Environmental damage. For an implementation of the companies' liability. Remedial perspectives

Under almost all European legislation, the detection of a polluted area gives rise - primarily and where possible-to an obligation to undertake safety and reclamation activity. In line with the "polluter pays" principle, as a matter of priority, it is the party responsible for the pollution that must take care ofthe above-mentionedoperations. The liable party, however,mayalso not coincide with the owner (or operator) of the area which is generally exonerated from environmental recovery if it did not contribute to the pollution. European law allows forms of no-fault liability, which may be issued by national laws towards owners who did not contribute to the pollution. The exclusion of a positional liability regime in the European experience never completely exonerates the party who is (or enters into) a legal relationship with the asset from the weights (and costs) of environmental recovery activities. Weights and costs that, if the party liable for the pollution is not identifiable or is insolvent, cannot fall entirely on the public administration which in this case is called to intervene as an alternative, which must be able to claim back from the author of the pollution or, subordinately, from the owner of the site. Mandatory financial guarantees should be introduced to protect against risks of this type; it is also appropriate to provide for a right of preference in case offu lfillment of an environmental credit It is necessary to implement territorial planning tools, which, through a system of incentives, or even through concrete exchanges between building rights and reclamation activities, encourage environmental recovery also through the involvement of the person not responsible for the pollution.