In recent times, the Government and the Prime Minister have directed drastically to handle the situation of illegal and unlicensed mineral exploitation.
* Drastically from direction to action
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said that the Government has issued 13 Decrees; The Prime Minister has issued 06 Decisions and 03 Directives of the Prime Minister; The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, ministries and branches have issued 62 Circulars and Joint Circulars. The provisions of the Mineral Law and documents under the Law are strict, transparent and sustainable. This is an important legal basis to strengthen the effectiveness of state management of minerals and rectify mineral activities of organizations and individuals.
Accordingly, the responsibilities of state management agencies in charge of minerals, and the obligations and responsibilities of organizations and individuals engaged in mineral activities in environmental protection and environmental restoration have been specified. in mineral activities.
On March 30, 2015, the Prime Minister issued Directive No. 03/CT-TTg on enhancing the effectiveness of implementing policies and laws on minerals; On September 29, 2020, the Prime Minister issued Directive No. 38/CT-TTg on continuing to strengthen state management of exploration, exploitation, processing, use and mineral export (replacing Notice No. 03/CT-TTg mentioned above).
In the Directives, the Prime Minister has directed relevant ministries, branches and localities to implement many solutions to enhance the effectiveness of state management of minerals, especially inspection and compliance checks. laws on minerals, inspecting the responsibilities of administrative organizations and heads of state management agencies on minerals, strictly handling violations of laws on minerals and environmental protection; Inspect and handle according to regulations facilities that process and use minerals of illegal origin, and processing facilities that have outdated technology, causing serious environmental pollution. In particular, in Directive No. 38/CT-TTg above, the Prime Minister assigned specific tasks to each relevant Ministry, branch and provincial People's Committee to implement the new regulations of the Government. 05 Decrees in the field of minerals have been issued since Directive No. 03/CT-TTg until now.
In the previous term, the Government and Prime Minister repeatedly chaired direct and online conferences with relevant ministries, branches and localities, directly inspecting sand and gravel exploitation in a number of areas. local authorities to thoroughly resolve sand and gravel exploitation, which has negative impacts on the environment and people's lives. Accordingly, the Government and Prime Minister have assigned the Ministry of Public Security to preside over and coordinate with relevant ministries, branches and localities to continue to open a peak crackdown on criminals in illegal sand and gravel mining, assigning tasks Specific services for ministries, branches and localities to overcome this situation.
Implementing the direction of the Government, the Prime Minister, the functional forces of the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade have implemented many measures to fight, detect, arrest, and handle resolute and strict in accordance with the provisions of law for violations of the law in the mineral sector.
Industry levels are drastic in handling illegal mineral exploitation
* Issued many documents to handle illegal mining
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has implemented many synchronous and drastic solutions to handle illegal mineral mining in general and illegal sand and gravel mining in particular.
Accordingly, from 2015 up to now, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has developed and submitted to the Government for promulgation Decree No. 158/2016/ND-CP dated November 29, 2016 detailing the implementation of a number of Articles of the Mineral Law replace Decree No. 15/2012/ND-CP dated March 9, 2012, accordingly, many new contents have been added to strengthen mineral management and enhance the responsibility of businesses. Enterprises, when assigned the right to exploit minerals in association with environmental protection, have more specifically stipulated the responsibility for management and protection of unexploited minerals in Chapter III; Guidance on the content of the Unexploited Mineral Protection Plan; clearly stipulate the responsibilities of the People's Committees at all levels, and clearly stipulate the direct responsibilities of the heads of localities. If illegal mineral exploitation occurs, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee must bear the responsibility. Responsible to the Prime Minister if illegal mineral exploitation occurs or prolonged illegal mining without handling.
