Thông tư 19/2020/TT-BTNMT

CIRCULAR

LIST OF DISPERSANTS PERMITTED FOR USE WITHIN VIETNAMESE WATERS AND GUIDELINES FOR USING DISPERSANTS IN RESPONSE TO OIL SPILL INCIDENTS AT SEA

Pursuant to Law on Marine and Island Resources and Environment dated June 25, 2015;

Pursuant to Law on Environmental Protection dated June 23, 2014;

Pursuant to Law on Chemicals dated November 21, 2007;

Pursuant to Decree No. 30/2017/ND-CP dated March 21, 2017 of the Government on organization and implementation of accident, natural accident response, search and rescue;

Pursuant to Decree No. 36/2017/ND-CP dated April 4, 2017 of the Government on functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment;

Pursuant to Decision No.02/2013/QD-TTg dated January 14, 2013 of the Prime Minister issuing Regulations on response to oil spill incidents;

At request of General Director of General Department of Vietnam’s Sea and Islands and Director of Department of Legal Affairs;

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment promulgates Circular on list of dispersants permitted for use within Vietnamese waters and guidelines for using dispersants in response to oil spill incidents at sea.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope

This Circular prescribes list of dispersants permitted for use within Vietnamese waters and guidelines for using dispersants in response to oil spill incidents at sea.

Article 2. Regulated entities

This Circular applies to domestic and international agencies, organizations and individuals conducting activities which involve the use of dispersants in response to oil spill incidents in Vietnamese waters.

Article 3. Term interpretation

1. “dispersant” refers to a compound chemical substance employed to break the surface structure of oil trails into small oil trails, break and disperse oil into water columns in form of tiny droplets.

2. “cSt” refers to measurement unit of kinematic viscosity and is determined according to TCVN 3171:2011 (ASTM D445-11).

3. “oil dispersion efficiency” refers to dispersion capacity of dispersants for a type of oil in experiment conditions.

4. "EC50 72h (Effective Concentration)” refers to concentration of a substance which reduces growth rate of Skeletonema Costatum algae by 50% after 72 hours of interacting with the substance.

5. “LC50 96h (Lethal Concentration)” refers to concentration of a substance which eliminate 50% of Penaeus Monodon shrimp larva after 96 hours of interacting with the substance.

6. “flash point” refers to the lowest temperature in air pressure condition at which the sample ignites with an appearance of fire and spreads rapidly across the sample’s surface.

7. “aerobic decomposition capacity after 28 days of experiment” refers to level of decomposition of organic matter in an aerobic condition caused by natural microorganisms which exist in seawater environment after 28 days of experiment.

Chapter II

LIST OF DISPERSANTS PERMITTED FOR USE IN RESPONSE TO OIL SPILL INCIDENTS WITHIN VIETNAMESE WATERS

Article 4. List of dispersants permitted for use in response to oil spill incidents within Vietnamese waters

1. List of dispersants permitted for use in response to oil spill incidents within Vietnamese waters:

2. List of dispersants shall be updated by Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on practical request and must satisfy technical requirements specified under Annex I attached to this Circular.

Chapter III

PROCEDURES FOR USING DISPERSANTS IN RESPONSE TO OIL SPILL INCIDENTS WITHIN VIETNAMESE WATERS

Article 5. Procedures for using dispersants in response to oil spill incidents within Vietnamese waters

1. Regulate the use of dispersants in response to oil spill incidents within Vietnamese waters.

2. Determine amount of dispersants necessary.

3. Spray or spread dispersants to respond to oil spill incidents.

4. Monitor oil dispersion efficiency while spraying or spreading dispersants.

5. Monitor environment quality after employing dispersants.

6. Produce reports after employing dispersants.

Article 6. Regulate the use of dispersants in response to oil spill incidents within Vietnamese waters

Entities, organizations and individuals employing dispersants in response to oil spill incidents within Vietnamese waters must satisfy following regulations:

1. Complying with Article 5 of Law on Chemicals and Clauses 1, 2, 3, and 4 Article 24 of Regulations on responding to oil spill incidents attached to Decision No. 02/2013/QD-TTg dated January 14, 2013 of Prime Minister.

2. Employing dispersants only within the first 72 hours after the oil has spilled; refraining from employing dispersants if the majority of spilled oil has been weathered or dispersed naturally.

