Act No. 289 / 1995 Coll.

Act on Forests and on the amendment and amendment of certain laws (Forest Act)

Valid Law Effective from 01.01.1996
289
THE LAW
of 3 November 1995
on forests and amending and supplementing certain laws (forest law)
Parliament has decided on this law of the Czech Republic:

ČÁST PRVNÍ

FOREIGN LAW

HLAVA PRVNÍ

INTRODUCTORY PROVISIONS

Oddíl první

§ 1
Purpose of the law
The purpose of this Act is to lay down the conditions for the conservation, management and restoration of forests as a national natural resource, constituting an irreplaceable environmental component, for the fulfilment of all its functions and for the promotion of sustainable management in it.
§ 2
Definition of terms
For the purposes of this Act:
(a) forest trees with their environment and land intended for the performance of forest functions;
(b) forest functions of an ecosystem service conditional on the existence of a forest which is divided into production and non-production;
(c) forest trees and forest trees which perform the functions of the forest under the given conditions;
(d) rebuilding, protecting, educating and extracting forest crops and other activities to ensure the performance of forest functions;
(e) the protection of forest activities aimed at reducing the effects of harmful agents, protective measures against harmful agents and mitigation of the consequences of their action;
(f) harmful organisms, adverse weather effects, immissions and physical or chemical factors causing forest damage;
(g) harmful organisms causing diseases in forest crops and plant or animal pests in forest crops;
(h) rebuilding the forest a set of measures leading to the re-emergence of a subsequent forest area;
(i) afforestation of new forest land on land declared as land intended to fulfil forest functions;
(j) by ensuring forest cultivation, the achievement of a forestry status which, after afforestation or forest restoration, does not require intensive protection and the number of viable individuals and their placement on a wooded area and the species composition of forest trees gives the conditions for the establishment of a suitable forest crop;
(k) forest nurturing measures affecting species and spatial composition, growth, development, health status, resistance and quality of forest to ensure the performance of forest functions; education is not tolling,
(l) production of pretoll intentional logging carried out for the purpose of forest cultivation;
(m) the extraction of tolls by intentional extraction carried out for the purpose of rebuilding the forest or the selection of individual trees in the forest, which is intended for renewal;
(n) mining by random extraction
1. for the processing of trees, dry, refuted, sick or damaged;
2. in the framework of the regulation of invasive non-indigenous species under the Nature and Landscape Conservation Act; or
3. within the framework of official measures or exceptional plant health measures taken to prevent the spread or eradication of harmful plant organisms under the Plant Health Act,
(o) mining by extraordinary mining, which is not pretoll by intent, toll by intent or by accident;
(p) natural forest areas of the territory with similar growth conditions for the forest,
(r) economic units of the forest management unit established within natural forest areas and characterised by functional focus, natural conditions and state of forest areas;
s) the basic spatial distribution unit of the forest identified in the field and displayed on the forest map,
(t) a forest total of forests owned by one owner, possibly in the use and consumption of one forest holder, to use and enjoy for the purpose of forest management for which the forest plan is being processed; and
(u) objects and equipment used for forest management, bystander and rafters, and for the treatment of forest land water regime.
§ 3
Land intended for the performance of forest functions
(1) Land intended to fulfil forest functions
(a) land with forest crops and areas on which forest crops have been removed for the purpose of restoration, forest passages and unpaved forest paths, if not more than 5 m wide, and land on which forest crops have been temporarily removed pursuant to a decision of the State Administration of Forests pursuant to Article 13 (1) of this Law (hereinafter referred to as "forest land");
(b) reinforced forest paths, water areas with an area of up to 2 ha, other areas, seed plantations, forest nurseries, parcels above the upper limit of wood vegetation (sticks), with the exception of parcels built and their arrivals, meadows, forest pastures, fields and animal-like areas, provided they are not part of the agricultural fund1) and where they are linked or used by the forestry economy ("other parcels").
(2) Land designated to perform forest functions shall not be land-based plantations which are not intended to perform forest functions, unless the authority of the State administration of the forest, on a proposal from the owner of the land, decides otherwise in accordance with paragraph 4.
(3) In doubts as to whether the land is intended to fulfil the forest functions, the authority of the state administration shall decide.
(4) Land other than those referred to in paragraph 1 may, on application by or with the consent of the owner of the land, be declared as land intended for the performance of forest functions by decision. The provisions of the Specific Regulations (1) are without prejudice to this.
(5) The authority of the State Administration of the Forests shall send decisions issued pursuant to paragraphs 3 and 4 within 30 days of the date of the acquisition of legal authority to the cadastral office in whose territory the land concerned by the decision is situated.
§ 4
Treatment of State-owned forests
(1) With regard to State-owned forests (hereinafter referred to as "State-owned forests'), the rights and obligations of the forest owner under this Act shall apply to the legal person entrusted with the treatment of those forests, unless otherwise provided for by that law.
