Decree No. 65/2019/ND-CP amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree No. 104/2017/ND-CP dated September 14, 2017 of the Government on administrative penalties for violations in the field of natural disaster prevention and control; waterworks exploitation and protection; and dyke management.

DECREE

Amending and supplementing some articles of Decree No. 104/2017/NĐ-CP

dated September 14, 2017 of the Government stipulating administrative penalties for violations in the field of natural disaster prevention and control;

exploitation and protection of irrigation works; dyke systems

The Government promulgates this Decree amending and supplementing some articles of Decree No. 104/2017/NĐ-CP dated September 14, 2017 of the Government stipulating administrative penalties for violations in the field of natural disaster prevention and control; exploitation and protection of irrigation works; dyke systems.

Pursuant to the Law on Government Organization dated June 19, 2015;

Based on the Administrative Violation Handling Law dated June 20, 2012;

Pursuant to the Law on Irrigation dated June 19, 2017;

At the proposal of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development;

Amending and supplementing some articles of Decree No. 104/2017/NĐ-CP dated September 14, 2017 of the Government stipulating administrative penalties for violations in the field

Article 1. Provincial People's Committees set specific pricesof prevention and control of natural disasters; session numberexploitation and protection of irrigation works; kdyke systems đ4. Organizations specified in Clause 1 of this Article include:

1. To add Clause 4 to Article 2 as follows:

"Article 2. Scope of Application

b) Economic organizations established in accordance with the Law on Enterprises including: Private enterprises, joint-stock companies, limited liability companies, partnerships and affiliated units of enterprises (branches, representative offices);

b) Economic organizations established in accordance with the Law on Enterprises including: private enterprises, joint-stock companies, limited liability companies, partnerships, and affiliated units of enterprises (branches, representative offices);

c) Grassroots irrigation organizations established and operating in accordance with the Law on Irrigation, the Law on Cooperatives, and the Civil Code, including: cooperatives, cooperative groups;

d) Economic organizations established in accordance with the Law on Investment including: Domestic investors, foreign investors (excluding individual investors); economic organizations with foreign investment capital;

đ) Public service units and other organizations as prescribed by law.”

2. Point a Clause 1 Article 15 is amended and supplemented as follows:

“a) Implementing provisions incorrectly in the operation procedures of irrigation works that have been approved by competent authorities, except for cases provided for in Article 15a of this Decree;”

3. Clause 2 Article 15 is amended and supplemented as follows:

“Article 15. Violations of regulations on the operation of irrigation works

2. Imposing fines for the act of not having operation procedures for irrigation works as prescribed, specifically as follows:

a) Imposing a fine from VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 for the act of not having operation procedures for small irrigation works as prescribed;

b) Imposing a fine from VND 10,000,000 to VND 20,000,000 for the act of not having operation procedures for medium-sized irrigation works as prescribed;

c) Imposing a fine from VND 20,000,000 to VND 30,000,000 for the act of not having operation procedures for large or particularly important irrigation works as prescribed.”

4. Supplementing Article 15a as follows:

“Article 15a. Violations of regulations in the implementation of reservoir operation procedures

1. Imposing a fine from VND 10,000,000 to VND 20,000,000 for the act of implementing provisions incorrectly in the operation procedures of small reservoirs that have been approved but not yet reaching the level of criminal prosecution.

2. Imposing a fine from VND 50,000,000 to VND 70,000,000 for the act of implementing provisions incorrectly in the operation procedures of medium-sized reservoirs that have been approved but not yet reaching the level of criminal prosecution.

3. Imposing a fine from VND 70,000,000 to VND 90,000,000 for the act of implementing provisions incorrectly in the operation procedures of large reservoirs that have been approved but not yet reaching the level of criminal prosecution.

4. Imposing a fine from VND 90,000,000 to VND 100,000,000 for the act of implementing provisions incorrectly in the operation procedures of particularly important reservoirs that have been approved but not yet reaching the level of criminal prosecution.”

5. Article 17 is amended and supplemented as follows:

“Article 17. Violations of regulations on the protection of safety of irrigation works

1. Imposing a fine from VND 100,000 to VND 300,000 for one of the following acts:

a) Building tents, stalls, walls; constructing temporary structures illegally within the protected area of irrigation works;

b) Digging, hoeing, plowing, cutting grass, planting crops on the banks and slopes of canals and dams.

a) Constructing brick kilns, lime kilns, livestock pens illegally within the protected area of irrigation works;

2. A fine of VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed for any of the following acts:

b) Cultivating aquatic products illegally within the protected area of irrigation works;

c) Demolishing, moving boundary markers, signs of irrigation works or connecting channels, water pipes without authorization;

d) Conducting scientific research, planting perennial crops illegally within the protected area of irrigation works;

đ) Dredging, filling ponds, lakes within the protected area of irrigation works.

3. Imposing a fine from VND 10,000,000 to VND 20,000,000 for one of the following acts concerning the management of dam and reservoir safety:

a) Not submitting reports on the current safety status of dams and reservoirs as prescribed in terms of content and time;

b) Not conducting inspections of dams and reservoirs as prescribed in terms of content and frequency;

c) Not having or not organizing the implementation of emergency response plans for the project and downstream areas during construction;

d) Not conducting safety inspections of dams and reservoirs as prescribed;

đ) Not setting up boundary markers for the protected area of dams and reservoirs;

e) Not having or not implementing approved protection plans;

g) Not having or not reviewing, adjusting, and supplementing annually or implementing approved emergency response plans.

