Decision No. 1856/QĐ-TTg Approves the Plan to Re-establish Order in Road and Railway Safety Zones

Pursuant to …;

Approve the Plan to Re-establish Order in Road Safety Zones and Railway Safety Zones

______________________________

PRIME MINISTER

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

Pursuant to the Road Traffic Law dated June 29, 2001;

Pursuant to the Railway Law dated June 14, 2005;

Pursuant to Decree No. 14/2003/NĐ-CP dated February 19, 2003 of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the Road Traffic Law;

Pursuant to Decree No. 186/2004/NĐ-CP dated November 5, 2004 of the Government on management and protection of road traffic infrastructure;

Pursuant to Decree No. 109/2006/NĐ-CP dated September 22, 2006 of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the Railway Law;

Pursuant to Resolution No. 32/2007/NQ-CP dated June 29, 2007 of the Government on urgent measures to curb traffic accidents and traffic congestion;

Considering the proposal of the Minister of Transport,

DECISION:

Article 1. Approve the Plan to Re-establish Order in Road Safety Zones and Railway Safety Zones with the main contents as follows:

I. OBJECTIVES AND IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES

1. Objectives

a) Enhance the awareness of the entire society about the importance of safety zones and the management of road safety zones and railway safety zones; re-establish order and discipline in maintaining road safety zones and railway safety zones;

b) Establish, define, and maintain the system of road safety zones and railway safety zones; complete the construction of bypass roads, connecting roads to national highways, and auxiliary facilities protecting road safety zones and railway safety zones to ensure traffic safety and reduce road traffic accidents and railway traffic accidents.

2. Implementation Strategies

a) Strengthen propaganda, dissemination, and education on traffic laws to encourage voluntary compliance; require all state agencies, local authorities at all levels, political-social organizations, mass organizations, information agencies, and media outlets to implement these activities consistently and continuously;

b) Review, classify, and statistically analyze constructions violating road safety zones, unauthorized connecting roads to national highways; review, classify intersections between roads and railways for investment, renovation, upgrading, and construction of level crossings with appropriate protective measures according to current regulations; construct barriers separating national highways from railways where highways run adjacent to railways;

c) Enforce compulsory removal of constructions that have been compensated, constructions that illegally reoccupy land without self-demolition, and unauthorized constructions within road safety zones; complete boundary markers for road safety zones, manage and protect the cleared road safety zone areas, protect boundary markers; organize the final clearance of illegal occupation of railway safety zone land within the compensation scope; prevent unauthorized level crossing openings, gradually eliminate unauthorized level crossings posing risks of traffic accidents;

d) Unify planning for bypass roads in economic zones, commercial areas, residential areas, and locations for connecting bypass roads to the national highway system in accordance with socio-economic development plans of provinces and cities; implement planning for barriers along bypass roads for residential streets, preventing unauthorized level crossings over railways;

đ) Review legal documents on the protection of road safety zones and railway safety zones; propose necessary adjustments, amendments, and supplements to ensure consistency with requirements for managing and re-establishing order in road safety zones and railway safety zones.

II. IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE AND CONTENTS

To ensure the effective implementation of the objectives and requirements of the plan to re-establish order in road safety zones and railway safety zones, the implementation schedule for clearing and re-establishing order in road safety zones and railway safety zones is divided into three phases, specifically:

1. For National Highways

a) Phase I: From now until the end of the second quarter of 2008:

- Highway management units shall conduct comprehensive and accurate reviews and statistics of all violations and constructions requiring clearance within road safety zones;

- Aggregate funding for support in clearing road safety zones that have been compensated from 5 meters to 7 meters on all national highways;

- Clear violations of road safety zones on National Highway 1 within the 5-meter to 7-meter compensation and clearance range, and remove illegal structures such as tents, shops, signs, and advertisements affecting traffic safety. Pilot four sections on National Highway 1:

Section 1: Hanoi - Ninh Binh;

Section 2: Vinh - Hue;

Section 3: Da Nang - Nha Trang;

Section 4: Ninh Thuan - Ho Chi Minh City.

