Circular No. 2891/TT-KCM guiding environmental protection in Halong Bay

CIRCULAR

Regarding the guidance on protecting the environment of Halong Bay

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Halong Bay, a famous scenic spot of Vietnam and recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a world natural heritage, has seen a rapid increase in population, industrial development, urban construction, transportation, tourism, and mineral and seafood exploitation.

Pursuant to the Environmental Protection Law dated December 27, 1993; Decree No. 175/CP dated October 18, 1994 of the Government guiding the implementation of the Environmental Protection Law;

Pursuant to Article 3 of Decision No. 483/TTg dated July 25, 1996 of the Prime Minister on investment and construction of Cai Lan Port;

Pursuant to the Decision dated December 17, 1994 of UNESCO recognizing Halong Bay as a world natural heritage.

After reaching consensus with the People's Committee of Quang Ninh Province and the People's Committee of Hai Phong City,

The Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment guides the protection of the Halong Bay environment as follows:

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. Protecting the Halong Bay environment as stipulated in this Circular means activities that maintain the cleanliness, beauty, and preservation of the natural landscape and historical cultural relics of the bay area, prevent pollution, and sustainably exploit and utilize the diverse potential of Halong Bay.

2. Halong Bay referred to in this Circular includes the strictly protected zone, buffer zone, and surrounding areas:

2.1. The strictly protected zone is the area delineated by UNESCO and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Government, defined by three points located at West Cong Island, Wooden Bridge Island, and Ba Ham Lake.

2.2. The buffer zone is the strip surrounding the strictly protected zone, extending west-northwest from the coast along National Highway 18A, starting from the B12 fuel depot (Cai Dam - Bai Chay) to kilometer marker 11 (city of Cam Pha). The width of the buffer zone ranges from 5 to 7 kilometers from the strictly protected zone boundary towards the sea, with a variation range of 1 to 2 kilometers; the northern border adjoins Buom Island and hot springs; the western border is part of the Halong Bay area defined by 107°11'30" east longitude; the southwest border adjoins Green Quai Island; the southern border is defined by 204° north latitude; the eastern border adjoins Phoenix Island; the northeast border adjoins Van Doui Island; the east-southeast border adjoins Nat Dat Island.

2.3. The surrounding area is the sea or land area surrounding the buffer zone, including the border adjacent to Cat Ba National Park.

3. The Halong Bay environment protected under this Circular includes the marine area, space above the sea, coastal land, islands, ocean sediments, terrestrial and marine ecosystems, historical and architectural relics, and natural landscapes within the strictly protected zone, buffer zone, and surrounding areas.

4. Organizations and individuals conducting transportation, tourism, construction, mineral extraction, fishing, aquaculture, and other activities within the Halong Bay area must comply with the environmental protection regulations stipulated in this Circular.

5. State management agencies within their functional and authority scope have the responsibility to organize and implement the protection of the Halong Bay environment.

II. SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

A. THE STRICTLY PROTECTED ZONE:

6. Organizations and individuals are prohibited from exploiting mineral resources, cutting down trees, hunting animals on islands, caves, altering the natural landscape.

Organizations and individuals are responsible for strictly protecting caves, not destroying mountains, stalactites, coral reefs, writing, carving, painting, building steps, constructing retaining walls, placing statues, altars, littering, changing the natural landscape of caves; no burials or interments are allowed on islands.

7. Organizations and individuals engaged in fishing and aquaculture must comply with the regulations of the Fisheries Protection and Development Ordinance and obtain permission from state authorities responsible for environmental protection.

8. Tourists and owners of vessels must not discharge waste or wastewater into the World Natural Heritage site; waste must be collected on board and brought to shore for treatment. Tourism activities and projects must obtain permission from competent state management authorities.

9. Organizations and individuals may not construct traffic facilities such as transfer stations, regular anchorage sites, facilities for daily life, entertainment, etc., within the strictly protected zone. Facilities that are no longer useful, operational facilities that disrupt the landscape and cause environmental pollution must be cleared, dismantled, and the natural environment restored.

Renovation of caves and landscapes, construction of facilities serving the management and control of activities within the strictly protected zone must be approved by competent state authorities.

Anchorage sites for tourist and cave exploration vessels and Halong Bay must ensure environmental hygiene and comply with environmental protection regulations.

