Circular No. 37/2014/TT-BTNMT provides detailed regulations on compensation, support, and resettlement when the State expropriates land.

CIRCULAR

Detailed regulations on compensation, support, and resettlement when the State reclaims land when Nthe State recovers land

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The Government issues this Decree on management and development of industrial clusters.

Pursuant to Decree No. 21/2013/NĐ-CP dated March 4, 2013, promulgated by the Government, stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment;

Pursuant to Decree No. 47/2014/NĐ-CP dated May 15, 2014 of the Government on compensation, support, and relocation when the State acquires land;

At the request of the Director General of the Land Administration General Department and the Head of the Legal Department,

The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment issues this Circular detailing compensation, support, and resettlement when the State reclaims land.

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Circular details certain contents regarding compensation, support, and resettlement when the State reclaims land.

Article 2. Applicability

1. Authorities responsible for state management of land; specialized agencies on natural resources and environment; organizations tasked with compensation and clearance of land.

2. Land users as stipulated in Article 5 of the Land Law when the State reclaims land.

3. Other organizations and individuals related to compensation, support, and resettlement when the State reclaims land.

Chapter II

DETAILING CERTAIN CONTENTS REGARDING COMPENSATION, SUPPORT, AND RESIDENTIAL RELOCATION WHEN THE STATE RECLAIMS LAND

Article 3. Determination of remaining investment costs in land

The determination of remaining investment costs in land as prescribed in Article 3 of Decree No. 47/2014/NĐ-CP dated May 15, 2014 of the Government on compensation, support, and residential relocation when the State reclaims land (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 47/2014/NĐ-CP) shall be implemented as follows:

1. Documents and certificates proving investment in land serve only as evidence that the land user has invested in the land.

2. Documents and certificates proving investment in land include the following papers:

a) Written documents, lease contracts, land leveling and improvement agreements, land transformation contracts for land granted or leased by the State, land improvement, erosion control, sedimentation prevention, construction, and ground reinforcement for production and business purposes;

b) Written documents, contract termination statements; invoices, payment receipts for each investment cost in land as specified in Point a Clause 2 of this Article;

c) Written documents, other contracts related to land investment established at the time of investment.

3. If the person whose land is being reclaimed does not have any of the types of documents specified in Clause 2 of this Article but has actually invested in the land, then the People's Committee of the province or centrally governed city (hereinafter collectively referred to as the Provincial People's Committee) shall decide on determining the remaining investment costs in land based on specific circumstances in the locality.

4. The formula for calculating remaining investment costs in land as prescribed in Clause 4 of Article 3 of Decree No. 47/2014/NĐ-CP shall be implemented as follows:

a) The determination of the value of remaining investment costs in land must be based on unit prices and economic technical norms prescribed by competent state authorities;

b) For investment costs in land that are carried out in multiple times or years, when determining the remaining investment costs in land, all costs from those times and years shall be accumulated.

Article 4. Resettlement on the remaining area of a plot of land with housing when the State reclaims land

The conversion of agricultural land to residential land for resettlement in cases where a plot of land with housing is reclaimed and there remains agricultural land which is not recognized as residential land as prescribed in Clause 5 of Article 6 of Decree No. 47/2014/NĐ-CP shall be implemented as follows:

1. Conversion of agricultural land to residential land for resettlement in cases where a plot of land with housing is reclaimed and there remains agricultural land which is not recognized as residential land can only be carried out when the remaining area of the reclaimed plot meets the conditions for division as stipulated by the People's Committee of the province where the reclaimed land is located.

2. In cases where the remaining area of a plot of land with housing that is reclaimed does not meet the conditions for division as stipulated by the People's Committee of the province where the reclaimed land is located, the competent state authority shall decide on reclaiming or allowing the land user to continue using the remaining land area according to the land use plan.

3. Compensation, support, and resettlement funds for the remaining area within a plot of land with housing that does not meet the conditions for division when the State reclaims land must be reflected in the compensation, support, and resettlement plan.

1. The area of agricultural land reclaimed for calculating support to stabilize living conditions as stipulated in Point b Clause 3 Article 19 of Decree No. 47/2014/ND-CP shall be determined according to each decision on reclaiming land issued by the competent People's Committee, without cumulating the areas of agricultural land reclaimed in previous decisions on reclaiming land.

