Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Rules, 2023

 

[29th November 2023]

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 4 of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 (69 of 1980) and in supersession of the Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022, except as respects things done or omitted to be done before such supersession, the Central Government hereby makes the following rules, namely:- -

Rule - 1. Short title, extent and commencement

(1)     These rules may be called the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Rules, 2023.

(2)     They shall come into force on the 1st Day of December 2023.

Rule - 2. Definitions

(1)     In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires, -

(a)      "accredited compensatory afforestation" means a system of proactive afforestation to be used for obtaining prior approval under sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Adhiniyam.

(b)      "Adhiniyam" means the Van (Sankashan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 (69 of 1980);

(c)      "Advisory Committee" means the Advisory Committee constituted under section 3 of the Adhiniyam;

(d)      "compensatory afforestation" means afforestation done in lieu of the diversion of forest land for nonforest purpose under the Adhiniyam;

(e)      "compensatory levies" includes all money and funds specified in clauses (iii) and (iv) of sub-section (3) of section 4 of the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016 (38 of 2016);

(f)       "Conservator of Forests" means Conservator of Forests, Chief Conservator of Forests, the Regional Chief Conservator of Forests or an officer equivalent to Conservator of Forests appointed by the State Government or Union territory Administration to hold the charge of a forest circle having jurisdiction over the forest land for which the prior approval of the Central Government is required;

(g)      "Deputy Director General of Forests (Central)" means head of the Regional Office appointed by the Central Government;

(h)     "dereservation" means an order issued by the State Government or Union territory Administration or any authority thereof, for change in the legal status of a land statutorily or otherwise recognised as forest to any other category of land;

(i)       "diversion" means an order issued by the State Government or Union territory Administration or any authority thereof for the use of any forest land for non-forest purpose or assignment of a lease of any forest land for non-forest purpose;

(j)       "District Collector" includes Deputy Commissioner, to hold the charge of the Administration of the revenue district having jurisdiction over the forest land for which the prior approval of the Central Government under the Adhiniyam is required;

(k)      "Divisional Forest Officer" means Divisional Forest Officer, Deputy Conservator of Forests or an officer equivalent to the Divisional Forest Officer or Deputy Conservator of Forests appointed by the State Government or Union territory Administration to hold the charge of a Forest Division having jurisdiction over the forest land for which the prior approval of the Central Government under the Adhiniyam is required;

(l)       "land bank" means the lands identified or earmarked, as the case may be, by the State Government and Union territory Administration for raising compensatory afforestation in lieu of forest land proposed for diversion or diverted under the Adhiniyam;

(m)    "linear project" means project involving linear diversion of forest land for the purposes such as roads, pipelines, railways, transmission lines, slurry pipeline, conveyor belt etc.;

(n)     "National Working Plan Code" means a code prepared by the Central Government for the preparation of Working Plans;

(o)      "Nodal Officer" means any officer not below the rank of Chief Conservator of Forests, authorised by the State Government or Union territory Administration, as the case may be, or the senior most officer in the Forest Department of the concerned Union territory, if there is no post of Chief Conservator of Forests or above in the Department, for the purpose of implementation of the Adhiniyam and rules thereof and to deal with and to make correspondence with the Central Government, in the matter of forest conservation;

(p)      "Project Screening Committee" means the Project Screening Committee constituted under rule 8;

(q)      "Regional Empowered Committee" means the Regional Empowered Committee constituted under subrule (1) of rule 6;

(r)      "Regional Office" means a Regional Office established by, and controlled by the Central Government for the purpose of these rules;

(s)      "survey" means any activity to be taken up prior to initiating commissioning of a project or any activity undertaken for the purpose of exploring, locating or proving mineral deposits including coal, petroleum and natural gas before carrying out actual mining in the forest land, that includes survey, investigation, prospecting, exploration, including drilling therefor, etc.;

(t)       "technological tool" means Geographical Information System based digital tools such as Decision Support System facilitating the decision making process of proposal seeking prior approval under the Adhiniyam;

(u)     "user agency" means any person, organisation or legal entity or company or Department of the Central Government or State Government or Union territory Administration submitting a proposal under section 1 of the Adhiniyam;

(v)      "working permission" means permission granted to linear projects before final approval to mobilise the resources to commence the preliminary project work other than black topping, concretisation, laying of railway tracks, charging of transmission lines, etc. or as specified in the in-principle approval;

(w)     "Working Plan" means the document prepared as per the provisions of the National Working Plan Code published by the Central Government from time to time and having prescriptions for scientific management of the forests of a particular Forest Division for a specified period;

(2)     Words and expressions used herein and not defined in these rules but defined in the Adhiniyam shall have the same meaning as respectively assigned to them in the Adhiniyam.

Rule - 3. Constitution of Advisory Committee

(1)     The Central Government may, by an order, constitute an Advisory Committee to advise the Central Government with regards to the grant of approval under sub-section (1) of section 2 in respect of proposals referred under sub-rule (2) of rule 10; and any matter connected with the conservation of forests referred to the Advisory Committee by the Central Government.

(2)     The Advisory Committee shall consist of the following persons, namely: -

(a)      Director General of Forests, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change - Chairperson;

(b)      Additional Director General of Forests, dealing with the forest conservation in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change - Member;

(c)      Additional Director General of Forests, dealing with wildlife in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change - Member;

(d)      Additional Commissioner (Soil Conservation), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare - Member;

(e)      Three non-official experts to be nominated by the Central Government representing one each from the fields of ecology, engineering and development economics - members;

(f)       Inspector General of Forests dealing with forest conservation and Adhiniyam thereof – Member Secretary

(3)     The Chairperson may co-opt the domain experts as special invitees to a meeting of the Advisory Committee.

(4)     The Chairperson shall preside over the meeting of the Advisory Committee and in his absence, the Additional Director General of Forests, dealing with forest conservation, in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change shall preside over the meeting.