3. Employing dispersants only if spilled oil has viscosity of 5,000 cSt or less, except for light and volatile oil types such as fuel, kerosene and diesel. Employing dispersants on a large scale for spilled oil with viscosity ranging from exceeding 5,000 to less than 10,000 cSt only when oil dispersion efficiency is equal or greater than 35%.

4. Employing dispersants only when wave height is less than 3 m and thickness of the oil layer is greater than 0.6 mm.

Article 7. Determine amount of dispersants necessary

1. Amount of dispersants necessary to respond to oil spill incidents at sea shall be determined based on how much oil is spilled and what dispersant is employed.

2. Amount of oil spilled at sea shall be determined based on color of spilled oil under following schedule:

3. Based on amount of oil spilled determined under Clause 2 of this Article and guidelines for using each dispersant, determine amount of dispersants necessary.

Article 8. Spray or spread dispersants to respond to oil spill incidents

1. Preparation

Preparation activities to employ dispersants in response to oil spill incidents at sea consist of:

a) preparing dispersants employed to respond to oil spill incidents: name of dispersant, amount of dispersant necessary, means of transport;

b) preparing human resources and equipment for spraying or spreading dispersants: aircrafts, vessels, spraying equipment and personal protective equipment;

c) identifying suppliers of additional dispersants and transporting, consolidating measures if amount of dispersants required is greater than original supply capacity.

2. Methods of spraying or spreading dispersants

a) Conditions for application and methods of spraying or spreading dispersants from vessels shall conform to Annex II under this Circular;

b) Conditions for application and methods of spraying or spreading dispersants from aircrafts shall conform to Annex III under this Circular.

Article 9. Monitor oil dispersion efficiency while spraying or spreading dispersants

1. Entities, organizations and individuals employing dispersants in response to oil spill incidents at sea are responsible for monitoring oil dispersion efficiency of dispersants while spraying or spreading.

2. Oil dispersion efficiency must be supervised and updated constantly via satellite images, supervisory vessels or aircrafts when dealing with oil spill.

3. If oil dispersion efficiency reaches below 35% while spraying or spreading dispersants, cease to employ the dispersants and employ other methods to deal with oil spill.

Article 10. Monitor environment quality after employing dispersants

1. Entities, organizations and individuals must conduct environment quality monitoring after employing dispersants to respond to oil spill incidents.

2. Environment quality monitoring after using dispersants shall be conducting according to Chapter II of Circular No. 33/2018/TT-BTNMT dated December 26, 2018 of Minister of Natural Resources and Environment on procedures for remediating consequences of oil spill incidents at sea (hereinafter referred to as “Circular No. 33/2018/TT-BTNMT”).

Article 11. Produce reports after employing dispersants

1. Produce reports on employment of dispersants

a) Entities, organizations and individuals after employing dispersants to respond to oil spill incidents must submit reports on dispersant employment to General Department of Vietnam’s Sea and Islands, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and Departments of Natural Resources and Environment of local administrative divisions where dispersants are employed to respond to oil spill incidents at sea within 5 days;

b) Reports on dispersant employment must convey following basic information:

- Name of agencies or organizations employing dispersants;

- Location, duration and scale of oil spill incidents;

- Geographic, topographic, meteorological, hydrographic and oceanographic conditions of areas where oil spill incidents occur;

- Name and quantity of dispersants employed and basic characteristics of dispersants;

- Methods of employing dispersants, employment location, dose, and time of initiation and conclusion of dispersant employment;

- Effectiveness of dispersants in responding to oil spill incidents;

- Conclusions and recommendations.

2. Produce reports on environment quality monitoring results after employing dispersants

a) Entities, organizations and individuals after concluding environment quality monitoring after employing dispersants to respond to oil spill incidents must submit reports on environment quality monitoring results to General Department of Vietnam’s Sea and Islands, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and Departments of Natural Resources and Environment of local administrative divisions where dispersants are employed to respond to oil spill incidents at sea within 5 days;

b) Reports on environment quality monitoring results shall conform to Annex 4 under Circular No. 33/2018/TT-BTNMT .

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 12. Entry into force

This Circular comes into force from February 15, 2021.

Article 13. Implementation

1. Ministries, ministerial agencies, Governmental agencies, People’s Committees of coastal provinces and central-affiliated cities and relevant organizations, individuals are responsible for the implementation of this Circular.

2. Difficulties that arise during the implementation of this Circular should be reported to Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for consideration and revision./.