Circular No. 24/2019/TT-BTNMT amends and abolishes certain regulatory legal documents within the promulgation authority and joint promulgation authority of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment.

CIRCULAR

Amending and abolishing certain regulatory legal documents within the authority to issue and joint issuance of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment

issued jointly by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment

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Pursuant to the Land Law dated November 29, 2013;

Pursuant to the Law on Legislative Regulatory Documents issued on June 22, 2015;

Pursuant to the Law on Surveying and Mapping dated June 14, 2018;

Pursuant to Decree No. 22/2012/NĐ-CP dated March 26, 2012 of the Government on auctioning mineral exploitation rights;

Pursuant to Decree No. 43/2014/NĐ-CP dated May 15, 2014 of the Government detailing implementation of certain provisions of the Land Law;

Pursuant to Decree No. 19/2015/NĐ-CP dated February 14, 2015 of the Government detailing implementation of certain provisions of the Environmental Protection Law;

Pursuant to Decree No. 34/2016/NĐ-CP dated May 14, 2016, issued by the Government detailing certain provisions and measures to implement the Law on Legislative Regulatory Documents;

Pursuant to Decree No. 01/2017/NĐ-CP dated January 6, 2017 of the Government amending and supplementing certain decrees detailing implementation of the Land Law and amending and supplementing certain articles of circulars guiding implementation of the Land Law;

Pursuant to Decree No. 36/2017/NĐ-CP dated April 4, 2017 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment;

Pursuant to Decree No. 40/2019/NĐ-CP dated May 13, 2019 of the Government amending and supplementing certain articles of decrees detailing and guiding implementation of the Environmental Protection Law;

Based on the proposal of the General Directors of the General Departments: Land Management, Geology and Mineral Resources of Vietnam, Environment; the Directors of the Departments: Surveying, Mapping and Geographic Information of Vietnam, Water Resource Management; the Heads of the Bureaus: Organization and Legal Affairs;

The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment issues this Circular amending and abolishing certain regulatory legal documents within the authority to issue and joint issuance of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment.

Article 1. Amending certain articles of certain regulatory legal documents within the authority to issue of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment

1. Amending the coordinates of the center of the place name Fansipan in the List of Topographic, Hydrographic, Economic and Social Place Names for the purpose of map making in Lao Cai Province issued together with Circular No. 36/2013/TT-BTNMT dated October 30, 2013 of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment issuing the List of Topographic, Hydrographic, Economic and Social Place Names for the purpose of map making in Lao Cai Province as follows:

2. Amending certain articles of the Regulation on the operation of the Auction Committee for Mineral Exploitation Rights issued together with Circular No. 16/2014/TT-BTNMT dated April 14, 2014 of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment issuing the Regulation on the operation of the Auction Committee for Mineral Exploitation Rights as follows:

a) Amending Clause 4, Article 4 as follows:

"4. Auction Committee meetings shall be considered valid when at least two-thirds of the official members of the Auction Committee attend, and the Chairman of the Auction Committee must preside over the meeting."

b) Abolishing Clause 3, Article 7 and Article 8.

c) Amending Clause 1, Article 9 as follows:

"1. The Secretary of the Auction Committee is the representative of the Vietnam Geological and Mineral Resources Department for the Auction Committee established by the decision of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; and the representative of the Provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment for the Auction Committee established by the decision of the People's Committee of the province."

3. Amending certain articles of Circular No. 34/2014/TT-BTNMT dated June 30, 2014 of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment on construction, management, and exploitation of land information systems as follows:

a) Amending Clause 3, Article 9 as follows:

"3. Land information shall be publicly disclosed as follows:

a) The list of data in the land database;

b) Information about land planning and land use plans approved by competent state authorities;

c) Land price framework and land price lists that have been published;

d) Information about administrative procedures in the field of land;

e) Regulatory legal documents on land."

b) Abolishing Clause 4, Clause 5, Article 9; Clause 2, Article 16.

