Last updated on May 3, 2020
2020 Updates
On 1 May 2020, the Portuguese Government extended the deadline for fuel management work to be completed until 31 May 2020. Municipalities have until 30 June 2020 to ensure that all fuel management works are carried out in accordance with the law, including that of non-compliant owners.
Decree-Law No. 20/2020 which is the 7th amendment of Decree-Law No. 10-A/2020 establishing exceptional and temporary measures relating to the epidemiological situation of the new Coronavirus – COVID-19.
On Thursday 2nd April 2020, the Portuguese Government extended the deadline for land cleaning until April 30 2020 due to the renewal of the covid-19 state of emergency. (The original deadline passed on March 15th 2020).
Diário da República n.º 40/2020, Série II de 2020-02-26
This identifies the 2020 priority parishes for monitoring fuel management in the context of rural fire prevention. There is a clearer interactive map here
The basis of the measurements and actions for fire protection are still to be found in Decree-Law No. 124/2006, of June 28 – see below.
However Article 150 of Bill No. 5/XIV/1 details exceptional regimes for fuel management range networks for 2020, regardless of the existence of Municipal Forest Defence measures. These include:
- Doubling of fines for non-compliance.
- By May 31, 2020, the municipalities must guarantee fuel management work has been carried out, including that on land of defaulting owners and other forest producers. In other words the municipalities must carry out the fuel management legally provided by law – communication with owner and, in the absence of response in 5 days, posting a notice on the ‘offending’ land.
- Non-compliant landowners are obliged to allow access to their land and to compensate the municipality for expenditure on fuel management. Details are given on legally recouping these expenses if failed to be paid.
- An amount of credit is granted of € 5 000 000 to municipalities for expenditure on secondary networks of fuel management.
- PMDFCI (Plano Municipal de Defesa da Floresta Contra Incêndios) must be approved or updated by March 31, 2020. These are plans made and published by every municipality detailing of fire risk and integration interventions of the different entities involved in the event of fires.
Previous Fuel Management Laws
Since the fires of June 2017, the existing fuel management laws of Portugal have been swiftly amended to be more specific on the detail of creating a fuel management band, increasing the penalties for non-compliance, reinforcing the required widths and the date the work needs to be completed by in the current year.
The biggest problem most householders face is tackling the issue of non-compliant neighbours. However before you can challenge a known or unknown neighbour or owner of land who is infringing the fuel management band of your property and putting it at risk, it is important to know the latest applicable laws.
The Portuguese laws pertaining to fuel management are below. The links will take you to the law on the Diário da República website where you can read them in Portuguese or print them if necessary or you can read them here by clicking through the pages and scrolling.
Key points in the laws and amendments pertaining to secondary fuel management for protection of humans and property, rather than protection of the forests themselves, have been translated into English.
Ignore all the deadline dates mentioned the laws / amendments prior to December 2017 – these have been now changed to apply to 2018.
This is the ‘base’ law for Portuguese fuel management measures to which all the amendments refer. The fuel management key points are to be found in Article 15 Defesa de Pessoas e Bens / Protection of Persons and Property which stipulates all owners, tenants or other entities holding land adjoining buildings which includes houses, shipyards, warehouses, workshops, factories or other structures, are legally obliged to carry out fuel management within a range of 50 metres around those buildings. Article 21 Incumprimento de medidas preventivas / Non-compliance with preventive measures stipulates process to be taken in the case of non-compliance. Article 3 (a) definition of aglomerado populacional / population cluster.
Fuel Management Law June 2006English translation of Articles 3 (a), 15 & 21
Translation June 2006 Law 1This contains amendments to the above law but no changes concerning secondary fuel management bands.
Fuel Management Law January 2009This contains amendments to the above 2 laws but no changes concerning secondary fuel management bands.
Fuel Management Law August 2017This law is the State Budget. Article 153 sets out the deadline for 2018 fuel management at 15 March 2018, regardless of the existence of an approved Municipal Plan Forest Protection against Fire (PMDFCI). The deadline of May 31, 2018 is set for the municipalities to ensure the completion of the work, including that done on the land of the non-compliant forest owners. It also gives notice that the penalties for non-compliance are doubled, now varying between €280 and €10,000 for individuals and between €3,000 and €120,000 for companies.
Fuel Management Amendment December 2017English translation of Article 153:
Translation Dec 2017 LawThis is an amendment to all the above laws on Critérios para a gestão de combustíveis no âmbito das redes secundárias de gestão de combustível / Criteria for the management of fuels within the of the secondary fuel management networks. Essentially it clarifies how the special rules on fuel management bands apply in 2018. Canopy distance and pruning heights for eucalyptus and pine specifically, the canopy distance and pruning heights for all other trees which are not eucalyptus and pine, fuel clearance on the road infrastructure and around buildings/structures, plus the exceptional conditions that may apply, are all written in law. More on fuel breaks & Applying this law to your property
English translation of the Anexo / Attachment:
14 Feb 2018 Law TranslationThis amendment sets out guidelines for inspection that ensures the compliance with deadlines for cleaning of the land have been observed in the designated priority areas. The parishes are identified as 1st or 2nd Priority. In reference to Decree-Law No. 124/2006 of 28 Juno, inspection priority between March 16 and April 30 is also given for fuel management on infrastructure such as road and rail networks, electric power lines and gas transmission etc. Also in reference to Decree-Law No. 124/2006 of 28 Juno, inspection priority between 1 May and May 31 is given for compulsory fuel management of no less than 100 metres around population clusters within forest areas.
