Decree No. 03/2012/ND-CP amends and supplements some articles of Decree No. 109/2006/NĐ-CP dated September 22, 2006, guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Railway Law.

DECREE

Amending and supplementing some articles of Decree No. 109/2006/NĐ-CP dated September 22, 2006 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Railway Law

This Decree details and guides the implementation of certain provisions of the Railway Law regarding railway infrastructure structure; urban railways; railway business operations; management and use of financial resources for managing and maintaining railway infrastructure invested by the State; reduction of ticket prices for social policy beneficiaries; dedicated railway motive power equipment; list of dangerous goods and transportation of dangerous goods by railway; responsibilities of Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, governmental agencies, and People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities (hereinafter referred to as provincial-level People's Committees) in ensuring railway transport traffic order and safety."

____________________________

THE GOVERNMENT

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated December 25, 2001;

Pursuant to the Railway Law dated June 14, 2005;

Considering the proposal of the Minister of Transport,

DECREE:

Article 1. Amending and supplementing some articles of Decree No. 109/2006/NĐ-CP dated September 22, 2006 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Railway Law

1. Amend and supplement Article 1 as follows:

"Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Decree details and guides the implementation of certain provisions of the Railway Law concerning railway infrastructure structure; urban railways; railway business operations; management and use of financial resources for managing and maintaining railway infrastructure invested by the State; reduction of ticket prices for social policy beneficiaries; dedicated railway motive power equipment; list of dangerous goods and transportation of dangerous goods by railway; responsibilities of Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, governmental agencies, and People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities (hereinafter referred to as provincial-level People's Committees) in ensuring railway transport traffic order and safety."

2. Amending and supplementing Clause 3, Clause 4 of Article 5 as follows:

"3. Land allocated for railways must be marked with boundary markers. The marking of boundary markers shall be regulated as follows:

a) For planned land allocated for railways:

The marking of boundary markers shall be conducted by the Ministry of Transport in coordination with the People's Committee of the province where the railway plan is located.

b) For land allocated for railways when upgrading, reconstructing from existing operational railways or constructing new railways after the Railway Law took effect on January 1, 2006, the project investor shall have the following responsibilities:

To take the lead and coordinate with the People's Committee of the district where the railway construction project is located to develop a plan for marking boundary markers to determine the protection zone of the railway works and the safe traffic zone of the railway, to submit for approval by the People's Committee of the province where the railway construction project is located. Within three months from the date of approval of the plan for marking boundary markers by the provincial People's Committee, the project investor must take the lead and coordinate with the district People's Committee and the commune People's Committee where the railway construction project is located to publicly announce the boundary markers for the protection zone of the railway works and the safe traffic zone of the railway, organize the marking of boundary markers on-site, and hand over the boundary markers to the commune People's Committee where the railway construction project is located for management and protection.

c) For land allocated for railways that are currently in operation and existed before the Railway Law took effect on January 1, 2006, the railway infrastructure business enterprise shall have the following responsibilities:

To take the lead and coordinate with the People's Committee of the district where the railway construction project is located to develop a plan for marking boundary markers to determine the protection zone of the railway works and the safe traffic zone of the railway, to submit for approval by the People's Committee of the province where the railway construction project is located. Within three months from the date of approval of the plan for marking boundary markers by the provincial People's Committee, the railway infrastructure business enterprise must take the lead and coordinate with the district People's Committee and the commune People's Committee where the railway construction project is located to publicly announce the boundary markers for the protection zone of the railway works and the safe traffic zone of the railway, organize the marking of boundary markers on-site, and hand over the boundary markers to the commune People's Committee where the railway construction project is located for management and protection.

4. Compensation, support, and land clearance work for land allocated for railways shall be regulated as follows:

a) For land allocated for railways when upgrading, reconstructing from existing operational railways or constructing new railways after the Railway Law took effect on January 1, 2006:

- If sufficient funds are available, compensation, support, and land clearance work for land to construct railway projects, land within the protection zone of railway works, and land within the safe traffic zone of the railway shall be carried out immediately according to the provisions of the Railway Law and laws on land.

- If there are insufficient funds to carry out immediate land clearance work for land allocated for railways according to the provisions of the Railway Law, it shall be implemented in the following steps:

Step 1: Carry out compensation, support, and land clearance work for land within the protection zone of railway works according to the provisions of the Railway Law. In cases where the actual land area is too narrow, leading to the lateral protection zone of railway bridges not meeting the requirements set forth in Point b, Clause 4, Article 28 of the Railway Law, the lateral protection zone of railway bridges may be determined according to the requirements set forth in Point a, Clause 4, Article 28 of the Railway Law but necessary protective measures must be taken to ensure the safety of railway bridges.