Rule - 4. Terms and conditions of non-official Members of Advisory Committee

(1)     A non-official Member shall hold his office for a period of up to two years from the date of his nomination or as specified by the Central Government.

(2)     A non-official Member shall cease to hold office if he becomes of unsound mind, or insolvent or is convicted for an offence which involves moral turpitude.

(3)     A non-official Member may be removed from his office if he fails to attend three consecutive meetings of the Advisory Committee without any sufficient cause or reason.

(4)     Any vacancy caused by any reason mentioned in clauses (b) and (c) shall be filled by the Central Government for the remaining term of two years.

(5)     The non-official Members of the Advisory Committee shall be entitled to a travelling allowance and daily allowance as are admissible to an officer of the Government of India holding Group A post.

(6)     Provided that where a Member of the Parliament or a Member of a State Legislature has been appointed as a member of the Advisory Committee, he shall be entitled to the travelling allowance and daily allowances in accordance with the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954 (30 of 1954) or the respective provisions of law pertaining to the member of the concerned State Legislature, as the case may be.

Rule - 5. Conduct of business of the Advisory Committee

(1)     The Chairperson of the Advisory Committee shall call the meeting of the Committee at least once a month, whenever considered necessary;

(2)     the meeting of the Advisory Committee shall ordinarily be held at New Delhi except when the Chairperson considers it necessary to inspect the proposed land, then the Chairperson may direct the meeting to be held at a place from where the proposal can be inspected.

(3)     the quorum of the meeting of the Advisory Committee shall be five including the Chairperson.

(4)     The Member-Secretary shall prepare an agenda of the meeting and present the proposals and matters referred to the Advisory Committee by the Central Government.

(5)     The Advisory Committee shall examine in its meeting the proposal or the matter and, in urgent cases, the Chairperson may direct the proposal or the matter to be sent to the members for the their opinion, which shall be furnished to the Committee within the stipulated time.

(6)     the user agency may be allowed to attend the meeting of the Advisory Committee for such duration as may be necessary to furnish such information or clarify any issue which may pertain to it.

(7)     After the examination of the proposal or the matter, the Advisory Committee shall make its recommendation/advise to the Central Government.

Rule - 6. Constitution of Regional Empowered Committee

(1)     The Central Government may, by an order, constitute a Regional Empowered Committee at each of the Regional Offices to examine proposals referred to it under sub-rule (3) of rule 10 and grant approval or rejection of proposals under sub-section (1) of section 2.

(2)     The Regional Empowered Committee at each of the Regional Offices shall consist of the following persons, namely: -

(a)      Deputy Director General of Forests (Central) or an officer nominated by the Central Government - chairperson;

(b)      Three non-official members from amongst eminent persons who are experts in the field of forestry and allied disciplines - members;

(c)      The senior-most officer amongst officers of the rank of Conservator of Forests and Deputy Conservator of Forests in the Regional Office - member-secretary.

(3)     The chairperson of the Regional Empowered Committee may co-opt the domain experts as special invitees to the meeting.

(4)     One representative each from the Forest Department and Revenue Department of the State or the Union territory Administration, not below the rank of Director to the Government of India, shall be invited by the Regional Empowered Committee to attend the meeting as a special invitee, in the examination of the proposals.

(5)     Terms and conditions of non-official members of Regional Empowered Committee.-

(1)     A non-official member shall hold his office for a period of up to two years from the date of his nomination.

(2)     A non-official member shall cease to hold office if he becomes of unsound mind, insolvent, or is convicted for an offence involving moral turpitude.

(3)     A non-official member may be removed from his office if he fails to attend three consecutive meetings of the Committee without any sufficient cause or reason.

(4)     Any vacancy of a member in the Regional Empowered Committee caused by any reason mentioned in sub-rules (2) and (3) shall be filled by the Central Government for the remaining term of the member in whose place vacancy has arisen.

(5)     The non-official members of the Regional Empowered Committee shall be entitled to a travelling allowance and daily allowance as are admissible to an officer of the Government of India holding Group A post carrying the same scale of pay.

(6)     Provided that where a Member of the Parliament or a Member of a State Legislature has been appointed as a member of the Advisory Committee, he shall be entitled to the travelling allowance and daily allowances in accordance with the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954 (30 of 1954) or the respective provisions of law pertaining to the member of the concerned State Legislature, as the case may be.

Rule - 7. Conduct of business of Regional Empowered Committee

The Regional Empowered Committee shall conduct its business as follows, namely:-

(1)     The chairperson of the Regional Empowered Committee shall hold the meeting whenever considered necessary, but not less than once a month.

(2)     The meetings of the Regional Empowered Committee shall be held at the headquarters of the Regional Office:

Provided that where the chairperson of the Regional Empowered Committee is satisfied that inspection of site of forest land proposed to be used for non-forest purposes shall be necessary or expedient in connection with the consideration of the proposal referred, he may direct that the meetings of the Regional Empowered Committee be held at a place other than headquarters of the Regional Office for such inspection of site;

(3)     The chairperson of the Regional Empowered Committee shall preside over the meeting of the Regional Empowered Committee and in his absence, Deputy Director General of Forests holding the charge of other Regional Office or Inspector General of Forests dealing with the matter related to the Adhiniyam, as may be authorised by the Central Government, may chair the meeting of the Regional Empowered Committee.

(4)     Every proposal referred to the Regional Empowered Committee for advice or decision shall be considered in the meeting of the Regional Empowered Committee:

Provided that in urgent case, the chairperson of the Regional Empowered Committee may direct that documents may be circulated and sent to the members of the Regional Empowered Committee for their opinion within the stipulated time.

(5)     The quorum of the meeting of the Regional Empowered Committee shall be three.

(6)     The user agency may be allowed to remain present for such duration during a meeting as may be necessary to furnish such information or clarify any issue which may pertain to it.

(7)     The member-secretary shall prepare agenda of the meeting and present the proposals and matters connected with the Adhiniyam before the committee for making appropriate recommendations and decisions thereafter.

