U.P. Establishment and Regulation of Saw-Mills Rules, 1978 1. Short title, extent and commencement. 2. Definitions. 3. Licence for Restriction on Establishment of SawMills. 3A. Restriction on establishment of sawmills. 4. Application for obtaining licence. 5. Grant of licence. 6. Period of validity of licence. 7. Renewal of licences. 8. Revocation of the licence. 9. Procedure on refusal, nonrenewal or revocation of licence. 10. Appeal against refusal to issue or renew or revoke licences. 11. Fees for grant and renewal of licence. 11A. Power to exempt from the provision and rules. 12. Savings.

The U.P. Establishment and Regulation of Saw-Mills Rules, 1978

Published vide Notification No. 432/14-3-32-73-CA-16-16-1917-Rule, 1979, dated August 1, 1978, published (Extraordinary), dated 1st August, 1978, pages 4-6

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In exercise of the powers under clause (a) of Section 51-A of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 (Act No. XVI of 1927), the Governor is pleased to make the following Rules, namely :

CHAPTER I

Preliminary

Short title, extent and commencement.- (1) These Rules may be called the Uttar Pradesh Establishment and Regulation of Saw-Mills, Rules, 1978.

(2) They shall extend to whole of Uttar Pradesh.

(3) They shall come into force with effect from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

Definitions.- In these Rules, unless the context otherwise requires,-

[(a) 'Saw-mills' means and includes any mechanical devices whether operating with electric power, fuel-power or man-power for the purpose of cutting, sawing or converting timber and wood into pieces or the like acts, but shall not include such mechanical devices whose engine power is up to 3 H.P.];

(b) 'One unit of saw-mill' shall be taken as equivalent to 25 H.P. engine or any part thereof. (Thus a saw-mill using 65 H.P. engines will be deemed as equivalent to 3 units.)

CHAPTER II

Regulation and Establishment of Saw-Mills

[3. Licence for Restriction on Establishment of Saw-Mills. - No person shall establish, erect or operate any saw-mill or machinery for converting or cutting timber and wood without obtaining a licence from the Divisional Forest Officer concerned.]

3A. Restriction on establishment of saw-mills. - With the limits of any reserved or protected forests and within a radius of 80 kilometres of such limits no person shall establish, erect or operate any existing saw-mill or machinery for converting or cutting timber and wood without obtaining a licence from the Divisional Forest Officer concerned.

Application for obtaining licence.- Any person desiring to establish, erect or operate any existing saw-mill shall make an application in that behalf to the Divisional Forest Officer concerned for obtaining a licence in the form given in the Schedule I appended to these Rules.

[5. Grant of licence. - On receipt of an application under Rule 4, the Divisional Forest Officer shall acknowledge the same and thereafter shall make such enquiries as he may deem fit and after satisfying himself with regard to following factors, grant the licence in the form given in Schedule II appended to these Rules-

(i) that the required quantity of timber through legitimate means would be available at the proposed venue of the saw-mill without causing any damage to the tree-growth in the forests under the control of the Government and the adjacent rural areas;

(ii) that the applicant has acquired or is in a position to acquire necessary area for erecting and running a saw-mill in accordance with the conditions specified in the licence;

(iii) that the necessary machinery, power etc., is available or is likely to be available to the applicant;

(iv) that the applicant has obtained a "No Objection Certificate" from the District Magistrate concerned for erecting and running the saw-mill;

In case the Divisional Forest Officer is not satisfied he may reject the application within sixty days of its receipt :

Provided that in case the said application is not disposed of within sixty days from the date of receipt of the application by the Divisional Forest Officer, the licence shall be deemed to have been granted to the applicant under this rule on the terms and conditions as laid down in Schedule II appended to these rules with effect from the expiry of the said sixty days and in that event the acknowledgement shall be adequate proof of the licence :

Provided further that the aforesaid proviso shall not apply to saw mills situated within ten kilometre area of any existing forest.

Explanation. - In this rule existing forest shall not include trees situated on either side of the roads and the railway tracks.]

[6. Period of validity of licence. - Every licence granted under Rule 5 or renewed under Rule 7 shall remain valid for such period not exceeding three years from the date of issue or renewal as may be specified in the licence :

Provided that, in case of a licence referred to in the proviso to Rule 5 or Rule 7 the period of validity shall be three years.]

[7. Renewal of licences. - On an application made to the Divisional Forest Officer concerned for renewal of the licence granted under Rule 5, he may renew the same indicating thereon the period for which it has been renewed. The renewal application for licence shall be disposed of within sixty days of its receipt :

Provided that in case the said application is not disposed of within sixty days, from the date of receipt of the application by the Divisional Forest Officer, the licence shall be deemed to have been renewed for a period of three years : Provided further that the aforesaid proviso shall not apply to saw mills situated within ten kilometres area of any existing forest.

Explanation. - In this rule existing forest shall not include trees situated on either side of the roads and the railway tracks.