(2) State forests cannot be disposed of unless otherwise provided for in this law. The prohibition on the disposal of State forests shall not apply to the exchange, the sale of a joint ownership share of the State, the sale of isolated forest land, the disposal in the public interest protected by this law or other legislation, the issue of a case under the law governing the restitution of property (2) or the transfer pursuant to paragraphs 3, 6 and 10. The legal proceedings involving State forests require the prior approval of the Ministry of Agriculture (hereinafter referred to as the Ministry) for its validity. The provisions of other legislation37) are without prejudice to this.
(3) The legal person entrusted with the treatment of public forests, pursuant to a written contract concluded under special legislation32) transfers the land to the beneficiary pursuant to Article 11 (2) of Act No. 229 / 1991 Coll., as amended; However, only isolated forest land referred to in paragraph 4 may be used for such transfer.
(4) Excluded forest land is land that is wedged between forest land of owners other than the State, or are separate forest land surrounded by land that is not intended to fulfil the forest functions, provided that such land is more than 100 m distant from the national forest complex, up to 5 ha more than 500 m and up to 10 ha more than 1 000 m; forest land shall also be considered as isolated forest land within a total area of 10 ha, separated from the national forest complex by water flows, motorways, motorway-type roads, dams, airports with reinforced areas or other land lanes, which make it impossible to connect directly to the forest complex in forest transport. Distance means the shortest of the map the distance between the border of the national forest complex and the transfer of the proposed isolated forest parcel. A complex of state forests means continuous parcels intended to fulfil forest functions of more than 10 ha in size.
(5) Land intended for the performance of forest functions shall be considered as continuous if it can be reached from one to the other without exceeding a foreign plot; narrow land lanes up to a width of 10 m do not break this link, but, if it lies in a longitudinal direction, do not establish a link between the land connected by them; watercourses, motorways, motorways of the motorway type, dams, fixed-surface airports and other land-based lanes are not considered to be such lanes, which make it impossible to connect directly between their separate land intended to fulfil forest functions in forest transport. The link is not interrupted by infrastructure, water flow, administrative border of the district, the border of the municipality, the border of the cadastral territory or fences and similar structures, unless they make it impossible to connect directly between their separate land for the performance of forest functions in forest transport.
(6) These restrictions do not apply to the transfer of forest parcels in recognised farm farms (33). Forest land in these recognised farms may be transferred to other landowners in those recognised farms, up to a total area of 10 ha.
(7) Land designated for the performance of the forest functions defined in the current urban plan of the municipality as the area of recreation where there are at least 3 buildings for family recreation not more than 50 m apart may be transferred to owners of such buildings or to a legal person established by those owners. In the case of forest land, they shall not be taken into account if they are separated.
(8) For the purposes of the transfer referred to in paragraph 10, the joint ownership of the State shall be at most one half if the size of the joint ownership of the State, expressed in terms of size, is less than 10 ha.
(9) For the purposes of the transfer referred to in paragraphs 3 and 10, built-up forest land, fencing and construction of special purpose roads shall be considered as part of the forest parcel.
(10) At the request of the municipality, the legal person entrusted with the management of the State forests shall transfer free of charge to the municipality
(a) detached forest land designated by a zoning plan or regulatory plan or by decision on the location of the construction or authorisation of the project to build a public utility construction;
(b) secluded forest land designated by the territorial plan or the regulatory plan as a sports site;
(c) the joint ownership of the State where the municipality is the joint owner of the land.
(11) Applications pursuant to paragraph 10 shall be accepted by the legal person entrusted with the treatment of State forests if the conditions laid down in this Law are met and do not impede the transfer of the right of third parties. The provisions of the Specific Regulations remain unaffected.
§ 4a
(1) The municipality is obliged to start on the forest land transferred pursuant to § 4 (10) (a) or (b) with the implementation of a public utility building or the construction of a sports site within 10 years of the date of the transfer of ownership of these land to the property register for the benefit of the municipality. If they do not do so, the municipality is obliged to offer these land to the legal person entrusted with the management of the State forests for re-transfer under the same conditions as they were transferred to the municipality.
(2) If, within 90 days of the expiry of the time limit referred to in paragraph 1, a legal person entrusted with the management of State forests refuses to bid for the transfer back, the municipality shall, within 90 days, provide that legal person with a financial compensation equal to the value of the land established under the Law governing the valuation of assets.
(3) The financial compensation referred to in paragraph 2 shall be granted by the municipality to the legal person entrusted with the management of the State forests, also in the case of their transfer to the ownership of the third party, within 90 days of the date of the transfer of ownership of the land in question to the property register for the benefit of the third party.
§ 5
Prohibition of abandonment of land management
(1) It shall be prohibited to leave the state forest for use and consumption for the purpose of forest management to a person different from the legal person entrusted with the management of that forest.
(2) Paragraph 1 shall not apply if the state forest is to be used for the purpose of teaching secondary forestry schools or higher professional forestry schools or the operation of forest nurseries.

