Circular No. 43/2024/TT-BGTVT detailing certain provisions of Government Decree No. 57/2024/NĐ-CP dated May 20, 2024 on management of dredging activities in port waters and inland waterways

CIRCULAR

Detailed regulations on certain provisions of Decree No. 57/2024/NĐ-CP dated May 20, 2024 of the Government regarding management of dredging activities in port water areas and inland waterwaysof the Government in May 2024 on managing dredging activities incoastal port waters and inland waterway waters

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Pursuant to the Vietnam Maritime Code on November 25, 2015;

Pursuant to the Law on Inland Waterway Transport dated June 15, 2004; the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Law on Inland Waterway Transport dated June 17, 2014;

Pursuant to Decree No. 57/2024/NĐ-CP dated May 20, 2024 of the Government on management of dredging activities in port water areas and inland waterways;

BASED ON THE DECREE NO. 56/2022/ND-CP dated August 24, 2022 of THE GOVERNMENT stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of THE MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT;

At the proposal of the Director of the Infrastructure Department, the Director of the Vietnam Maritime Administration, and the Director of the Vietnam Inland Waterway Administration;

The Minister of Transport hereby promulgates this Circular detailing certain provisions of Decree No. 57/2024/NĐ-CP dated May 20, 2024 of the Government on management of dredging activities in port water areas and inland waterways.

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Circular details certain provisions of Decree No. 57/2024/NĐ-CP dated May 20, 2024 of the Government on management of dredging activities in port water areas and inland waterways (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 57/2024/NĐ-CP), including:

1. Dredging maintenance based on actual quality performance; emergency dredging; inspection, supervision, and organization of construction management for public maritime channel dredging maintenance and inland waterway dredging maintenance from state budget funds.

2. Criteria for selecting enterprises to prepare feasibility study reports for combined dredging and product recovery projects.

Article 2. Applicability

This Circular applies to agencies, organizations, and individuals related to the contents stipulated in Article 1 of this Circular.

Article 3. Explanation of Terms

In this Circular, the following terms shall be understood as follows:

1. Project management unit is the entity responsible for project management and construction investment according to the forms of project management investment construction regulated by current laws.

2. Construction contract for public maritime channel dredging maintenance and inland waterway dredging maintenance based on actual quality performance is a contract with a fixed contract price that does not change throughout the contract period for all content, scope of work, technical requirements, and terms stipulated in the contract, except in cases of force majeure and changes in the scope of work leading to a change in the contract price.

3. Inland waterway management agencies under the Vietnam Inland Waterway Administration are the Inland Waterway Branches and Inland Waterway Port Control Offices.

Chapter II

DREDGING MAINTENANCE BASED ON ACTUAL QUALITY PERFORMANCE; EMERGENCY DREDGING; INSPECTION, SUPERVISION AND ORGANIZATION OF CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT FOR PUBLIC MARITIME CHANNEL DREDGING MAINTENANCE AND INLAND WATERWAY DREDGING MAINTENANCE AND CRITERIA FOR SELECTING ENTERPRISES TO PREPARE FEASIBILITY STUDY REPORTS FOR COMBINED DREDGING AND PRODUCT RECOVERY PROJECTS

Section 1

DREDGING MAINTENANCE BASED ON ACTUAL QUALITY PERFORMANCE

Article 4. Basis for selection of dredging maintenance methods based on actual quality performance

1. Public maritime channel and inland waterway dredging maintenance based on actual quality performance is based on the following contents:

a) The importance of the channel route to maritime and inland waterway activities, the capacity to exploit seaports (for public maritime channels), ports and inland waterway wharfs (for inland waterways) serving economic and social development;

b) Statistical data on cargo volume; number, type, size of ships (for public maritime channels), inland waterway vessels (for inland waterways) passing through ports and wharfs on public maritime channels and inland waterways over the last three years;

c) Sedimentation trends and results of dredging maintenance over the minimum period of the last three years;

d) Plan for receiving dredged material.

2. The method of dredging maintenance based on actual quality performance is decided in the maintenance plan for maritime works and inland waterways.

Article 5. Economic and technical report on construction investment according to the quality of implementation

The economic and technical report on construction investment for dredging and maintenance works according to the quality of implementation shall be established in accordance with the laws on construction, including the following specific contents:

1. Technical parameters of the maritime channel according to the latest periodic marine notice and inland waterway navigation notice.

2. Dredging standards (depth, width) of the channel route according to the approved plan for maintaining maritime works and inland waterways.

