DECISION

APPROVING "THE MASTER PLAN ON NATIONAL NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT MONITORING NETWORK TO 2020"

THE PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the Law on Government organization dated December 25, 2001;

Pursuant to the Law on Environment protection dated November 29, 2005;

Pursuant to the Law on Water Resources dated May 20, 1998;

Pursuant to the Ordinance on Ordinance on utilization and protection of hydro-meteorological works dated December 2, 1994;

At the request of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment,

HEREBY DECIDES:

Article 1. To approve "The master plan of national resources and environment monitoring network to 2020"< (hereinafter referred to as the Master Plan) with the following contents:

I. VIEWPOINTS:

1. The Master Plan should include inheritance, use and maximum promotion of the current technical facilities and monitoring staff; repair, upgrading or new construction of monitoring stations and points must be concentrated, must not be dispersed and be consistent with socio-economic conditions and requirements for natural resources-environment protection, meet the demand for provision of information, data of basic survey in service of sustainable development of Vietnam in each period.

2. The planned monitoring network of national resources and environment must ensure synchronism, advance, modernity, across the territory and have qualified staff for operation. A public service provider shall only be allowed to monitor one element in one certain location and time under a uniform procedure.

3. Monitoring network of national natural resources and environment is an open system, which is constantly supplemented, upgraded and improved to connect and share information thoroughly from central to local government under the uniformed management of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

4. Monitoring technology, machinery and equipment should be gradually modernized based on a wide application of research technology created domestically and accept, master the advanced technologies from foreign countries.

5. Monitoring natural resources and environment to collect and provide basic information, survey data in service of environmental protection and socio-economic development of the country is covered primarily by the State budget. Concurrently, there must be appropriate policies to mobilize other lawful funding sources as prescribed by law

II. OBJECTIVE:

1. General objectives:

Building up the national natural resources and environmental monitoring network must ensure uniformity throughout the country, synchronism, advance and gradual modernity, meet the needs to collect and provide basic information, survey data of environment, water resources, hydro-meteorology, serve effectively the treatment, remedy of environmental pollution, forecast, warn, prevent, alleviate the damage caused by natural disasters rapidly and sustainably develop socio-economic of Vietnam.

2. Specific objectives for each period:

a) Period 2007 - 2010:

- Establish and improve the organizational structure, management and operating apparatus; train monitoring staff to meet the requirements and tasks of the natural resources and national environment monitoring network;

- Supplement and amend uniformly regulations, procedures and standards of monitoring to meet the requirements and tasks of the monitoring of each specific natural resources and environment field;

- Strengthen and gradually modernize the current natural resources and environment monitoring stations; Construct and put into operation of at least 1/3 of stations that are planned to be newly constructed, focus on urgent areas, monitoring elements in natural disaster prevention and environmental protection;

- Construct, strengthen and upgrade centers of information, environmental documentation, water resources, hydro-meteorology; improve capacity and ensure that communication is throughout among monitoring stations, centers of information, environmental documentation; create, manage and utilize effectively the database of natural resources and environment monitoring.

b) Period 2011 - 2015:

Continue to strengthen and modernize the current natural resources and environment monitoring stations; Construct and put into operation at least 1/2 of the remaining stations;

- Upgrade the database of natural resources and environment, ensure that information is throughout, synchronous, systematic and high reliable;

- Continue to train monitoring staff to meet the needs of staff of national natural resources and environment monitoring network.

c) Period 2016 - 2020:

- Complete the construction and put into effective operation of monitoring stations in the Master Plan, ensure logic, uniform, synchronism, modernization of the national natural resources and environment monitoring network;

- Improve competence of the monitoring staff, technicians and administrative officers to meet well operational requirements of national natural resources and environment monitoring networks.

III. SCOPE OF THE PLAN:

The master Plan on national natural resources and environment monitoring network to 2020 is within the scope of the relatively stable and long-term monitoring network, and the monitoring is allowed to combine between the fields of environment, water resources and hydrometeorology.

The specific monitoring stations in service of forecasting, warning of the dangerous natural disasters such as flooding, tsunamis, earthquakes and other natural disasters shall be added, constructed according to each separate project.

