JFGE Grant Policies and Procedures (Excerpts)

Article 1: Purpose

The purpose of the JFGE Grant Policies and Procedures is to establish general rules for the provision of financial aid by the Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency of Japan (ERCA) in order to support non-governmental activities for environmental conservation on the basis of the stipulations of Article 23 of the Service Procedures of the ERCA (ERCA Regulations No. 1, 2004).

Article 2: Grant-eligible projects

1. Projects eligible for the JFGE Grant (hereinafter “Grant-eligible projects”) are those that contribute to human welfare through environmental conservation and securing a healthy and cultural life for all individuals. Grant-eligible projects are classified into the following categories:
   1. 1) Activities for environmental conservation implemented in developing areas by non-governmental organizations (not-for-profit organizations engaged in activities on their own initiative) with their primary office in Japan, conducted in response to the needs of the local communities or non-governmental organizations in these areas, and that fall under any one of the following categories:
      1. Implementing local afforestation projects, projects to support the protection and propagation of wildlife, projects to prevent pollution arising from daily activities or other similar projects, to be carried out in developing regions with the participation of the local communities.
      2. Providing, through training or any other methods for local communities, the knowledge required for the implementation of local afforestation projects, projects to support the protection and proliferation of wildlife, projects to prevent environmental pollution arising from daily activities or other similar projects, to be carried out by local residents in developing areas.
      3. Conducting research or holding international conferences to promote such activities as described in paragraphs a and b above.
   2. 2) Activities for environmental conservation implemented in developing areas in response to the needs of local communities, and that are applicable to any one of the preceding paragraphs a, b or c, carried out by non-governmental organizations with main offices in areas other than Japan.
   3. 3) Activities carried out by non-governmental organizations with main offices in Japan for the purpose of promoting environmental conservation in Japan, and that fall under any of the categories described below:
      1. Tree and grass planting projects, material collection projects for recycling resources and other projects that are significantly meaningful to or will be executed with the participation of a broad range of the Japanese population.
      2. Raising awareness and dissemination of knowledge related to environmental conservation targeted at a broad range of the Japanese population.
      3. Research activities aimed at the promotion of the activities listed in subparagraphs a and b.
2. The following projects shall not be supported by the grant: projects that are carried out as part of national policy measures in the areas of resources, energy, and others; projects aimed to introduce plants for pollution prevention or other purposes for use by a specific business; projects for which a return of investment is expected; or any other projects that are not deemed appropriate for a non-governmental organization to undertake.
3. Other governmental subsidies, grants and committed finances cannot be applied concurrently for submitted projects.

Article 3: Expenses eligible for grants

1. 1) Expenses eligible for the grant shall be expenses directly required for the execution of the proposed project and which fall under the category of expense items listed in the Appendix (Expense items to be covered by the grant), and shall be disbursed in a fixed amount.
2. 2) The effective duration of the execution of the granted project shall be annually from April 1 of the present year to March 31 of the ensuing year.

Article 4: Submission of a JFGE Grant Application Form

Organizations applying for the JFGE Grant shall submit the “JFGE Grant Application Form” (Form 1) to the President of Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency of Japan (ERCA) (hereinafter “the President”) within the specified period.

Article 5: Informal approval and notification of Granted projects

1. Upon receipt of the Application as per the preceding article, the President shall have the Application reviewed and examined, select projects to be granted and determine the amount of the grant on an informal basis. The President shall inform the applicants to this effect with a “Notification on Informal Approval of JFGE Grant” (Form 2).
2. The President can dissolve informal approval of granted projects when there is evidence that matches Article 15-1-1 and will inform organizations with a notification.

Article 6: Submission of a Letter of Consent for the JFGE Grant

Upon receipt of the informal approval as stipulated in the preceding article, the applicant, if desiring to accept the grant, shall submit a “Letter of Consent for JFGE Grant” (Form 3) to the President within the period decided by the President.

Article 7: Approval and notification of the Grant

1. 1) Upon receipt of the letter as stipulated in the preceding article, the President shall review the letter and approve the implementation of the grant, and notify the applicant to this effect with the “Notification of JFGE Grant Approval” (Form 4).
2. 2) If deemed necessary for the appropriate implementation of the grant according to the preceding paragraph, the President may decide on the provision of the grant after modifying any part of the Application or setting certain additional conditions.

Article 8: Withdrawal of Grant Application

1. 1) Upon receipt of the notification from the President, as stipulated in Paragraph 1 of the preceding article, the applicant (hereinafter “Grant recipient organization”) intending to withdraw the Application on the grounds of disagreement with the modified or additional conditions of the Notification of the JFGE Grant, shall submit the “Letter of Withdrawal of Application from JFGE Grant” (Form 5) within the period specified by the President.
2. 2) Upon receipt of the Letter of Withdrawal, the approval made on the grant related to the subject Application shall be considered as non-existent.

Article 9: Approval for modification of a Granted project

1. 1) Any grant recipient organization that wants to change any part of the contents of the granted project (excepting minor modifications) shall submit an “Application Form for Approval of Change in the JFGE-Granted Project” (Form 6) to the President to obtain his or her approval in advance.
2. 2) When giving an approval according to a request as described in the preceding paragraph, the President may modify the contents of the grant approval or specify certain conditions to the grant, if deemed necessary.