Rule - 8. Constitution of Project Screening Committee

(1)     The State Government and Union territory Administration may, by an order, constitute a Project Screening Committee to examine the completeness of the proposal submitted under clauses (i), (ii) or (iii) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Adhiniyam.

(2)     The Project Screening Committee shall consist of the following persons, namely:-

(a)      Nodal Officer - chairperson;

(b)      Concerned Chief Conservator of Forests/ Conservator of Forests - member;

(c)      Concerned Divisional Forest Officer- member;

(d)      Concerned District Collector or his representative (Not below the rank of Deputy Collector) -member;

(e)      Divisional Forest Officer in the office of Nodal Officer- member-secretary

(3)     The Project Screening Committee shall meet at least twice every month and the quorum of the meeting of the Project Screening Committee shall be three.

(4)     The Project Screening Committee shall, after examination of the proposals, make recommendation to the State Government or Union territory Administration, as the case may be.

Rule - 9. Proposals for prior approval of Central Government

(1)     The approval shall be accorded by the Central Government in two stages, namely, (i) In- Principle approval; and (ii) Final approval.

(2)     The user agency shall submit an application to the State Government or Union territory Administration for approval of the Central Government under sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Adhiniyam for dereservation of forest land, use of forest land for non-forest purposes or for assignment of lease online, through the web portal of the Central Government.

(3)     A proposal identity number shall be generated online for the proposal submitted by the user agency and the said identity number shall be used for all future references;

(4)     The copy of the proposal shall be simultaneously forwarded to the concerned Divisional Forest Officers, District Collectors, Conservator of Forests, Chief Conservator of Forests and the Nodal Officer of the State Government or Union territory Administration each of whom shall independently undertake preliminary examination of the completeness of documentation of the proposal.

(5)     The Project Screening Committee shall examine the proposal received from the State Government or Union territory Administration, except proposals involving forest land of five hectares or less, that the proposal is complete in all respects and the proposed activity is not in any restricted area or category.

(6)     The Project Screening Committee, for the purpose of screening, may call the user agency for clarification or additional documents, if any.

(7)     The Project Screening Committee shall examine the proposal for its completeness and correctness and ensure that deficiencies in the proposal, if any, are identified and the member-secretary shall inform in this regard to the user agency.

(8)     The proposals returned to the user agency shall be re-submitted after addressing the deficiency, as identified under sub-rule (7) above, within a period of ninety days, failing which the proposal shall stand de-listed.

(9)     In case the user agency submits the information within the given time the proposal will be re-examined by the Project Screening Committee and in case the proposal is not complete in all respect then the same will be de-listed for the reasons to be recorded in writing:

Provided that the after de-listing of the proposal by the Project Screening Committee, the user agency, after addressing the deficiencies, can re-list the proposal only once using the same proposal identity number, as generated under sub-rule (2) above, which will again be examined by the PSC as per procedure given in sub-rule (5) to (7) above and in case the proposal is found still incomplete, it will be rejected and deleted permanently from the portal.

(10)   The complete proposal with the proposal identity number shall be forwarded to concerned Divisional Forest Officer concerned, District Collectors, Conservator of Forests or Chief Conservator of Forests for field verification.

(11)   Where the forest land or part thereof included in the proposal is not under the management control of the Forest Department, the District Collector shall get the land schedule and map of the forest land included in the proposal authenticated online through joint verification by officers of the Revenue Department and Forest Department.

(12)   In addition to every proposal verified in the field by the Divisional Forest Officer concerned, field inspection shall be simultaneously undertaken for every proposal that involves more than forty hectares of forest land by the Conservator of Forests concerned and for every proposal that involves more than hundred hectares of forest land by the Nodal Officer.

(13)   The proposal, except involving forest land of five hectares or less, shall come up for consideration of the Project Screening Committee within the period specified in Schedule I, annexed to these rules, from submission of the completed proposal under sub-rule (8), or (9), as the case may be, and the Project Screening Committee shall examine the feasibility of the proposal for the purpose of recommending it to the State Government or Union territory Administration along with mitigation measures to be adopted by the user agency:

Provided that the Project Screening Committee may seek from the user agency any clarification, additional detail or modification of the proposal in terms of change in forest land proposed for diversion on account of reasons such as minimising the requirement of forest land or minimising adverse impact on forest and wildlife, change in compensatory afforestation land proposed or change in measures proposed to be adopted by the user agency to mitigate the adverse impact of the project, and for this purpose it may ask the user agency to make a presentation:

Provided further that the proposal shall be reconsidered by the Project Steering Committee in case of timely submission of complete information and clarification and additional detail by the user agency online and in case the user agency modifies the original proposal substantially and makes major changes such as change in the forest land or land use plan, the Project Steering Committee may return the proposal to complete the steps given in sub-rule (7) to (11) and therefore the steps in this sub-rule shall also be repeated in such cases.

(14)   Where the user agency fails to submit correct information, additional detail or a modified proposal within the period as specified, the proposal shall stand rejected:

Provided that if the user agency satisfies the Project Screening Committee that the reason for the delay was beyond its control, the Project Screening Committee may reconsider the proposal, after the reasons to be recorded in writing and recommend it to the State Government or Union territory Administration, as the case may be;

(15)   The proposal involving forest land of up to five hectares, shall after their examination at the level of Divisional Forest Officer be forwarded by him directly to the Nodal Officer and the Nodal Officer shall forward such proposals to the State Government or Union territory Administration along with his recommendations:

Provided that Division Forest Officer, after receiving the proposals from the user agency, shall assess their completeness and incomplete proposal shall be returned to the user agency for re-submitting it with complete information.

(16)   The proposal involving forest land of more than five hectares, shall be forwarded by the Nodal Officer, with the approval of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, to the State Government or Union territory Administration, along with the Project Screening Committees recommendation and the same shall also be forwarded to the Regional Office.

(17)   Where the State Government or Union territory Administration, as the case may be, decides not to dereserve, divert for non-forest purposes or assign on lease the forest land as indicated in the proposal, the same shall be intimated to the user agency by the Nodal Officer.

