Decree No. 147/2016/ND-CP Amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree No. 99/2010/NĐ-CP dated September 24, 2010 of the Government on policies for payment for forest environmental services

DECREE

Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of Decree No. 99/2010/NĐ-CP

dated September 24, 2010 of the Government on Policies for Payment for Forest Environmental Services

Protection and Development of Forests

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||| Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated June 19, 2015;

Pursuant to the Law Decree No. 99/2010/NĐ-CP dated September 24, 2010 of the Government on Policies for Payment for Forest Environmental Services. dated 03 the 12 year 2004;

At the proposal of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development;

1. Conditions for economic organizations conducting foreign exchange trading agency activities (excluding border country currency exchange activities). Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of Decree No. 99/2010/NĐ-CP dated September 24, 2010 of the Government on Policies for Payment for Forest Environmental Services.

Article 1. Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of Decree No. 99/2010/NĐ-CP dated September 24, 2010 of the Government on Policies for Payment for Forest Environmental Services.

1. Clause 1 of Article 5 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"1. Organizations and individuals benefiting from forest environmental services must pay for such services to the providers of forest environmental services."

4. Having been awarded the title "Outstanding Artist" and subsequently meeting one of the following criteria:

“Article 8. Recipients of Payment for Forest Environmental Services

1. The recipients of payment for forest environmental services are the forest owners of areas providing forest environmental services, including:

a) Organizations granted forests or leased forests by the State for long-term stable use for forestry purposes, and organizations that have invested their own capital in planting forests on land allocated by the State for forestry purposes;

b) Households and individuals granted forests or leased forests by the State for long-term stable use for forestry purposes; village communities granted forests by the State for long-term stable use for forestry purposes; households and individuals, and village communities that have invested their own capital in planting forests on land allocated by the State for forestry purposes.

2. Organizations, households, individuals, and village communities that have entered into long-term contracts with state-owned forest owners (hereinafter referred to collectively as contracted households).

3. People's Committees at the commune level granted responsibility for managing forests by the State according to the provisions of the law and providing forest environmental services.

4. Political and social organizations granted responsibility for managing forests by the State according to the provisions of the law and providing forest environmental services."

3. Clause 1 of Article 11 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

"1. For hydropower production facilities

a) The rate of payment for forest environmental services applicable to hydropower production facilities is VND 36 per kWh of commercial electricity. The quantity of electricity for calculating the payment for forest environmental services is the amount of electricity sold by hydropower production facilities to electricity buyers under power purchase agreements.

b) Determination of the amount payable for forest environmental services

The amount payable for forest environmental services within the payment period is determined by multiplying the quantity of electricity within the payment period (kWh) by the rate of payment for forest environmental services per kWh (VND 36 per kWh)."

4. Clause 2 of Article 11 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

"2. For water supply production and provision facilities

a) The rate of payment for forest environmental services applicable to water supply production and provision facilities is VND 52 per cubic meter of commercial water. The quantity of water for calculating the payment for forest environmental services is the amount of water sold by water supply production and provision facilities to consumers.³The amount payable for forest environmental services within the payment period is determined by multiplying the quantity of commercial water within the payment period (cubic meters) by the rate of payment for forest environmental services per cubic meter (VND 52 per cubic meter).”

b) Determination of the amount payable for forest environmental services

5. Point b of Clause 2 of Article 15 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:³“b) A portion of the funds not exceeding 5% of the total amount entrusted and transferred to the Provincial Forest Protection and Development Fund, plus other legitimate sources of funding, may be reserved and used to support households, individuals, and village communities assigned or contracted for long-term forest protection in cases of natural disasters, droughts, and when the payment rate for forest environmental services per unit area is lower than the previous year’s rate.³ For areas where the payment rate for forest environmental services exceeds twice the government subsidy for forest protection contracts, the provincial People's Committee shall determine an appropriate adjustment rate based on the specific circumstances of the relevant entities within the province.”³).”

6. Point c of Clause 2 of Article 15 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“c) The remaining amount for paying the providers of forest environmental services shall be used as follows:

Forest owners who are households and individuals granted forests or leased forests by the State for long-term stable use, and village communities granted forests by the State for long-term stable use; households and individuals, and village communities that have invested their own capital in planting forests on land allocated by the State for forestry purposes shall enjoy the entire amount.

Forest owners who are organizations shall treat this as revenue and manage and use it in accordance with the financial regulations applicable to each type of organization. In cases where forest owners have implemented forest protection contracts, they may use up to 10% of the total revenue from forest environmental services on the contracted area for management activities and environmental education programs; the remainder must be paid to the contracted households.

People's Committees at the commune level responsible for managing unallocated or unleased forests according to the law shall treat this as revenue for the Commune Forest Protection and Development Fund and manage it in accordance with Article 3 of Decision No. 07/2012/QĐ-TTg dated February 8, 2012 of the Prime Minister on policies to strengthen forest protection work.

Political and social organizations responsible for managing forests according to the law must prepare plans for using funds for forest protection management from the revenue of payments for forest environmental services, submit them for approval by the People's Committee at the district level, and send them to the Provincial Forest Protection and Development Fund for consolidation in the provincial plan for payments for forest environmental services.”

7. Point a of Clause 2 of Article 20 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“a) Providers of forest environmental services must ensure that the forest area providing services is protected and developed in accordance with its designated function as specified in the approved forest protection and development plan by the competent authority;"

8. Repealing Clause 7, Point b of Clause 9 of Article 22.

1. This Decree takes effect from January 1, 2017.

2. However, the rate of payment for forest environmental services for hydropower production facilities as stipulated in Clause 3 of Article 1 of this Decree shall be applied from the first adjustment of retail electricity prices following the effective date of this Decree./.

8. Clause 7 and Point b of Clause 9 of Article 22 are repealed.

Article 2. Implementation

The Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government-affiliated agencies, Chairpersons of provincial People's Committees under the direct jurisdiction of the central government shall be responsible for implementing this Decree.

Article 3. Effectiveness

1. This Decree takes effect from January 1, 2017.

2. Specifically, the level of payment for forest environmental services for hydropower production facilities as stipulated in Clause 3 of Article 1 of this Decree shall be applied from the first adjustment of retail electricity prices following the effective date of this Decree./.