Article 10: Approval for the suspension or discontinuation of a Granted project

1. 1) When a grant recipient organization intends to suspend or discontinue a granted project, it must submit an “Application Form for Approval of Suspension or Discontinuation of JFGE-Granted Project” (Form 8-1) to the President and obtain his/her approval in advance.
2. 2) Upon receipt of an ‘’Application Form for Approval of Suspension of Discontinuation of JFGE-Granted Project’’, the president shall have the report reviewed and will inform organizations with a notifications when he/she will approve cancellation or abandon the JFGE-granted project.

1. When the report ceased as a part, submit an ‘’Letter of Confirmation for Approval of Suspension of Discontinuation of JFGE-Granted project’’. (Form 8-2)
2. When the report canceled or abandoned, submit an ‘’Letter of Confirmation for Approval of Suspension of Discontinuation of JFGE-Granted project’’. (Form 8-3) However, when the notification is occurred, organizations are regarded as no grant money issued according to Article 14.

Article 11: Report on the delay of Granted project

In the event that a grant recipient organization expects to be unable or to have difficulty completing a project within the planned period, the organization must immediately notify the President to this effect and ask for direction.

Article 12: Submission of a request for payment of Grant money

When requesting payment of grant money, a grant recipient organization shall submit a “JFGE Grant Payment Request” (Form 8) to the President within the designated period.

Article 13: Submission of Achievement Report on the Granted Project

Upon completion of a granted project (including cases where the suspension or discontinuation was approved for granted projects), a grant recipient organization shall submit an “Achievement Report on JFGE Granted Project” (Form 9) to the President within one month from the date (of completion, termination or cancellation) or April 10 of the ensuing fiscal year, whichever is earlier.

Article 14: Determination and notification of the amount of Grant money

Upon receipt of the achievement report as stipulated in the preceding article, the President shall have the report reviewed, and if the achieved results of the granted project are in conformance with the specified conditions of approval for the grant (including the details of the grant if it was approved in according with the stipulation of Article 9, or other modifications), confirm the amount of grant money to be paid, and notify the grant recipient organization of the amount with the “Letter of Confirmation of Approved Amount of Funding” (Form 10).

Article 15: Cancellation of Grant approval

1. The President may cancel all or part of an approval given to any grant in any of the following instances:
   1. When any part of an Application made for a grant or procedure of payment is proved invalid.
   2. A grant recipient organization uses any part of the grant for any purpose other than for the granted project.
   3. Execution of the granted project is made in default of the specified details given with the approval or any of the conditions attached thereto.
   4. A grant recipient organization refuses, impedes or avoids the President’s investigation as stipulated in Article 18 hereof without a justifiable reason, or
   5. A grant recipient organization is found to be in violation of any of the provisions of the JFGE Grant Policies and Procedures.
2. Having cancelled a grant as provided in the preceding paragraph of this article, the Chairman shall notify a grant recipient organization to the effect with the “Notification of Cancellation of JGFE Grant Approval” (Form 11).

Article 16: Return of the Grant

In the event of the cancellation of grant approval in accordance with the provision of Paragraph 1 of the preceding article, the President shall order the grant recipient organization to return all or part of the grant already reimbursed, if any, by setting the term of the return payment.

Article 17: Additional charge and arrearage charge:

1. 1) A grant recipient organization, when ordered to return the grant in accordance with the provisions of the preceding article, must pay an additional charge, calculated at the annual rate of 10.95%, of the amount of the grant according to the number of days from the date on which the grant was received to the date of the return payment.
2. 2) The terms of payment of the grant to be returned as stipulated in the preceding article shall be within 20 days from the date on which the return payment is ordered. An arrearage charge at the annual rate of 10.95% shall be charged according to the number of days from the day after the due date to the actual date of payment if the grant recipient organization fails in the return payment of the grant to the President within the specified term of payment.
3. 3) The President may exempt a grant recipient organization from the payment of all or part of such additional charges and/or arrearage charges according to paragraphs 1 and 2 above at the request of the recipient organization if the President recognizes the failure of payment as unavoidable for some reason.

Article 18: Investigations

1. 1) The President, if it is deemed necessary for the purpose of the performance of the grant, may request a grant recipient organization to provide a report or authorize the members of Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency of Japan to have access to the recipient organization’s premises to examine its books, records and other documents or to make inquiries to the concerned parties.
2. 2) The President may, upon determining that the granted project is not in compliance with the specification or conditions of the grant approval as the result of the above investigation, instruct a grant recipient organization to take necessary measures to make it compatible to the said specifications and/or conditions.
3. 3) A grant recipient organization then must comply with the instruction of the preceding paragraph in good faith.

Article 19: Audit, etc., of the amount of the Grant after confirmation

1. A grant recipient organization must hold all books, records and other documents concerning the granted object in safe-keeping for five (5) years from the date on which the Letter of Confirmation of Approved Amount of Funding was received in accordance with the stipulation of Article 14.
2. The provisions of Articles 15 to 18 shall be applicable to the period specified in the preceding paragraph.

Article 20: Exemption

The President may, upon recognizing that it would be difficult for a grant recipient organization to comply with a specific part of the provisions of the JFGE Grant Policies and Procedures because the organization has its main office outside Japan, or due to the laws, customs or any other unavoidable circumstances of the foreign country concerned, exempt the organization from the application of such part of the provision at his or her discretion.

Supplementary provision
The JFGE Grant Policies and Procedures shall come into force on October 13, 2009, and applies from July 2, 2009.