(18)   Where the State Government or Union territory Administration agrees In-Principle to dereserve the forest land, divert for non-forest purposes or assign on lease the forest land as indicated in the proposal shall forward its recommendation to the Central Government.

Rule - 10. In-Principle approval of the proposal

(1)     Except the proposals referred to in sub-rule (2), all proposals related to.-

(i)       linear projects;

(ii)      hydro electric power projects of upto 25 MW capacity proposed in the river basin where cumulative impact assessment to assess the carrying capacity of the river basing has been done

(iii)     forest land up to forty hectares; and

(iv)    use of forest land having canopy density up to 0.7 irrespective of their extent for the purpose of survey which are not covered under the exemptions provided under clause (iii) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Adhiniyam and Guidelines issued thereunder; shall be examined in the Regional Office and disposed off in the manner specified in sub-rule (3).

(2)     All proposals, other than those referred to in sub-rule (1) and following proposals, namely:-

(i)       dereservation;

(ii)      mining;

(iii)     hydro electric power projects of more than 25 MW and those falling in a river basin where cumulative impact assessment study to assess the carrying capacity of river basin has not been done or policy decision on allowing the projects in a river basin has not been taken by the Central Government;

(iv)    regularisation of encroachment;

(v)      ex-post facto approval involving violation of the provisions of the Adhiniyam; shall be examined and disposed of by the Central Government in the manner specified under these rules.

Provided that, no approval is required for assignment of petroleum exploration licence or petroleum mining lease where the physical possession or breaking of forest land is not involved:

(3)     The proposals received under sub-rule (1) shall be examined by the Regional Office in the following manner, namely:-

(i)       all proposals involving forest land up to five hectares, shall be examined by the Regional Office for its completeness and after further enquiry or site inspection, as deemed necessary and giving due regard to the aspects listed under clause (ii) of sub-rule (5), In-Principle approval or rejection may be granted by the Regional Office by recording the reasons.

(ii)      all linear proposals involving forest land of more than five hectares, all proposals for use of forest land having canopy density upto 0.7 for the purpose of survey irrespective of their extent and all other proposals involving the use of more than five hectares and up to forty hectares forest land, shall be referred, after examination of its completeness, by the Regional Office to the Regional Empowered Committee.

(iii)     the Regional Empowered Committee shall examine all proposals referred to it under clause (ii) and after further enquiry or site inspection as deemed necessary and giving due regard to the aspects listed under clause (ii) of sub-rule (5), may grant In-Principle approval or reject the same by recording reasons.

(iv)    The decisions taken by the Regional Empowered Committee or the Deputy Director General of Forests to grant In-principle approval or to reject a proposal, in accordance with the power delegated under this rule, as and when necessary or required, may be reviewed by Central Government and decision taken by the Central Government in such matters shall be the final.

(4)     Site inspection report shall be prepared for proposals specified in sub-rule (2) by the Regional Office and the same shall be submitted to the Central Government for consideration by the Advisory Committee.

(5)     The proposals received by the Central Government shall be examined in the following manner, namely:-

(i)       all proposals under sub-rule (2) along with the site inspection report as required under sub-rule (4) or as asked by the Central Government, shall be referred, after examination of its completeness, to the Advisory Committee.

(ii)      the Advisory Committee shall examine all proposals referred to it in clause (i), giving due regards, but not limited to, the following, and after further enquiry, as deemed necessary, shall make recommendation to the Central Government for consideration for approval:-

(a)      the proposed use of the forest land is not for any non-site specific purpose such as agricultural purpose, office or residential purpose or for the rehabilitation of persons displaced for any reason;

(b)      the State Government or the Union territory Administration, as the case may be, has certified that it has considered all alternatives and that no other alternative in the circumstances is feasible and that the required area is the minimum needed;

(c)      the State Government or the Union territory Administration, as the case may be, before making his recommendation, has considered all issues having direct and indirect impacts on the diversion of forest land on the forest, wildlife and the environment;

(d)      concerned mandates under the National Forest Policy;

(e)      whether adequate justification has been given and appropriate mitigation measures have been proposed by the State Government or the Union territory Administration, as the case may be, if the forest land proposed to be used for non-forest purposes forms part of a national park, wildlife sanctuary, tiger reserve, designated or identified tiger or wildlife corridor, or habitat of any endangered or threatened species of flora and fauna or of an area lying in the severely eroded catchment; and

(f)       the State Government or the Union territory Administration, as the case may be, undertakes to provide at its cost or at the cost of the user agency the requisite extent of appropriate land, as per rule 13, for the purpose of carrying out compensatory afforestation.

(6)     While making recommendations under sub-rule (5), the Committee may also impose conditions or restrictions and such mitigation measures, which in its opinion would offset the adverse environmental impact of diversion of forest land under the proposal.

(7)     The Central Government shall, after considering the recommendation of the Advisory Committee, grant In Principle approval subject to fulfilment of stipulated conditions or reject and communicate the same to the State Government or the Union territory Administration, as the case may be, and to the user agency.

(8)     In case the proposal is found incomplete or information provided is found to be incorrect after its examination, the Central Government shall inform the State Government or Union territory Administration and user agency for furnishing the required information within a specified period.

(9)     The State Government or Union territory Administration on receipt of communication under sub-rule (8), may furnish the complete information, after which the proposal shall be considered for In-Principle approval under these rules:

Provided, if the information sought pertains to the user agency, the user agency may directly furnish the requisite information to the Central Government with a copy to the State Government or Union territory Administration, and upon receipt of such information from the user agency, the Central Government, if it considers necessary, may seek comments of the concerned State Government or Union territory Administration, as the case may be, on the information furnished by the user agency or consider granting In-Principle approval.