+ By March 31, 2008: highway management units will coordinate with local authorities to inspect and verify the scope of cleared road safety zones; compile statistics on illegal constructions and structures;

+ By April 30, 2008: organize propaganda and mobilize units and individuals to voluntarily dismantle illegal constructions and structures within the cleared road safety zones (no compensation or financial support for voluntary dismantling);

+ From May 1, 2008 to June 30, 2008: enforce compulsory clearance within the 5-meter to 7-meter range already compensated and cleared on the aforementioned sections of National Highway 1.

b) Phase II: From the third quarter of 2008 to 2010:

- July 2008: summarize experiences from the pilot clearance of the four sections of National Highway 1 in Phase I and roll out the plan for the entire National Highway 1 for the subsequent phase; - By December 31, 2008: provincial People's Committees complete overall planning for connecting roads to national highways and bypass systems by 2010, and agree with the Ministry of Transport; By March 31, 2009:

+ Implement clearance of violations within the 5-meter to 7-meter range already compensated on all national highways and

- basically complete the removal of unauthorized connecting roads to national highways;

+ Highway management units will coordinate with local authorities to compile and categorize constructions within road safety zones based on the duration of violation.implement the clearance of violations within the road safety zone with a width of 5 meters to 7 meters that have been compensated and resolved on all national highways and basically complete the removal of unauthorized access roads connecting to national highways;

+ Road management units shall coordinate with local authorities to inventory and classify constructions located within the road safety zone according to the duration of the violation;

+ of the National Assembly; The local people's committees shall prepare the budget for compensation and clearance of the road safety corridors and facilities affecting traffic safety, and report to the Ministry of Transport.

c) Phase III: from 2010 to 2020:

- Complete compensation and clearance of road safety corridors,all facilities affecting road safety nationwide according to the Road Traffic Law and Decree No. 186/2004/NĐ-CP dated November 5, 2004 of the Government on management and protection of road traffic infrastructure; - Fully establish boundary markers along all national highways transferred to local authorities for management.

2. For railways

a) Phase I: from now until the end of 2008:

- Organize propaganda and mobilization to raise public awareness of railway laws, particularly the railway safety corridors;

- Conduct inspections and evaluations of violations within railway safety corridors, propose solutions, and encourage organizations and individuals to voluntarily dismantle illegal constructions within these corridors;

- Upgrade existing level crossings and add new ones.

b) Phase II: from 2009 to the end of 2010:

- People's Committees of provinces and cities with railways shall develop comprehensive plans for intersections between roads and railways, systems of access roads, and coordinate with the Ministry of Transport before December 2009;

- Vietnam Railway Corporation shall cooperate with local authorities to prepare budgets and compile funds required for compensation and clearance within railway safety corridors and facilities affecting railway traffic safety;

- Relevant agencies shall work with local governments to enforce clearance of violations within railway safety corridors that have been compensated and re-infringed upon;

- Fully establish boundary markers for railway safety corridors along all lines transferred to local authorities for management;

- Construct guardrails, protective fences, and safe separation access roads;

- Build new level crossings, overpasses, and underpasses;

- In 2009, focus on resolving these issues in Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, and other locations where road-rail intersections frequently result in accidents;

- In 2010, implement these measures in other localities.

c) Phase III: from 2011 to 2020: construct立体的交叉路口桥梁在铁路与国道交叉点建设：

- From 2011 to 2015, focus on the North-South railway line;

- From 2016 to 2020, focus on all railway lines nationwide.

Funds for restoring order in road and railway safety corridors shall be allocated from the state budget. These funds shall be used for:

III. IMPLEMENTATION COSTS

- Propaganda and dissemination of traffic safety laws;

- Statistics, inspections, classification of violations within road and railway safety corridors, areas cleared and those requiring clearance;

- Statistics and classification of points connecting with national highways;

- Enforcement and clearance of violations within road and railway safety corridors;

- Compensation and support for clearance of safety corridors;

- Construction of auxiliary facilities to ensure safety within road and railway safety corridors.

a) Estimated funding for Phase I: from now until the second quarter of 2008

1. For National Highways

is 14 billion VND to concentrate on clearing violations in areas already compensated, implementing pilot clearance of four sections of National Highway 1 as specified in point a, Clause 1, Section II, Article 1 of this Decision. b) For Phase II and Phase III: from the third quarter of 2008 to 2020:

The Ministry of Transport shall aggregate and report to the Prime Minister the estimated funding for clearance and restoration of order in road safety corridors on all national highways after provinces and cities complete their statistical work and budget estimates for clearance and restoration of order in road safety corridors. Specifically, the estimated funding for clearance and restoration of order in the entire National Highway 1 corridor is 14.365 trillion VND.