4. Amending Clause 3, Article 4 of Circular No. 02/2015/TT-BTNMT dated January 27, 2015 of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment detailing certain provisions of Decree No. 43/2014/NĐ-CP and Decree No. 44/2014/NĐ-CP dated May 15, 2014 of the Government as follows:

"3. The competent People's Committee decides on leasing and recovering land with coastal waters according to the provisions of Article 59 of the Land Law. The transfer and lease of land with coastal waters from the lowest average sea level line inland shall be carried out in accordance with the laws on land. In cases where investment projects use coastal waters from the lowest average sea level line outward, they shall be implemented in accordance with the laws on granting specific marine areas for organizations and individuals to exploit and use marine resources."

In the case where an investment project uses sea surface water from beyond the average lowest tidal line over many years towards the sea, it shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of the law on the allocation of certain marine areas to organizations and individuals for exploitation and utilization of marine resources.”

5. Amending and supplementing Article 13 of Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTNMT dated June 30, 2015 of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment on environmental rehabilitation during mining activities as follows:

a) Amending Clause 1 as follows:

"1. In cases where the Mining Permit has a term of one year or less, the mining organization or individual shall make a one-time deposit. The amount of the deposit shall be equal to 100% (one hundred percent) of the approved amount, taking into account inflation at the time of deposit."

b) Amending Clause 2 as follows:

"2. In cases not covered by Clause 1 of this Article, the initial deposit amount must take into account inflation at the time of deposit and shall be determined as follows:

a) For Mining Permits with a term of less than ten years: the initial deposit amount shall be 25% (twenty-five percent) of the total deposit amount;

b) For Mining Permits with a term of ten to less than twenty years: the initial deposit amount shall be 20% (twenty percent) of the total deposit amount;

c) For Mining Permits with a term of twenty years or more: the initial deposit amount shall be 15% (fifteen percent) of the total deposit amount."

c) Supplementing Clause 2a as follows:

"2a. For the Environmental Protection Deposit Decisions that have been approved by competent state agencies before this Circular takes effect, they shall be implemented according to the approved Decision."

6. Amend and supplement Clause 1 of Article 9 of Circular No. 33/2017/TT-BTNMT dated September 29, 2017, issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, detailing Decree No. 01/2017/NĐ-CP dated January 6, 2017, of the Government amending and supplementing certain decrees detailing the implementation of the Land Law and amending and supplementing some articles of circulars guiding the implementation of the Land Law as follows:

"1. Add Article 5a as follows:"

Article 5a. Documents submitted to the Prime Minister for approval of the change of land use purpose from rice cultivation land, protective forest land, and special-use forest land to implement investment projects

1. The documents submitted by the provincial People's Committee to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for review include:

a) A proposal from the provincial People's Committee according to Model No. 03a issued along with this Circular;

b) Investment decision or Investment Registration Certificate of the competent state agency in accordance with the Investment Law 2014; Investment decision or Investment Decision of the competent state agency in accordance with the Public Investment Law 2014; Investment Permit or Investment Certificate of the competent state agency issued before July 1, 2015 (the date when the Investment Law 2014 took effect) and still valid;

c) Decision approving the annual land use plan at the district level already approved by the competent state agency and the explanatory report; extract of the map of the annual land use plan at the district level already approved by the competent state agency;

d) Resolution of the Provincial People's Council approving the list of projects requiring land acquisition as stipulated in Clause 3, Article 62 of the Land Law;

đ) Afforestation plan approved by the competent state agency or document completing the obligation to pay for afforestation replacement in accordance with the forestry laws for projects changing the purpose of using protective forest land and special-use forest land.

2. The documents submitted to the Prime Minister prepared by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment include:

a) Proposal to the Prime Minister;

b) The documents specified in Clause 1 of this Article;

c) Document of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and relevant ministries and sectors regarding the change of land use purpose from rice cultivation land, protective forest land, and special-use forest land to implement investment projects."

Article 2. Repeal certain regulatory legal documents within the promulgation authority of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment

1. In the field of land:

Circular No. 26/2013/TT-BTNMT dated September 26, 2013, issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment guiding the determination of the area of land excluded from the value of the enterprise as stipulated in Article 31 of Decree No. 59/2011/NĐ-CP dated July 18, 2011, of the Government on converting wholly state-owned enterprises into joint-stock companies.

