What are principles of oil spill response in Vietnam?

What are principles of oil spill response in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 4 of the regulations on oil spill response issued together with the Decision 12/2021/QD-TTg stipulating as follows:

1. Actively develop plans, invest in equipment and contracts to get ready to respond to oil spills that may occur.

2. Take charge of receiving and processing information on oil spill incidents in a timely manner, prioritize provision of information for response activities, and promptly report to competent authorities if the incident is beyond the response capacity.

3. Coordinate and mobilize all resources to improve the effectiveness of oil spill preparedness and response with priority given to victim rescue and environmental protection.

4. Actively perform response activities near the source of oil spills to prevent and limit oil from being spilled into the environment. Closely monitor the risk of spread of spilled oil towards the shoreline to determine the order of priority and take measures to protect prioritized protection areas.

5. Ensure fire safety and prevention while carrying out response activities.

6. Uniformly command, cooperate and closely collaborate with forces, means and equipment participating in response activities.

7. The responsible party must be held responsible for compensating for damage caused by oil spills according to the provisions of law.

What are regulations on decentralization of oil spill response authority in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 5 of the regulations on oil spill response issued together with the Decision 12/2021/QD-TTg stipulating as follows:

Based on the incident severity, there are three levels at which response activities are carried out accordingly:

1. Local level

a) Local oil spills: Establishment owners shall be accorded authority to lead and command their own forces, means and equipment or those stated in oil spill response contracts to carry out response activities in a timely manner. Owners of establishments blamed for oil spills shall be responsible for being put in command of the oil spill scene;

b) In case an oil spill is beyond the capacity of an establishment’s capacity or local resources are not affordable for response activities, the establishment must promptly report such situation to the governing body or the People's Committee of a province or centrally-affiliated city (hereinafter referred to as provincial state authority) to seek their support;

c) In case where a serious oil spill occurs or an oil spill occurs in a prioritized protection area, the head of the authority who are assigned as the on-scene commander shall report to the People's Committee of the province where the oil spill occurs and the National Committee for Search and Rescue to seek their orders or directives to take timely actions against the oil spill.

2. Regional level

a) If an oil spill occurs beyond the establishment's response capacity or an oil spill occurs due to unknown causes at localities, the People's Committee of the province where the oil spill occurs shall directly responsible for leading and appointing an on-scene commander to take charge of response activities according to the local plan, and can urgently requisition necessary resources from local establishments, ministries and central authorities and the regional oil spill response center located within the province to take response actions;

b) The contact point that helps the provincial People's Committee take charge of spill oil activities is the provincial Steering Committee for Search and Rescue.

3. National level

a) In case where a major oil spill is beyond the local authority’s capacity, the People's Committee of the province where that oil spill occurs shall promptly report it to the National Committee for Search and Rescue to directly take control of and cooperate with relevant agencies in response activities;

b) In case an oil spill is beyond the response capacity of domestic forces, the National Committee for Search and Rescue shall solicit the Prime Minister to issue the decision to seek international support;

In the course of responding to oil spill incidents at the above-mentioned levels, lead agencies or on-scene commanders should proactively address and promptly report on incidents, submit necessary recommendations to relevant competent authorities and take responsibility for their decisions.

How to rank oil spill incidents in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 6 of the regulations on oil spill response issued together with the Decision 12/2021/QD-TTg stipulating as follows:

1. An oil spill may be ranked into 3 levels, including minor, moderate and major, depending on the spill amount or the amount of oil involved or released, specifically as follows:   

a) Small oil spill (minor level) is an oil spill involving the spill amount which is less than 20 m³ (tonnes);

b) Medium-sized oil spill (moderate level) is an oil spill involving the spill amount which ranges from 20 m³ (tonnes) to 500 m³ (tonnes);

c) Large oil spill (major level) is an oil spill involving the spill amount which is greater than 500 m³ (tonnes).

2. The ranking of oil spills can help develop response plans and determine the level of investment in equipment and resources to get prepared and respond in a timely manner for different levels of response.

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