In the "Official State Gazette" of 21 September 2013, Royal Decree 699/2013 of 20 September, establishing the regulatory basis for the granting of subsidies to third sector entities, was published non-governmental organisations that develop activities of general interest that are considered to be of social interest in the protection of the environment.

During the application of the aforementioned royal decree, experience in the management of administrative cases of grants, makes it necessary to make several modifications to the aforementioned legal provision, with the aim to achieve greater efficiency in the processing of such files.

In the handling of this regulatory provision, the representative entities of the sectors affected have been consulted, they have issued a report prior to the State's Law and the Intervention Delegate General of State Administration in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment, as well as the Office's Budget Office.

Likewise, this regulatory provision complies with the provisions of Law 50/1997 of 27 November of the Government, in Law 38/2003 of 17 November, General of Grants, and Royal Decree 887/2006 of 21 July, approving the Regulation of the last law cited.

In its virtue, on the proposal of the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Environment, with the prior approval of the Minister of Finance and Public Administrations, and after deliberation of the Council of Ministers at its meeting of the July 3, 2015,

DISPONGO:

Single item. Amendment of Royal Decree 699/2013 of 20 September laying down the regulatory basis for the granting of grants to third sector entities or non-governmental organisations developing activities of general interest considered to be of social interest in the protection of the environment.

The following amendments are made to Royal Decree 699/2013 of 20 September laying down the regulatory bases for the granting of subsidies to third sector entities or organisations Government activities which are of general interest in the interest of social interest in environmental protection:

One. Article 4 is amended, which is worded as follows:

" Article 4. The amount of grants and eligible expenditure.

1. The individual amount corresponding to each beneficiary entity shall be determined taking into account the criteria for granting and weighting Article 8. The maximum amount per beneficiary shall be established on each call based on the available credit.

2. The amount of the grants shall in no case be such that, in isolation or in competition with other grants, aid, income or resources, it exceeds the cost of the subsidised activity.

3. Eligible expenditure is incurred by the beneficiary entities in the development of activities of general interest, which are considered to be of social interest in the protection of the environment, including staff costs, local rent, consumable material, printing, advertising, displacements, accommodation, maintenance and any other, provided that they meet the nature of the subsidised activity and comply with the requirements of Articles 31 of Law 38/2003, 17 of November, and 83 of Regulations of the General Law of Grants approved by Royal Decree 887/2006, dated July 21.

4. Direct and indirect expenditure may be the subject of a grant, subject to the limitations set out in the following paragraph. Eligible indirect costs shall be those of the regular operation of the contracting entity, which shall support the implementation of the activities it develops.

5. The costs attributable to the grant shall be subject to the following limitations:

(a) Eligible indirect costs may not exceed, as a whole, the ceiling of 20% of the amount of subsidy granted, without the need for documentary justification. However, these expenses shall be credited by a responsible declaration signed by the legal representative of the institution, describing the types of expenditure included and the amounts intended for each of them.

(b) The expenditure arising from the review of the supporting account by means of an auditor's report, as provided for in Article 12 (2), shall not exceed 10% of the amount of the aid.

(c) The remuneration of the labour force assigned to the performance of the subsidised performance as well as those of the staff employed for the purpose of leasing services may only be the subject of a grant up to the amount of remuneration fixed per day of work for the corresponding professional groups in the single collective agreement for the staff of the General Administration of the State in force.

(d) The costs incurred by the activities carried out on the condition of members of the boards, employers or other management bodies of the beneficiary entities shall not be eligible.

e) In any event, the eligible costs for travel, accommodation and maintenance shall be as high as the amounts established for Group 2 in Annex II to Royal Decree 462/2002 of 24 May 2002. May, on compensation for service reason. "

Two. The name of Article 6 is changed on the granting procedure, by the "Initiation of procedure".

Three. Article 8 is amended, which is worded as follows:

" Article 8. Objective criteria for granting and weighting.

The criteria for granting and weighting the aid will be as follows:

a) Adequation of the activity programmes to the priorities set out below, with a maximum of 30 points, according to the following distribution:

1. Research Activities. The implementation of research and/or monitoring activities that contribute to the knowledge and protection of the environment and biodiversity in Spain will be assessed as follows:

• Three or more research or follow-up activities: 10 points.

• Two research or follow-up activities: 6 points.

• A research or tracking activity: 2 points.

