Decree No. 38/2011/ND-CP Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions on Administrative Procedures of Decree No. 181/2004/ND-CP dated October 29, 2004, Decree No. 149/2004/ND-CP dated July 27, 2004, and Decree No. 160/2005/ND-CP dated December 27, 2005.

DECREE

Amending and supplementing certain provisions on administrative procedures of Decree No. 181/2004/NĐ-CP dated October 29, 2004,

Decree No. 149/2004/NĐ-CP dated July 27, 2004 and

Decree No. 160/2005/NĐ-CP dated December 27, 2005

THE GOVERNMENT

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

Based on the Land Law dated November 26, 2003;

On the basis of the Law on Water Resources dated May 20, 1998;

On the basis of the Law on Minerals dated March 20, 1996 and the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Law on Minerals dated June 14, 2005;

CONSIDERING THE PROPOSAL OF THE MINISTER OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT,

DECREE:

Article 1. Amending and supplementing Article 123 of Decree No. 181/2004/NĐ-CP dated October 29, 2004 of the Government on the Implementation of the Land Law as follows:

"Article 123. Procedures and formalities for allocating land and leasing agricultural land to households and individuals

1. The allocation of land for annual crop cultivation and salt production to households and individuals directly engaged in agricultural production and salt making shall be carried out as follows:

a) Households and individuals submit applications for land allocation and lease to the People's Committee of the commune, ward, town (hereinafter referred to collectively as the People's Committee at the commune level) where the land is located; the application must clearly state the area of land requested for use.

The People's Committee at the commune level shall prepare a general plan for land allocation for all cases of land allocation in the locality; establish a local land allocation advisory board consisting of the Chairman or Vice-Chairman of the People's Committee as the Chairperson of the Board; members include representatives of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, the Farmers' Association, heads of residential areas within the locality, and cadres responsible for land administration (hereinafter referred to as the land allocation advisory board) to examine and propose opinions on cases of land allocation.

b) Based on the opinions of the land allocation advisory board, the People's Committee at the commune level shall complete the land allocation plan, publicly post the list of cases eligible for land allocation at the office of the People's Committee at the commune level within seven (7) working days, and organize the reception of public comments and publicize feedback at the location where the list was posted; complete the land allocation plan and submit it to the People's Council at the same level for approval before sending it to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment for review and submission to the People's Committee at the district level (hereinafter referred to collectively as the People's Committee at the district level) for examination and approval.

The documents sent to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment include: Application for land allocation from households and individuals; minutes of the land allocation advisory board's examination; publicly posted list of cases eligible for land allocation; summary of public opinion and consolidated feedback report (if any); completed land allocation plan and Resolution of the People's Council at the commune level, report from the People's Committee at the commune level submitted to the People's Committee at the district level and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

c) The Department of Natural Resources and Environment is responsible for reviewing the land allocation plan; submitting the decision on land allocation to the People's Committee at the same level; directing the Office of Land Registration to implement land allocation on-site and issue the Certificate of Land Use Right, House Ownership, and Other Assets Attached to the Land (hereinafter referred to as the Certificate).

The time limit for completing the tasks specified herein shall not exceed thirty (30) working days from the date the Department of Natural Resources and Environment at the district level receives the complete documents according to regulations until the land user receives the Certificate. Among this, the time limit for completing tasks at the Department of Natural Resources and Environment shall not exceed twenty (20) working days, and at the Office of Land Registration shall not exceed ten (10) working days from the date of receipt of documents transferred from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

2. Allocation of land and leasing of land for perennial crop cultivation, forest production land, protective forest land, buffer zone land of special-use forests, aquaculture land, and other agricultural land to households and individuals shall be carried out as follows:

a) Households and individuals submit applications for land allocation and lease to the People's Committee at the commune level where the land is located; the application must clearly state the area of land requested for use.

In cases where the application is for land allocation and lease for aquaculture, there must be an aquaculture plan or project that has been reviewed and approved by the competent aquaculture management authority at the district level, and there must be a commitment to environmental protection or an environmental impact assessment report in accordance with environmental laws.

b) The People's Committee at the commune level is responsible for examining and confirming the application for land allocation and lease regarding the need for land use by households and individuals who meet the conditions, and sending it to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. The completion time for the work specified herein shall not exceed seven (7) working days;

c) The Department of Natural Resources and Environment is responsible for examining cases of land allocation and lease applications; conducting field verification when necessary, submitting decisions on land allocation and lease to the People's Committee at the district level; directing the Office of Land Registration to carry out the tasks specified in point d of this clause and issuing the Certificate; signing a lease contract for cases where leasing is granted. The completion time for the work specified herein shall not exceed twenty (20) working days;

d) The Office of Land Registration is responsible for extracting land registry maps or conducting cadastral surveys for areas without existing land registry maps, copying cadastral records, printing the Certificate, and sending it to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. The completion time for the work specified herein shall not exceed ten (10) working days.

