Decision 12/2021/QD-TTg Regulation on oil spill response

DECISION

On promulgation of the Regulation on oil spill response

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated June 19, 2015; the Law on Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Organization of the Government and the Law on Organization of Local Administration dated November 22, 2019;

Pursuant to the Law on Inland Waterway Navigation dated June 15, 2004; the Law on Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Inland Waterway Navigation dated June 17, 2014;

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

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

Pursuant to the Law of the Sea of Vietnam dated June 21, 2012;

Pursuant to the Vietnam Maritime Code dated November 25, 2015;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 30/2017/ND-CP dated March 21, 2017 on regulations on response to emergency, acts of god and search and rescue;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 02/2019/ND-CP dated January 2, 2019 on civil defense;

At the proposal of the Minister of National Defence in Document No. 665/TTr-BQP dated March 12, 2021;

The Prime Minister hereby issues the Decision on promulgation of the Regulation on oil spill response.

Article 1. To promulgate together with this Decision the Regulation on oil spill response.

Article 2. This Decision takes effect from May 10, 2021, and replaces the Prime Minister's Decision No. 02/2013/QD-TTg dated January 14, 2013, providing the Regulation on oil spill response, the Prime Minister's Decision No. 63/2014/QD-TTg dated November 11, 2014, amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Regulation on oil spill response attached to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 02/2013/QD-TTg dated January 14, 2013.

Article 3. The National Committee for Search and Rescue of Vietnam (Vinasarcom), Ministers, Heads of Ministerial-level agencies, Heads of Government-attached agencies, and Chairpersons of People’s Committees of centrally-run cities and provinces, shall implement this Decision./.

REGULATION

On oil spill response
(Attached to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 12/2021/QD-TTg dated March 24, 2021)

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

The Regulation provides contents and responsibilities of organizations and individuals for preparation and organization of response, recovery and settlement of consequences of oil spills on the territory and waters of Vietnam.

Article 2. Subjects of application

The Regulation applies to domestic and foreign organizations and individuals that directly or indirectly cause oil spills and carry out oil spill response activities within the territory and waters of Vietnam.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

In this Regulation, the terms below are construed as follows:

1. Oil, including:

a) Crude oil means oil from unprocessed mines, liquid hydrocarbons in the natural state, asphalt, ozokerite and liquid hydrocarbons obtained from natural gas by condensation or extraction;

b) Finished oil is processed petroleum such as petrol and oil, kerosene, diesel, aviation fuel, fuel, oils, lubricants, preservatives and products for processing. petrol and oil, oil, grease.

2. Oil spills are the phenomenon of oil escaping into the natural environment from various storage and transportation vehicles, works and oil fields due to technical incidents, natural disasters or human causes.

3. Particularly serious oil spill means oil spill occurring with oil spilt over in great volumes, on vast areas, relating to many provinces, cities, thus seriously threatening the lives, properties and the environment, livelihoods and health of the People.

4. Oil spill response means activities involving the use of forces, means, equipment with a view to handling in time, eliminating or minimizing sources of oil spilt over into the environment.

5. Oil spill consequence-redressing means activities aiming to clean land, water, ecological system in areas contaminated with oils and measures to restrict damage, restore the ecology and environment after oil spills.

6. Oil spill response activities mean all activities from preparation, response, mitigation and remedy for consequences of an oil spill.

7. Oil spill response plan means an estimate of risks and incident situations where oil spills are likely to occur, along with response plans in those expected situations, and training and exercise programs to ensure the readiness of resources to promptly respond when an oil spill actually occurs.

8. Oil spill scene means a site where activities to prevent, respond to, and overcome the consequences of oil spills are carried out.

9. Site commanders mean persons assigned or designated to directly command all responding activities at oil spilt sites. The powers and responsibilities of site commanders shall be specified in the oil spill response plan of each facility, locality or unit.

10. Facilities mean agencies, units, individuals whose activities involve exploiting, transporting, transferring, and using petrol and oil that cause or have the risk of causing oil spills.

11. Facility owner means the head of an agency or unit who takes full legal responsibility for operations of his/her facility.

12. Agency in charge of oil spill response means an agency that organizes oil spill response activities.

13. Oil spill response unit (hereinafter referred to as response unit) means an organization that has oil spill response equipment and professionally educated and trained human resources to carry out oil spill response activities.

14. Project means a project of construction of work, facility or port at risk of causing an oil spill.

15. Area with protection priority means an area with high environmental or socio-economic sensitivity that needs to be protected when an oil spill occurs, including mangroves, coral reefs, ecological conservation areas, biosphere reserves, domestic and industrial sources of water, classified historical relics, tourist, concentrated aquaculture zones.

16. Restricted area means an area established by coordinates on a chart at sea or by specific boundaries on shore or coastal areas to warn and limit travel in the area in order to ensure safety when conducting rescue and response to oil spills.

17. Party causing oil spill pollution means any organization or individual that causes an oil spill resulting in environmental pollution.

18. National focal point for oil spill incidents (abbreviated as the National Focal Point) is the Vinasarcom (the Office of the Vinasarcom acts as the standing body) responsible for the receiving, transmitting and processing of emergency reports on incidents related to petrol and oil within the territory and territorial waters of Vietnam.

19. DWT means the deadweight tonnage of the ship, the maximum allowable carrying capacity of the ship, which is calculated in tons.

20. GT means the gross tonnage, a measurement of the capacity of all enclosed spaces on the ship including the volume of the funnel.

Article 4. Principles in oil spill response

1. Actively making plans, investing in equipment and contract plans to get ready to respond when an oil spill occurs.

2. Organizing timely receipt and processing of oil spill information, prioritizing ensuring information for response activities, and promptly reporting to competent authorities when beyond the competence.

3. Coordinating and mobilizing all resources to improve the effectiveness of oil spill preparedness and response, prioritizing activities to save victims and protect the environment.

4. Actively responding near the source of oil spills to prevent and limit oil from being spilled into the environment. Closely monitoring the risk of oil spill spreading to the shoreline to determine priorities and take measures to protect areas with protection priority.