2. In the field of water resources:

Decision No. 15/2008/QĐ-BTNMT dated December 31, 2008, issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment promulgating regulations on protecting underground water resources.

3. In the field of geology and mineral resources:

a) Decision No. 02/2006/QĐ-BTNMT dated January 27, 2006, issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment promulgating regulations on materials and procedures for recognizing temporary criteria for solid mineral reserves;

b) Decision No. 14/2006/QĐ-BTNMT dated September 8, 2006, issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment promulgating regulations on procedures for reviewing, examining, and approving mineral reserves in exploration reports;

c) Circular No. 38/2017/TT-BTNMT dated October 16, 2017, issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment detailing the method of converting resource tax price to determine the price for granting mining rights.

4. In the field of environment:

a) Decision No. 10/2006/QĐ-BTNMT dated August 21, 2006, issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment promulgating regulations on certification of serious pollution sources having completed thorough treatment according to Decision No. 64/2003/QĐ-TTg of the Prime Minister;

b) Decision No. 19/2007/QĐ-BTNMT dated November 26, 2007, issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment promulgating regulations on conditions and guidance for the operation of environmental impact assessment service organizations;

c) Circular No. 07/2007/TT-BTNMT dated July 3, 2007, issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment guiding classification and decision-making on the list of pollution sources requiring treatment;

d) Circular No. 01/2013/TT-BTNMT dated January 28, 2013, issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment detailing waste materials permitted for import as production raw materials;

đ) Circular No. 26/2015/TT-BTNMT dated May 28, 2015, issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment detailing specific environmental protection plans and simplified environmental protection plans;

e) Joint Circular No. 12/2007/TTLT-BTNMT-BNV dated December 27, 2007, issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment and the Minister of Home Affairs guiding the implementation of certain provisions of Decree No. 81/2007/NĐ-CP dated May 23, 2007, of the Government detailing the organization and specialized departments for environmental protection in state agencies and state-owned enterprises.

5. In the field of surveying and mapping:

a) Circular No. 32/2010/TT-BTNMT dated December 8, 2010, issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment detailing licensing for surveying and mapping activities;

b) Circular No. 14/2011/TT-BTNMT dated April 15, 2011, issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment amending and supplementing certain provisions of Circular No. 32/2010/TT-BTNMT dated December 8, 2010, issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment detailing licensing for surveying and mapping activities;

c) Circular No. 46/2015/TT-BTNMT dated October 30, 2015, issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment detailing reporting systems in surveying and mapping activities;

d) Circular No. 48/2015/TT-BTNMT dated November 12, 2015, issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, regarding management, provision, exploitation, and use of information, data, and maps;

đ) Circular No. 49/2015/TT-BTNMT dated November 12, 2015, issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, regarding management, use, and protection of survey construction works;

e) Joint Circular No. 03/2006/TTLT-BTNMT-BVHTT dated March 15, 2006, issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, guiding the management of map publishing activities;

6. Other fields:

a) Decision No. 07/2008/QĐ-BTNMT dated October 6, 2008, issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, promulgating business standards for cadres in the natural resources and environment sector;

b) Joint Circular No. 30/2010/TTLT-BTNMT-BNV dated November 25, 2010, issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Ministry of Home Affairs, guiding the transfer of cadre ranks and salary grades in the natural resources and environment sector;

Article 3. Effectiveness and Responsibility for Implementation

1. This Circular shall take effect from February 15, 2020.

2. The Land Management General Department; Vietnam Geological and Mineral Resources General Department; Environment General Department; Vietnam National Mapping, Surveying, and Geographical Information Agency; Water Resources Management General Department; Cadre Organization and Personnel Department; Legal Department shall be responsible for guiding and organizing the implementation of this Circular;

3. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, People's Committees at all levels, Provincial Departments of Natural Resources and Environment under central cities, and related organizations and individuals are responsible for implementing this Circular./.