(10)   The State Government or the Union territory Administration, if so desire, after obtaining the In-principle approval of linear proposal and deposition of compensatory levies such as compensatory afforestation and Net Present Value and cost of mitigation plans such as of the Wildlife Management Plan and Soil and Moisture Conservation Plan, as applicable, notification of the land identified for raising compensatory afforestation as Protected Forest under Indian Forest Act, 1927 (16 of 1927) or local forest Act and compliance of other statutes including the Schedule Tribe and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (2 of 2007), may grant working permission for the commencement of project work before grant of Final approval.

Rule - 11. Final approval of the proposal

(1)     The Nodal Officer may, after receipt of the In-Principle approval from the Central Government, communicate the same to the Divisional Forest Officers, District Collectors and Conservator of Forests.

(2)     On receipt of a copy of the In-Principle approval, the Divisional Forest Officer shall prepare a demand note containing the item-wise amount of compensatory levies , as applicable, to be paid by the user agency and communicate the same to the user agency, along with a list of documents, certificates and undertakings required to be submitted by them in compliance with the conditions stipulated in InPrinciple approval.

(3)     The user agency shall, after receipt of the communication, make payment of compensatory levies and hand over the land identified for compensatory afforestation, a compliance report along with copies of documentary evidence including undertaking and certificate in respect of the payment of compensatory levies and handing over of compensatory afforestation land to the Divisional Forest Officer.

(4)     The Divisional Forest Officer, after having received the compliance report as referred to in sub-rule (3), shall examine its completeness and make his recommendations on the compliance report and forward the same to the Nodal Officer.

(5)     the Nodal Officer, after having received the compliance report, ensuring its completeness and obtaining approval of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests of the State Government or head of the Department in case of Union territory Administration, shall forward such report with his recommendations to the State Government or Union territory Administration, as the case may be.

(6)     The Central Government after having received the compliance report and ensuring its completeness may accord Final approval under sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Adhiniyam and communicate such decision to the State Government or Union territory Administration and the user agency.

(7)     The State Government or Union territory Administration, as the case may be, after receiving the Final approval of the Central Government under sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Adhiniyam, and after fulfilment and compliance of the provisions of all other Acts and rules made thereunder, as applicable including ensuring settlement of rights under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (2 of 2007), shall issue order for diversion, assignment of lease or dereservation, as the case may be.

(8)     The final order of dereservation under clause (i) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Adhiniyam, wherever accorded, shall be published in the official Gazette by the State Government or Union territory Administration, as the case may be, informing dereservation of the forest land;

(9)     The whole process of obtaining approval shall be carried out in the online portal developed for this purpose.

(10)   Where compliance of condition imposed in the In-principle approval is awaited from the State Government or Union territory Administration, as the case may be, for more than two years, the InPrinciple approval shall be deemed to be null and void:

Provided the Central Government may, for the reasons to be recorded in writing, in respect of proposals involving forest land of more than thousand hectares, where In-Principle approval has been obtained, may consider grant of phase-wise Final approval by the competent authority subject to compliance in respect of-

(a)      payment of compensatory levies and notification of land identified and accepted for raising Compensatory Afforestation, proportional to the part area for which compliance is submitted; and

(b)      any other specific condition that the Central Government may deem fit to have been complied with.

(11)   After issue of final approval under sub- rule (7) and Gazette notification under sub-rule (8) the forest land concerned may be handed over or assigned, as the case may be, to the user agency by the State Government or Union territory Administration.

(12)   The Regional Office shall monitor the compliance of all conditions imposed at the time of granting InPrinciple approval and the State Government or Union territory Administration and the user agency shall also monitor, at least once every year, the compliance of conditions imposed during In-Principle approval and upload the monitoring report in the online portal.

(13)   The entire process for processing the proposals by the various authorities in the State shall be completed within the time limit specified in Schedule-I appended to these rules.

Rule - 12. Proposal seeking prior approval of Central Government for working plan

(1)     The Nodal Officer of the State Government or Union territory Administration shall submit the draft Working Plan of a Forest Division, duly prepared in accordance with the provisions of the National Working Plan Code, along with the recommendation of the State Consultative Committee, in the online portal for prior approval of the Central Government.

(2)     The draft Working Plan shall include, inter alia, details of forest land diverted, corresponding Compensatory Afforestation lands and status of afforestation thereon.

(3)     the draft Working Plan submitted to the Central Government shall be examined by the Regional Office concerned for its conformity with National Working Plan Code, the National Forest Policy and with preamble of Adiniyam for conservation and augmentation of forests and the Regional Office may accord prior approval to the draft Working Plan along with conditions or without conditions or accord approval along with modification of the provision contained in the draft Working Plan and for a period as it deems fit, or reject the same by recording the reasons therefor.

(4)     The State Government or Union territory Administration or its designated officer shall carry out the prescriptions of the Working Plan to which the approval has been accorded by the Regional Office with respect to all or specific provision of the Working Plan and for the period for which the Working Plan has been approved.

(5)     The State Government or Union territory Administration shall undertake a mid-term review of the approved Working Plan and submit the review report along with its recommendation to the Regional Office and the Regional Office may, after examination, modify the condition of approval or issue a fresh prior approval by modifying the provision of the previously approved Working Plan for the remaining period or reject the recommendations of mid-term review by recording reasons therefor.

(6)     The Regional Office may also consider and approve eligible Annual Working Schemes, in case submitted by the State Government or Union territory Administration.

(7)     All proposals under clause (iv) of sub-section (1) of section 2, irrespective of the size of forest land involved, shall be submitted online by the State Government or Union territory Administration to the concerned Regional Office.

(8)     The proposals received under sub-rule (1) shall be examined by the Regional Office and after enquiry, the Regional Office may grant approval or reject the same by recording the reasons thereof;

(9)     The proposals involving whole or part of forest land bearing a canopy density of 0.4 or more or proposals involving clear-felling of forest land of size more than twenty hectares in plains and ten hectares in hills irrespective of canopy density, shall be forwarded to the Regional Empowered Committee and the Regional Empowered Committee shall deal in the manner specified under these rules and while examining the proposal, the Regional Office shall ensure that the final decision is in conformity with the National Working Plan Code, the National Forest Policy and with preamble of Adiniyam for conservation and augmentation of forests.