4. Imposing a fine for the act of expanding the scale of existing works within the protected area of irrigation works as follows:

a) Imposing a fine from VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 for the act of constructing, enlarging, occupying to increase the area of the work under 10 meters

b) Imposing a fine from VND 10,000,000 to VND 15,000,000 for the act of constructing, enlarging, occupying to increase the area of the work from 10 meters²;

to 30 meters² c) Imposing a fine from VND 15,000,000 to VND 20,000,000 for the act of constructing, enlarging, occupying to increase the area of the work over 30 meters²;

5. Imposing a fine from VND 20,000,000 to VND 25,000,000 for the act of changing the structure of existing works within the protected area of irrigation works.².

6. Imposing a fine from VND 20,000,000 to VND 30,000,000 for one of the following acts:

a) Constructing underground works illegally within the protected area of irrigation works without reaching the level of criminal prosecution;

b) Drilling, excavating geological surveys; drilling, exploring, constructing underground water extraction works; drilling, exploring, mining minerals illegally within the protected area of irrigation works without reaching the level of criminal prosecution;

b) Drilling and excavation for geological survey; drilling, excavation for exploration and construction of underground water extraction works; illegal drilling, excavation for exploration and mining of minerals within the protection zone of irrigation works, but not to the extent of pursuing criminal responsibility;

c) Dumping waste and garbage within the protected area of water conservancy works;

d) Organizing illegal tourism and sports activities within the protected area of water conservancy works;

đ) Illegally extracting water from water conservancy works.

7. A fine of VND 30,000,000 to VND 50,000,000 shall be imposed for any of the following acts:

a) Removing or filling up water conservancy works without authorization;

b) Constructing houses, auxiliary structures, bridges, retaining walls, production sites, and other permanent structures illegally within the protected area of water conservancy works without reaching the level of criminal prosecution;

c) Illegally extracting soil, rock, sand, gravel, and construction materials within the protected area of water conservancy works without reaching the level of criminal prosecution;

d) Establishing docks, stockpiling raw materials, fuel, materials, supplies, and means of transport illegally with the purpose of business within the protected area of water conservancy works.

8. A fine of VND 80,000,000 to VND 100,000,000 shall be imposed for the act of using explosives and other explosive activities illegally within the protected area of water conservancy works without reaching the level of criminal prosecution.

9. Remedial measures

a) Order restoration to the original state for violations stipulated in point b, clause 1; point b, point c, point d, point đ, clause 2; clause 4; clause 5; point b, point c, point d, clause 6; point a, point c, point d, clause 7; clause 8 of this Article;

b) Order demolition of illegally constructed structures for violations stipulated in point a, clause 1; point a, clause 2; point a, clause 6; point b, clause 7 of this Article.”

6. Clause 1 and clause 2 of Article 18 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“Article 18. Violations concerning the use of transportation means on water conservancy works

1. A fine of VND 3,000,000 to VND 5,000,000 shall be imposed for the act of operating motor vehicles exceeding the permitted load limit on water conservancy works.

2. A fine of VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed for the act of using motor vehicles and inland waterway vessels for circulation on water conservancy works when there are prohibitory signs, except for priority vehicles as prescribed by laws on road traffic and inland waterway traffic.”

7. Article 19 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“Article 19. Violations concerning the provisions of permits for activities within the protected area of water conservancy works

1. A fine of VND 1,000,000 to VND 2,000,000 shall be imposed for each violation of the contents specified in the following types of permits:

a) Planting perennial crops;

b) Aquaculture;

c) Scientific research;

d) Activities of inland waterway vessels and mechanical equipment.

2. A fine of VND 20,000,000 to VND 30,000,000 shall be imposed for each violation of the contents specified in the following types of permits:

a) Drilling, excavation for geological survey; exploration, exploitation of minerals, construction materials, underground water;

b) Establishing docks and stockpiles for raw materials, fuel, materials, supplies, and means of transport;

c) Constructing underground works;

d) Tourism, sports, business, and service activities.

3. A fine of VND 30,000,000 to VND 50,000,000 shall be imposed for each violation of the contents specified in the following types of permits:

a) Construction of new works within the protected area of water conservancy works;

b) Discharging wastewater into water conservancy works;

c) Using explosives and other explosive activities within the protected area of water conservancy works.

4. Additional forms of administrative punishment:

Suspension of the right to use the permit for a period of one to three months for violations stipulated in clauses 1, 2, and 3 of this Article.

5. Measures to remedy consequences:

a) Order restoration to the original state for violations stipulated in point a, point b, clause 1; point a, point d, clause 2; point b, point c, clause 3 of this Article;

b) Order demolition of structures or parts of structures not in accordance with the permit for violations stipulated in point b, point c, clause 2; point a, clause 3 of this Article.”

8. Add Article 19a as follows:

“Article 19a. Violations concerning obstruction or resistance against authorized persons in water conservancy activities

1. A fine of VND 2,000,000 to VND 3,000,000 shall be imposed for obstructing inspections and checks conducted by authorized persons in water conservancy activities.

2. A fine of VND 3,000,000 to VND 5,000,000 shall be imposed for obstructing, resisting, or failing to comply with decisions made by authorities or authorized persons in emergency response measures when water conservancy works suffer accidents.”

Article 2. Repeal Clause 3 of Article 15 Decree No. 104/2017/NĐ-CP dated September 14, 2017 of the Government stipulates administrative penalties for violations in the field of disaster prevention and control; exploitation and protection of irrigation works; dyke management.

Article 3. Transitional Provisions

For administrative violations that occur before the date this Decree takes effect but are discovered afterwards or are under examination and resolution, the provisions most favorable to the violators shall apply.

Article 4. Implementation provisions

This Decree takes effect from September 9, 2019.

Article 5Responsibility for Implementation

The Minister, Heads of ministerial-level agencies equivalent to ministries, Heads of government-affiliated agencies, Chairpersons of all levels of People's Committees, and related agencies, organizations, and individuals are responsible for implementing this Decree./.