5. Ensuring fire safety and prevention during response.

6. Conducting unified command, coordination, and close coordination of forces, vessels, and equipment participating in response activities.

7. The party causing oil spill pollution shall take responsibility for compensating for damage caused by oil spills in accordance with law.

Article 5. Decentralization of oil spill response

Based on the extent of the oil spill, the organization and implementation of response shall be carried out at 3 levels as follows:

1. Local level

a) Oil spills occur in locality: Facility owners shall organize and command their own forces, vessels, and equipment or the forces, vessels, and equipment in the oil spill response contract for timely response. The facility owners where the oil spills occur shall take responsibility for commanding the scene;

b) In case an oil spill is beyond the competence and on-site resources are not enough to respond on their own, the facility must promptly report to the managing agency and the Provincial-level People’s Committee or centrally-run city (herein collectively referred to as provincial-level People's Committee) for assistance;

c) If a serious oil spill occurs or an oil spill occurs in an area with protection priority, the head of agency who is the site commander shall report to the provincial-level People’s Committee where the oil spill occurs and the Vinasarcom for timely direction and response.

2. Regional level

a) If an oil spill occurs beyond the facility's response capacity or an oil spill occurs due to unknown causes at localities, the Provincial-level People’s Committee where the oil spill occurs shall directly assume the prime responsibility and appoint a site commander to organize response activities according to the local plan, and at the same time, is allowed to urgently mobilize necessary resources from local facilities, ministries and sectors in areas, and the regional oil spill response center for response;

b) The focal point assisting the provincial-level People’s Committee in organizing oil spill response is the provincial-level Steering Committee for Search and Rescue.

3. National level

a) If a particularly serious oil spill is beyond the local authority’s competence, the Provincial-level People’s Committee where the oil spill occurs shall timely send a report to the Vinasarcom for direction ad coordination with relevant agencies in response organization;

b) In case an oil spill is beyond the response capacity of domestic forces, the Vinasarcom shall propose the Prime Minister for consideration and decision on request for international support;

During the organization of response to oil spill incidents at the above-mentioned levels, agencies in charge of oil spill response or site commanders shall actively address and promptly report on incidents, give necessary proposals to relevant competent authorities and take responsibility for their decisions.

Article 6. Classification of oil spill incidents

1. An oil spill is classified according to the amount of oil spilled at 3 levels from small, medium to large. To be specific:

a) A small oil spill (small level) is an oil spill with an amount of oil spill of less than 20 m³ (tons);

b) Average oil spill (medium level) is an oil spill with an amount of oil spilled from 20 m³ (tons) to 500 m³ (tons);

c) A major oil spill (major level) is an oil spill with an amount of oil spill greater than 500 m³ (tons).

2. Classifying the level of oil spills aims to develop a response plan and determine the level of investment in equipment and resources to prepare and respond promptly to different response levels.

Chapter II

PREPAREDNESS FOR OIL SPILL RESPONSE

Article 7. Development, review and approval of oil spill response plans at all levels

1. The Vinasarcom shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with ministries, ministerial-level agencies and localities in, developing the National Oil Spill Response Plan and submitting it to the Prime Minister for approval, and take responsibility for presiding and organizing the implementation of the plan; guide localities and facilities to develop oil spill response plans (using the forms provided in Appendices I and II to the Regulation).

2. Provincial-level People’s Committee shall develop local oil spill response plans and submit to the Vinasarcom for appraisal and approval. Local oil spill response plans shall be updated on an annual basis and re-submitted for approval every 5 years.

3. Local ports, facilities, and projects shall make oil spill response plans and submit them to the Provincial-level People's Committee for appraisal and approval. When there are changes in conditions leading to changes in plan content, additional updates and annual updates must be made; when there are major changes that increase the capacity scale beyond the response capacity compared to the options in the plan, the plan must be re-made and submitted to the competent authority for approval.

4. Offshore oil and gas facilities and projects shall develop oil spill response plans, report to the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group for appraisal, and submit to the Vinasarcom for approval and notification to the People's Committee of provinces at risk of being affected when incidents occur at facilities or projects.

5. For petrol and oil warehouses and depots with a total reserve volume of volume of 50,000 m³ or more, and petrol and oil ports capable of receiving ships with a tonnage of 50,000 DWT or more, oil spill response plans shall be developed and reported to the managing agencies for approval (for petrol and oil depots attached to petrol and oil ports, a general oil spill response plan for such depots and ports shall be developed) and reported to the Vinasarcom for approval.

6. For local ports, petrol and oil depots, warehouses or storage facilities, each of which has a total reserve volume of less than 50,000 m³, petrol and oil ports capable of receiving the ship of less than 50,000 DWT shall develop oil spill response plans, report to managing agencies for appraisal (Petrol and oil warehouses attached to petrol ports shall develop a general oil spill response plan for both the warehouse and ports) and submit them to the provincial-level People’s Committees for approval.

7. For petrol and oil trading facilities at small risk of oil spills on land, in rivers or at sea, oil spill response plans shall be developed and submitted to the district-level People's Committees for approval or managing agencies for appraisal and approval according to regulations (for those not under the management of the district-level People's Committees). Such plans must be notified to the district-level People’s Committees for their cooperation in implementation.

8. Regional oil spill response centers shall develop plans and schemes for requisitioning means, equipment and supplies to get ready to respond to oil spills in the areas within their assignment and submit to the Vinasarcom for appraisal and approval.

9. Oil tankers flying the flag of Vietnam, with a total tonnage of 150 GT or more each, other ships other than oil tankers, with a total tonnage of 400 GT or more each, must have their oil pollution response plans approved by competent agencies of the Ministry of Transport; oil tankers flying the flag of Vietnam, with a total tonnage of 150 GT or more each, engaged in the transshipment of oil between ships at sea have plans for oil transshipment between ships at sea approved by competent agencies of the Ministry of Transport.

Article 8. Period of appraisal and approval of oil spill response plans

1. Organizations and individuals must send dossier of requests for appraisal and approval of oil spill response plans directly or by post or via other appropriate means to competent agencies.