(10)   For the purpose of these rules "clear-felling of forest land" means removal of all natural vegetation in whatever form occurring, by felling, uprooting or burning them and removing them from the forest land over one hectare in size or more, but other types of felling of trees of specified size or species, including their selection felling or coppice felling shall not be considered as clear felling.

Rule - 13. Creation of Compensatory Afforestation

(1)     The user agency shall provide land which is neither notified as forest under the Indian Forest Act, 1927 (16 of 1927) or any other law nor managed as forest by the Forest Department and it shall also bear the cost of raising compensatory afforestation over such land and the requirement of Compensatory Afforestation land shall be as per the Schedule-II annexed to these rules:

Provided that in case the non-forest land or portion thereof provided by the user agency is not fit for raising compensatory afforestation of a specified density, then additional compensatory afforestation shall be raised on a degraded notified or unclassed forest land under the management control of the Forest Department which is twice in size of such shortfall in the given compensatory afforestation land and the user agency shall also bear the additional cost on such account:

Provided further that if the non-forest land being made available for compensatory afforestation already bears vegetation of 0.4 canopy density or more, there shall not be an additional requirement of planting of trees on such land but a programme for improvement of the forest crop shall be implemented by the Forest Department in a time-bound manner:

Provided also in exceptional circumstances when the suitable land required for compensatory afforestation under this clause is not available and the certificate to this effect is given by the State Government or Union territory Administration, as the case may be, the compensatory afforestation may be considered on degraded forest land which is twice in extent to the area proposed to be diverted in case of the Central Government agencies or Central Public Sector Undertakings on case to case basis:

Provided also in exceptional circumstances when the suitable land required for compensatory afforestation under this clause is not available, and the certificate to this effect is given by the State Government or Union territory Administration, as the case may be, the compensatory afforestation may be considered on degraded forest land which is twice in extent to the area proposed to be diverted in case of State Public Sector Undertakings for captive coal blocks on case to case basis:

Provided also in case the user agency acquires any non-forest land for the execution of the project, the exceptions in case of Central Government agencies, Central Public Sector Undertakings and State Public Sector Undertakings as above shall not be applicable.

(2)     The specified density for raising compensatory afforestation under this sub-rule shall be such as to develop, a forest of a minimum canopy density of 0.4 or more in the fifth year of start of compensatory afforestation operation, and the area has sufficient vegetation stock to enable it to mature into land with canopy density of minimum 0.7.

(3)     In case of non-availability of the non-forest land, the compensatory afforestation can also be raised over the following lands, which will be provided minimum double in extent of the area being diverted or difference between the forest land being diverted and the available non-forest land, as the case may be, is made available and they are notified as Protected Forests under the Indian Forest Act, 1927 (16 of 1927) or local Acts prior to Final approval:

(a)      revenue forest lands i.e. land recorded as forest in the Government records but not notified as forest under any law and not managed by the Forest Department viz. revenue lands or zudpi jungle or chhotebade jhar ka jungle or jungle-jhari land or civil-soyam or orange forest lands and all other such categories of forest lands, provided they are transferred and mutated in the name of State Forest Department;

(b)      the degraded Unclassed State Forests in the State of Arunachal Pradesh, shall be considered for compensatory afforestation provided they are transferred and mutated in the name of State Forest Department;

(c)      the waste lands in the State of Himachal Pradesh, falling under the category of Protected Forests but have neither been demarcated on the ground nor transferred and mutated in the name of forest department in the revenue records, provided they are transferred and mutated in the name of State Forest Department;

(d)      lands falling under section 4 and 5 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900 in the States of Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, which are not under the management and administrative control of the State Forest Department, provided that such lands will be transferred and mutated in the name of State Forest Department, unless as specified and agreed to by the Central Government to notify them under Indian Forest Act 1927 (16 of 1927), without transferring them to the State Forest Department, on case to case basis;

(4)     Special dispensation for raising compensatory afforestation over degraded forest land, minimum double in extent, may be considered in respect of following proposals, namely.-

(a)      in the States or Union territory Administrations, having forest area more than 33% of their total geographical area and a certificate on non-availability of suitable non-forest land for raising compensatory afforestation has been furnished by the State Government /Union territory Administration in the format specified under Schedule-III, appended to these rules;

(b)      transmission line projects;

(c)      laying of telephone or optical fibre lines;

(d)      mulberry plantation undertaken for silkworm rearing;

(e)      extraction of minor materials from the river beds;

(f)       construction of link roads, small water works, minor irrigation works, school building, dispensaries, hospital, tiny rural industrial sheds of the Government or any other similar work excluding mining and encroachment cases, which directly benefit the people of the area in hill districts and in other districts having forest area exceeding 50% of the total geographical area, provided diversion of forest area does not exceed 5 hectares;

(g)      actual impact zone of the field firing range considered for diversion under the Adhiniyam or 10% of the total forest area diverted in case entire area of the field firing range is proposed for diversion;

(h)     any degraded forest land for the purpose of compensatory afforestation, selected by the State Government or the Union territory Administration, under this sub-rule, may be accepted by the Central Government when the crown density of such degraded forest is below 40 percent and such areas is not a natural or managed grassland being used for the management and conservation of wildlife; and

(5)     In the following categories of proposals, cost of plantation of ten times the number of trees likely to be felled or specified number of trees as may be specified in the order for diversion of forest land (subject to a minimum no. of 100 plants), shall be levied from the user agency towards compensatory afforestation-

(a)      clearing of naturally grown trees in forest land or in portion thereof for the purpose of using it for reforestation;

(b)      diversion of forest land up to one hectare; and

(c)      Underground mining in forest land without surface rights.

(6)     No compensatory afforestation shall be charged in respect of renewal of mining lease for the forest area for which land for compensatory afforestation and cost of plantation has already been paid.