Step 2: Carry out compensation, support, and land clearance work for land within the safe traffic zone of the railway but outside the protection zone of railway works according to the following regulations:

If using land affects the safety of railway works, railway traffic safety, or the operation of railway works directly impacts the lives and health of land users, the competent state management agency for railways shall conduct an assessment of the impact level, and if land needs to be reclaimed, it shall propose the competent People's Committee at the appropriate level to decide on reclaiming such land. Land users whose land is reclaimed shall be compensated and supported according to the law.

If using land does not affect the safety of railway works, railway traffic safety, or the operation of railway works does not directly impact the lives and health of land users, current land users may continue to use the land for its intended purpose as approved by the competent state management agency but must comply with all regulations on ensuring the safety of railway works and railway traffic safety.

Step 3: Carry out compensation, support, and land clearance work for land within the protection zone of railway works and the safe traffic zone of the railway according to the provisions of the Railway Law.

b) For railways currently in operation constructed before the Railway Law took effect on January 1, 2006:

- Where there are sufficient funds, compensation, support, and clearance of land for railway construction, land within the protection zone of railway works, and land within the safe traffic corridor of railways shall be carried out immediately in accordance with the Railway Law and laws on land.

- In cases where there are insufficient funds to immediately carry out compensation, support, and clearance of land for railway purposes as stipulated by the Railway Law, the following steps shall be taken:

Step 1: Carry out compensation, support, and clearance of land within the safety limit of the railway embankment as follows: a width of five meters from the base of the embankment for raised embankments or from the top edge for cut embankments, or three meters from the bottom of the longitudinal or top ditch of the track; five point six meters from the outer edge of the outermost rail for non-raised and non-cut embankments. For the railway bridge protection zone, the horizontal width shall be determined according to point a, Clause 4, Article 28 of the Railway Law.

Land outside the safety limits of the railway embankment as specified above up to the boundary of the safe traffic corridor of railways shall be handled as follows:

If using land affects the safety of railway works, railway traffic safety, or the operation of railway works directly impacts the lives and health of land users, the competent state management agency for railways shall conduct an assessment of the impact level, and if land needs to be reclaimed, it shall propose the competent People's Committee at the appropriate level to decide on reclaiming such land. Land users whose land is reclaimed shall be compensated and supported according to the law.

If using land does not affect the safety of railway works, railway traffic safety, or the operation of railway works does not directly impact the lives and health of land users, current land users may continue to use the land for its intended purpose as approved by the competent state management agency but must comply with all regulations on ensuring the safety of railway works and railway traffic safety.

Step 2: Carry out compensation, support, and clearance of land within the protection zone of railway works and the safe traffic corridor of railways as stipulated by the Railway Law.

c) Compensation and support for assets and structures on land when land is reclaimed:

- For structures built before the protection zones of railway works and the safe traffic corridors of railways were announced in accordance with the law, the owner of the structure shall be compensated and supported when land is reclaimed in accordance with the laws on land.

- For structures built after the protection zones of railway works and the safe traffic corridors of railways were announced in accordance with the law, the owner of the structure must dismantle it themselves and shall not be compensated or supported when land is reclaimed, except for structures permitted to be built in accordance with Article 33 of the Railway Law."

3. Add point e to Clause 2, Article 7 as follows:

"e) At grade crossings between railways and roads without guards, no structures may be built within the viewing angle of road and railway traffic controllers at the crossing."

The Minister of Transport shall specify the viewing angles for each type of grade crossing between railways and roads.

4. Add Chapter Va after Chapter V as follows:

"Chapter V

SPECIAL RAILWAY LOCOMOTIVES AND EQUIPMENT

Article 38a. Special Railway Locomotives and Equipment

1. Special railway locomotives and equipment include:

a) Special railway locomotives and equipment moving on railway tracks for transporting people and materials and equipment serving specialized railway operations.

b) Special railway locomotives and equipment moving on railway tracks for rescue and emergency response to railway accidents; for inspection, construction, maintenance, repair of railway works, and national defense and security services.

2. Equipment on special railway locomotives and equipment:

a) Special railway locomotives and equipment moving on railway tracks for transporting people and materials and equipment serving specialized railway operations must comply with the provisions of Article 43 of the Railway Law during operation and utilization on railways.

b) The Minister of Transport shall specify the list and measures to ensure safety for types of special railway locomotives and equipment for rescue and emergency response to railway accidents; for inspection, construction, maintenance, repair of railway works, and national defense and security services during operation and utilization on railways that are not required to have speed recording devices and related information for train operation control (black box)."

Article 2. Effective Date

This Decree takes effect from March 2, 2012.

Article 3. Implementation Organization

1. The Ministry of Transport shall be responsible for guiding the implementation of this Decree.

2. Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government-affiliated agencies, Chairpersons of provincial and centrally governed city People's Committees are responsible for implementing this Decree./.