Policy for Collecting Grassland Vegetation Restoration Fees Officially Issued
This website news Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance jointly issued the "Notice on Issues Concerning Approval to Collect Grassland Vegetation Restoration Fees" and the "Notice on the Collection Standards for Grassland Vegetation Restoration Fees and Related Issues." These are two important policy documents issued in accordance with the "Grassland Law of the People's Republic of China."
The documents stipulate that units and individuals that requisition or use grassland for mineral exploration and extraction and engineering construction shall pay grassland vegetation restoration fees to the provincial grassland administrative department or the grassland supervision station (office) entrusted by it. Units and individuals that temporarily occupy grassland for engineering construction, exploration, tourism and other activities and have not fulfilled the restoration obligation shall pay grassland vegetation restoration fees to the grassland administrative department at or above the county level or the grassland supervision station (office) entrusted by it. The collection standards for grassland vegetation restoration fees shall be verified and determined by the pricing departments of each province, autonomous region, and municipality directly under the Central Government together with the finance departments, and reported to the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance for filing.
The documents require that grassland vegetation restoration fees be incorporated into fiscal budget management and used exclusively for grassland vegetation restoration, protection and management organized by grassland administrative departments. The scope of use includes: grassland survey and planning, artificial grassland construction, grassland vegetation restoration, improvement and treatment of degraded and desertified grassland, grassland ecological monitoring, grassland pest and disease control, grassland fire prevention and management, and other expenditures.
The documents also stipulate that grassland administrative departments and the grassland supervision stations (offices) entrusted by them shall not over-collect, under-collect, delay collection, or stop collection of grassland vegetation restoration fees, nor misappropriate, intercept, or embezzle them, and shall conscientiously accept supervision and inspection by finance, pricing, and audit departments and higher-level grassland administrative departments.
In order to effectively strengthen the collection, use and management of grassland vegetation restoration fees, the Ministry of Agriculture requires grassland departments in all provinces to attach great importance to the management of the collection and use of grassland vegetation restoration fees, actively cooperate with pricing departments and finance departments, and accelerate the verification and determination of the collection standards for grassland vegetation restoration fees.
Collecting grassland vegetation restoration fees in accordance with the law is an important measure to strengthen the protection of grassland resources and the ecological environment, and is also an important part of the grassland ecological compensation system. The introduction of the grassland vegetation restoration fee policy is of great significance for grassland administrative departments and grassland supervision institutions at all levels to further strengthen and standardize the management of grassland requisition and occupation, reduce the damage caused to grassland resources and the ecological environment by arbitrary requisition, use, and occupation of grassland, increase efforts in grassland vegetation restoration and degraded grassland treatment, and ensure that the total amount of grassland resources does not decrease and their quality does not decline.