2. Activities of collaboration with the AGE. The implementation of collaboration activities with the AGE will be assessed to help support the commitments made by Spain to the European Union or other international organizations and/or organizations, as well as those acquired through instruments international or multilateral, in the field of the environment, as follows:

• Support in ten or more commitments 5 points.

• Support in five to nine commitments 3 points.

• Support in two to four commitments 2 points.

• Support in a commitment: 1 point.

3. Environmental education activities. The implementation of activities for environmental education programmes will be assessed as follows:

• 3 or more environmental education programs, 5 points.

• 2 environmental education programs, 3 points.

• 1 environmental education program, 1 point.

4. Environmental dissemination activities. It will assess the performance of activities aimed at disseminating among citizens the need to adopt behaviours that contribute to the care of the environment, as follows:

• Dissemination of environmental content materials by at least three media, 5 points.

• Dissemination of environmental content materials using two supports, 3 points.

• Dissemination of environmental content materials by means of a support, 2 points.

5. Activities of participation in forums of a national or international nature. Participation in conferences, conferences or other events on the environment will be assessed as follows:

• Participation in three or more events, 5 points.

• Participation in two events, 3 points.

• Participation in an event, 2 points.

b) Assessment of the impact of the actions carried out, with a maximum of 15 points, according to the following criteria:

1. The Impact of Activities. The extent of the potential recipients of the activities will be assessed as follows:

• 5,000 or more recipients, 10 points.

• From 2,000 to 4,999 recipients, 5 points.

• From 1,000 to 1,999 recipients, 2 points.

2. Participation of volunteers in the activities. This type of participation will be valued as follows:

• 500 or more volunteers, 5 points.

• From 200 to 499 volunteers, 3 points.

• From 50 to 199 volunteers, 2 points.

c) Assessing the needs that justify the development of activities:

• 5 points will be awarded to the contribution of an explanatory analysis, including an institutional document, understanding any document, plan, strategy or any other document prepared by any entity that is part of the State Public Sector, which justifies the need or convenience of performing the activity for which the grant is requested. '

Four. Article 9 is amended, which is worded as follows:

" Article 9. Sorting, instruction, and resolution.

1. The body responsible for the procedure shall be the Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment.

2. The procedural instruction shall be carried out by the Technical Cabinet of the Secretariat, in accordance with Articles 22 and 24 of Law 38/2003 of 17 November.

3. The examination and assessment of the applications shall be carried out by the instructor, and the results shall be carried out by a valuation commission, the operation of which shall be in accordance with the provisions of Chapter II of Title II of the Law 30/1992, of November 26, being attended with the personal and material resources of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment. The members of the valuation committee shall be appointed by the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, as follows:

a) President: An official of the Technical Cabinet of the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment, with level 30.

b) Vocals: Three to five officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment, with level 26 or above.

(c) Secretary: An official of the Technical Cabinet of the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment, with voice but no vote, with level 26 or higher.

4. After the assessment and examination of the applications, the assessment committee shall issue a report, setting out the outcome of the assessment carried out.

5. The instructor, in the light of the dossier and of the report of the collegiate body, shall make the proposal for a provisional, duly substantiated, decision to be notified to the persons concerned in the form set out in the call, and grant a period of 10 days to submit claims.

It may be possible to dispense with the procedure for hearing where the proceedings are not in the process of being taken into account other facts or other arguments and evidence than those submitted by the parties concerned. In this case, the proposed resolution will have the ultimate character.

The arguments put forward by the interested parties will be examined, the proposal for a final decision, which must be expressed by the applicant or the list of applicants for which the granting of the aid is proposed, will be formulated. grant, and its amount, specifying its assessment and the assessment criteria followed to carry out the grant.

The motion for a resolution will be communicated to each of the beneficiaries so that, within a maximum of five days, they will confirm their willingness to carry out the subsidised activity. If that time limit has not been received, the confirmation shall be deemed to have occurred.

The grant award file shall contain the report of the instructor body stating that the information in its possession shows that the beneficiaries fulfil all the necessary requirements for access to the to the same.

6. The proposal for a final resolution, where appropriate in accordance with the regulatory basis, shall be notified to the persons concerned who have been proposed as beneficiaries at the stage of the training to communicate their acceptance.

7. The maximum period for the decision of the procedure and its notification shall be four months from the publication of the order of call. After that time limit without any express resolution, the request for the aid may be understood to be dismissed.