IV. BASIC COMPONENTS OF MONITORING NETWORK:

1. Monitoring network of national natural resources and environment is divided into the following specialized networks:

a) The environment monitoring network, including background-level environmental monitoring and impact-level environmental monitoring is constructed based on maintaining and upgrading the current environmental monitoring stations and points and constructing new monitoring stations and points:

- Background-level environmental monitoring network to 2020 consists of 8 points of background air environmental monitoring, 60 points of background river water environmental monitoring, 6 points of background lake water environmental monitoring, 140 points of background ground water environmental monitoring and 12 points of background coastal and sea environmental monitoring;

- Impact-level environmental monitoring network to 2020 consists of 34 monitoring units with modern monitoring facilities and equipment. 58 central-affiliated cities and provinces, industrial zones of air environmental impact monitoring; 64 central-affiliated cities and provinces, industrial zones of continental surface water environmental impact monitoring; 21 central-affiliated cities and provinces of acid rain monitoring; 32 central-affiliated cities and provinces of land environment monitoring.

b) Monitoring network of water resources, including surface water resources monitoring and ground water resources monitoring:

- monitoring network of surface water resources to 2020 consists of 348 stations, including 270 river water quality monitoring stations, 116 lake, river water quality monitoring stations and 1580 rainfall measurement points. These monitoring stations and points have been integrated in the stations and points of the monitoring network of hydrometeorology;

- Monitoring network of groundwater resources is constructed on the basis of maintaining and upgrading current monitoring 39 stations, 286 points and 661 works and constructing more stations and points, increasing the total number to 2020 to 70 monitoring stations, 692 points and 1331 works.

c) Monitoring network of hydrometeorology includes meteorological monitoring, hydrographic monitoring and oceanography and meteorology monitoring:

Meteorological monitoring network is built up on the basis of maintaining and upgrading current 174 surface meteorological stations, 29 agricultural meteorological stations, 19 aerology stations (6 weather radar stations, 3 radiosonde stations, 7 pilot stations, 3 Odon - ultraviolet radiation stations) and 764 rain measurement points, while constructing more stations and points, increasing the total number to 2020 to 231 surface meteorological stations, 79 agriculture meteorology station, 50 aerology stations (15 weather radar stations, 11 radiosonde stations, 11 pilot stations, 4 Odon - ultraviolet radiation stations, 9 lightning positioning stations) and 1,580 rain measurement points;

- hydrographic monitoring network is built up on the basis of maintaining and upgrading current 248 stations and constructing a number of stations, increasing the total number to 2020 to 347 stations.

- Oceanography meteorology monitoring network is built up on the basis of maintaining and upgrading current 17 stations and constructing a number of stations, increasing the total number to 2020 to 35 stations.

2. The list of natural resources and environmental monitoring stations and points and labs is planned based on their priority to be constructed and upgraded in three periods: 2007-2010, 2011-2015 and 2016 - 2020 included in Appendices I, II, III and IV enclosed in this Decision.

V. MAIN SOLUTIONS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLAN:

1. Funds for implementation of the Master Plan:

a) Funding for the implementation the contents of the Master Plan is estimated about 6.500 billion dong. The total funding for the implementation of the Master Plan is determined based on the summary of funding of each specific project, task approved by competent authorities according to current provisions of law;

b) In addition to the state budget, other capital sources from society, enterprises, organizations and individuals at home and abroad, ODA, FDI are mobilized... to effectively invest in the development of national natural resources and environmental monitoring network.

2. Improving policies and laws, strengthening the organization of apparatus:

a) Prepare and issue legislative documents, processes, regulations, economic and technical norms relating to the monitoring, collection, processing, management and provision of information and data of basic survey on natural resources and environment according to uniform standards applicable throughout the country;

b) Strengthen the organization of apparatus, staff; complete functions, tasks and regulations of operation of the units under national natural resources and environment monitoring network;

c) Review, formulate and supplement incentive policies for monitoring and basic survey staff, especially for the monitoring staff in remote, deep-lying areas, border and island regions;

d) Standardize professional for monitoring staff.