Failure to get the licence renewed before the expiry of date will make the licensee liable to punishment in accordance with Section 77 of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 for operating the saw-mill without licence.]

Revocation of the licence.- Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing rules, the Divisional Forest Officer concerned may, where he has reason to believe that a licensee is operating the saw-mill in contravention of the provisions of these Rules or conditions of licence or the licensee is indulging in activities prejudicial to the interests of forest conservancy, at any time, after giving the Divisional Forest Officer and/or appellant, an opportunity of being heard, revoke the licence granted under Rule 5 or renewed under Rule 7.
Procedure on refusal, non-renewal or revocation of licence.- Where the concerned Divisional Forest Officer refuses to issue or renew the licence, he shall send intimation thereof to the applicant or the holder of the licence, as the case may be, giving reasons therefor.
Appeal against refusal to issue or renew or revoke licences.- Any person aggrieved by an order of Divisional Forest Officer under Rule 9 may, within 30 days of the service of the order on him, appeal to the concerned Conservator of Forest. The Conservator of Forest thereupon, shall decide the appeal after giving the Divisional Forest Officer and/or appellant, an opportunity of being heard. The decision of the Conservator of Forest on such appeal shall be final.

[11. Fees for grant and renewal of licence. - An annual fee of rupees one thousand per unit of saw-mill for grant or renewal of licences shall be payable by the applicants/licensee which will be credited to the revenue of Forest Department through a treasury challan under the receipt head "113-VAN".]

[11A. Power to exempt from the provision and rules. - Where the State Government is satisfied that the operation of the timber-based industries, such as, Plywood Mill, Veneer Mill, Katha industries, Paper and Pulp industries and Cooling towers manufacturing industries and like industries whose final product is not timber and also the machinery used as saw mills are integral parts of their production process, is not possible due to application or all or any of the provisions of these rules, the State Government may, by notifications, for reasons to be recorded, exempt such industries from the operation of such rules subject to such conditions, as it may deem fit, for the conservation of the tree growth in the forests under the control of the Government and in the areas adjacent thereto.]

Savings.- Nothing contained in these Rules shall apply to the ordinary operations of domestic carpentry or to other similar works on small-scale.

Schedule I

To,

The Divisional Forest Officer,

................ Forest Division

.........................

Subject : Application to erect/establish a saw-mill

Name and full address of the applicant.
Name of the place where the saw-mill is to be erected.
Whether machinery and power etc. required for the saw-mill is available.
Production capacity of tire proposed mill.
No objection certificate of the District Magistrate.
Other details, if any.

Place :

Date :

Signature of the applicant.

Schedule II

Form of Licence to establish, erect and operate Saw-mills for cutting or converting of Timber

Licence is hereby granted to Sri ..................................., s/o ................................ resident of ............................... (full address) (hereinafter called licensee) to establish/erect/operate saw-mill for converting/cutting timber at ................. (full address of the place of business) subject to the provisions contained in the Indian Forest Act, 1927 (Act No. XVI of 1927), as amended from time to time in its application to Uttar Pradesh and rules made thereunder and on the following conditions namely :

Conditions

This licence shall remain in force for the period commencing on .... and ending on ........... 19.....
The licensee shall establish/erect/operate the existing saw-mill required for converting/cutting of timber at ....... (mention full address of the place of business).
The licensee shall not alter the location of the saw-mill without obtaining prior permission in writing of the Divisional Forest Officer concerned.
The licensee shall maintain such register and records and submit such returns as may be directed, in writing, by the Divisional Forest Officer and when required produce them for inspection by any officer or member of staff of Forest Department.
The licensee shall ensure that-

(1) the site of the saw-mill including the yard for storage of round timber, sawn timber and waste wood is enclosed within a fence fitted with proper gates;

(2) all the round timber, sawn timber and wood-waste is properly stocked according to the instructions that may be issued from time to time by the Divisional Forest Officer or the staff authorised by him in this behalf;

(3) timber for sawing or conversion is not accepted unless it bears property marks and is covered by a forest transit pass or other documentary evidence such as receipt from the timber merchant or any other seller thereof;

(4) timber which does not conform to the requirement of condition 5 (3) above, is not excepted for conversion and so intimation in writing in respect of such timber is forthwith given to any forest staff available or to the nearest Forest Officer;

(5) the saw-mill as well as the timber stored within the premises of the saw-mill are open to inspection at all times by any officer of the Forest Department or any member of the forest staff appointed for this purpose or by any police officer not below the rank of Sub-Inspector of Police or by any Magistrate;

(6) the licence and all relevant records are produced for inspection on demand by any of the authorities mentioned in (5) above;

(7) the licence shall be transferable and where it is transferred, the transferor shall, forthwith inform the Divisional Forest Officer concerned of such transfer and the transferee shall hold the licence for the period specified therein.

Dated the ........ day of .......... 19.....

Signature of the Divisional

Forest Officer.

(Seal).