3. Criteria for households and individuals to be allocated agricultural land in priority order for households and individuals without production land or insufficient agricultural land based on the average agricultural land area in the commune."

Article 2. Amending and supplementing certain provisions of Decree No. 149/2004/NĐ-CP dated July 27, 2004 of the Government on granting permits for exploration, exploitation, and use of water resources, and discharging wastewater into water sources:

1. Clause 3 of Article 7 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"3. The validity period of the permit for underground water exploitation and use shall not exceed fifteen (15) years and may be extended multiple times, each extension not exceeding ten (10) years. For cases where the water source ensures long-term stable exploitation, the minimum validity period of the permit for underground water exploitation and use is five (05) years."

2. Point e, Clause 1, Article 20 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"c) A certified copy or a photocopy accompanied by the original for comparison or a photocopy with confirmation from the agency or organization registering the permit issuance of one of the following types of documents related to land use rights where the well is located:

- Certificate of Land Use Rights.

- Other valid documents regarding land use rights in accordance with the laws on land.

In case the land where the well is located does not belong to the land use rights of the organization or individual requesting the permit, there must be a written agreement for land use between the organization or individual exploiting the well and the organization or individual currently holding the land use rights."

Article 3. Amending and supplementing some articles of Decree No. 160/2005/NĐ-CP dated December 27, 2005 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the Law on Minerals and the Law amending and supplementing certain provisions of the Law on Minerals:

1. Point c Clause 1 Article 60 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

"c) A certified copy or a photocopy accompanied by the original for comparison or a photocopy with confirmation from the agency or organization registering the permit issuance for the document confirming the legal entity status of the organization applying for a mineral exploration permit which is a domestic organization or investment license (if any) for the organization applying for a mineral exploration permit which is a foreign organization or a joint venture with a foreign party."

2. Supplement Clause 7 Article 60 as follows:

"7. The number of sets of documents for issuing, reissuing, extending, allowing return, transferring mineral exploration permits, and allowing continued exercise of the right to explore minerals as stipulated in Clause 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and Clause 6 of this Article that must be submitted is one set."

3. Point đ Clause 1 Article 61 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

"đ) A certified copy or a photocopy accompanied by the original for comparison or a photocopy with confirmation from the agency or organization registering the permit issuance for the document confirming the legal entity status of the organization applying for a mineral exploitation permit which is a domestic organization but not an organization already granted an exploration permit or investment license (if any) for the organization applying for a mineral exploitation permit which is a foreign organization or a joint venture with a foreign party."

4. Supplement Clause 7 Article 61 as follows:

"7. The number of sets of documents for issuing, extending, allowing return, transferring mineral exploitation permits, and allowing continued exercise of the right to exploit minerals as stipulated in Clause 1, 2, 3, 4 and Clause 5 of this Article that must be submitted is one set."

5. Clause 4 Article 63 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

"4. The time limit specified in Clause 1 and Clause 3 of this Article does not include working days when the competent authority issuing the mineral operation permit takes opinions from relevant agencies on issues related to the issuance of the mineral operation permit. The head of the agency requested to give an opinion has the responsibility to send the formal written opinion within the latest ten (10) working days from the date of receipt of the document requesting comments. The opinion document must clearly indicate points of agreement, disagreement, and recommendations for amendments and supplements."

6. Clause 2 Article 64 shall be amended as follows:

"2. A certified copy of the Exploration Plan and a certified copy of the Exploration Permit."

Article 4. Repeal the following provisions:

1. Abolishing the provision at point c Clause 1 Article 19; point b Clause 1 Article 20 of Decree No. 149/2004/NĐ-CP dated July 27, 2004 of the Government on granting permission for exploration, exploitation, and use of water resources, discharge of wastewater into water sources.

2. Abolishing the provision at Article 24, Article 30, Article 47, Article 48, Article 51, Clause 1 Article 55, Article 56, Article 57, Article 59 and Article 62; removing the phrase "mineral processing" at Clause 2 Article 26, Article 34, Clause 6 Article 44, Clause 1 Article 45, Article 53, Article 54; removing the phrase "survey" at Clause 5 Article 44; removing the phrase "survey," the phrase "processing" at Article 63 of Decree No. 160/2005/NĐ-CP dated December 27, 2005 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the Law on Minerals and the Law amending and supplementing certain provisions of the Law on Minerals.

Article 5. Effectiveness and Responsibility for Implementation

1. This Decree shall take effect from July 20, 2011.

2. Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of agencies under the Government, Chairpersons of provincial People's Committees directly under the Central Government, and organizations and individuals concerned are responsible for implementing this Decree./.