PROPOSED CHANGES TO SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION LAW

11/01/2001

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The Executive Yuan recently presented draft amendments to the Soil and Water Conservation Law to the Legislative Yuan for consideration. The main points are as follows:

A person under a duty to effect soil and water conservation (a manager or user of public or private land subject to conservation measures under the law) may not use slope land in ex-cess of prescribed limits

If a person using publicly owned slope land under lease, private settlement or registered right of tillage arrangements exploits such land in excess of prescribed limits, and does not cease such overexploitation within a pe-riod notified by the competent authority, the land use arrangement will be terminated or rescinded, and the land will be taken back. In the case of land given over for private settle-ment, the land value tax paid will be confis-cated. Lent or allocated public land will be taken back by the government.

Acts requiring prior approved conservation plan

Before undertaking any of the acts listed be-low on slope land or in forest areas, a person under a duty to effect soil and water conser-vation must draw up a soil and water conser-vation plan and present it to the competent authority for approval. If an environmental impact assessment is required by law, an as-sessment report must also be submitted.

1.Farming access road construction, exca-vation, soil preparation or terracing to develop land for agriculture, forestry, aquaculture or livestock farming;
2.Deep mining, quarrying, excavating pits to extract soil or gravel, or building associ-ated facilities;
3.Building railways or roads; and
4.Developing land designated as building land into parks, mines or quarries, sports grounds, recreation areas, military training grounds, areas for depositing soil and rock, or refuse disposal areas.

A new provision will enable new and old rockfall and landslip areas, areas subject to severe soil erosion, areas at high risk of debris flows, and other areas of great importance for erosion control to be designated special soil and water conservation areas, in which the competent authorities can impose strict limi-tations on land use.

The existing law defines all reservoir catch-ment areas as special soil and water conserva-tion areas. This provision will be relaxed so that only those areas within catchments needing special protection need to be desig-nated special soil and water conservation ar-eas.

A person under a duty to effect soil and water conservation must deposit a soil and water conservation bond with the competent au-thority, and may only undertake works after receiving a soil and water conservation works permit.

Increased penalties

The draft makes the illegal development of land, resulting in danger to the public, pun-ishable by up to 5 years' imprisonment plus an optional fine of up to NT$1 million; where such development causes death, the penalty is 5 to 12 years' imprisonment and an optional fine up to NT$2 million; and where serious injury is caused, 3 to 10 years' imprisonment and an optional fine up to NT$1.5 million.

The draft also introduces severe penalties for damaging important soil and water conservation facilities such as sediment check dams, dikes, bank revetments, etc.

A person who illegally develops slope land or forest land without first submitting a soil and water conservation plan, or who goes ahead with such development before such a plan has been approved, will be liable to fines of NT$60,000 to NT$300,000.