In June 1601, Henri IV decides to revoke this tithe. This decision will play a very large role in the future and history of the quarries.

Every tax implies a collection, hence a supervision. The quarries, which were restricted to exploitations of a limited size and location, could not thwart the law. The lifting of the taxes, and the subsequent ending of exploitation supervision, amounted to a near deregulation.

Since then, there were no longer any fears that the exploitation of the quarries would spread beyond its limits. It's at this time that the basement of Paris took on its worse state. The problems begin to appear. Leaks were created on Marie de Medicis's aqueduct, which supplies the water for Rungis at the Luxembourg Palace. The quantities of delivered water decreased.

Security became a real problem.
The fact that the ground below Paris, under numerous streets and houses, could now be easily slipped into meant that bodies, as well as everything on the surface, could be stolen. It was the King's security therefore that initiated one of the first halts regarding access to the quarries.

In fact it would have had a worse effect if the royal carriage wheels became airborn and his Majesty found himself 25 meters below street level.

On March 9, 1633, the State Council passed a law that made it illegal for the underground quarries to be less than a certain distance from
" grands chemins, conduits de fontaines et autres ouvrages publiques a peine de punition corporelle et amende arbitraire ".
or
"large streets, fountain pipes and other public works, or risk corporal punishment and an arbitrary fine".
The exploitations restricted by this law had to be refilled or else they became the objects of consolidation work.

On August 13, 1669, it became illegal to extract materials from the beds of navigable rivers and from forests.

These laws were renewed on December 17, 1686, December 23, 1690, November 5, 1722, and March 14, 1741, and they became a little more constricting each time they were repassed.

But, as the layers where exploitations were allowed became exhausted, the quarrymen, seeing that the resources were already depleted to such an extent, were even more tempted to cheat.

And this is how on March 17, 1761, a certain Catela was condemned a fine of 300 pounds for having digged under the Val de Grace pavillion and under a public road.

On September 7, 1755, a decree ordered a census of all the underground quarries and the establishment of a general map. This was the decisive step before the creation of the Inspection Generale des Carrieres (or General Inspectorate of the Quarries) (IGC) in 1776.

The pressure was felt by the young IGC the very day after the creation of his post when the rue d'Enfer collapsed through the ground. The missions were numerous. Right away, the royal buildings, such as the Val de Grace, are comforted as the streets and residences are supported.

The King's first endowment of 200,000 pounds was used up in a few months. Having begun with 40 workers on the first few days, there were soon 400. The work was so expansive that there was even a trenched zone measuring a few hundred meters where work was in progress.

We must rectify the centuries of carelessness.

The work done by the IGC men was limited to zones under edifices, gardens and public roads. Since the first Empire, the reinforcement of empty spaces existing under private properties is actually the responsibility of the owner of the land, as specified in article 552 of the civil code:
" la propriete du sol emporte la propriete du dessus et du dessous ".
or
"owning ground includes owning what is above it and what is below it".

Unfortunately, this article was not always applied and numerous accidents awakened people's fears. The rue de la Sante and the Boulevard Saint Michel fell victim to similar accidents.

In addition, the Prefect of the Seine decided by decree on January 18, 1881 that owners must undertake to consolidate existing voids below their properties before obtaining authorization to build.

Since that day, there were never again any serious accidents in Paris directly linked to the quarries.

However, we can cite accidents like the one that occurred at Clamart-Issy les moulineaux on June 1 1961 where 6 meters of foundation of about twenty buildings over 6 hectares collapsed. The compression of air masses in the quarries caused the wind to blow at 100 kilometers/hour.

Human visits is one of the last phenomena linked to the underground quarries of the Seine that lead to a decree.
The increasing number of visits resulted in frequent accidents and lost people. So, on November 2 1955, the Prefect of the Seine signed the decree outlawing visits to the quarries.