Circular No. 19/2023/TT-BTNMT Amending and Repealing Certain Circulars within the Issuance Authority of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment

CIRCULAR

Amending and Repealing Certain circular within the authority to issue act of Minister of Natural Resources and Environment

On the basis of Law on Minerals November 17, 2010;

On the basis of Law on Water Resources June 21, 2012;

On the basis of Land Law November 29, 2013;

On the basis of Environmental Protection Law November 17, 2020;

On the basis of Law on Enacting Legal Regulatory Documents dated June 22, 2015; Law Amending and Supplementing Several Provisions of the Law on Legal Documents dated June 18, 2020;

Decree No. Decision No. 44/2014/NĐ-CP May 15, 2014 of the Government stipulating land prices;

Decree No. Decision No. 158/2016/NĐ-CP November 29, 2016 of the Government detailing implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Minerals;

Decree No. Decision No. 34/2016/NĐ-CP May 14, 2016 of the Government detailing certain provisions and measures for implementing the Law on Legal Documents; Decision No. Decision No. 154/2020/NĐ-CP December 31, 2020 of the Government amending and supplementing several provisions of Decision No. Decision No. 34/2016/NĐ-CP May 14, 2016 of the Government detailing certain provisions and measures for implementing Law on Legislative Decrees;

Decree No. 06/2022/ND-CP January 7, 2022 of the Government reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting the ozone layer;

Decree No. Decision No. 08/2022/NĐ-CP January 10, 2022 of the Government detailing certain provisions of the Law on Environmental Protection;

Decree No. 68/2022/ND-CP September 22, 2022 of the Government stipulating functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment;

At the proposal of the Directors of the Departments: Land Planning and Development Department, Environmental Pollution Control Department, Vietnam Minerals Management Department, Water Resources Management Department, Climate Change Department; Director of the Ministry's Office; Heads of the Departments: Science and Technology Department, Cadres and Civil Servants Organization and Legal Affairs Department;

The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment issues this Circular amending and repealing certain circulars within the authority to issue of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment.

1. Amending certain provisions of Circular No. 45/2016/TT-BTNMT dated December 26, 2016 of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment stipulating exploration plans for minerals, closure of mineral mines, and sample reports on mineral activities, sample documents in mining activity permit files, reserve approval files; procedures and formalities for closing mineral mines as follows:

a) Amending Clause 2, Clause 3, Clause 4, Clause 5, Clause 6 of Article 7 as follows:

“2. Within one day from receiving the file from organizations or individuals requesting mine closure, the agency receiving the file shall check the completeness and validity of the file. In case the file is incomplete according to regulations or complete but with inappropriate format according to the law, the agency receiving the file shall guide in writing (for cases submitted through postal service or online) or directly (for cases submitted at the agency’s office) to the organizations or individuals requesting mine closure to supplement and complete the file.

If the file is complete and valid, the agency receiving the file shall issue a Receipt and transfer it to the agency reviewing the file on the same day. Within two days following, the agency reviewing the file must complete checking the legality and validity of the file, checking coordinates and area of the proposed mine closure; prepare a Review Report. If the file meets the conditions for review, notify the agency receiving the file in writing to record in the tracking book. If the file does not meet the legality and validity requirements, issue a guidance document for organizations and individuals to correct and supplement and send it to the agency receiving the file to notify the organizations and individuals to come and collect the file to supplement and complete. The guidance and supplementation of the file will only be carried out once.

3. Within ten days following, the agency reviewing the file must send the file to seek comments and feedback on the mine closure plan; invite representatives of members of the Inspection Committee to conduct on-site inspections (if necessary). For cases under the licensing authority of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, opinions in writing from the People's Committee of the province where the mine is located must also be sought. Within twelve days from receiving the request for comments from the agency reviewing the file, organizations and individuals receiving the request for comments must respond in writing about the content of the mine closure plan and related issues. After the deadline, if there is no response, it is considered as agreement. During this period, the agency reviewing the file will organize and complete the on-site inspection work.

4. Within seven days from receiving comments and feedback, the agency reviewing the file must compile comments and prepare a report to submit to the Chairman of the Inspection Committee to convene a meeting of the Committee. Within five days from receiving the report from the agency reviewing the file, the Chairman of the Committee will convene a meeting of the Committee. The inspection of the mine closure plan will be conducted in accordance with the provisions of Clause 3, Article 45 of Decision No. 158/2016/NĐ-CP dated November 29, 2016 of the Government detailing implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Minerals.

