Thông tư 56/2014/TT-BTNMT

CIRCULAR

ON CAPABILITIES OF ENTITIES CONDUCTING FUNDAMENTAL INVESTIGAION OF WATER RESOURCES, AND PROVIDING CONSULTING SERVICES IN WATER RESOURCES PLANNING AND REPORTING FOR APPLICATION FOR WATER LICENSE

Pursuant to the Law No.17/2012/QH13 on Water Resources dated June 21, 2012;

Pursuant to Government’s Decree No.21/2013/ND-CP dated March 04, 2013 defining functions, rights, obligations and organizational structure of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No.201/2013/ND-CP dated November 27, 2013 detailing a number of Articles of the Law on Water Resources;

Upon request of the Director of the Department of Water Resources Management and the Director of Department of Legislation;

The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment hereby issues this Circular on capabilities of entities conducting fundamental investigation of water resources, providing consulting services in water resource planning and reporting for application for water licenses.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of governing

This Circular stipulates the requirements for capabilities of entities conducting fundamental investigation of water resources under clause 4 Article 13, and capabilities of entities providing consulting services in water resources planning under Article 23 of the Law on Water Resources and capabilities of entities preparing proposals and reports enclosed with applications for water licenses under Clause 2 Article 20 of the Government's Decree No.201/2013/ND-CP dated November 27, 2013 elaborating a number of Articles of the Law on Water Resources.

Article 2. Subjects of application

1. Organizations implementing plans and projects for water resources fundamental investigations; organizations providing consulting services in water sources planning and preparing proposals and reports enclosed with applications for water licenses; independent consultants providing advices about preparation of proposals and reports enclosed with applications for water licenses (hereinafter referred to as “practicing entity”)

2. Entities exploring, extracting water and discharging wastewater into water sources involved in any plan or report required in the application for water license.

3. State management authorities engaging in water resources fundamental investigation and planning, verification and issue of water license.

Chapter II

SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

Article 3. Requirements for capabilities of practicing entities

1. Every organization practicing in water resources (hereinafter referred to as “practicing organization”) shall be a judicial entity and shall have one of the following documents:

a) An establishment decision which defines the functions and responsibilities related to water resources planning, fundamental investigation and other related activities.

b) A business registration certificate; business tax registration certificate; enterprise registration certificate issued by the competent authority ( hereinafter referred to as “business registration certificate”) whose business lines are relative to water resource engineering, technology, technical consulting and other relevant majors.

2. Every practicing organizations shall have experts to implement projects and reports who meet the following requirements:

a) For water resources planning and fundamental investigation, Article 4 and Article 5 hereof shall apply;

b) For projects and reports required in applications of water licenses: Article 6 hereof shall apply.

3. Every expert prescribed in clause 2 of this Article shall:

a) Be a Vietnamese citizen or foreigner having a work permit in Vietnam under the legislation on labor;

b) Acquire a bachelor degree in relevant majors issued by Vietnam or foreign education institutions or higher;

c) Have a job offer decision or employment contract as prescribed by laws. In case of fixed-term employment contracts, the capability profile shall be made at least 06 months prior to the expiration date of the contract.

d) Thoroughly understand technical regulations and standards on water resources.

4. Have specialized machinery which satisfy requirements in Article 8 hereof available. In case the practicing organization does not possess any specialized machinery, specialized machinery shall be leased from other organizations under leasing agreements as stipulated in regulations of laws.

5. Where it is required to complete any requirement before implementing a project or report, the practicing organization shall meet that requirement or hire or cooperate with other satisfactory organizations under leasing agreement or joint agreement.

Article 4. Requirements for experts in practicing organizations

1. Every practicing organization implementing water resources fundamental investigation projects shall:

a) Have at least 05 staff completing specialized training related to seawater and surface water ( hydrology, environmental hydrology and water resources engineering), groundwater ( geology, hydrogeology, drilling engineering, physiogeology and geotechnical engineering), environmental engineering ( environmental science, environmental technology, environmental engineering and environmental management) water resources management and other majors related to water resources. The quantity of personnel shall accord with specific projects.

b) Have at least 03 years of experiences in the field of water resources planning and fundamental investigation or directly take charge of at least 02 projects for water resources planning and fundamental investigation.