Total estimated funding is approximately:

a) Phase I: from now until the end of 2008:

billion VND 4.173,998 a) Phase I: from now until the end of 2008 (funding 118.761 billion VND) for:

- Statistics and inspections of railway safety corridor violations, organizing propaganda and mobilizing organizations and individuals to voluntarily dismantle railway safety corridor violations;

- Supplementing warning signs, speed bumps, stop lines, sightlines, and other missing or non-compliant warning equipment at road-rail intersections;

- Upgrading and expanding level crossings and constructing new ones.

b) Phase II: from 2009 to the end of 2010 (funding 1.798.237 billion VND) for:

- Compensation and clearance of railway safety corridors and enforcement clearance of railway safety corridor violations that have been compensated (implementation funding 644.154 billion VND)- Establishing separation access roads (funding 313.221 billion VND);

- Constructing protective fences for railway safety corridors (funding 387.454 billion VND);;

- Constructing barriers separating road and rail (funding 283.944 billion VND);

- Building new level crossings, overpasses, and underpasses (funding 160.464 billion VND).

c) Phase III: from 2011 to the end of 2020: construct立体的交叉路口桥梁在铁路与国道交叉点建设（资金2266亿越盾）。

- Take the lead and coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors to review legal documents on protecting road and railway safety corridors, propose amendments, supplements, or new regulations to improve institutional management in this field; implement related tasks to restore order in road and railway safety corridors;

- When implementing new construction, upgrading, or renovation projects for national highways, simultaneously carry out compensation and land clearance for the entire road safety corridor.from 2011 to the end of 2020: xconstruct overpasses at intersections between railways and national highways (costing VND 2.266 trillion);

Article 2Implementation Organization

1. The Ministry of Transport:

- Take the lead and coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors to review legal documents concerning the protection of road safety zones and railway safety zones, propose amendments, supplements, or new regulations necessary for improving the institutional framework for management in this field; implement related tasks to restore order in road safety zones and railway safety zones;

- When implementing new construction projects, upgrading, or reconstructing national highway routes, the compensation and land clearance work must be carried out comprehensively throughout the entire road safety zone;

- Compile the budget for clearing the safety zones along national highways and railways reported by localities; direct relevant agencies managing highways and railways, Departments of Transport, Departments of Transportation and Civil Engineering to coordinate in implementing plans to restore order in the safety zones along highways and railways;

- Strengthen inspection and handling of violations in the management and protection of safety zones along highways and railways by highway management units, railway management units, and local authorities at all levels;

2. The Ministry of Construction:

Chair and coordinate with the Ministry of Transport and People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities to review the planning and implementation of industrial zones, residential areas, etc., along national highways;

3. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment:

Coordinate with related ministries and sectors to review and perfect legal regulations on land management and use within safety zones along highways and railways; guide provincial People's Committees to review, classify, and address issues regarding land use within safety zones along highways and railways; coordinate with the Ministry of Transport to inspect the enforcement of legal provisions on land related to the management, use, and protection of safety zones along highways and railways;

4. The Ministry of Public Security:

Direct provincial public security forces to allocate personnel to participate in inter-sectoral working groups at the local level in enforcing the clearance of constructions violating safety zones along highways and railways;

5. The Ministry of Education and Training:

- Study incorporating legal provisions on protecting safety zones along highways and railways into traffic safety law teaching programs;

- Coordinate with the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, National Traffic Safety Committee, Ministry of Transport, highway management units, and railway business enterprises to develop contents and measures to promote campaigns protecting highways and railways; build and expand exemplary models to encourage the development of such campaigns across all localities;

6. The Ministry of Information and Communications:

Coordinate with the National Traffic Safety Committee and the Ministry of Transport to intensify publicity about legal provisions on managing and protecting safety zones along highways and railways through mass media to create a strong momentum nationwide and unify community efforts in restoring order in safety zones along highways and railways. Simultaneously, focus on disseminating and popularizing the role and significance of safety zones along highways and railways among grassroots authorities and organizations and individuals adjacent to national highways and railway lines;

7. The Ministry of Finance:

- Chair and coordinate with related ministries and sectors to ensure sufficient funding for implementing the plan to restore order in safety zones along highways and railways according to the schedule;

- Coordinate with related ministries and sectors to study and propose mechanisms and policies for compensation and support in clearing safety zones along highways and railways;

- Chair and coordinate with related ministries and sectors to guide the use of fines from administrative violations towards increasing funding for purchasing equipment and tools to serve inspection and supervision tasks for ensuring traffic safety on highways and railways;

8. The Ministry of Planning and Investment:

Coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to ensure sufficient funding for compensation and clearance of safety zones along highways and railways consistent with the contents and timelines of the plan to restore order in safety zones along highways and railways;

9. Railway Sector:

- Bear primary responsibility for managing and protecting land allocated for railways; ensure its proper use as approved and comply with legal provisions on land;

- Chair and coordinate with local People's Committees and competent agencies on natural resources and environment to establish and implement boundary markers for the protected area of railway works and safety zones along railways after approval by the provincial People's Committee. Review and classify the current status of land use and violations within the protected area of railway works and safety zones along railways to propose solutions and request competent state management agencies to handle violations according to Decree No. 109/2006/NĐ-CP dated September 22, 2006 of the Government;