Oddíl druhý

Forest categorisation
§ 6
Forest category
Forests are divided into three categories according to the prevailing functions, namely protective, special destination and economic.
§ 7
Forests protective
(1) The protective forest category is to be classified
(a) forests in extremely unfavourable habitats (rubble, stone seas, steep slopes, rafts, unstabilised patches and sands, peat fields, drains, etc.);
(b) high-mountain forests below the tree vegetation border protecting the lower-lying forests and forests on exposed ridges;
(c) forests in the kneeling and alpine forest vegetation stages.
(2) The classification of forest as a conservation category and the exclusion from that category shall be decided by the State administration of the forest on a proposal from the forest owner or on its own initiative.
(3) The application for classification of forests in the category of forest protection shall include, in addition to the general requirements of the application under the administrative rules, the definition of the categorised territory by the code number of the cadastral territory, the parcustoms number, the spatial distribution units of the forest and the graphic representation on the basis of the cadastral map and forest map.
(4) A copy of the final decision on the categorisation of the forest in electronic form to the National Forest Institute (hereinafter referred to as the Institute) shall be sent without delay by the Authority.
§ 8
Forest of special destination
(1) Forests of special destination are forests which are not protected and are located
(a) in the protection zones of water source I;
(b) in the protection zones of natural medicinal and mineral resources;
(c) in the territory of national parks, the first zones of protected landscape areas, national natural reserves, national natural monuments, natural reserves and natural monuments,
(d) in the territory of cultural monuments and national cultural monuments; or
(e) on land which are objects of importance for the defence of the State under the Act on the Protection of the Czech Republic (hereinafter referred to as the "Military Forest").
(2) In addition, forests which are not protective of forests may be classified as a category of special purpose forests, the predominant non-production functions, the forest owner manages and has a public interest in improving and protecting the environment or any other legitimate interest in fulfilling the non-production functions of the forest are superior to those of production. It's about the woods.
(a) in the second areas of protected landscapes, European sites, bird areas and contractually protected territories;
(b) spa,
(c) suburban and other forests with increased recreational functions;
(d) serving forestry research and forestry teaching;
(e) with an increased function of soil protection, water protection, climate or landscape protection,
(f) necessary to maintain biological diversity;
(g) in recognised branches and pheasants, 6)
(h) where another important public interest requires a different method of management.
(3) The classification of forests in the category of special purpose forests referred to in paragraph 2 and the exclusion from that category shall be decided by the State administration of the forest on a proposal from the forest owner or on its own initiative. The classification of forests in the category of special purpose forests referred to in paragraph 2 (a) and the exclusion from that category shall also be decided by the State Administration of Forests on the initiative of the Nature Protection Authority.
(4) The application for the inclusion of forests in the category of special purpose forests shall contain, in addition to the general requirements of the application under the administrative rules, the definition of the categorised territory by the code number of the cadastral territory, the parcustoms number, the spatial distribution units of the forest and the graphic representation on the basis of the cadastral map and forest map.
(5) A copy of the final decision on the categorisation of the forest in electronic form of the Institute shall be sent without delay by the Authority.
§ 9
Forests
Economic forests are forests which are not included in the category of protective or special destination forests.