2. A dossier of request for appraisal and approval of an oil spill response plan must comprise:

a) Written request for appraisal and approval of the oil spill response plan;

b) Oil spill response plan made according to the form provided in Appendices I and II to this Decision.

3. Period of appraisal and approval of an oil spill response plan

a) For a plan approved by the Vinasarcom, within 30 business days (excluding holidays) from the date of receiving a complete and valid dossier, the Vinasarcom shall take responsibility for appraising and issuing the decision on approval of the oil spill response plan;

b) For the plan approved by the provincial-level People’s Committee, within 20 business days (excluding holidays) from the date of receiving a complete and valid dossier, the provincial-level People’s Committee shall take responsibility for appraising and issuing the decision on approval of the oil spill response plan;

c) For the plan approved by the district-level People’s Committee, within 15 business days (excluding holidays) from the date of receiving a complete and valid dossier, the district-level People's Committee shall take responsibility for appraising and issuing the decision on approval of the oil spill response plan.

4. Oil spill response plans prescribed in Clause 1 through Clause 8 of Article 7 of this Decision, that have been approved by competent authorities must be notified to relevant agencies, units and localities for coordination in implementation according to the functions, tasks and responsibilities specified in the plans.

Article 9. Setting up oil spill response forces at all levels

1. The Vinasarcom shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with ministries, ministerial-level agencies and localities in, designing programs and organizing training, practice and drills to improve effectiveness in cooperation in responding to and mitigating consequences of the oil spill incident at national level in Vietnam.

2. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Ministry of Transport shall develop and organize specialized training courses on oil spill response and consequence remediation for regional and national levels.

3. Provincial-level People's Committees shall take responsibility for designing and organizing training courses, drills and exercises to improve the effectiveness of responding to and mitigating consequences of oil spills occurring in localities.

4. Regional oil spill response centers and oil spill response units shall ensure that their officers and employees are professionally trained and drilled for emergency response activities in case of any incident. A regional oil spill response center may provide training and drilling sessions according to the plan approved by the Vinasarcom.

5. Facilities, ports shall invest or enter into contracts for oil spill response with facilities that have response vehicles and equipment or with the Regional Oil Spill Response Center at a level corresponding to the ability oil spills may occur in the area of responsibility, promptly mobilize vehicles, equipment and supplies to deploy response activities when an oil spill of less than 20 tons occurs, and must deploy oil containment within 02 hours; over 20 tons to under 500 tons, deploy oil containment within 24 hours; from 500 tons or more deployed to the scene within 48 hours. Be ready to mobilize vehicles, equipment and supplies to participate in coordinating response and overcoming oil spills at the request of competent authorities.

Article 10. Financial assurance for oil pollution compensation

1. Owners of Vietnamese ships and foreign-flagged ships transporting more than 2,000 tons of crude must have certificates of insurance or financial assurance for civil liability for damage inflicted by oil pollution in accordance with the 1992 CLC Convention.

2. Owners of Vietnamese ships and foreign-flagged ships with more than 1,000 GT under way on the international route must have certificates of insurance or financial assurance for civil liability for damage caused by fuel oil pollution in accordance with the 2001 Bunker Convention.

Article 11. Organization of implementation of oil spill response plans at all levels

1. The Vinasarcom shall assume the prime responsibility for and coordinate with relevant ministries, central and localities in implementing the National Oil Spill Response Plan and examining the implementation of oil spill response plans under their approval competence.

2. Provincial-level People's Committees shall implement approved oil spill response plans and inspect the implementation of oil spill response plans of facilities and projects under the management.

3. The Vietnam Oil and Gas Group shall coordinate with competent authorities in inspecting the implementation of oil spill response plans of offshore oil and gas facilities and projects under the competence.

4. Regional oil spill response centers shall implement approved oil spill response plans and coordinate with local competent agencies to inspect the implementation of their oil spill response plans of local facilities under the management.

5. Facilities shall implement approved oil spill response plans.

6. Maritime Administrations, Inland Waterway Port Authorities and other inland waterway agencies shall take responsibility for inspecting and supervising the implementation of oil spill response plans at ports and ships under way within port waters and on inland waterways under the management.

7. Ships shall implement approved oil spill response plans.

Article 12. Organization of monitoring oil spill incidents

1. Monitoring and detecting the risk of oil spill and receiving information on oil spills shall be carried out through the following activities: direct monitoring at ships, ports and facilities; monitoring of patrol and security forces on land, river, sea and by aircraft; monitoring through environmental monitoring systems, oceanographic radar system and remote sensing system; receipt of information on oil spills provided by organizations and individuals.

2. All active ports and facilities must closely monitor activities with high risk of oil spills occurring under the management to promptly implement appropriate response measures.

3. Oil tankers carrying out transshipment or side-to-side transfer to other ships in Vietnamese waters must notify the plan of transshipment or side-to-side transfer at least 48 hours in advance to the nearest National Focal Point or Port Authority in terms of the time, location and the volume of oil to be transshipped or transferred side to side according to regulations so that competent authorities can monitor and take timely response measures in case of an oil spill occurring. Transshipment and side-to-side transfer shall be allowed only after obtaining the consent from the National Focal Point or the Port Authority.

Chapter III

ORRGANIZATION OF OIL SPILL RESPONSE ACTIVITIES

Section 1. COORDINATION IN COMMUNICATION OF INFORMATION ON OIL SPILL RESPONSE

Article 13. Points of contact for reporting oil spill incidents

1. Organizations and individuals that cause or detect an oil spill incident shall have the responsibility to promptly report it to one of the following agencies:

a) National Focal Point for oil spills at sea;

b) Nearest port authorities;

c) Regional oil spill response centers;

d) Regional Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center (in case of requesting rescue or salvage at sea);

dd) Vietnam’s coastal radio stations used for relaying information to agencies in charge of oil spill response or rescue and emergency response agencies;

e) Provincial-level Departments of Natural Resources and Environment;

g) Nearest local authorities;

h) Permanent agencies for search and rescue of relevant ministries, ministerial-level authorities and localities.