3. Increasing investment in building monitoring technical facilities, technological innovation:

a) Increase the construction of monitoring stations and points (repair, renovation, upgrading and new construction), give priority to key economic regions, the stations of network of forecast, warnings of natural disaster and the region of monitoring network above that are not enough;

b) Promote investment in technical facilities, machinery, equipment and modern technologies for the monitoring, communication, processing, management and provision of information, basic survey data of natural resources and environment;

c) Focus on investment and technical facilities for laboratories, analytical centers and training institution of natural resources and environmental monitoring staff.

4. Promoting scientific research, development and application of advanced technologies and enhancing training of human resources:

a) promote scientific research, development and application of advanced technologies, especially technologies of monitoring, communication, processing, management, analyzing, assessment and provision of information and basic survey data of natural resources and environment; research and manufacture automatic monitoring equipment suitable to natural conditions, economic and social conditions of our country;

b) Research and innovate training programs and contents of natural resources and environmental monitoring staff towards selection, quality, ensure the training of versatile knowledge which helps the staff perform many types of monitoring and some of them can be trained to be technicians. Promote retraining to improve professional skills for current officers, technicians and monitoring staff. Focus on improving the practice capacity of the monitoring staff to meet operational requirements of each monitoring station or point and of the entire national network.

5. Expand and promote international cooperation in the field of natural resources and environmental monitoring:

Expand and promote bilateral cooperation and multilateral with foreign countries, organizations and individuals in order to take advantages of help of countries in the world in experience, science-technology, finance, human resources training , information ,attracting investment ... in order to develop rapidly, strongly and firmly the natural resources and environmental monitoring network of our country.

VI. IMPLEMENTATION:

1. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment:

a) Take charge and cooperate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Finance and other Ministries and People's Committees in relevant central-affiliated cities and provinces to formulate the long-term, 5-year and annual detailed plan in order to implement the contents of the Master Plan; construct and operate natural resources and environmental monitoring stations and points under the management of the Ministry;

b) Prepare and request for issuance or issue within their competence legislative documents, processes, regulations, economic and technical norms, professional guidelines on monitoring, collection, processing, integration, management, transmission and provision of information and basic survey data on natural resources and environment applicable throughout the country;

c) Review, amend, supplement and define the functions, tasks and organizational structure for units taking charge of monitoring, basic studies, date and information management of natural resources and environment under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment;

d) Provide information, data of natural resources and environmental monitoring for Ministries, sectors and localities in need, and publicize the information, data in service of improving people's knowledge, education, communication, except for information and data in the list of state secrets;

e) Take charge and cooperate with relevant Ministries, sectors and localities to inspect and periodically preliminarily sum up, summarize and assess to learn from experience of contents of this Master Plan;

e) Annually summarize and report the implementation results to the Prime Minister and petition for resolving arising problems beyond their competence.

2. The Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance:

Based on the approved contents of the Master Plan, based on the proposal of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, relevant Ministries, sectors and localities balance and allocate funds in order to implement the Master Plan on schedule.

3. Relevant Ministries:

a) Cooperate with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to unify and complete professional guidance, procedures, rules and techniques of monitoring, exchange method of information, data of natural resources and environmental monitoring applied to the monitoring stations, points managed by the Ministries;

b) Organize the monitoring of environmental impacts from the operation of the fields managed by the ministries;

c) Submit information, data of natural resources and environmental monitoring collected by the Ministries to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

4. People’s Committee in central-affiliated cities and provinces:

a) Cooperate with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to construct and put into operation of the natural resources and environment monitoring centers in the localities;

b) Organize the monitoring of current environmental conditions in the localities;

c) Report to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on the results of natural resources and environmental monitoring of the stations, points managed by the localities.

Article 2. This Decision takes effect after 15 days from the date of the Official Gazette.

Article 3. The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment shall be responsible for providing guidance and the implementation of contents of this Master Plan.

Ministries, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of Governmental agencies, the Presidents of People’s Committees of central-affiliated cities and provinces shall be responsible for implementation of this Decision./.