HLAVA DRUHÁ

_

Oddíl první

§ 11
Basic obligations
(1) Everyone must act in such a way as to avoid endangering or damaging forests as well as forest management facilities and facilities.
(2) The owner of the forest is obliged to strive not to harm the interests of other forest owners and the functions of the forest are maintained (equally and permanently) and to preserve (protected) the gene pool of forest trees.
(3) The owner of the forest has the right to compensation for the damage caused by the restrictions on forest management against the authority which decided on that restriction. The State Administration may order the reimbursement of such compensation to the persons in the interest of whom it has decided on such a restriction.
(4) No one may use land intended for the performance of forest functions for other purposes without authorisation unless otherwise provided for in this Law.
§ 12
Land registration and division
(1) In order to ensure an overview of the land intended to fulfil the forest functions within its area of competence, the authorities of the State administration and the Institute are entitled to use the cadastral data free of charge. 7)
(2) The division of forest land in which the area of one part falls below 1 ha requires the approval of a public forest authority. The authority of the State Administration of Forests shall not give its consent if the division would give rise to land of an unsuitable shape or size which does not allow proper forest management.
(3) In the case of a project requiring uniform environmental advice (46), the consent referred to in paragraph 2 shall not be given.

Oddíl druhý

Protection of land intended for forest functions
§ 13
Content and basic obligations
(1) All land intended for the performance of forest functions must be effectively managed under this law. Their use for other purposes is prohibited. The exemption from this prohibition may be decided upon by the State Administration of Forestry at the request of the forest owner or in the interest of which the exemption is to be granted. The exemption may be granted only if the other public interest outweighs the interest of fulfilling the forest functions.
(2) In particular, the use of land intended to fulfil forest functions for other purposes must:
(a) priority is given to the use of less significant land in terms of forest functions and to ensure that the use of land minimises forest management and the performance of its functions;
(b) care shall be taken to avoid an inappropriate division of the forest in terms of its conservation and threat to neighbouring forest areas;
(c) the network of forest roads, meliorations and the cover of bystander in forests and other facilities serving forestry; in the event of the necessary limitation of their functions, they shall be placed in the original state and, if not possible, adequate alternative solutions shall be provided;
(d) established infrastructure and passages in the forest in such a way as to avoid an increased threat to the forest, in particular wind and water erosion.
(3) Legal and natural persons carrying out construction, mining and industrial activities are also obliged to:
(a) carry out work in such a way as to minimise damage to land and forest areas; take immediate measures to eliminate any damage;
(b) to store the recovered matter in the harvested areas and, where this is not possible or economically justified, to store it primarily on non-fertile areas or non-forest land intended for this purpose;
(c) continuously create assumptions for subsequent reclamation of released areas; on completion of the acquisition of land for other purposes, immediately reclamation of the parcels concerned in such a way that they can be returned to the forest functions or that they can be carried out by nature close to the recovery of damaged land;
(d) use appropriate technical means, technologies and biodegradable hydraulic fluids and take effective measures to prevent the release of forest-damaging substances and the natural environment.
(4) In carrying out a geological and hydrogeological survey, investors shall be required to comply with the provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article and, where this activity does not require a decision under this Act, to notify the State Administration of Forests in advance and to submit written consent to the forest owner.
§ 14
Processing and discussion of documentation proposals
(1) Projectors or purchasers of land planning documentation, (8) proposals for the establishment of conquest facilities (9) and processors of building documentation are obliged to ensure the conservation of the forest while complying with the provisions of this law. They shall propose and justify such solutions as are most appropriate in terms of forest conservation, environmental protection and other social interests; they are obliged to carry out an evaluation of the expected consequences of the proposed solution, propose alternative solutions, method of subsequent reclamation and layout of the territory after completion of the construction.
(2) Where proceedings under other legislation10) interests protected by this law are concerned, the administrative authority competent under another legislation shall decide only with a binding opinion of the State administration of the forests in which conditions can be laid down in order to protect the forest. This binding opinion is also required to cover the land within 30 m of the edge of the forest.
(3) Any person intending to carry out a liner construction in which a permanent or temporary withdrawal or restriction is foreseen pursuant to Article 15 (1) is required before processing the documents for the issue of a territorial decision to request information from the State Administration of Forestry on the conditions of route management through the forest land concerned by the intended construction.
(3) In the case of a project requiring a single environmental view46), the binding opinion referred to in paragraph 2 shall not be issued.