2. When detecting oil slick drift at sea, aircraft shall report to the air traffic service provider or search and rescue service provider to relay information to the competent agency as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article.

3. In addition to the above focal points, once an oil spill occurs or is detected, it can be reported to the Navy, Border and Coast Guard, Water Police for processing or forwarding of information to the agency in charge of oil spill response.

4. Processing oil spill information and reports.

Upon receipt of information or reports related to an oil spill, the agency in charge of oil spill response must:

a) Evaluate the accuracy of the information on the incident;

b) Make a preliminary assessment of the nature, extent, degree and possible consequences of an oil spill incident;

c) Carry out emergency response plans and measures;

d) Notify relevant agencies and units about measures and plans for emergency response collaboration, and sign or decide on response activities;

dd) Notify agencies, units and populace in the areas affected or potentially affected by an oil spill of this incident in order for them to proactively respond to and mitigate the consequences;

e) Report to competent authorities on how information is processed and specific measures to coordinate on response, suggestions and recommendations.

Article 14. Reporting in oil spill response and remediation

1. In the process of responding to and recovering from an oil spill, the Vinasarcom, ministries, ministerial-level agencies and localities must regularly report on issues falling according to decentralization.

2. Oil spill reporting must be continued without stop from the time of oil spill detection to the end of oil spill response activities, including:

a) The preliminary incident report: made when detecting an oil spill;

b) The follow-up incident report: made on a daily basis during the oil spill response process;

c) The final incident report: made after all response activities are completed;

d) The comprehensive incident report: made to aggregate oil spill response activities from the time of detection to the end of these activities.

3. Each report must contain the following information:

a) Time of occurrence or detection of the incident;

b) Location and coordinates of the incident (if any);

c) Type of oil;

d) Estimation of weight and speed of movement of spilled oil;

dd) Weather condition (e.g. wave, wind, currents, etc.);

e) Response preparation and proposed plans for implementation of response actions;

g) Demands and requests for help, rescue and response to the oil spill incident.

Section 2. LOCAL OIL SPILL RESPONSE

Article 15. Response to oil spills caused by ships at sea

1. If a ship’s accident or incident causes an oil spill involving rescue of casualties, ships in distress and response to oil spills, organizing oil spill response and rescue activities falls into the following situations:

a) Regional oil spill response centers or marine rescue units shall perform oil spill response service contracts at the request of the ship master, owner or his/her representative or agent;

b) Regional Oil Spill Response Center shall coordinate with Regional Maritime Search and Rescue Cooperation Center to simultaneously conduct rescue of casualties and ships in distress;

c) Regional oil spill response centers or marine rescue units shall take responsibility for cooperating when being mobilized by the Vinasarcom or the People's Committee to participate in response activities.

2. If only marine rescue units participate in offshore response operations, the one that has more capacity and experience in responding may be appointed by the competent authority as a site commander. Regional oil spill response centers shall act as site commanders if they are mobilized to participate in response activities.

3. Maritime administrations shall take urgent actions to dispatch ships and equipment to participate in oil spill rescue and response activities and coordinate with relevant agencies to monitor activities involved in rescue of casualties and ships in distress at sea.

4. If any oil spill is caused by multiple ships, these ships must work together to mitigate the consequences and must comply with the orders of the port authority or maritime administration and the site commander.

5. If the oil spill poses the risk of getting close to the shore, the site commander shall immediately report to the Vinasarcom, the People's Committee of the coastal province that is likely to be affected by that oil spill to organize the monitoring of and preparation for response activities.

6. Regarding a particularly serious oil spill, if it is unlikely to cover the entire incident scene, the site commander and the agency in charge of oil spill response must promptly report to the Vinasarcom to call for support for oil spill monitoring in other forms, such as radar, remote sensing technology or aerial surveillance, broadcasting of marine notifications requesting provision of information.

7. Maritime administrations and related agencies must enable ships to participate in rescue and response activities quickly when there is a dispatch order from the competent authority or there is any request for rescue and response activities involved in oil spills.

8. It is possible to temporarily seize the collected oil for reuse and seize the ship causing the oil spill to request compensation.

9. The ship owner and the insurer providing insurance for the owner of the ship causing pollution shall be requested to take urgent action to pay compensation according to the prescribed limit of civil liability.

10. Site commanders and agencies and units in charge of response activities shall implement regulations on communication and report to the Vinasarcom for their direction and support when necessary.

Article 16. Local oil spill response occurring at facilities or projects

1. Facilities must develop emergency plans to respond to oil spills and organize forces to ensure timely and effective prevention of and response to oil spills at the level corresponding to the possibility of oil spills caused by facilities.

2. In the case of limited resources and capabilities, facilities shall contract with units capable of responding to oil spills in the area or with the Regional Oil Spill Response Center to assist in response activities when any oil spill may occur.

3. Facilities must fully conform to the requirements and instructions of the Provincial-level Departments of Natural Resources and Environment and other competent agencies in order to prevent or minimize damage caused by oil pollution as quickly as possible.

4. In case of deeming that the facility responds ineffectively or the oil spill is likely to cause serious consequences, the provincial-level People’s Committee shall directly take up the position as or appoint a site commander to organize response activities.

5. When an oil spill occurs beyond its capacity, the facility shall report to the Provincial-level People’s Committee where an oil spill occurs and implement the response plan according to the emergency plan to respond to the oil spill of the province or the provincial-level People’s Committee directly leading the plan, and appoint a site commander to organize response activities.

Article 17. Response to oil spill incidents occurring in ports and harbors

1. Ports and harbors shall develop and immediately implement emergency response plans to mobilize resources to respond to oil spills.

2. In the event that an oil spill exceeds the port's capacity, a contract to participate in the incident response with facilities having responding capacity or with the Regional Oil Spill Response Center must be made.

3. The port authority shall coordinate with relevant local agencies in monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of oil spill remediation.