5. Within two days from the end of the meeting, the Chairman of the Committee must complete the Meeting Minutes; within three days following, the agency reviewing the file must notify in writing the organizations and individuals requesting mine closure to supplement and complete the file or recompile the mine closure plan and specify the reasons, attaching the Meeting Minutes of the Inspection Committee. The time for organizations and individuals to supplement, complete or recompile the mine closure plan will not be counted towards the review period.

6. Approving the mine closure plan:

a) After receiving the corrected and supplemented file from organizations and individuals, within ten days, the agency reviewing the file must complete the review, compilation, and submission of the file for approval of the mine closure plan to the competent authority for approving the mine closure plan;

b) Within seven days from receiving the report and file from the agency reviewing the file, the competent authority for approving the mine closure plan must issue a decision approving the plan; in case of non-approval, a written response with specific reasons must be provided;

c) Within no more than 01 day from the date of receiving the decision approving the mine closure project, the agency receiving the dossier shall notify the organization or individual proposing to close the mine to receive the results and perform other related obligations as prescribed.

b) Amend Article 8 as follows:

"Article 8. Time and procedure for inspection and acceptance of the results of implementing the mine closure project

1. After completing the items and volume of work according to the approved mine closure project, the organization or individual proposing to close the mine shall submit a report on the implementation results of the mine closure project to the agency reviewing the mine closure dossier for inspection and acceptance of the implementation results of the mine closure project. The time for inspecting and accepting the results of implementing the mine closure project and issuing the mine closure decision shall not exceed 30 days from the date of receipt of the report on the implementation results of the mine closure project.

2. Procedure for inspecting, accepting the results, and issuing the mine closure decision

a) Within no more than 03 days from the date of receipt of the report on the implementation results of the mine closure project, the agency reviewing the dossier shall send a document seeking opinions from competent state agencies under the laws on environmental protection regarding the restoration and recovery of the environment in mining activities and other relevant agencies before organizing on-site inspections to verify the implementation results of the mine closure project;

b) Within no more than 10 days from the date of receipt of the document seeking opinions, the agency sought for opinions shall respond in writing to the contents sought for opinions;

c) Within 06 days from the date of receipt of the opinions of the agency sought for opinions, the agency reviewing the dossier shall organize on-site inspections and accept the implementation results of the mine closure project. The results of on-site inspections of the completion of the works in the mine closure project and the results of the completion of the works for environmental restoration and recovery must be reflected in the On-Site Inspection Report;

d) Within the following 05 days, the agency reviewing the dossier shall complete the dossier, prepare the report, and submit it to the competent authority for approval of the mine closure decision;

đ) Within 05 days from the date of receipt of the dossier accompanied by the report from the agency reviewing the dossier, the authority deciding on the mine closure. In case the decision does not close the mine, it must be notified in writing and specify the reasons;

e) Within 01 day from the date of the competent authority's approval of the mine closure decision, the agency receiving the dossier shall notify the organization or individual proposing to close the mine to receive the results and perform other related obligations as prescribed."

a) Amend Appendix III.1. List of substances subject to control, prohibition of production, importation and consumption, commodity code (HS) 3827.32.00 as follows:

b) Amend Section 3.1.1 of Appendix III.4 List of products, equipment, goods containing or produced from controlled substances as follows:

3. Amend Appendix No. 5 of Circular No. 15/2014/TT-BTNMT dated March 24, 2014, issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, stipulating the construction and issuance of Confirmation Letters and Approval Letters for Clean Development Mechanism projects under the Kyoto Protocol as specified in Appendix No. I attached hereto.