Oddíl třetí

Withdrawal of land and restrictions on their use
§ 15
General principles
(1) The removal of land from the forest functions (hereinafter referred to as "withdrawal ') is the release of such land for other uses. The restriction on the use of land for the performance of forest functions (hereinafter referred to as" the restriction') is a situation where certain forest functions cannot be performed on the land concerned on a normal scale. Withdrawal or restriction may be permanent or temporary. Permanent means a permanent change in land use, temporary release for other purposes for the period specified in the Decision (§ 13 (1)).
(2) The removal or limitation for new buildings on land intended to fulfil forest functions shall be in accordance with approved planning documentation. 8) In the forest of conservation and in the forest of special destination, new structures shall not interfere with the performance of the functions for which those forests have been classified as protective or special purpose forests.
(3) Without withdrawal, land intended for the performance of forest functions can be placed on the premises
(a) signals, stabilising stones and other marks for geodetic purposes, input shafts of underground line, unless, in individual cases, a built-in area of more than 30 m2;
(b) pumping stations, wells and wells, above-ground or underground lines, facilities for environmental monitoring and wind pits, unless, in individual cases, the area is more than 55 m2;
(c) base stations for electronic communications networks, provided that, in each case, the area is not more than 100 m2;
(d) structures for water retention in the landscape, the total area of which, including the flooded area, does not exceed 1 000 m2;
(e) buildings for the exercise of the right of hunting, which are small buildings under the building law, and buildings and equipment used for forest management;
(f) masts of overhead lines, provided that, in each case, the area is not more than 500 m2.
(4) The permanent restriction also takes place on the date of the creation of the protection zone of the electrical system and gas installations 47) within the scope of that protection zone.
§ 16
Withdrawal or restriction procedure
(1) An application for withdrawal or restriction shall be submitted to the Authority by the person in whose interest the withdrawal or restriction is to take place (the applicant).
(2) In the decision on withdrawal or restriction, the authority of the administration of the forests shall indicate:
(a) details of the land intended to fulfil the forest functions covered by the decision;
(b) the intention to implement the decision;
(c) the period for which temporary withdrawal or restriction is to be fixed and the recovery plan shall be approved if necessary;
(d) the method and date of re-afforestation of the land if, after the end of use for other purposes, the land is returned to the performance of forest functions;
(e) in the case of more extensive construction or extraction of minerals, the period of gradual deforestation of the deforested areas so that these areas are used to fulfil the forest functions until their actual use for other purposes;
(f) the other conditions set out in the opinion of the competent authorities of the State or the conditions necessary for the protection of land intended for the performance of forest, forest or forest management functions.
(3) Where a decision pursuant to another legislation is required to further exploit forest parcels withdrawn from forest functions or forest parcels whose forest functions are limited, a decision under another legislation shall not be taken to deforestation them before such a decision becomes final.
(4) At the request of the applicant or the owner of the land, or on his own initiative, the authority of the State administration may amend or revoke the decision on withdrawal or restriction if the public interest so requires, if a modification of the recovery plan is necessary or if the land ceases to serve the purpose for which the decision was given.
(5) Unless otherwise decided by the Authority, the withdrawal or restriction decision shall cease to apply and the land shall be returned to the forest functions
(a) the expiry of the period for which the decision was given;
(b) if, within two years of the legal power of the decision, the actual use of the land is not commenced for the purpose for which the decision was given; the owner of the forest is obliged to notify such facts to the authority which issued the decision and which shall inform the other parties to the proceedings.
(6) The Ministry shall lay down by law the particulars of the application for withdrawal or the restriction and details of the protection of land intended for the performance of forest functions.
(7) In the case of a project requiring a single environmental view46), a withdrawal decision or restriction shall not be issued. Where an intention requiring a single environmental opinion or part thereof is located in the territory of a national park, the withdrawal or restriction decision shall be issued by the management of the national park as part of a joint decision under the Nature and Landscape Conservation Act.
(8) During the procedure referred to in paragraph 4, the time limits referred to in paragraph 5 shall not run.