4. In case of deeming that the port or harbor responds ineffectively or the oil spill is likely to cause more serious consequences, the port authority shall promptly report to the provincial-level People’s Committee to directly take their orders for response actions to be taken.

5. The port authority may impound and preserve the collected oil for reuse or as a preventive measure to ensure compensation for damage caused by the oil spill. The transfer of the collected oil shall be based on the received compensation amount or the compensation commitment with the ship owner.

6. If a ship owner causing the oil spill is unable to guarantee compensation, the Director of the port authority, competent authorities or emergency response forces shall request the jurisdictional Court to make a decision on impoundment of the ship to ensure compensation for response costs, damage and losses caused by oil spills.

7. The response to oil spills in military ports and inland waterway areas shall also be governed by the provisions of this Article.

8. Military ships and official ships that cause oil spills shall not be governed by the provisions of Clause 5 and 6 of this Article.

Section 3. REGIONAL OIL SPILL RESPONSE

Article 18. Local oil spill response

1. The Provincial-level People’s Committee where an oil spill occurs shall take responsibility for directly leading response activities, and appoint a site commander to organize response activities according to the provincial emergency response plan.

2. Based on the developments of the oil spill, the provincial-level People’s Committee shall appoint the site commander and urgently mobilize necessary resources from facilities, ministries and regulatory authorities under the management.

3. In case an oil spill occurring in a province poses the risk of spreading or spreads to ​​another province, the Provincial-level People’s Committee where the oil spill occurs shall proactively notify the People's Committees of the affected provinces and cities to coordinate in response activities and, at the same time, reporting to the Vinasarcom to prepare support plans when necessary.

Article 19. Duties of local competent authorities

1. The Steering Committee for Search and Rescue at the provincial level shall lead oil spill response activities according to the province's emergency response plan to mobilize forces and means from central and localities located within the province.

2. Provincial-level Departments of Natural Resources and Environment shall give counsels on and provide manuals for implementation of environmental protection activities involved in the environmental remediation and clean-up of shorelines, post-collection waste management; implementation of plans to protect sensitive areas; shall investigate, measure environmental damage and formulate environmental remediation programs after each oil spill; shall coordinate with relevant authorities to determine the causes of the oil spill.

3. Port authorities shall give counsels on maritime safety assurance and water transport matters during the process of mobilizing ships and means for participation in response to oil spills occurring within the area.

4. Relevant localities and central and local military forces, water police, fire prevention and fighting police, environmental crime prevention police garrisoned within the local area shall give counsels on mobilizing forces to participate in response and consequence mitigation activities.

5. The Regional Oil Spill Response Center, Maritime Search and Rescue Cooperation Center, other oil spill rescue and response units participating in the emergency plan of the province shall take responsibility for carrying out coordinated rescue and response operations when being mobilized.

Section 4. RESPONSE TO NATIONAL OIL SPILL INCIDENTS

Article 20. Response to oil spill incidents occurring beyond the regional-level capacity

1. In case an oil spill occurs beyond the competence of the regional-level response, occurs on a large inter-regional scale, or is specially serious, the Vinasarcom shall directly give orders for response activities according to the National Oil Spill Response Plan.

2. Duties to response to particularly serious oil spills shall be assigned, depending on marine response areas and the localities where oil spills occur.

a) Provincial-level People’s Committees shall directly take responsibility for local oil spill response activities;

b) The Vinasarcom shall appoint one or more site commanders at sea to respond in each area, depending on the specific situations and developments of the oil spill;

c) The Vinasarcom shall directly give orders for activities of responding to particularly serious oil spills.

Article 21. International cooperation on response to oil spills occurring in Vietnam

1. If an oil spill occurs beyond the response capacity of domestic forces, the Vinasarcom in conjunction with ministries and ministerial-level agencies shall report to the Prime Minister to seek his permission to call for aid or assistance from foreign emergency response forces.

2. The Vinasarcom acting as the agency in charge of oil spill response shall agree with other relevant agencies on requirements concerning aid and assistance in response activities.

3. Cooperation on response to oil spills occurring in Vietnam shall be subject to agreements on emergency response support requirements between parties.

4. Granting permission for and cooperating in response to oil spills shall be subject to regulations on granting permission and cooperating in response activities with foreign emergency response forces in Vietnam.

Article 22. Assisting other countries in responding to oil spill incidents

1. For countries that have signed bilateral or multilateral treaties with Vietnam on response to oil spills, the provisions of these treaties shall apply.

2. For other countries, based on Vietnam's request for assistance and responsiveness, support agreements with national agencies in charge of oil spill response of the requesting countries must be concluded.

3. Oil spill response units shall take responsibility for regularly keeping in contact with, reporting to the Vinasarcom on the situation, and providing adequate documentary evidence of payment and settlement.

Section 5. SEVERAL OTHER OPERATIONS INVOLVED IN OIL SPILL RESPONSE

Article 23. Notification of restricted areas

1. In order to facilitate incident rescue, salvage and response, the agency in charge of oil spill response may establish a restricted area to prioritize rescue, salvage and response operations.

2. Provincial-level People’s Committees shall consider issuing decisions on identification and notification of local restricted areas intended for oil spill rescue, salvage and response activities at the agency in charge of oil spill response’s request.

Article 24. Use of dispersants and biological products in oil spill response activities

1. Only oil spill dispersants and biological products registered and authorized by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment may be used.

2. Oil spill dispersants may be used at sea only after judging that other methods for recovery of the spilled oil are inappropriate.

3. Using dispersants in internal waters, estuaries and coastal areas with a depth of less than 20 m or less than 01 nautical mile off the shore shall be prohibited.

4. Spilled oil dispersants and biological products may be used provided that they do not exceed the permissible amounts and comply with the procedures and instructions for use adopted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

5. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall take responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Science and Technology in, introducing the List of dispersants permitted for use at sea in Vietnam and adopting instructions about the procedures for using dispersants in response to oil spills at sea.

Article 25. Coordinate in using aircraft in response to oil spill incidents

1. The site commander or the agency in charge of oil spill response shall report to the Vinasarcom to mobilize aircraft to participate in observation and monitoring activities at the oil spill scene, and scatter oil spill dispersants and absorbents.

