"The National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC) through the State Forestry Administration (AFE), shall authorize the intervention or use of the forest as established in article 19 of Forestry Law No. 7575, for the effective area of a forest subject to a management plan, under the criteria of proportionality and reasonableness, within a farm registered in the name of a natural or legal person. The authorization by the State Administration shall require compliance with the following procedures and requirements:
The intervention or use permit may not exceed ten percent of the forest area that the property possesses and includes all the project infrastructure, such as roads, trails, viewpoints, buildings and similar. Prior to authorizing the intervention or use of the forest cover, the following requirements must be fulfilled and presented before the respective Conservation Area of SINAC:
- a)Requirements.
a.1) The interested party or applicant must present a certified copy of the property title, legal standing certification, or identity card if a natural person, and a cadastral map. The legal standing certification shall not be older than three months from its issuance and the identity card must be current and in good condition.
a.2) Present a map delimiting the area to be intervened or used and the percentage it represents over the totality of the property.
a.3) For purposes of determining whether the granting of the use permit is feasible, the interested parties must present the respective environmental viability duly approved by SETENA.
a.4) A forest inventory of the effective area subject to intervention or use, which includes the trees to be intervened or used, with diameters equal to or greater than 15 cm, measured at 1.30 m above ground level (DBH), prepared by a professional in forest sciences duly incorporated into the College of Agronomists.
Intervention or forest use permits shall not be granted to the owners of farms possessing forest who have infringed article 19 of the Forestry Law; for such cases, the State Forestry Administration (AFE) must verify that a final judicial ruling exists, in which the responsibility of the applicant or interested party is determined. The mere filing of the complaint or accusation shall not be just cause to suspend or halt the processing of the request for an intervention or forest use permit; however, if during the processing of the request or even after the permit has been granted, it is demonstrated that the applicant was declared responsible for the infraction, the A.F.E. shall have the authority and obligation to immediately and with just cause rescind the granted permit with all its implications.
- b)Procedure for the granting of the intervention or use permit.
The State Forestry Administration is authorized to carry out the necessary actions before the Property Registry for a registered encumbrance annotated on the margin of the property of the total area of the immovable, which prohibits future interventions or uses and is therefore known to interested third parties. In the event that the intervention or use is less than ten percent, the annotation shall indicate the percentage to be utilized and the percentage that remains pending for later use if the owner so desires. In the event that the intervened or used farm is subdivided (segregue) into new properties, no new interventions shall be authorized on those lands.
Within a period not exceeding 90 calendar days, the State Forestry Administration (AFE) must include in a Registration System for special permits the totality of the forest area of the farm where the project is developed, in order to maintain strict control and oversight of said authorizations.