3. Implementation period from three to five years according to the approved maintenance work plan.

4. Quantity of dredging maintenance according to the quality of implementation includes initial dredging maintenance quantity and contracted annual channel standard maintenance quantity, calculated and determined as follows:

a) Initial dredging maintenance quantity includes the quantity calculated based on the technical standards applicable to the project and the expected sedimentation quantity from the time of survey and measurement of the marine notice, channel navigation notice to the time of handover surface survey and measurement. This dredging quantity is recalibrated based on the handover surface survey and measurement data before the start of dredging construction.

b) Contracted annual channel standard maintenance quantity is the average annual dredging maintenance quantity and is determined based on the sedimentation volume changes of the channel route. Sedimentation volume is calculated based on the periodic marine notice, channel navigation notice data, project handover surface measurement data, and channel maintenance dredging acceptance measurement data over the minimum recent three-year period.

5. The area and location for receiving dredged material must be announced, approved, or planned by the provincial People's Committee to ensure the reception of all dredged material during the implementation period of dredging and maintenance according to the quality of implementation.

6. The budget estimate for dredging and maintenance according to the quality of implementation is determined based on: the quantity of dredging of the project; the distance of transportation to the area and location for receiving dredged material; the quantity of survey, measurement, inspection, and supervision; other tasks as prescribed by the laws on determining the construction project budget estimate.

Article 6. Survey and Measurement of Public Maritime Channels and Inland Waterways During the Implementation Period of Maintenance Dredging According to the Quality of Implementation

1. Regular and emergency surveys and measurements of the channel route shall be carried out during the implementation period of the contract for public maritime channel and inland waterway maintenance dredging to serve inspection, supervision, and operation.

2. Regular surveys and measurements of the channel route shall be conducted at the frequency of surveys and measurements approved by the competent authority.

3. The investor decides the number of emergency surveys and measurements but not exceeding three times per year; the scope of each survey and measurement is designated by the investor with an area maximum equal to 30% of the channel route surface area. If the frequency of regular surveys and measurements of the channel route > three times per year, then the regular survey and measurement data of the channel route will be used to serve inspection, supervision, and operation. If the frequency of regular surveys and measurements of the channel route ≤ three times per year, additional emergency surveys and measurements will be supplemented to serve inspection, supervision, and operation, with the regular survey and measurement period being a minimum of three months or according to the investor's requirements in cases of force majeure events affecting the channel standards.

Article 7. Responsibilities for inspection, supervision, and organization of construction management for maintenance dredging works based on quality implementation.

The project owner, construction contractor, project management unit, and supervisory consultant shall be responsible for conducting inspections, supervision, and organizing construction management in accordance with Articles 14 and 15 of this Circular and the following regulations:

1. Responsibilities of the Project Owner:

a) Directing related units to base their periodic and extraordinary surveys and measurements of the channel route to inspect and supervise the maintenance of the design standards of the dredging construction contractor's channel route;

b) Directing the survey and measurement contractor to conduct extraordinary surveys to inspect and supervise the maintenance of the design standards of the dredging construction contractor's channel route.

2. Responsibilities of the Construction Contractor:

a) Within the latest period of twenty days from the discovery of shallow areas according to the results of surveys and measurements or warnings and requirements from relevant agencies and units regarding the management, operation, and exploitation of the channel route, the construction contractor must complete the dredging of areas that do not meet the design standards;

b) In cases where unforeseen circumstances prevent the completion of dredging as stipulated in point a of this clause and confirmed by the Maritime Port Office in the area (for public maritime channels) or the inland waterway management agency in the area (for inland waterways), the construction contractor promptly sends a written notice to the project management unit. Within the latest period of twenty days from the discovery of shallow areas (excluding the duration of the unforeseen circumstances), the contractor must complete the dredging of areas that do not meet the standards;

c) Organizing internal surveys and measurements to check the construction results of the project using the construction contractor’s budget;

d) In addition to the responsibilities specified in points b and c of Clause 3 of this Article, the construction contractor also bears other responsibilities as stipulated in the signed construction contract.