2. The area of agricultural land provided with support to stabilize living conditions as stipulated in Point a Clause 3 Article 19 of Decree No. 47/2014/ND-CP is the area of agricultural land being used by households and individuals within the commune, ward, town where the reclaimed land is located at the time of the decision on reclaiming land, including:

a) Agricultural land with origin from land allocated by the State to households and individuals directly engaged in agricultural production pursuant to Decree No. 64/CP dated September 27, 1993 of the Government promulgating Regulations on allocating agricultural land to households and individuals for long-term stable use for agricultural purposes; Decree No. 85/1999/ND-CP dated August 28, 1999 of the Government amending and supplementing certain articles of the Regulations on allocating agricultural land to households and individuals for long-term stable use for agricultural purposes and adding allocation of salt-making land to households and individuals for long-term stable use; allocation of forestry land pursuant to Decree No. 02/CP dated January 15, 1994 of the Government promulgating Regulations on allocating forestry land to organizations, households, and individuals for long-term stable use for forestry purposes; Decree No. 163/1999/ND-CP dated November 16, 1999 of the Government on allocating and leasing forestry land to organizations, households, and individuals for long-term stable use for forestry purposes; Decree No. 181/2004/ND-CP dated October 29, 2004 of the Government implementing the Land Law;

b) Agricultural land currently used by households and individuals that belong to the category eligible to be allocated agricultural land according to the laws on land but have not yet been allocated agricultural land and are using agricultural land received through transfer, inheritance, gift, or reclamation as prescribed by law, confirmed by the People's Committee of the commune, ward, town (hereinafter referred to collectively as the People's Committee of the commune) where the reclaimed land is located as directly producing on such agricultural land;

c) Agricultural land received through contractual assignment from state-owned farms for use in agricultural, forestry, and aquaculture purposes (excluding special-use forests and protective forests), when reclaimed by the State and belonging to those directly engaged in agricultural and forestry production and having stable income from agricultural production on such land.

3. In cases where households and individuals using land as stipulated in Clause 2 of this Article have less than 30% of their currently used agricultural land reclaimed, and such land reclamation affects the living conditions and production of the land users, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee shall decide on other forms of support as stipulated in Article 25 of Decree No. 47/2014/ND-CP based on the actual situation in the locality to ensure appropriateness.

Article 6. Compensation and support when the State recovers agricultural land from officials, civil servants, and public employees (currently working or retired, disabled, or terminated with severance pay) who are using the land.

1. Officials, civil servants, and public employees (currently working or retired, disabled, or terminated with severance pay) who do not fall under the provisions of Point d Clause 1 Article 19 of Decree No. 47/2014/NĐ-CP but are using agricultural land obtained through the transfer of land use rights according to the law, shall be compensated for the land when the State recovers it, but they will not receive support for stabilizing their livelihoods and production, nor will they receive training, job transition, or job search support.

2. Households that have members who are officials, civil servants, and public employees (currently working or retired, disabled, or terminated with severance pay) as well as members who are not officials, civil servants, or public employees but are using agricultural land for agricultural purposes, when the State recovers agricultural land from such households, the members who are not officials, civil servants, or public employees will receive support for stabilizing their livelihoods and production; they will also receive training, job transition, and job search support. The Provincial People's Committee shall base on specific conditions at the locality to determine appropriate levels of support.

Article 7. Documents proving payment for land use rights in cases where land was allocated beyond authority before July 1, 2004.

1. Determining whether payment has been made to agencies or organizations to obtain land use rights in cases where land was allocated beyond authority before July 1, 2004, as stipulated in Article 11 of Decree No. 47/2014/NĐ-CP must be based on one of the following types of documents:

a) Receipts, payment vouchers, invoices for payment to obtain land use rights, compensation payments according to Decision No. 186/HĐBT dated May 31, 1990 of the Council of Ministers regarding compensation for agricultural land and forest land losses when converted to other uses;

b) Receipts, payment vouchers, invoices issued in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Finance at the time of payment;

c) Receipts, payment vouchers, invoices, or other types of documents established by the People's Committee of the commune or the agency or organization allocating land beyond authority at the time of payment;

d) Receipts for payment issued by the People's Committee of the commune, cooperative, or the agency or organization allocating land beyond authority, which were provided to households or individuals at the time of payment.

2. In cases where land was allocated beyond authority and the recipient paid for land use rights, but the documents are only retained by the agency or organization that collected the money or another related agency, the agency or organization currently holding the documents shall be responsible for providing the retained documents to the organization tasked with compensation and clearance or to the land user to complete the compensation, support, and resettlement plan.

Article 8. Separating compensation, support, and resettlement content into separate sub-projects.

Separating compensation, support, and resettlement content into separate sub-projects and implementing them independently shall be carried out in accordance with Clause 1 Article 29 of Decree No. 47/2014/NĐ-CP and specified as follows:

1. The timing for separating compensation, support, and resettlement content into separate sub-projects is the time of project investment approval or acceptance.

