Cases in which works for water resources exploitation and use must be registered in Vietnam

Cases in which works for water resources exploitation and use must be registered in Vietnam (Internet image)

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

1. Cases in which works for water resources exploitation and use must be registered in Vietnam

Specifically, according to Clause 1, Article 17 of Decree 02/2023/ND-CP, works for water resources exploitation and use for which registration is required include:

- Irrigation reservoirs and dams with total capacity of from 0,01 million m3 to 0,2 million m3 or other works for surface water exploitation and use for the purpose of agricultural production and aquaculture (excluding other purposes with a scale subject to licensing) with a flow rate of from greater than 0,1 m3/second to 0,5 m3/second;

If an irrigation reservoir or dam with total capacity of from 0,01 million m3 to 0,2 million m3 with purposes and a scale subject to licensing, the licensing must be made according to the regulations of Decree 02/2023/ND-CP.

- Works for sea water exploitation and use for onshore production and trading including aquaculture and trading thereof with a scale of from more than 10.000 m3/day and night to 100.000 m3/day and night;

- Works for groundwater exploitation and use prescribed in Point a Clause 2 Article 16 of Decree 02/2023/ND-CP and those prescribed in Point a Point d Clause 1 Article 44 of the Law on Water Resources, specified in the list of areas restricted groundwater exploitation published by the Provincial People’s Committees;

- Works for use of self-supply groundwater in mining pits for sifting ores without lowering the groundwater level or pumping water to drain the self-supply water in the mining pits.

2. Cases in which works for water resources exploitation and use must be registered in Vietnam

Pursuant to Clause 2, Article 17 of Decree 02/2023/ND-CP, works for water resources exploitation and use for which licensing is required, including:

- Works for water resources exploitation and use apart from works prescribed in Article 16 and Clause 1 of Article 17 of Decree 02/2023/ND-CP;

- Works prescribed in Point a of Clause 2, Article 17 of Decree 02/2023/ND-CP that directly exploit and use surface water from irrigation and hydroelectricity reservoirs and dams, systems of irrigation and hydroelectricity canals for non-agricultural trading and production (including exploitation of water for cooling of machines and equipment, steam generation and heating) that organizations and individuals managing and operating such hydroelectricity and irrigation reservoirs and dams and systems of irrigation and hydroelectricity canals have not been licensed to exploit and use surface water for the above purposes.

3. Bases for licence issuance for works for water resources exploitation and use in Vietnam

According to Article 19 of Decree 02/2023/ND-CP, the bases for licence issuance for works for water resources exploitation and use in Vietnam are as follows:

- The water resources licence issuance must be based on:

+ Socio-economic development strategies and planning for of nations, sectors and areas;

+ Relevant water resources planning, provincial planning, regulations on restricted groundwater exploitation areas and specialized planning approved by competent authorities; in case such planning and regulations are not issued, it must be based on water source capacity and make sure the water source is not depleted or polluted;

+ The status of exploitation and use of water in areas

+ Assessment reports of competent regulatory agencies on applications for issuance of licences for water resources exploration, exploitation and use;

+ Demands for water exploitation and use specified in application forms.

- In case of issuance of licences for groundwater exploration, exploitation and us, apart from bases prescribed in Clause 1 of Article 19 of Decree 02/2023/ND-CP, it must also be based on the regulations in Clause 4 Clause 5 Article 52 of the Law on Water Resources.

4. Requirements for licence issuance in Vietnam

Requirements for licence issuance are specified in Article 20 of Decree 02/2023/ND-CP as follows:

- Organizations and individuals granted water resources licences must satisfy the following requirement:

+ Have completed the notification and community survey of representatives of the residential community and relevant organizations and individuals as prescribed in Decree 02/2023/ND-CP.

+ Have schemes and reports applicable to the approved relevant water resources planning, provincial planning, regulations on restricted groundwater exploitation areas and specialized planning or suitable for water source capacity in case such planning and regulations are not issued.

The schemes and reports must be made by qualified organizations and individuals as prescribed; information and data used for making schemes and reports must be sufficient, obvious, accurate and reliable.

Work design plans or works for water resources exploitation must be suitable for exploitation scales and subjects and satisfy requirements for protection of water resources and environment.

+ Works for surface water exploitation and use with lakes and dams constructed on rivers or streams must meet the requirements prescribed in Point b Clause 2 Article 53 of the Law on Water Resources, requirements prescribed in Points a and b of Clause 1 Article 20 of Decree 02/2023/ND-CP and the following requirements:

++ Have plans for arranging equipment and human resources to operate reservoirs, monitor and supervise the exploitation and use of water; plans for meteorological and hydrological monitoring, provision of forecasts about the amount of water inflow serving the reservoir operation according to regulations for cases where works are not constructed;

++ Have the reservoir operation process; have equipment, human resources or contracts to hire qualified organizations and individuals to perform reservoir operation, monitoring and supervision of the exploitation and use of water; meteorological and hydrological monitoring and provision of forecasts about the amount of water inflow serving the reservoir operation according to regulations for cases where works have been constructed.

- If an entity explores, exploits or use water without any water resources licence, a competent authority shall consider deciding issuance of water exploitation and use licence when the following requirements for licence issuance are met as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article.

The handling of violations caused by water exploration, exploitation and use without a water resource licence shall comply with regulations of laws on administrative penalties for violations against regulations on water resources.

Ho Quoc Tuan

>> CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ARTICLE IN VIETNAMESE