3. Responsibilities of the Project Management Unit:

a) Based on the results of maritime navigation surveys and periodic and extraordinary inland waterway channel surveys (if applicable) to inspect the maintenance of the design standards of the dredging construction contractor's channel route. Upon discovering shallow areas, the project management unit sends a written request to the dredging construction contractor to dredge the shallow areas to meet the design standards, simultaneously notifying the supervisory consultant in writing to supervise the construction as required; reporting the results of the dredging construction to the project owner and the Maritime Port Office in the area (for maintenance dredging of maritime channels), or the inland waterway management agency in the area (for maintenance dredging of inland waterways);

b) If the construction contractor fails to complete the maintenance dredging to meet the design standards within the time, progress, and quality stipulated in the contract, or does not complete the dredging of shallow areas to meet the channel design standards within the time specified in points a and b of Clause 2 of this Article, the project management unit has the responsibility to report to the project owner to deduct costs according to the contract corresponding to the period without meeting the design standards (from the date of discovery of the shallow area until the completion of remediation) and impose penalties as stipulated in the construction contract;

c) If the construction contractor breaches the contract, loses the ability to continue implementing the contract, seriously affecting the progress, quality, and effectiveness of the tender package, the project management unit reports to the project owner to consider terminating the signed contract and proposes a plan to implement the remaining workload of the tender package to ensure the required progress and quality;

d) Organizing inspections and urging environmental supervisory consultants to report on the monitoring of environmental quality during the dredging process in accordance with laws on environmental protection;

e) Organizing inspections and supervision of the contractor's compliance with environmental protection, maritime safety, and inland waterway regulations during the construction process. Proposing the project owner to suspend construction to address the contractor's violations and those of related organizations and individuals (if any);

f) Coordinating, inspecting, and supervising the establishment and storage of completion records by contractors; reporting to the project owner about the completion records before the project owner organizes the acceptance of the project components and construction projects put into use as prescribed.

Article 8. Acceptance, payment, settlement of dredging works according to actual quality

The acceptance, payment, and settlement of dredging works for maintaining public maritime channels and inland waterways under the quality-based dredging method shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Article 19 of Decree No. 57/2024/NĐ-CP, relevant laws, and the following contents:

1. For the initial maintenance dredging volume (as stipulated in Point a, Clause 4, Article 5 of this Circular) after completion of construction, it will be accepted according to regulations to proceed to the construction phase of the contracted maintenance standard channel dredging volume.

2. For the contracted maintenance standard channel dredging volume (as stipulated in Point b, Clause 4, Article 5 of this Circular), it will be accepted according to regulations for quality-based dredging, accompanied by payment documents along with the quality acceptance record of the work performed (not based on the dredging volume): Completion acceptance record by stage for each construction period (six months, one year); Completion acceptance record of the dredging project when the contract implementation period ends.

Section 2

EMERGENCY DREDGING

Article 9. Implementation Procedure

Emergency dredging of public maritime channels and inland waterways shall be carried out in the following sequence:

1. Decision on emergency dredging.

2. Organization of emergency dredging.

3. Organization of establishment and completion of project completion documents.

4. Payment and settlement of the project.

Article 10. Decision on Emergency Dredging

1. Within three working days from the date of occurrence of natural disasters, unexpected accidents, incidents affecting the channel, the Maritime Port Office (for public maritime channels), the Inland Waterway Management Authority of the region (for national inland waterways) shall take the lead, coordinate with the management units of public maritime channels, national inland waterway maintenance units, conduct preliminary assessment of the urgency level, and report to the Vietnam Maritime Administration (for public maritime channels), the Vietnam Inland Waterway Administration (for national inland waterways) to implement emergency dredging.

2. Contents of the emergency dredging report include:

a) Development, scope, impact level of natural disasters, unexpected accidents, incidents affecting the channel causing blockages, hindrances to maritime and inland waterway transportation activities or other force majeure events;

b) Purpose of dredging; area, scope of dredging; duration of the dredging project; location of the main disposal site for dredged materials or temporary storage and reception sites approved by competent authorities.

3. Within five working days from the date of receipt of the report from the Maritime Port Office, the Inland Waterway Management Authority of the region, the Vietnam Maritime Administration (for public maritime channels), the Vietnam Inland Waterway Administration (for national inland waterways), they shall compile: development, scope of impact, assessment of impact on maritime and inland waterway transportation activities and maritime and inland waterway safety risks; purpose of dredging; scope, area of dredging; implementation time; estimated budget for dredging and other necessary requirements related (if any), and report to the Ministry of Transport for consideration and approval of the emergency dredging policy.

4. Within three working days from the date of receipt of the report from the Vietnam Maritime Administration, the Vietnam Inland Waterway Administration, the Ministry of Transport shall issue a document approving the emergency dredging policy. If not approved, a document explaining the reasons shall be issued.