Anchorage sites for fishermen's fishing boats must be regulated and managed by competent state authorities.

Owners of vessels must ensure environmental hygiene, collect garbage before departure from anchorage.

10. Marine and air traffic passing through the strictly protected zone must have equipment to prevent environmental pollution such as wastewater tanks, trash bins, oil leakage containers, ensuring equipment and means to address environmental emergencies, and not discharging waste or wastewater into the protected environment.

11. Marine and air traffic passing through the strictly protected zone must comply with maritime laws and obtain permission from state authorities responsible for environmental protection.

In special cases such as avoiding storms... vessels are permitted to anchor in the strictly protected zone according to designated locations, ensuring technical safety and measures to prevent storms, accidents, and emergency response when environmental incidents occur.

B. BUFFER ZONE AND SURROUNDING AREAS:

12. Transportation activities in the buffer zone and surrounding areas must comply with environmental protection laws and maritime laws, ensuring measures to prevent environmental pollution. Vessels must anchor in designated locations and ensure environmental hygiene at anchorage sites.

13. Metal waste, glass, plastic waste from tourism and transportation activities must be collected and transported to the mainland for processing. Wastewater from ships may only be discharged into buffer zones and adjacent areas after being treated to meet Vietnam's environmental standards.

14. Production and business establishments, new and expanded projects must be planned and have an environmental impact assessment report prepared and submitted to the competent state management agency for environmental protection for review in accordance with the Environmental Protection Law, Government Decree No. 175/CP dated October 18, 1994 guiding the implementation of the Environmental Protection Law, and other relevant legal documents on environmental protection.

15. Production and business establishments must have wastewater treatment technology that meets Vietnam's environmental standards before discharging into buffer zones and adjacent areas. Solid waste must be collected and processed in accordance with the laws on environmental protection.

16. Forests and mangrove forests within buffer zones and adjacent areas must be planned and protected in accordance with the Environmental Protection Law and the Law on Forest Protection and Development. The regeneration and exploitation of forests must comply with technical requirements and require permission from the competent state authority.

17. Mining, processing, transportation, and storage projects must prepare an environmental impact assessment report and submit it to the competent state management agency for environmental protection for review in accordance with the Environmental Protection Law, Government Decree No. 175/CP dated October 18, 1994 guiding the implementation of the Environmental Protection Law, and other relevant legal documents on environmental protection.

Wastewater from mining operations and during coal washing must be treated to meet Vietnam's environmental standards before being discharged into buffer zones and adjacent areas. Solid waste such as soil, rock, sludge, etc., must be collected and disposed of at designated waste disposal sites. Waste disposal sites must be planned and constructed according to designs approved by the competent state authority and must meet Vietnam's environmental standards; they must not affect air quality, groundwater, or surface water in the area.

Blasting with explosives in mineral extraction must comply with technical requirements and must not pollute the air or cause excessive noise that affects the surrounding ecosystems.

Mineral extraction facilities have the responsibility and plans to restore the landscape environment altered by the removal of earth and rocks, filling of mine shafts, and mineral extraction.

18. Fishing and aquaculture activities must be permitted by the competent state authority and must not involve indiscriminate harvesting or the use of destructive fishing methods.

Fishing and aquaculture areas must follow the planning approved by the competent state authority.

19. Cities and towns within buffer zones and adjacent areas must be built according to the planning approved by the competent state authority.

The planning and expansion of cities and towns must comply with the provisions of the Environmental Protection Law and must not affect the landscape of the bay.

Waste from cities and towns must be collected and taken to waste disposal sites for processing. Waste disposal sites and landfill sites must be planned and constructed to meet environmental standards; they must not discharge waste into the sea. Ha Long City needs to plan its wastewater system and implement measures to treat wastewater before discharging it into buffer zones and adjacent areas.

Dumping soil and rock, building embankments along the coast for housing, hotels, or other construction projects must comply with the planning approved by the competent state authority.

20. Construction projects within buffer zones and adjacent areas must comply with the planning and design approved by the competent state authority and must prepare an environmental impact assessment report and submit it to the competent state management agency for environmental protection for review in accordance with the Environmental Protection Law, Government Decree No. 175/CP dated October 18, 1994 guiding the implementation of the Environmental Protection Law, and other relevant legal documents on environmental protection.

