information, direct, guide…
The mayor is the first link in response to any significant event; it is he who is in charge of actions to safeguard and support the population. Although it provides support to member municipalities and ensures the continuity of functions (drinking water, electricity, connections, etc.), the PICS does not replace the municipal plan. “PCS and PICS must prevent elected officials from asking questions when the threat is present,” explained Catherine Haller, head of office at the general directorate of civil security and crisis management at the Ministry of the Interior. The AMF provides them with a downloadable guide with practical sheets, to help them prepare according to the rules.
Martine Courgnaud – Del Ry
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