Fuel Management Priority Districts February 2018Note, Pedrógão Grande and Castanheira de Pera are not prioritised. Only Arega (2nd Priority) in Figueiró dos Vinhos has been prioritised. Presumably this is because most of the fuel has burnt already. However this does not mean you should not bother with fuel management measures in a non-priority area – there will be plenty of flammable new growth and debris to clean.
As of 15 March 2018, the deadline day for land cleaning, the commitment to complying with the fuel management obligation has been hampered by adverse weather conditions in recent weeks. So there is a postponement of the imposition of fines on non-compliant landowners until 1 June 2018. During this time the GNR will start collating cases of land that has not yet been cleaned.
Law March 15 2018Legal Fuel Management Band Widths In Portugal
- Buildings holding confined land located in rural areas – the owners, tenants or other entities must create a fuel management band of 50 metres measured from exterior masonry if the land is forest, grassland or natural pastures.
- Confined population clusters within forest areas fuel management is mandatory in a outer protective strip of a minimum width not less than 100 metres. It is the owners, tenants or other entities that hold land in this band who are responsible for the fuel management. A ‘population cluster’ is defined as a set of nearby or contiguous buildings, separated between each other by a maximum of 50 meters and with 10 or more lots, making its perimeters the closed polygonal line that encompasses all buildings, and delimits the least possible area.
- Road network – 10 metres clearance band on each side of a road must be maintained PLUS the distance of the vertical projection of nearest tree canopies. For non-concession roads (those not owned by companies such as Ascendi, Brisa etc.), the owner of the land on which the road is a boundary or passes through, is responsible for the fuel management.
- Rail network – 10 metres width for each side. Fuel management is the obligation of the railway company.
- Transmission lines and high voltage power lines, fuel management area = to the vertical projection of the outer conductor cables plus 10 metres width for each side. Fuel management is the obligation of the electricity company.
- Medium voltage power lines, fuel management area = to the vertical projection of the conductor cables plus 7 metres width for each side. Fuel management is the obligation of the electricity company.
- Natural gas pipeline network – 5 metres from the axis of the conduit. Fuel management is the obligation of the gas company.
- Campsites, parks and any other similar structures within forest areas – 100 metres
Non-Compliance With Fuel Management Law
- In case of non-compliance the Câmara Municipal shall notify the person responsible to do the work.
- Once the non-compliance has been verified, the Câmara Municipal can carry out the fuel management work, with the possibility of reimbursement, triggering the mechanisms necessary to reimburse the expenses incurred.
- In the absence of intervention until 31 May other entities holding in any capacity the administration of buildings within the area provided for in may be substituted for owners by means of communication to the owners.
- In the absence of a response from the owners in 5 days, the other entities may place a notice in the area for a period no less than 5 days in accordance with Article 21.
- The original owners or managers of the area must reimburse them expenses incurred with fuel management.
- Where the materials resulting from fuel management have commercial value, the product obtained in this way is the property of the forest owner or producer but may however be sold by the owner or entity that proceeded with fuel management.
- Anyone who has carried out the fuel management can exercise the right to off-set claims for the product of the sale, in proportion to the expenses incurred, by written notification to the owner or producer in accordance with Articles 847 of the Civil Code.
- Landowners and other forest producers are obliged to provide the necessary access to the entities responsible for fuel management work after a notice to be posted at the place of work for not less than 10 days.
- There are financial penalties which can be imposed on non-compliant owners.
For further reading see: ICNF – Institute of Nature Conservation and Forestry for 2018 fuel management information leaflets.
Other Laws Introduced After The 2017 Fires
This law determines the financial support for awareness and information actions, within the framework of forest management, plant health and defence of the forest against fires (DFCI). Essentially it is a grant to promote campaigns of awareness and information aimed at the target audience of the agro-forestry sector and the general population. The intention is to alert the forest owners, producers, managers and service providers, among others, to the benefits of active management and the forest heritage, to their work in its various dimensions, recognising the importance of the adoption of forestry practices and forest management plans.
Establishes the holders of the right to compensation for serious injuries directly resulting from the forest fires that occurred from 17 June to June 24 and 15 and 16 October 2017, the criteria to be used in the calculation of the compensation, as well as the deadlines and procedures for holders of the right may exercise it, and the draft application.
Enacts the re-formulation of the principles of the defence system of the forest against fires based on the SGIFR – Sistema Integrado de Gestão de Incêndios Rurais / Integrated Management System of Rural Fires, GFR – Gestão de Fogos Rurais / Rural Fires Management, the defence-oriented and sustainability of forest spaces, and PCIR – Proteção Contra Incêndios Rurais / Rural Fire Protection, for the safety of persons and property, including villages.
Determines the creation of AGIF – Agency for the Integrated Management of Rural Fires which is responsible for the integrated analysis, planning, evaluation and strategic coordination of the SGIFR, including qualified intervention in high risk events.
Endorses the regulation of Municipal Plan of Defence of the Forest against Fires (PMDFCI). The PMDFCI aims to establish the municipal defence strategy of the forest against fires (DFCI), by defining appropriate measures to that end and integrated planning of the interventions of the different entities by setting the responsibility for the implementation of Defence of the forest against fires (DFCI) of organisations and individuals, according to the strategic objectives under the national plan for the Defence of the forest against Fires (DFCI), in line with the respective Regional Forestry Plan (PROF) and with the District Plan for the defence of the forest against Fires (PDDFCI).
Header Photo: Reino Baptista
