President Klaus Iohannis promulgated, on Wednesday, a normative act for the amendment and completion of the Land Fund Law no. 18/1991 and other normative acts.

The law modifies and completes article 92 of Law no. 18/1991, in the sense of regulating some aspects related to the use of agricultural lands with an area of ​​more than 10 hectares in order to locate photovoltaic parks.

The normative act stipulates that, as an exception, on the agricultural lands of class III, IV and V of quality, having the category of arable use, pasture, vineyards and orchards, as well as those arranged with land improvement works, located outside the built-up area, based on the building permit and the approval of the permanent or temporary removal from the agricultural circuit, the following investment objectives specific to the production of electricity from renewable sources can be located: solar energy, wind energy, biomass energy production capacities, bioliquids and biogas, electricity storage units, transformer stations or other similar systems that can be located on agricultural lands located outside the built – up area, with a maximum surface area of ​​50 ha. These investments can be applied, as an exception, also on agricultural lands, having quality class I and II.

In case the objectives provided by law are achieved, the agricultural land area located outside the built-up area, except for the lands with arable use category, can be used in dual system both for agricultural production and for the production of electricity from renewable sources. In these cases, the permanent or temporary removal from the agricultural circuit can be done only for the land areas occupied by these investment objectives, the rest of the surface remaining in the agricultural circuit, according to Agerpres.

According to the law, the meadows are used for grazing animals and producing fodder. It is forbidden to permanently or temporarily remove from the agricultural circuit the meadows outside build areas. As an exception to these provisions, the permanent or temporary removal from the agricultural circuit of meadows located outside the built-up area can be done with the approval of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, for the establishment of new renewable energy production capacities, under the law,that would not affect exploitation of meadows; the surface occupied with permanent meadows can be used in a dual system both for animal grazing and fodder production, as well as for the production of electricity from renewable sources.