Decree No. 36/2020/ND-CP dated March 24, 2020 regulating penalties for administrative violations in the field of water resources and minerals (replacing Decree Nos. 142/2013/ND-CP and 33 /2017/ND-CP, Decree takes effect from May 10, 2020); (3) No. 04/2022/ND-CP dated January 6, 2022 amending and supplementing a number of articles of decrees on sanctioning administrative violations in the fields of land, water resources and minerals; hydrometeorology; surveying and mapping, accordingly, the content of the Decree has added many violations, increased the level of penalties for violations from 2 to 3 times, and has specifically stipulated sanctions for administrative violations in sand and gravel mining activities and has increased the highest penalty level according to regulations to deter organizations and individuals from illegally exploiting minerals, contributing to improving the effectiveness of state management of minerals. On the other hand, the Ministry has implemented many forms of dissemination of laws on minerals; Include in the Ministry's annual inspection and examination plan the content of specialized inspections and examinations to handle acts that cause large losses of minerals and cause serious environmental pollution; Coordinate with localities to capture information, inspect and handle illegal mineral mining activities.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has submitted to the Government to promulgate Decree No. 23/2020/ND-CP dated February 24, 2020 regulating the management of sand and gravel on river beds and the protection of river beds, banks, and beaches (effective). enforcement from April 10, 2020). The content of the Decree more clearly stipulates the responsibilities of the leader if illegal sand and gravel mining occurs; Specific provisions on the coordination responsibilities of localities and waterway police forces for illegal sand and gravel mining, especially in bordering areas between localities. The Decree coming into life will make a very important contribution to improving the effectiveness of state management and rectifying riverbed sand and gravel exploitation and transportation activities.
* Localities have mineral planning
As for localities, currently, most provinces and centrally run cities have established and approved mineral planning, including riverbed sand and gravel; issued many Directives and documents directing administration, approving plans or plans for mineral protection, and stipulating the responsibilities of district and commune-level People's Committees in mineral management in the area. Particularly for sand and river-bed gravel minerals, in addition to implementing inspection and examination work, many provinces have issued coordination regulations between departments and branches; promulgate regulations to coordinate the management of sand and gravel minerals in riverbeds in bordering areas, river basins... and simultaneously implement many measures such as strictly managing yards, establishing hotlines, and strictly prohibiting illegal mining. Buying and selling sand and gravel of illegal origin. To date, provinces and cities across the country have issued 52 regulations on river bed sand and gravel management in bordering areas, with 652 wharfs and construction material gathering yards licensed to operate.
According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, to better implement mineral protection in the coming time, relevant ministries and branches need to urgently organize the full implementation of responsibilities and content of tasks specifically stipulated in Decree No. 23/2020/ND-CP mentioned above; Strictly implement Directive No. 38/CT-TTg and directions of the Government and Prime Minister, accordingly, localities issue and strictly implement their commitments on the Regulation on coordination in management and handling of violations. laws on minerals (especially sand and river gravel) in bordering areas; Resolutely handle local leaders if illegal sand and gravel mining activities occur, causing public anger; Strictly handle organizations and individuals that violate according to the provisions of Decree No. 36/2020/ND-CP dated March 24, 2020 of the Government stipulating penalties for administrative violations in the field of natural resources water and minerals; No. 04/2022/ND-CP dated January 6, 2022 amending and supplementing a number of articles of decrees on sanctioning administrative violations in the fields of land, water resources and minerals; hydrometeorology; cartography.
The People's Committees of provinces and centrally run cities continue to review and rectify exploration and exploitation activities of sand and gravel in riverbeds and sand recovery from dredging and channel clearance projects in the area. ; License to open wharves, storage yards, and trade sand and gravel on the basis of planning approved by competent authorities according to regulations; Resolutely deal with illegal sand and gravel trading yards and take measures to prevent recurrence. Promoting the supervisory role of the people and the community towards the government and businesses; of higher-level authorities towards lower-level authorities; Strengthen supervision of the exploitation process of enterprises in accordance with the License and relevant legal regulations, especially in places where there is a risk of landslides.
Source: Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