Oddíl čtvrtý

Withdrawal fee
§ 17
(1) A person who has been granted permanent or temporary withdrawal shall be required to pay a withdrawal fee (hereinafter referred to as "the fee") at the rate specified in the Annex to this Act.
(2) The amount of the fee for permanent or temporary withdrawal shall be decided by the authority of the State Administration of the Forests, as specified in the Annex to this Act, after the withdrawal has begun. For withdrawals carried out after the stages defined in the decision to withdraw, the Authority shall decide on the withdrawal fees separately for each individual stage after its commencement.
(3) In deciding on the fees, the authority of the State administration of the forests shall base itself on the legal status on the date on which the first authorisation measure issued in accordance with other legislation or, where appropriate, the withdrawal decision becomes legal.
(4) The compulsory payment of the fee shall be subject to the authority responsible for the decision on the fee and the authority which issued the withdrawal decision,
(a) deliver a copy of the decision in respect of which the decision of withdrawal is the basis, within 6 months of the date on which the power of attorney is acquired; and
(b) notify in writing the start of the withdrawal or, where appropriate, the start of the next stage of withdrawal no later than 15 days before the start of the withdrawal.
(5) Where a change is made in a person who bears a withdrawal authorisation, the person who testifies to the withdrawal authorisation and the person who newly testifies to the withdrawal authorisation shall notify and document the authority of the State administration of the forest which issued the withdrawal decision and the authority responsible for the decision on the fee of the change within 1 month of the change. The authority of the State Administration of the Forestry shall issue a decision on the fee to abolish the original decision on the fee and impose an obligation to pay the fee to the newly designated person; the administrative procedure may also be initiated at the initiative of the customs office. The payment obligation shall expire on the date on which the decision referred to in the second sentence becomes final, except for arrears.
(6) If the decision on the temporary withdrawal fee is not taken immediately after the start of the withdrawal, the amount of the fee corresponding to the period until the decision on the fee is taken shall be added to the first payment of the fee, starting from the date on which the withdrawal takes place.
(7) If the decision on the temporary withdrawal fee is not given in such a way that the fee can be paid within the period laid down in Paragraph 18, it must be paid no later than 30 days after the decision on the fixing of the fee has become final.
(8) The fee shall not be imposed if it is withdrawn.
(a) land related to the construction of forest management premises and facilities and buildings for the exercise of hunting rights;
(b) for the construction of buildings and equipment needed for waste water treatment;
(c) for the construction of the premises and facilities necessary for the collection and production of drinking water;
(d) to implement plans for water retention in the landscape or to improve water availability for forest fires.
(9) The fee shall not be imposed if the amount of the fee is:
a) for permanent withdrawal does not exceed a total amount of CZK 1000,
b) for temporary withdrawal does not exceed CZK 500 in the calendar year.

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Regulation Information

CitationAct No. 289 / 1995 Coll., on Forests and on the amendment and addition of certain laws (Forest Act)
Regulation TypeLaw
Author-
CollectionCode of Laws
Date of Promulgation15.12.1995
Effective from01.01.1996
Effective until-
Status Valid
The regulation text is for informational purposes only.
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