(7)     In respect of diversion of forest land earmarked for the maintenance of safety zone along the inner boundary of a mine, the provisions of the raising compensatory afforestation, as applicable in the entire forest area proposed for diversion, shall be applicable in lieu of forest land located in the safety zone.

(8)     Non-forest land identified for raising compensatory, contiguous to forest land, located in the wildlife corridors and protected areas shall be incentivised as per the provisions provided in the Schedule-II appended to these rules;

Rule - 14. Management of compensatory afforestation

(1)     The land specified under sub-rule (1) of rule 13, shall be demarcated by concrete pillars of suitable size and handed over, free from all encumbrances to the State Forest Department or Union territory Forest Department and the same shall be notified as protected forest under section 29 of Indian Forest Act, 1927 (16 of 1927) or under any other law for the time being in force before the Final approval is granted under the Adhiniyam.

(2)     The land identified and earmarked for compensatory afforestation shall be treated and afforested by the State Government or Union territory Administration or user agency as per the compensatory afforestation plan approved as part of the said forest diversion proposal and the work of compensatory afforestation shall start within two years of issue of order of diversion of the corresponding forest land and the Central Government may issue guidelines on the modalities of compensatory afforestation, including agencies that may undertake compensatory afforestation.

(3)     Subject to the consent of the State Governments or Union territory Administrations, in case the forest land to be diverted is in a hilly or mountainous State or Union territory having forest cover of more than two-third of its geographical area or situated in any other State or Union territory having forest cover of more than onethird of its geographical area, creation of compensatory afforestation, accredited compensatory afforestation and land banks may be taken up in another State or Union territory Administration:

Provided that, the money towards compensatory afforestation in such cases shall be transferred to the State Compensatory Afforestation Fund of the State or Union territory in which the compensatory afforestation land has been identified and the remaining money of the compensatory levies shall be deposited in the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority Fund of the State Government or Union territory Administration in which the forest land has been proposed to be diverted:

Provided further that in cases, where due to unfulfilment of the conditions specified in this sub-rule such as percentage of forest land of the geographical area, it is not possible to raise compensatory afforestation in the same State or Union territory Administration where diversion of forest land is proposed or in other States or Union territory Administration, the Central Government, in public interest, may allow, on case to case basis, compensatory afforestation in other State or Union territory Administration.

(4)     (a) A State Government or Union territory Administration as the case may be, for the purpose of compensatory afforestation, may create a land bank under the administrative control of the Department of Forest;

(b) The minimum size of the land bank shall be a single block of twenty five hectares:

Provided that in case a land bank is in continuity of a land declared or notified as forest under the Indian Forest Act, 1927 (16 of 1927) or under any other law for time being in force, protected area, tiger reserve or within a designated or identified tiger or wildlife corridor, there shall be no restriction on size of the land; and

(c) The lands covered under accredited compensatory afforestation earned under sub-rule (5) may be included in the land bank.

(5)     (a) The Central Government may formulate an accredited compensatory afforestation mechanism to be used for obtaining prior approval under sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Adhiniyam.

(b) the accredited compensatory afforestation may be earned by a person if he has established afforestation over land on which the Ahiniyam is not applicable and is free from all encumbrances;

(c) an afforestation shall be counted towards accredited compensatory afforestation if such land has vegetation composed predominantly of trees having canopy density of 0.4 or more and the trees are at least five years old;

(d) the accredited compensatory afforestation shall be earned by developing afforestation of one-hectare area with 0.4 or more canopy density, but there shall be no accredited compensatory afforestation for developing an area below 0.4 canopy density or below one-hectare land;

(e) the accredited compensatory afforestation may be swapped for compensatory afforestation proposed under rule (13):

Provided the accredited compensatory afforestation cover a block of minimum of ten hectares and has been fenced as per norms specified for compensatory afforestation in that area:

Provided further that accredited compensatory afforestation over land of any size situated in the continuity of land declared or notified as forest under any law, protected area, tiger reserve or within a designated or identified tiger or wildlife corridor, may be swapped for compensatory afforestation;

(f) the accredited compensatory afforestation earned out of vacation of non-forest lands on account of voluntary relocation of a village from a national park, wildlife sanctuary or tiger reserve and designated or identified tiger or wildlife corridors shall qualify for compensatory afforestation as per Schedule -II annexed to these rules, and may be used by a user agency in lieu of compensatory afforestation under rule (13);

(g) the accredited compensatory afforestation identified under this rule shall be demarcated with concrete pillars of suitable size and handed over, free from all encumbrances to Forest Department of the State Government or Union territory Administration and the same shall be notified as protected forest under section 29 of Indian Forest Act, 1927 (16 of 1927) or under the provision of any other law for the time being in force before the Final approval is granted under the Adhiniyam;

(h) The Central Government, from time to time, may issue detailed guidelines on creation of accredited compensatory afforestation, its stock registry and management for the purpose of its swap for compensatory afforestation land and cost of maintenance thereof up to a period specified by the Central Government.

(i) All entities registered for accredited compensatory afforestation shall register with the Green Credit Registry under the Green Credit Policy Implementation Rules, 2023 and besides their eligibility for compensatory afforestation in lieu of diversion of forest land, the accredited compensatory afforestation will also be eligible for allocation of green credits under the Green Credit Policy Implementation Rules, 2023.

Rule - 15. Proceedings against persons guilty of offences under the Adhiniyam

(1)     The Central Government may, by notification in official gazette, authorise an officer of the rank of Divisional Forest Officer or Deputy Conservator of Forests and above of the State Government or Union territory Administration concerned, having jurisdiction over the forest land in respect of which any offense under the Adhiniyam is committed or violation of the provisions of the said Adhiniyam has been made, to file complaints against such person or authority or organization, prima-facie found guilty of offence under the Adhiniyam or the violation of the rules made thereunder, in the court having jurisdiction in the matter.