2. Aircraft participating in observation, monitoring and scattering of dispersants shall notify the results of observation, monitoring and scattering at the incident scene to the air traffic service provider for transfer to the site commander or the agency in charge of oil spill response.

3. Activities of involving aircraft in oil spill response activities shall be subject to the Regulations on cooperation in marine search and rescue and other relevant regulations.

Article 26. Cooperation in fire and explosion safety in response to oil spills

1. Response to oil spills must conform to fire and explosion safety regulations.

2. Fire control authorities shall advise localities on fire and explosion prevention and control measures in oil spill response activities.

3. Commanders of fire safety forces while on duty at the incident scene shall directly command fire and explosion prevention and fighting activities involved in response to oil spills.

Article 27. Temporary suspension and termination of oil spill response activities

1. Decisions on temporary suspension of oil spill response activities can be made when an unsafe situation, ongoing accidents or serious incidents may occur, or response activities are proven ineffective.

2. Decisions on close monitoring and observation of developments of the oil spill can be made as a basis to take further action as conditions permit.

3. Decisions on continued response activities can be made when the unsafe situation is eliminated, or response activities have been proven effective.

4. Decisions on termination of oil spill response activities can be made when the spilled oil is cleaned up, or the continued response activities at the scene have been proven ineffective.

5. Depending on specific circumstances, decisions on temporary suspension of or continuation in or termination of response activities at one or multiple areas or the entire response strategy can be made.

Chapter IV

OIL SPILL REMEDIATION AND CONSEQUENCE MITIGATION

Section 1. OIL SPILL INVESTIGATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF CAUSES OF OIL SPILLS

Article 28. Oil spill investigation, identification of causes of oil spills

1. If any facility causes an oil spill under the management of any specialized regulatory authority, that authority must lead or coordinate with concerned agencies in investigation activities.

2. The investigation into facilities and projects causing oil spills under the local management shall be conducted by the provincial-level People’s Committees.

3. During the investigation process, in case of detecting any act constituting a crime, the investigating police agency must be reported for cooperation in investigation. If the investigating police agency requests the transfer of records, documents and material evidence related to an accident or incident causing an oil spill, they must be scanned or photocopied for specialized investigation activities; the transfer of records, documents and material evidence must be documented in the form of handover minutes according to regulations.

4. A comprehensive report on investigation and identification of causes of an oil spill must be sent to the Vinasarcom, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and relevant localities. If necessary, the Vinasarcom and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment may request the agency in charge of the investigation to provide documents and reports during the investigation process.

Article 29. Investigation, identification of causes of oil spills in certain particular circumstances

1. Directors of Maritime Administrations shall assume the prime responsibility for and coordinate with competent local regulatory authorities in carrying out the investigation and identification of the causes of oil spill accidents and incidents caused by ships in seaport waters and waters of Vietnam.

2. Inland waterway authorities in conjunction with Provincial-level Departments of Natural Resources and Environment and other competent authorities shall investigate and identify the causes of oil spill accidents and incidents caused by ships in internal waters.

3. Investigating and identifying the causes of oil spill accidents and incidents at facilities under the management of any ministry or branch, specialized agencies or inspectors of that ministry or branch shall assume the prime responsibility for and coordinate with concerned agencies in implementation of these tasks.

4. Investigating and identifying the causes of oil spill accidents and incidents due to unknown causes fall under the provincial responsibility, Provincial-level Departments of Natural Resources and Environment shall assume the prime responsibility for and coordinate with concerned local agencies in giving counsels to provincial-level People’s Committees on implementation of these tasks.

5. If an oil spill is caused due to unknown causes and occurs on a large area in many provinces, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall assume the prime responsibility for and coordinate with relevant ministries and central authorities in investigating and identifying the causes of that oil spill.

6. If an oil spill causes extremely serious consequences, the Vinasarcom shall assume the prime responsibility for and coordinate with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, relevant ministries and central authorities in directing investigation and determination of the causes of oil spill.

Article 30. Temporary detention of ships for investigation and identification of causes of oil spills

To follow the provisions of Articles 114, 115 and 116 of the 2015 Vietnam Maritime Code, amended and supplemented in 2018, and the Government’s Decree No. 58/2017/ND-CP dated May 10, 2017, detailing a number of articles of the Vietnam Maritime Code on management of maritime activities.

Article 31. Temporary suspension of business of facilities for accident, incident recovery, investigation and identification of causes of oil spills

1. The Vinasarcom, line ministries, central authorities or provincial-level People’s Committees can make decisions on temporary suspension of business of facilities for accident, incident recovery, investigation and identification of causes of oil spills.

2. Temporary suspension and restoration of business of facilities causing oil spills shall be subject to laws.

Section 2. OIL SPILL CONSEQUENCE MITIGATION

Article 32. Measurement and quantification of damage caused by oil spills

1. Damage caused by an oil spill (hereinafter referred to as damage) is any human, property, economic and environmental damage, including:

a) Damage resulting in physical injuries or death;

b) Damage to property of an organization or individual;

c) Damage to the environment, fishery, aquaculture, tourism and ecology;

d) Response costs and expenses incurred by organizations or individuals participating in response to oil spills;

dd) Costs and expenses incurred from carrying out reasonable measures for environmental remediation;

e) Loss of earnings due to impacts caused by oil spills.

2. Responding organizations and individuals must keep written records of realized or realized rental costs and send these records to the mobilizing agencies to request payments.

3. Identifying and measuring damage and making application packages for compensation shall be subject to laws.

Article 33. Determination of compensation liabilities

1. Owners of facilities or owners of ships causing oil spills must be liable for compensation, response costs and economic and environmental damage. The party liable for compensation shall coordinate with the competent authority to handle compensation.

2. In case the damage caused by an oil spill has impacts within a province, the Provincial-level People’s Committee shall take responsibility for determining damage and compensation liabilities, and shall establish a provincial Steering Committee for mitigation of consequences of the oil spill which must comprise representatives of a number of advisory agencies assisting the province in response actions, consequence mitigation and environmental remediation.