5. Based on the approval opinion of the Ministry of Transport, the Vietnam Maritime Administration (for public maritime channels), the Vietnam Inland Waterway Administration (for national inland waterways) shall issue the Emergency Dredging Decision. The contents of the Emergency Dredging Decision for public maritime channels and national inland waterways include: the agency responsible for managing and implementing emergency dredging; purpose of dredging; area of dredging; duration of the dredging project; location of the disposal site for dredged materials approved by competent authorities; estimated costs and resources for implementation and other necessary requirements related.

Article 11. Organization to implement emergency dredging

1. The Vietnam Maritime Administration (for public maritime channels), the Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration (for national inland waterways) shall assume the responsibilities of the authority with investment decision-making power, the investor's authority as prescribed by laws on construction (hereinafter referred to as the investor), and be authorized to decide on tasks within emergency dredging activities, including: deciding on the selection of organizations and individuals to carry out surveying, designing, constructing dredging works, and other necessary tasks serving emergency dredging projects; deciding on the procedures for conducting surveys, designs, and construction; deciding on construction supervision and acceptance of completed works meeting the requirements of the Emergency Dredging Decision; sending documents to the People's Committee at the provincial level to coordinate during the implementation of the dredging project.

2. Based on the Emergency Dredging Decision for public maritime channels and inland waterways, the investor shall select contractors with capacity and experience to immediately undertake tender packages belonging to emergency dredging projects in accordance with laws on bidding.

3. The investor shall direct relevant units to organize surveying and measurement to hand over the construction site (including the dredging site and disposal location) to the contractor for the organization of construction work.

Article 12. Responsibilities for inspection, supervision, management of construction of emergency dredging projects and establishment, completion of completion documents

1. Inspection, supervision, and organization of construction management shall be carried out in accordance with Articles 14 and 15 of this Circular.

2. After completing the emergency dredging of public maritime channels and inland waterways, the investor shall be responsible for organizing the establishment of completion documents, including:

a) The Emergency Dredging Decision;

b) Survey documents, Economic-Technical Reports approved;

c) Quality management documents of the project including: acceptance certificates, test results, monitoring, measurements (if any); construction diary of the project and images recording the construction process (if any); completion acceptance certificate of the construction project; bases and grounds for determining the volume of completed work and other related documents, papers, materials concerning emergency dredging activities.

3. The investor shall compile and submit to the competent authority for approval of adjustments and supplements to the maintenance plan for emergency dredging of public maritime channels and inland waterways.

Article 13. Payment and settlement of projects

1. Based on the approved maintenance plan, the competent authority shall allocate adjustments and supplements to the state budget expenditure from annual regular funds for payment of emergency dredging tasks for public maritime channels and inland waterways.

2. Payment and settlement of emergency dredging projects shall be carried out in accordance with Article 19 of Decree No. 57/2024/NĐ-CP and related laws.

Section 3

INSPECTION, SUPERVISION AND ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION OF MANAGEMENT OF CONSTRUCTION FOR MAINTENANCE DREDGING OF PUBLIC MARITIME CHANNELS AND INLAND WATERWAYS

Article 14. Content of inspection and supervision work

The content of inspection and supervision work for maintenance dredging of public maritime channels and inland waterways shall be implemented in accordance with Article 5 of Decree No. 57/2024/NĐ-CP, relevant laws, and the following contents:

1. Construction supervision shall be carried out in accordance with laws on construction and ensure the following requirements:

a) Construction supervision shall be conducted throughout the entire construction period of the project from commencement until completion and acceptance;

b) Supervision of dredging construction equipment, transportation and disposal of dredged material at the dredging site, travel route to the disposal site, and at the disposal site. Collecting and summarizing field information and data from dredging monitoring equipment installed on construction and transportation equipment. Taking photos of the cargo hold of transportation equipment at the following times: starting to receive dredged material at the construction site; ending the reception process to move for disposal; ending the travel route to the disposal site and ending the disposal process to return to the construction site.

2. The project management unit shall be responsible for checking and urging the consulting supervision and construction contractor to record the dredging construction diary according to the model prescribed in Appendix I attached to this Circular.

3. During the construction period, the project management unit shall urge the consulting supervision to prepare weekly reports and send them through the postal service or directly to the investor and the project management unit according to the model prescribed in Appendix II attached to this Circular. Weekly reports must be prepared and sent no later than the third day of the following week.