(2)     The Central Government, after receiving the information with respect to offence committed or violations made either through State Government or Union territory Administration or authorities or any other source or suo moto, shall, after examination, communicate the same to the State Government or Union territory and the authorities concerned under whose jurisdiction the offence under the Adhiniyam has been committed or any provision of the said Adhiniyam has been violated, for filing the complaint against the offenders before the court having jurisdiction and it shall act as a prerequisite for the authorised officer before such complaints are filed within a period of forty five days from the receipt of such communication. The State Government and authorities concerned shall submit a periodic report to Regional Office, from time to time, regarding filing of the complaints.

(3)     An Officer of the rank of Assistant Inspector General and above, may be authorized by the Central Government, by notification, to initiate legal proceedings and file complaints, against the offences committed under the Adhiniyam.

(4)     The officer authorized by the Central Government in sub-rule (1) and (3) may require any officer or any person or any other authority of the State Government or the Union territory Administration, as the case may be, to furnish to it within a specified period any reports, documents, and any other information related to contravention of the Adhiniyam or the rules made thereunder, considered necessary for making a complaint in any court of jurisdiction and every such State Government or officer or person or authority shall be bound to do so.

Rule - 16. Miscellaneous

(1)     For the purpose of explanation of government records provided under subsection (1) of section 1A of the Adhiniyam, the State Governments and Union territory Administrations, within a period of one year, shall prepare a consolidated record of such lands, including the forest like areas identified by the Expert Committee constituted for this purpose, unclassed forest lands or community forest lands on which the provisions of the Adhiniyam shall be applicable.

(2)     The felling of trees on forest lands approved for use for the non-forest purpose under these rules shall be restricted to a bare minimum and to an unavoidable number and shall be done under the supervision of the local Forest Department and the forest produce obtained therefrom shall be handed over to the local Forest Department for disposal in the manner specified by the State Government or Union territory Administration which shall give preference to distribution to local villagers for meeting their domestic bonafide requirement.

(3)     The forest land diverted for non-forest purpose under these rules shall be appropriately surveyed jointly by the user agency and the Forest Department or the land-owning Department, demarcated on the ground by way of appropriate permanent boundary marks at the cost of the user agency and handed over by the Forest Department or land-owning Department to the user agency prior to starting of any non-forest use.

(4)     For the purpose of forest cover under these rules, the figures and description used in the latest India State of Forest Report published by Forest Survey of India shall be referred.

(5)     The Central Government may cancel approval accorded in respect of a proposal, with or without the request of the State Government or Union territory Administration and may decide to refund the compensatory levies deposited, on case to case basis.

(6)     The conditions imposed by Central Government for diversion of forest land for the non-forest purpose shall not be changed or modified after a period of two years from the date of grant of final approval unless some exceptional circumstances arise or the Central Government considers it necessary to impose any additional clause of compliance.

(7)     The proposals on forest land under litigation or sub-judice on account of an issue pertaining to the Indian Forest Act, 1927 (16 of 1927), local forest Act or Adhiniyam will be dealt as per the orders of the Courts or Tribunals passed in such cases and the date of applicability of the Adhiniyam in such lands shall be in accordance with the direction, if any, passed by the Courts or Tribunals.

(8)     Any proposal which has already been submitted under the provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2003 or Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022 and are currently under consideration of the various authorities in the State Government or Union territory Administration or the Central Government for grant of In-principle or Final approval shall be dealt in the following manner, namely:-

(i)       Any proposals granted In-principle approval shall be dealt under the provisions of the extant rules and be processed and considered for grant of Final approval without amending the conditions stipulated in the In-principle approval; and

(ii)      Any provision of the extant rules will be applicable on the proposals which are yet to be granted Inprinciple approval under the Adhiniyam.

 

SCHEDULE 1

TIME LINE FOR PROCESSING OF PROPOSALS SEEKING PRIOR APPROVAL OF CENTRAL GOVERNMENT

[See rule 8 (1), rule 9, rule 10 and rule 11]

*Time line is prescribed for the proposals which are complete in all respects excluding the time consumed in seeking additional details from the State/UT or User agency.

 

PROPOSED TIME LINE FOR GRANT OF FINAL APPROVAL

 

SCHEDULE 2

[See rule 13 and rule 14]

PROVISIONS FOR THE REQUIREMENT OF LAND RELATED TO COMPENSATORY AFFORESTATION

Note 1: The user agency or Accredited Compensatory Afforestation developer shall ensure that relocation is voluntary.

Note 2: No compensation under relevant schemes of the Central Government or State Government would be payable to such relocatees or user agency or Accredited Compensatory Afforestation developer.

Note 3: The State Government can also use this provision, provided no central assistance on such scheme is availed.

 

SCHEDULE 3

CERTIFICATE OF NON-AVAILABILITY OF LAND FOR COMPENSATORY AFFORESTATION IN THE STATE/UNION TERRITORY TO BE ISSUED BY THE STATE GOVERNMENT//UNION TERRITORY ADMINISTRATION

[See rule 13(4)]

No................. Dated.................

I.................Designation.................................. (Name of State/ Union Territory) do here by certify that:

(i)       Relevant records pertaining to non-forest land, revenue lands, zudpi jungle, chhote jhar ka jungle, bade jhar ka jungle, jungle jhari land, civil-soyam lands and all other such categories of forest lands (except the forest land under the management and administrative control of the Forest Department) on which the provisions of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 are applicable, available in each district of ................. (name of the State/UT) have been examined; and

(ii)      I have also conducted such further enquiry as is required to satisfy myself for issue of this certificate. On the basis of examination of relevant records and such further enquiry, as was required for issue of this Certificate, I do hereby certify that non-forest land, revenue lands, zudpi jungle, chhote jhar ka jungle, bade jhar ka jungle, jungle-jhari land, civil-soyam lands and all other such categories of forest lands (except the forest land under management and administrative control of the Forest Department) on which the provisions of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 are applicable, which as per the extant guidelines of the Central Government may be utilized for creation of compensatory afforestation in lieu of forest land diverted for non-forest purpose, is not available in the entire (name of State/UT)

Issued under my hand and seal on this................. day of.................

Signature & Official Seal