- Chair and coordinate with district-level People's Committees where railways pass through to effectively carry out protective activities within the protected area of railway works;

- Intensify dissemination, education, and training for staff within the unit to comply with legal provisions on railways, and educate families, relatives, and residents in the vicinity about legal knowledge on railways to ensure that all staff understand and comply with legal provisions on railways;

- Closely coordinate with police forces, railway traffic inspectors, and local authorities to promptly detect and handle violations of railway laws, especially unauthorized crossings and encroachments on railway safety zones according to legal provisions;

10. People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities:

a) For highways:

- Establish inter-sectoral working groups (including representatives from Departments of Transport, Construction, Natural Resources and Environment, Finance, Provincial Police, District People's Committees, and directly managing highway companies) to implement the following tasks:

+ Develop and implement plans for clearing national highways and local roads according to the implementation schedule;

+ Estimate funds for compensating and supporting constructions violating safety zones that need to be cleared according to legal provisions;

+ Inform and publicize to organizations and individuals with constructions within safety zones along highways about legal provisions on managing, using, and protecting safety zones along highways, and plans for clearing these zones.

+ Review and re-examine the land area within the road safety zone that has been issued land use rights certificates to individuals and organizations, and develop plans to reclaim the granted areas.

- Direct the People's Committees at the district and city level:

+ Review, classify, and compile statistics on facilities located within the road safety zone;

+ Establish a multi-sector working group (comparable to the provincial multi-sector working group) to implement the relocation plan within their jurisdiction, and notify and publicize the implementation plan for relocation to individuals and units with facilities violating the road safety zone. For facilities that have been compensated and relocated but are now re-infringing, the facility owners must dismantle them themselves and will not be compensated;

+ Organize the forced relocation of facilities that have been compensated, facilities that re-infringe without self-dismantling, and unauthorized constructions within the road safety zone. Form a Forced Relocation Team consisting of: the Chairman of the District or City People's Committee (as Team Leader), the Head of the District Police, representatives from the direct management agency of the road, and specialized inspectors.

- Based on the socio-economic development plan of the locality until 2010, oriented towards 2020, implement the construction of bypass systems, internal road networks, residential areas, and establish comprehensive planning for connection points or scale-up connections with national highways passing through the locality, negotiate once with the Ministry of Transport;

- Organize the acceptance and coordinate with the road management agency to set boundary markers for the road safety zone, manage and protect the reclaimed road safety zone, protect the road boundary markers, and handle violations;

- Strictly and thoroughly deal with organizations and individuals causing encroachment or re-encroachment, and illegal use of land within the road safety zone;

b) For railways:

- Implement decisive measures to rectify the issuance, leasing, and illegal use of land in violation of railway safety zone regulations;

- Lead and coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors to develop plans to relocate facilities violating the railway safety zone and handle such violations;

- Re-review the land area within the railway safety zone that has been issued land use rights certificates to organizations and individuals, and develop plans to reclaim the granted areas;

- Direct the People's Committees at the district, town, ward, and commune levels to cooperate with the railway management agencies responsible for the route to organize reviews, statistics, and classifications of violating facilities and those affecting railway safety. Identify facilities within the railway safety zone that need to be relocated to estimate compensation and support costs for the owners of relocated facilities according to the law;

Ministry of Science and Technology: The Minister and Deputy Ministers, agencies and units under the Ministry;strictly deal with organizations and individuals causing encroachment or re-encroachment, and illegal use of land within the railway safety zone;

- Be responsible for protecting land within the scope of railway works and the railway safety zone. If violations such as encroachment or illegal use of land within this scope occur without resolution measures, the Chairman of the Provincial or Central City People's Committee must bear responsibility before the Prime Minister, and if serious consequences result, they will be held criminally liable under the law;

- Lead and promptly approve plans for setting boundary markers to determine the scope of protection for railway works and the railway safety zone constructed by railway business enterprises. At the same time, have the responsibility to publicly announce the approved boundary markers for the scope of protection for railway works and the railway safety zone to the local residents;

- Direct local information and propaganda agencies, departments, and authorities at all levels to cooperate with the Vietnam Fatherland Front, Youth Union, and social organizations to widely disseminate knowledge of railway laws in the locality to enhance the self-awareness of compliance with railway laws among various strata of the people, contributing to protecting railways and preventing railway traffic accidents;

Article 3. This Decision takes effect fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

Article 4. THE MINISTERS, HEADS OF GOVERNMENT-LEVEL MINISTRIES, HEADS OF GOVERNMENT-LEVEL AGENCIES, AND CHAIRMEN OF PROVINCE AND CITY PEOPLE'S COMMITTEES DIRECTLY UNDER THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT SHALL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ENFORCING THIS DECISION./.