2. Every practicing organization implementing water resources planning projects shall:

a) have at least 07 staff completing specialized training related to seawater and surface water ( hydrology, environmental hydrology and water resources engineering), groundwater ( geology, hydrogeology, drilling engineering, physiogeology and geotechnical engineering), environmental engineering ( environmental science, environmental technology, environmental engineering and environmental management) water resources management and other majors related to water resources. The quantity of personnel shall accord with specific projects.

b) Have at least 04 years of experiences in the field of water resources planning and fundamental investigation or directly implement at least 03 projects for water resources planning and fundamental investigation.

Article 5. Requirements for technicians in projects for water resources planning and fundamental investigation

1. Every technician in charge of water resources fundamental investigation projects shall:

a) Major in hydrology, hydrogeology, environmental engineering or water resources engineering;

b) Have at least 05 years of experiences in the field of water resources planning and fundamental investigation or directly implement at least 03 projects for water resources planning and fundamental investigation.

c) Take charge of technique of no more than 03 projects at a time.

2. Every technician in charge of water resources planning projects shall:

a) Major in hydrology, hydrogeology, environmental engineering or water resources engineering;

b) Have at least 07 years of experiences in the field of water resources planning and fundamental investigation or directly implement at least 05 projects for water resources planning and fundamental investigation.

c) Take charge of technique of no more than 02 projects at a time.

Article 6. Requirements for specialists of organizations preparing proposals and reports for application for water licenses

1. The quantity of specialists:

a) For any proposal or report within the authority of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment: at least 03 specialists majoring in fields stipulated in clause 2 of this Article;

b) For any proposal or report within the authority of the People’s Committee of provinces: at least 02 specialists majoring in fields stipulated in clause 2 of this Article.

2. Training majors:

a) For projects and reports on extraction and use of surface water and sea water: majors related to surface water and seawater (hydrology, environmental hydrology and water resources engineering);

b) For projects and reports on extraction and use of groundwater: majors related to groundwater (geology, hydrogeology, geophysiology and drilling engineering);

c) For wastewater discharge: major related to environment (environmental engineering, environmental technology and environmental management).

3. Working experiences:

a) For projects and reports within the authority of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment: Have at least 03 years of experience in the field of water resources and environment or directly prepared at least 03 projects or reports. The technician, particularly, shall have at least 05 years of experience or directly prepare at least 05 projects and reports;

b) For projects and reports within the authority of the People’s Committee of the province: Have at least 02 years of experience in the field of water resources and environment or directly prepared at least 01 project or report. The technician, particularly, shall have at least 03 years of experience or directly prepare at least 03 projects and reports;

4. A technician shall not be allowed to be in charge of more than 03 projects or reports at the same time.

Article 7. Requirements for capabilities of independent consultants

Every independent consultant shall meet requirements stipulated in point a, point b and point d clause 3 Article 3 hereof and the following requirements:

1. The independent consultant’s majors shall be conformable to clause 2 Article 6 hereof.

2. Working experiences:

a) For projects and reports required in applications for water licenses with the authority of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment : at least 20 years of experience or take charge of technical aspects of at least 7 projects and reports.

b) for preparing projects and reports required in applications for water licenses with the authority of the People’s Committee of the province: at least 15 years of experience in water resources and take charge of technical of at least 5 projects and reports.

3. An independent consultant shall only take charge of only 01 project or report at the same time.

Article 8. Requirements for specialized machinery

1. There shall be sufficient and compatible specialized machinery available.

2. It is required to obtain the certificate of quality of any specialized machinery required to undergo quality inspection issued by the competent authority.