2. After being approved by the competent state agency, the sub-project for compensation, support, and resettlement shall be implemented independently but must ensure the progress requirements of the investment project.

Article 9. Examination of the Framework for Compensation, Support, and Resettlement Policy

The examination of the Framework for Compensation, Support, and Resettlement Policy (hereinafter referred to as the Framework Policy) prescribed in Clause 2, Article 17 of Decree No. 47/2014/ND-CP shall be carried out as follows:

1. Prior to submission

a) A request for examination of the Framework Policy;

b) A draft report on the examination;

c) A draft of the Framework Policy;

d) The decision or approval of the competent state agency regarding investment orientation.

2. Within thirty days from the date of receipt of all required documents, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall provide its written examination opinion to the ministries and sectors with investment projects.

Article 10. Contents of the Compensation, Support, and Resettlement Plan established, reviewed, and approved by ministries and sectors with investment projects

The Compensation, Support, and Resettlement Plan established, reviewed, and approved by ministries and sectors with investment projects prescribed in Clause 3, Article 17 of Decree No. 47/2014/ND-CP shall include the following main contents:

1. The area of each type of land expected to be reclaimed.

2. The number of organizations, households, and individuals expected to use land in the area to be reclaimed.

3. The amount of compensation, support, and resettlement expected.

4. The location, area of resettlement sites or resettlement housing, and resettlement methods expected.

5. Budget estimate and sources of funds for implementing the Compensation, Support, and Resettlement Plan.

6. Expected schedule for implementing the Compensation, Support, and Resettlement Plan.

7. Expected time and plan for relocation and handover of the site to the project. The Compensation, Support, and Resettlement Plan must reflect all the above contents for the entire project and in detail for each locality (if applicable). In cases where land is reclaimed for investment projects requiring the construction of centralized resettlement areas, the contents prescribed in this Article must also include the area of land to be reclaimed for constructing such centralized resettlement areas.

Article 11. Relocation of Structures Attached to Land Managed and Used by Organizations, Communities, and Religious Institutions When the State Reclaims Land

The People's Committee at the level with authority to reclaim land in the area where the land is being reclaimed shall be responsible for notifying the time and progress of land reclamation to organizations, communities, and religious institutions managing and using structures so that they can relocate to another location; the notification time for relocating structures shall coincide with the notification time for land reclamation. The person managing and using the structures shall be responsible for relocating the structures and handing over the site according to the schedule.

Article 12. Handling Cases Where Organizations Are Deprived of Land Without Compensation for the Land

1. When the State reclaims land from an organization causing damage to assets managed and used by the State and necessitating relocation to a new facility, the organization may use the compensation for assets to invest in the new facility according to the investment project approved by the competent authority.

2. Organizations granted land use rights with payment of land use fees, or land lease rights with one-time payment for the entire lease period, where the land use fee or lease fee has been paid from the State budget; organizations granted land use rights without payment of land use fees, or land lease rights with annual payment of lease fees, when the State reclaims land, shall not be compensated for the land. In cases where organizations need to relocate to a new facility, they shall be supported financially according to the investment project approved by the competent authority; the maximum support amount shall not exceed the compensation amount for the reclaimed land, and shall be borne by the organization or individual granted land use rights or lease rights by the State.

Article 13. Review of compensation, support, and resettlement plans

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the Natural Resources and Environment Office shall be responsible for leading and coordinating with relevant agencies to review compensation, support, and resettlement plans before submitting them to the People's Committee at the same level for approval.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 14. Transitional Provisions

1. For investment projects that have decisions on land recovery and decisions approving compensation, support, and resettlement plans issued by competent state agencies but have not completed payment of compensation funds before July 1, 2014, the handling of delayed compensation shall be carried out in accordance with the laws on land before July 1, 2014.

2. For investment projects that have been approved by the Prime Minister on the framework of compensation, support, and resettlement policies but have not had their overall compensation, support, and resettlement plans approved by July 1, 2014, the ministries and sectors with investment projects shall be responsible for reviewing these plans and submitting them to the Prime Minister for decision.

Article 15. Effective Date

This Circular takes effect from August 13, 2014.

Article 16. Responsibility for Organization and Implementation

Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, agencies under the Government; People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities shall be responsible for organizing and implementing this Circular. In the course of implementation, if there are difficulties or obstacles, they are requested to report to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for consideration and decision.

In the course of implementation, if there are difficulties or obstacles, they are requested to report to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for consideration and decision./.