the Loi Chevènement of 1999, named after the Ministry of Interior at the time, Jean-Pierre Chevènement, created or reorganized four other forms of municipal associations: Urban communities (communauté urbaine) with at least 500,000 inhabitants each, created in 1966. There were 14 in January 2008 with a total of 6.2 million inhabitants: Alençon, Arras, Bordeaux, Brest, Cherbourg, Dunkerque, le Creusot-Montceau, Le Mans, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nancy, Nantes and Strasbourg Communities of agglomerations (communauté d'agglomération) with at least 50,000 inhabitants, created in 1999 merging two previously existing forms of associations. There were 171 communities of agglomerations in January 2008 with a total of 21.9m inhabitants Communities of municipalities (communauté de communes), created in 1992 and existing predominantly in rural areas, of which there were 2,393 in January 2008 5 syndicats d'agglomération nouvelle with 0.3m inhabitants, created in 1960 and now gradually disappearing. Unlike the syndicats intercommunaux these four latter types of municipal associations can levy taxes. They also receive subsidies from the national government as an incentive to create the associations, with higher subsidies for the most integrated form of association (urban communities) and lower subsidies for the less integrated forms (community of communities). The syndicats intercommunaux, which do not receive subsidies from the national government and are now somewhat declining in numbers, often count communities of agglomerations and communities of municipalities as their members. The resulting duplication has been criticized as wasteful by the "Black Book of Intercommunality" in 2006. A 2005 report by the Cour des Comptes also stated that the quality of the municipal associations is "not fully satisfactory". Example:SEDIF An example of a single-purpose intermunicipal association for water supply is the Syndicat des Eaux d'Ile-de-France (SEDIF), which regroups 144 municipalities in the metropolitan area of Paris except for the city of Paris itself. Leaving private service providers apart, it is the largest utility in France, serving more than 4 million users. While SEDIF owns its infrastructure, it has contracted out service provision to the private enterprise Veolia Eau. Some municipalities within SEDIF's service area have chosen to provide water services themselves through communities of municipalities or metropolitan communities. Private sector participation Water privatization in France goes back to the mid-19th century when cities signed concessions with private water companies for the supply of drinking water. Today, according to the Ministry of Environment 75% of water and 50% of sanitation services in France are provided by the private sector,