3. In case of a large oil spill causes damage affecting many provinces, the Vinasarcom shall take responsibility for cooperating with relevant ministries, ministerial-level agencies and localities in dealing with the consequences of the oil spill.

4. If the oil spill is particularly serious or affects many countries, the Vinasarcom shall report to the Prime Minister to set up the Government’s Steering Committee to handle consequences of the oil spill.

Article 34. Regulations on compensation claims

1. Organizations and individuals suffering damage due to oil pollution shall have the right to directly or authorize a lawyer to file a complaint against owners of facilities, projects or ships that cause oil spills to claim their compensation.

2. The Steering Committee for handling of consequences of oil spills shall prepare dossiers on and determine the total value of damage caused by the oil spill to request the Party responsible for compensation to ensure payment of compensation.

3. Competent state authorities shall inspect and supervise compensation activities, damage caused by oil pollution and complaints according to regulations.

Article 35. State budget allocations for emergency response activities

1. Competent state authorities shall take responsibility for paying costs of participation in oil spill response activities to mobilized organizations and individuals and, at the same time, requesting the party causing oil spill pollution to reimburse the prepayment.

2. The temporary payment of costs of response to oil spills shall comply with the Regulations on financial management of search, rescue and response to natural disasters and calamities. Compensation shall be covered by the party causing oil spill pollution.

3. In case the competent state authority recovers the compensation amount less than the prepayment amount as prescribed by law, the state budget will pay the remaining deficit.

4. If the person causing the oil spill has not been identified yet, the state budget will fully reimburse the prepayment for response activities at the request for mobilization of state authorities.

Chapter V

RESPONSIBILITIES OF ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS INVOLVED IN OIL SPILLS

Article 36. The Vinasarcom

1. To act as the agency in charge of oil spill response to direct and organize the implementation of the National Plan to respond to oil spills nationwide.

2. To provide instructions for developing an oil spill response plan; assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, ministries and ministerial-level agencies in, reviewing and approving the oil spill response plan of the provincial-level People’s Committee and the plans as prescribed in Article 7 of the Regulation; inspect and speed up the implementation of these plans.

3. Direct and mobilize forces and equipment of ministries, central authorities, regional oil spill response centers and localities to respond to oil spills occurring under the authority decentralized as specified in Article 6 of The Regulation.

4. To direct provision of specialized and professional training and coaching courses in response to oil spills for full-time, semi-full-time and part-time forces; organize drills, enter into synergies and cooperation with forces; propagate, educate the community in and disseminate knowledge about risks and dangers of oil spills to proactively take preventive and response actions.

5. To direct the investigation and verification of oil spills at the request of ministries, central and localities, facility owners or competent authorities; recommend measures to prevent and minimize damage caused by the oil spill to the Prime Minister and relevant state agencies.

6. To coordinate with competent agencies of relevant countries to deal with oil spill incidents occurring on the seas or waters contiguous to other countries and report to the Prime Minister.

7. To make periodic general reports to the Prime Minister on oil spill response activities of the forces of ministries, ministerial-level agencies and localities, and make sudden reports in case of any oil spill that occurs.

Article 37. The Ministry of National Defense

1. To coordinate and agree with the Vinasarcom to develop and implement plans to combine the use of forces and means of the Navy, Air Force, Border Guard, Coast Guard and other forces of the Army for performing the tasks of the Ministry of National Defense with the monitoring and detection of oil spills, and get ready to participate in activities of responding to oil spills occurring under their respective remit.

2. To approve the oil spill response plan of the facility under the competence; coordinate with localities to inspect the compliance of facility owners with regulations to prevent and minimize the likelihood of any oil spill.

3. To direct regional oil spill response centers under their authority and mobilize military forces and means to participate in oil spill response in case of emergency and at the request of the Vinasarcom and provincial-level People’s Committees.

4. To provide training, coaching and drilling courses for full-time, part-time forces and forces participating in responding to, recovering and mitigating consequences of oil spill incidents under the Ministry of National Defense, coordinate on propaganda and raise public awareness of protection of the marine environment, response to and mitigation of consequences of oil spills.

Article 38. The Ministry of Public Security

1. To coordinate with relevant ministries, central and localities in dispatching forces and means to participate in response to, recovery and mitigation of consequences of oil spills.

2. To direct public security forces of units and localities to set up scene security forces; ensure political security, social order and safety, and coordinate with localities in evacuating people and property from the area where an oil spill occurs under the management.

3. To coordinate with ministries, ministerial-level agencies and localities in investigating and clarifying causes of an oil spill; initiate the process of investigation into signs of offences against law related to an oil spill.

Article 39. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment

1. To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with concerned ministries, central and localities in, promulgating or requesting competent authorities to promulgate documents on supervision, risk assessment, remedy and mitigation of consequences of oil spills, regulations on instructions about the use of oil spill dispersants, and issuing a list of dispersants permitted for use in the sea of ​​Vietnam.

2. To assume the prime responsibility for guiding ministries, central and localities to develop and update environmental sensitivity maps within respective areas under their management and periodically update the system of environmental sensitivity maps of coastal areas and islands of Vietnam for oil spill response purposes.

3. To coordinate with the Vinasarcom and relevant ministries, central and localities in perform the tasks of response to, recovery and mitigation of consequences of oil spills.

4. To provide guidance for localities to investigate, assess, determine damage and prepare compensation dossiers for environmental damage, develop and implement plans to remediate the environment deteriorated by oil spills; direct the cooperation with provincial-level People's Committees in organizing the implementation within two or more provinces or centrally-run cities.

5. To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Vinasarcom and relevant ministries, central and localities in tracing and verifying the causes of oil spills of unknown origin occurring in the area including two or more provinces or centrally-run cities; guide localities to verify the causes of oil spills of unknown origin occurring locally.

Article 40. The Ministry of Transport

1. To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with concerned ministries, central and localities in, promulgating or requesting competent authorities to promulgate documents on technical standards and regulations on maritime environment protection, prevention and response of specialized oil spills.