3. Drilling machines and other drilling equipment used in groundwater drilling projects shall meet prescribed requirements for occupational safety and shall accord with the project scale.

Article 9.Requirements for practicing entities’ capability profiles

1. Practicing entities shall enclose their capability profile with the applications for water license as stipulated herein.

2. Documents required in a practicing entity’s capability profile:

a) Certified true copies or copies enclosed with the original documents specified in clause 1 Article 3 and documents certifying fulfillment of requirements for carrying out specific tasks ( if required) under clause 5 Article 3 hereof;

b)Lists of specialists and technicians; certified true copies and copies enclosed with the original ( for collation) ID card or passport, training certificates and practicing license ( if any), employment contracts or decision job offer decision; document certifying working experiences as stipulated in Article 4, Article 5 and Article 6 hereof;

c) A list of specialized machinery and documents certifying that the practicing entity meets requirements in Article 8 hereof.

3. Documents required in a capability profile of an independent consultant:

a) Certified true copies or copies enclosed with the original ID card or passport and training certificates for collation;

b) Documents certifying working experience as stipulated in clause 2 Article 7 hereof;

4. Every practicing entity shall submit their capability profile to the competent authority or employer as the basis for selection of qualified practicing entities.

Chapter III

RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPLEMENTATION ORGANIZATIONS

Article 10. Responsibilities of practicing entities

1. Every practicing entity shall:

a) Send a notification of being selected to carry out the fundamental investigation, provision of consulting services in water resources planning to the Department of Water Resources Management Authority and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment where the headquarters is located via email or by post within 30 days from the date of issue of the decision of approval/appointment or signing date of the contract.

The notification shall specify the name and address of the organizations signing the decision or contract; name and address of the entity implementing the project/plan/report; basic description of the project/plan/report (name, objectives, scope and duration) and capability profile of the practicing entity.

b) Allocate qualified staff to carry out required tasks of the project. Any change or adjustment to experts, capability profile and experiences of new staff and reasons for change/adjustment shall be noticed to the designating organization, the Department of Water Resources Management and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment where the practicing entity’s headquarters is located;

c) Be responsible for the reliability of the profile and be liable for consequences in case of any unreliable statement.

2. Every entity applying for water exploration and extraction license and wastewater discharge permit shall:

a) Comply with regulations on qualifications in preparation of projects and report enclosed with the application for water license as stipulated herein. In case the applicant employs another entity to prepare the project, the hired entity shall meet requirements for qualifications stipulated herein;

b) Submit a copy of practicing entity’s capability profile enclosed with the application.

3. The Department of Water Resources management and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of the province shall:

a) Publish and update the list of selected practicing entities on the website after receipt of notification of those entities as stipulated in point a clause 1 of this Article;

b) Request the competent authority to deal with any violations against requirements for qualifications or tackle such violation on their own within the authority; make name of entities violating requirements for qualifications publicly available on the website.

c) Provide training courses in legal knowledge and technical regulations and standards on water resources for practicing entities.

Article 11. Effect

1. This Circular enters into force from November October 2014.

2. Projects for water resources fundamental investigation and planning assigned before the effective date of this Circular shall be continued to be implemented.

3. Applications for water licenses submitted to the State management authorities before the effective date of this Circular will be assessed and may be licensed under regulations of laws.

Article 12. Implementation

1. Every people’s Committee of provinces shall provide instructions on implementation of this Circular in its province.

2. Every Department of Natural Resources and Environment shall assist the People’s Committee of provinces in provision of instructions, examination and inspection of practicing in water resources in the provinces; annually aggregate and submit a status report on compliance with requirements for capabilities for water resources by December 15^th of every year.

3. Every Department of Natural Resources and Environment shall assist the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in provision of instructions, examination and inspection of practicing in water resources in the provinces; annually aggregate and submit a status report on compliance with requirements of qualifications in water resources nationwide.

4. Any issue arising in connection with implementation of this Circular should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. /.