21. Projects within buffer zones and adjacent areas must be designed and constructed to minimize changes to the landscape environment, especially in environmentally sensitive areas. After completion, project owners must clean up construction materials and not dispose of them randomly, causing pollution in the surrounding environment.

22. Existing production and business establishments causing environmental pollution and degrading the Ha Long Bay environment must take remedial measures within a specified period as required by the competent state management agency for environmental protection. If the establishment fails to meet the requirements within the specified time, it will be recommended to the competent state authority to suspend operations or dismantle the facility.

23. Establish a management system and service infrastructure for collecting waste, treating water and oil from vessels entering and leaving ports.

Develop emergency response plans and equipment for environmental incidents, pollution control, and management regulations for oil ports, coal ports, fish ports, and Cái Lân Port.

III. INSPECTION, REWARDING, HANDLING OF VIOLATIONS AND FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS

24. Inspection teams or inspectors responsible for specialized environmental protection inspections have the right to inspect activities within the World Natural Heritage site, buffer zones, and adjacent areas in accordance with the Environmental Protection Law and other related legal documents.

25. Authorities with the power to impose administrative penalties have the right to impose administrative penalties for environmental violations in accordance with Government Decree No. 26/CP dated April 26, 1996 on administrative penalties for environmental protection and other relevant legal documents.

26. Organizations and individuals who make significant contributions to maintaining, protecting, detecting, and addressing environmental incidents and pollution in Ha Long Bay shall be rewarded in accordance with the law.

27. Organizations and individuals who engage in acts of destruction or damage to the Ha Long Bay environment shall be punished in accordance with the law.

28. Organizations and individuals causing damage to the environment of Halong Bay must compensate for losses in accordance with the provisions of the law and must pay the costs for remedying environmental incidents, treating environmental pollution, and clearing away structures that have lost their value in the buffer zone and adjacent areas.

29. Organizations and individuals conducting activities within Halong Bay shall be responsible for paying environmental protection fees. The People's Committee of Quang Ninh Province shall temporarily stipulate the amount of the Halong Bay environmental protection fee (pending issuance by the competent state agency).

IV- IMPLEMENTATION

30. Organizations and individuals engaged in transportation, production, business, tourism services, fishing, aquaculture... within Halong Bay must obtain permission from the state management agency for environmental protection or from the competent state agency.

31. Organizations and individuals during the implementation of activities in the strictly protected area, buffer zone, and adjacent areas must maintain sufficient manpower, equipment, and communication with relevant agencies and local authorities to minimize potential environmental damage.

32. In case of an incident causing significant harm to the environment, organizations and individuals present at the scene must promptly implement necessary rescue measures and immediately report to the People's Committee of Quang Ninh Province, the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Environment, and other relevant agencies.

33. The Department of Science, Technology, and Environment of Quang Ninh Province shall cooperate with the Halong Bay Management Board to regularly monitor and control the Halong Bay environment, prepare annual environmental status reports of Halong Bay to submit to the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Environment.

The Department of Science, Technology, and Environment of Quang Ninh Province, related units of Ha Long City, the Halong Bay Management Board, related units of Hai Phong City, and the Cat Ba National Park Management Board shall cooperate to organize management and develop emergency response plans for environmental incidents. These plans, once approved, must be practiced.

The Department of Science, Technology, and Environment of Quang Ninh Province shall cooperate with the Halong Bay Management Board to develop a plan for protecting and restoring Halong Bay, collecting data to assess the potential and value of ecosystems, resources, and historical and cultural values of Halong Bay.

The Halong Bay Management Board shall cooperate with functional agencies to organize and manage anchorage sites, collect waste, delineate boundaries, protect the world natural heritage site, and traffic routes.

34. The Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Science, Technology, and Environment of Quang Ninh Province, related units of Ha Long City, the Tourism Department of Quang Ninh Province, the Halong Bay Management Board, the Department of Science, Technology, and Environment of Hai Phong City, related units of Hai Phong City, and the Cat Ba National Park Management Board shall cooperate with relevant agencies to implement this Circular.

35. Any difficulties encountered during implementation shall be promptly reported to the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Environment for resolution.

36. This Circular shall take effect thirty days from the date of signature.