8. The resolution shall be delivered by the holder of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, or person to whom he has delegated, within a period of 15 days, from the date of elevation of the motion for a resolution, and shall be notified to the those interested in the terms provided for in Articles 58 and 59 of Law No 30/1992 of 26 November 1992.

9. The decision puts an end to the administrative procedure, which may be used as a replacement or directly challenged in the context of the administrative-administrative court order. '

Five. Article 11 is amended as follows:

" Article 11. Modification of the grant resolution.

Any alteration of the conditions under consideration for the grant of the grant and, in any event, the concurrent obtaining of other grants, aid, income or resources for the same purpose, from any National, public or private authorities or authorities of the European Union or of international bodies, without prejudice to the compatibility of the aid referred to in Article 5, may give rise to the amendment of the granting decision, in accordance with the provisions of Article 19.4 of Law 38/2003 of 17 November.

The resolution of the requests for modification shall be made by the granting body and shall be notified within the maximum period of 20 days from the date of its submission. This decision shall bring an end to the administrative procedure, the right of replacement to the administrative body to be brought against it within one month, or be directly challenged in the court order. administrative-administrative in the form and time-limit provided for in Article 46 of Law 29/1998 of 13 July.

After the maximum period established without the express decision being given and notified, the application shall be deemed to be estimated, in accordance with the provisions of Article 43 of Law No 30/1992 of 26 November 1992. all the effects of the consideration of an administrative act of finalization of the procedure and without prejudice to the obligation to issue a confirmatory express resolution of the procedure. "

Six. Article 12 (3), as set out in its last paragraph, is amended to be referred to as '4' in the following terms

" 4. Once the justification provided for in the preceding paragraphs has been made and after the examination of conformity by the instructor, the aid may be paid. '

Seven. Article 13 is amended as follows:

" Article 13. Graduation of defaults.

1. Where compliance by the beneficiary is closely approximated to total compliance and is demonstrated by this action unequivocally to the satisfaction of its commitments and the conditions for granting the aid, the amount to be reintegrated will be determined by the application of the following criteria:

(a) The partial failure to comply with the obligation to provide justification, or to make an investment less than the financial budget approved in the grant decision, shall give rise to the partial reimbursement of the aid allocated to the each beneficiary in the percentage corresponding to the investment not made or not justified.

(b) The implementation of amendments not authorised in the financial budget, with the exception provided for in Article 11, shall entail the return of the aid corresponding to the quantities diverted.

(c) The non-contribution of the three tenders in the cases provided for in Article 31.3 of the General Grant Act shall mean the reduction of the aid corresponding to the expenditure in question by at least 20%, unless the beneficiary demonstrates that the procurement has been done at market prices.

2. The total non-compliance of the purposes for which the aid was granted, the objectives of the project, the realisation of the investment eligible for the financing or the obligation to justify it, shall give rise to the reimbursement of the whole of the aid granted.

3. The partial non-performance of the purposes for which the aid or the objectives of the project was granted shall be weighted by the body responsible for monitoring the aid in order to determine whether the total or partial recovery of the aid is appropriate. aid granted, in the light of the importance of the non-compliances and their weight in the whole of the objectives or objectives pursued. Full recovery shall be carried out where the non-compliance concerns technological innovation to a degree that would have prevented the threshold for that criterion being exceeded in the assessment phase.

4. After the deadline set for further justification, where appropriate, the extension granted without having been submitted, the beneficiary shall be required to be submitted within a period of 15 days. Failure to submit the justification within the time limit laid down in this paragraph shall entail the requirement for the reimbursement of the non-justified aid and other liabilities laid down in Law 38/2003 of 17 November 2001. Grants. The submission of the justification within the additional 15-day period shall not exempt the beneficiary from the penalties which, in accordance with the General Grant Act, correspond.

5. The same proportion to the grant shall be applied in calculating the aid reduction in the grant-financed expenditure concepts. "

Eight. Article 17 is amended as follows:

" Article 17. Advance Payments.

When the nature of the grant so warrants, payments may be made to account. Such credits may be incurred in instalments which shall be subject to the rate of execution of the actions supported, with the amount equivalent to the justification presented. '

Single end disposition. Entry into force.

This royal decree will enter into force on the day following its publication in the "Official State Gazette".

Given in Madrid, July 3, 2015.

FELIPE R.

The Minister of Agriculture, Food and the Environment,

ISABEL GARCÍA TEJERINA