4. Work of inspecting and storing data of the dredging monitoring equipment installed on construction and transportation equipment for disposal of dredged material is regulated as follows:

a) Before commencing construction, the investor shall direct the project management unit to cooperate with consulting supervision units, information management and operation service providers, and construction contractors to conduct inspections of the operation of the dredging monitoring equipment installed on construction, transportation, and disposal equipment. The inspection results shall be recorded in a report according to the model in Appendix III attached to this Circular;

b) The construction contractor shall be responsible for providing complete data obtained from video recording equipment installed on transportation and disposal equipment to the investor and the project management unit;

c) Consulting supervision shall be responsible for arranging sufficient personnel to be present at the construction site throughout the construction period to collect and provide complete photos of the cargo hold of transportation and disposal equipment (dredged material) in accordance with regulations and include them in the weekly consulting supervision report prescribed in Appendix II attached to this Circular for submission to the investor and the project management unit.

d) The service provider managing and operating AIS information for the management of dredging vessels shall be responsible for storing on-site data regarding the number of vessels, location, movement speed, and parking time from the AIS devices installed on construction, transportation, and disposal vessels.

đ) The project management unit shall be responsible for storing data from video recording devices installed on construction vessels provided by the contractor and photographs taken on transportation and disposal vessels (dredged material compartments) at times specified by the supervisory consultant.

e) Data obtained from the dredging monitoring devices installed on construction, transportation, and disposal vessels must be stored for a period of three years.

Article 15. Organization of Construction Management

Construction management organization work shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Construction Law and the following regulations:

1. The project management unit shall be responsible for managing and inspecting the implementation process of the construction contractor, design consultant, supervisory consultant, and environmental consultant during the construction of the project.

2. The project sponsor shall be responsible for organizing regular inspections and spot checks (if necessary) to ensure the quality and progress of the project.

3. After the completion acceptance of the project for use, the project sponsor shall be responsible for transferring the area and disposal site for dredged materials back to the People's Committee of the province or organizations and individuals permitted by the People's Committee of the province to accept dredged materials. The transfer documents include:

a) Decision approving the Economic and Technical Investment Report;

b) Completion Acceptance Record for the project put into use;

c) As-built drawings of the dike enclosure and storage site (if applicable);

d) Decision approving the results of the environmental impact assessment report or environmental registration document or environmental permit of the project, program;

đ) Report on the results of environmental monitoring and supervision.

Section 4

CRITERIA FOR SELECTING ENTERPRISES TO PREPARE FEASIBILITY STUDY REPORTS FOR DREDGING PROJECTS COMBINED WITH PRODUCT RECOVERY

Article 16. Criteria for Selecting Enterprises to Prepare Feasibility Study Reports for Projects

1. The criteria for selecting enterprises to prepare feasibility study reports for projects are set forth in Appendix IV issued together with this Circular.

2. The enterprise selected to prepare the feasibility study report for the project is the enterprise with the highest total score based on the evaluation criteria. In case the total scores of the enterprises are equal, the enterprise with the highest score for the financial statement criterion will be considered for selection. If the scores for the financial statement criterion are also equal, the enterprise with the highest score for the business capability and experience criterion will be considered for selection.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 17. Effective Date

1. This Circular shall take effect from January 1, 2025.

2. Repeal: Circular No. 35/2019/TT-BGTVT dated September 9, 2019 of the Minister of Transport on dredging activities in port water areas, Circular No. 33/2019/TT-BGTVT dated September 6, 2019 of the Minister of Transport on dredging activities in inland waterway water areas; Circular No. 22/2021/TT-BGTVT dated September 30, 2021 of the Minister of Transport on methods and standards for evaluating tender documents to select investors for dredging projects in port water areas and inland waterway water areas combined with product recovery; Clause 1 of Circular No. 27/2021/TT-BGTVT dated November 30, 2021 of the Minister of Transport amending and supplementing some articles of Circular No. 35/2019/TT-BGTVT dated September 9, 2019 of the Minister of Transport on dredging activities in port water areas and Circular No. 42/2019/TT-BGTVT dated October 30, 2019 of the Minister of Transport on criteria, inspection, supervision, evaluation, and acceptance of the quality of maritime safety public services.

Article 18. Implementation Organization

1. For dredging activities in inland waterway water areas managed by the People's Committee of the province: The People's Committee of the province shall be responsible for assigning tasks to subordinate agencies and units to organize the implementation of the provisions of this Circular.

2. The People's Committees of provinces and centrally-administered cities, the Director of the Ministry's Office, the Director of the Ministry's Inspectorate, the Heads of Departments, the Directors of the Vietnam Maritime Administration, the Directors of the Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration, the Directors of Transportation Departments of provinces and centrally-administered cities, and related agencies, organizations, and individuals are responsible for implementing this Circular./.