4. Amend some articles of Circular No. 61/2015/TT-BTNMT dated December 15, 2015, issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, stipulating the issuance and management of Land Valuation Certificates (amended and supplemented by Circular No. 09/2021/TT-BTNMT dated June 30, 2021, amending and supplementing certain articles of circulars detailing and guiding the implementation of the Land Law and Circular No. 11/2022/TT-BTNMT dated October 20, 2022, amending and supplementing certain articles of circulars related to business activities within the scope of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment's administrative management functions) as follows:

a) Replace the phrase "Land Management General Department" with the phrase "Land Planning and Development Department" at point b Clause 1, Clause 3 Article 3; points d, đ and e Clause 2 Article 5; Clause 3 Article 8, Article 9; Clauses 1, 3 and Clause 4 Article 11;

b) Replace the phrase "Director of the Land Management General Department" with the phrase "Director of the Land Planning and Development Department" at the legal basis; point c Clause 1 Article 3; point đ Clause 2 Article 5; Clause 3 Article 8; Clause 2 Article 11;

c) Delete the phrase "prescribed in Article 4 of this Circular" at point a Clause 1 Article 8;

d) Amend Appendix No. 01, Appendix No. 05, Appendix No. 06 prescribed in Appendix II attached hereto.

5. Amend Model Nos. 01, 02, 03, 04 and 05 of Appendix No. 05 promulgated together with Circular No. 36/2014/TT-BTNMT dated June 30, 2014, issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, detailing the method of land valuation; construction and adjustment of land price lists; specific land valuation and consultancy on determining land prices as follows:

6. Amend and supplement Clause 1 Article 10 of Circular No. 15/2021/TT-BTNMT dated August 31, 2021, issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, stipulating judicial appraisal in the field of natural resources and environment as follows:

"1. The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, the Chairman of the People's Committee of the province shall decide to recognize organizations for case-by-case judicial appraisal in the field of natural resources and environment to meet the requirements of judicial proceedings.

The Legal Affairs Department shall send the Office of the Ministry to publish the list of organizations for case-by-case appraisal of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment's electronic portal and send it to the Ministry of Justice to establish a common list."

2. Climate change sector:

Repeal Article 6, Article 7, Article 8, Article 9, Article 10, Article 12; the phrase “extension” and the phrase “Article 12” at Clause 2 of Article 16; Appendices 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 of Circular No. 15/2014/TT-BTNMT dated March 24, 2014 issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment stipulating the construction, issuance of confirmation letters, approval letters for projects under the Clean Development Mechanism framework of the Kyoto Protocol.

3. General sector:

Repeal Article 2 of Circular No. 78/2015/TT-BTNMT dated December 31, 2015 issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment amending and supplementing some articles of circulars of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment related to the requirement of submitting copies of documents when implementing administrative procedures.

Article 3. Repeal entirely certain circulars within the authority to issue of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment

1. Environmental sector:

a) Circular No. 41/2013/TT-BTNMT dated December 2, 2013 issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment stipulating the procedures and formalities for certifying eco-labels for environmentally friendly products;

b) Circular No. 52/2013/TT-BTNMT dated December 27, 2013 issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment stipulating the transportation of dangerous goods that are toxic and infectious substances;

c) Circular No. 43/2014/TT-BTNMT dated July 29, 2014 issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment stipulating training in environmental protection practices in the business of petroleum products and liquefied petroleum gas.

2. General sector:

a) Circular No. 32/2016/TT-BTNMT dated November 7, 2016 issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment stipulating the drafting and promulgation of regulatory legal documents within the scope of state management of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment;

b) Circular No. 11/2017/TT-BTNMT dated June 29, 2017 issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment stipulating the protection of state secrets in the natural resources and environment sector;

c) Circular No. 77/2017/TT-BTNMT dated December 29, 2017 issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment stipulating the standards for the positions of Director and Deputy Director of Provincial Departments of Natural Resources and Environment under provincial People's Committees;

d) Circular No. 26/2018/TT-BTNMT dated December 14, 2018 issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment stipulating the management of scientific and technological tasks of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

2. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, agencies under the Government, People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities, heads of units under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Departments of Natural Resources and Environment of provinces and centrally-run cities, and relevant organizations and individuals shall be responsible for implementing this Circular./.

- Committees: Science, Technology & Environment, Economy, Law of the National Assembly;

- To be filed with the Office of the Government, the Office of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly.

Article 4. Effectiveness and Responsibility for Implementation

1. This Circular takes effect from December 30, 2023.

2. The ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, provincial People's Committees under central cities, heads of units under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, provincial Departments of Natural Resources and Environment under central cities, and related organizations and individuals are responsible for implementing this Circular./.