2. To assume the prime responsibility for guiding the formulation and approval of the implementation of emergency response plans for petrol and oil facilities under their management, oil tankers, and plans for oil transshipment between ships at sea according to regulations.

3. To assume the prime responsibility for organizing the creation and publication of nautical charts of seaport waters and navigational channels, areas posing risk of causing oil spills to ensure maritime safety and oil spill response activities.

4. To announce on-the-watch and emergency frequencies (channels) of the Vietnam Coastal Radio, methods of communication with Vietnam's contacts about oil spills, centers and maritime search and rescue cooperation stations, maritime and inland waterway administrations to coordinate in oil spill response and rescue.

5. To coordinate with the Vinasarcom, direct maritime, aerial and internal-waters search and rescue systems to effectively coordinate in response to oil spills, rescue and salvage activities on rivers and at sea.

6. To direct maritime authorities to guide port authorities to closely monitor oil transfer operations at ports, offshore oil and gas ports and ports, and between ships at sea to be ready to take response actions in case of any incident occurring.

Article 41. The Ministry of Industry and Trade

1. To coordinate with the Vinasarcom, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Ministry of Transport and the provincial-level People’s Committees in directing the units involved in oil exploration, extraction, processing, trading, transportation, transshipment, storage and use of oil to have measures to respond to oil spills and protect the environment.

2. To direct units put under their authority to mobilize forces and means to participate in response to oil spills when any emergency occurs; coordinate with the Vinasarcom and localities to inspect the compliance with regulations of facilities and projects to prevent and minimize the possibility of causing oil spill incidents.

Article 42. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs

1. To direct ministries' agencies and overseas Vietnamese representative agencies to coordinate in completing required procedures for Vietnam's oil spill response units to participate in international support and foreign response support forces in Vietnam at the request of the Vinasarcom.

2. To coordinate with the Vinasarcom, ministries and ministerial-level agencies through diplomatic channels in exchanging information, requesting cooperation or offer assistance in responding to incidents if any oil spill occurs within an overseas territory or sea, affecting Vietnam, or an oil spill occurring within Vietnam's territory or sea affecting foreign countries.

3. To coordinate with the Vinasarcom and relevant ministries and central authorities in international cooperation in oil spill response operations.

Article 43. Relevant ministries and central authorities

1. To coordinate with localities and regional oil spill response centers to inspect owners of facilities under the management to prevent and minimize the likelihood of any oil spill.

2. To direct agencies and units under the control of ministries and central authorities to submit plans for use of forces and means according to the National Oil Spill Response Plan to the Vinasarcom.

3. To direct agencies and units under the control of ministries and central authorities to promptly organize forces and means to participate in oil spill response activities when they are requisitioned by the Vinasarcom and competent authorities.

4. To report on oil spills occurring under the management of ministries and central authorities; annually report on the situation and results of implementation of oil spill response tasks of ministries and central authorities to the Vinasarcom.

Article 44. Responsibilities of provincial-level People’s Committees

1. Provincial-level People’s Committees shall take responsibility for implementing provincial oil spill response plans according to the provisions of Article 7 and 11 in The Regulation.

2. To approve oil spill response plans of local facilities and ports according to regulations; inspect and supervise the implementation of local oil spill response plans.

3. To promptly direct and report on response to oil spills that may occur within the provinces; take responsibility for assessing and measuring damage, preparing complete legal documents, and requesting the owners of facilities or ships that cause oil spills to pay compensation.

4. To direct training and coaching courses in response to and mitigation of consequences of oil spills under the management; propagate, raise public awareness, disseminate knowledge about risks and dangers of oil spills to protect the marine environment, proactively prevent and take response actions within their jurisdiction.

5. To report to the Vinasarcom on the situation and results of implementation of local oil spill response plans on a 6-month and annual basis.

Article 45. Responsibilities of regional oil spill response centers

1. To act as a specialized and key force to respond to oil spills occurring at the areas under the management; implement oil spill response activities under their delegated authority and oil spill response contracts with facilities; get ready for response to oil spills occurring nationwide under the direction of the Vinasarcom.

2. To implement and guide provincial authorities to develop oil spill response plans under the direction of the Vinasarcom, and participate in the panel for assessment of the incident response plan of the facility.

3. To develop regional oil spill response plans on land, at sea and submit them to the Vinasarcom for its review and approval.

4. To promptly report any oil spill and results of implementation of oil spill response missions to the Vinasarcom.

5. To organize specialized and professional training courses, seminars and workshops on oil spill response according to the plan approved by the Vinasarcom, or the managing agency.

Article 46. Responsibilities of ports, facilities

1. Ports and facilities shall formulate and submit their own oil spill response plans to competent authorities for their review and approval and organize effective implementation after being released and get ready to participate in joint response activities at the mobilization request or under the command of competent authorities.

2. Annually, to plan training sessions or send officers or staff members directly participating in response activities to training courses on improvement of response skills. Biannually, to organize practice and exercise sessions in response to oil spills at the scene.

3. To have plans to invest in equipment and supplies to gradually improve the autonomous response capacity of ports and facilities as prescribed; sign agreements and contracts on preparedness for oil spill response with agencies and units having response competence to implement these plans in case of emergency.

4. To proactively launch response activities, mobilize resources to respond promptly and effectively to any oil spill likely to occur.

Article 47. Responsibilities of organizations and individuals

1. Domestic and foreign organizations and individuals shall invest in infrastructure and equipment used for oil spill response and environmental protection activities in accordance with Vietnamese law.

2. Organizations and individuals providing response services shall participate in oil spill response and remediation plans.

3. Organizations and individuals capable of rendering oil spill response and remediation services shall submit emergency plans for response to oil spills at specific levels and regions in which they are able to participate to the agency in charge of oil spill response.

4. If any organization and individual is named in the list of resources ready to be requisitioned, mobilized for response to oil spills in a plan for response to an oil spill at a particular level, they must comply with the mobilization order of the agency in charge of implementing the emergency plan for response to the oil spill at that level.