Penalties for violations against regulations on groundwater drilling practice in Vietnam

Penalties for violations against regulations on groundwater drilling practice in Vietnam (Internet image)

Licensed groundwater drilling in Vietnam

Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 3 of Decree 60/2016/ND-CP, licensed groundwater drilling scale shall be regulated as follows:

- Small-scale groundwater drilling means drilling and installation of groundwater wells that have below-110-mm diameter casing or tubular pipes, and belong to the projects that each provide their water flow of less than 200 m3/day-night;

- Medium-scale groundwater drilling means drilling and installation of groundwater wells that have below-250-mm diameter casing or tubular pipes, and belong to the projects designed to provide the water flow ranging from 200 m3/day-night to under less than 3,000 m3/day-night;

- Large-scale groundwater drilling includes operations other than those covered by Point a and b Clause 1 of this Article.

Thus, licensed groundwater drilling means drilling and installation of groundwater wells that have diameter casing or tubular pipe. According to the current law, depending on the water flow and the width of the pipeline, the scale of water drilling practice is divided into small, medium and large.

In addition, according to Clause 1, Article 35 of the Law on Water Resources 2012, organizations, individuals practicing underground water drill must implement measures to protect underground water, fill in wells after using or being broken down.

Penalties for violations against regulations on groundwater drilling practice in Vietnam

According to Clause 8, Article 9 of the Law on Water Resources 2012, prohibited acts include exploring, exploiting, using water resources, discharging sewage into water sources and practice drilling of underground water unlawfully.

Pursuant to Article 11 of Decree 36/2020/ND-CP stipulating fines for violations against regulations on groundwater drilling practice in Vietnam:

- A warning or a fine ranging from VND 100,000 to VND 500,000 shall be imposed for failure to carry out the registration as prescribed in case the groundwater drilling requires registration.

- A fine ranging from VND 2,000,000 to VND 4,000,000 shall be imposed for any of the following violations:

+ Failure to submit annual consolidated reports on groundwater drilling works as prescribed;

+ Failure to send written notification of location and scale of the groundwater drilling work, and expected time limit for construction thereof to a competent authority as prescribed;

+ Failure to send written notification to a competent authority if there is any change of the technical responsible person, registered business lines or assigned tasks as prescribed.

- A fine ranging from VND 10,000,000 to VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed for any of following violations against regulations on drilling practice for the drilling work with the casing diameter smaller than 110 mm and the flow less than 200 m3/24 hours:

+ Lending or leasing out the license;

+ Practicing groundwater drilling without the license;

+ Practicing groundwater drilling with an unexpired license, except for the case where the application for license renewal has been submitted as prescribed.

- A fine ranging from VND 20,000,000 to VND 30,000,000 shall be imposed for any of the following violations:

+ Failure to comply with the approved procedures and technical design when constructing a borehole;

+ Failure to comply with technical procedure for borehole filling and sealing as prescribed;

+ Using wastewater, dirty water or water contaminated with oil, toxic chemicals or additives containing pollutants used as drilling fluids or to mix with drilling fluids to pour them into boreholes;

+ Failure to obtain a drilling license to conduct the filling and sealing of a borehole which is constructed for the purpose of extracting groundwater and has casing diameter larger than 60 mm or a depth of 30 m or more;

+ Failure to practice drilling in the scale specified in the groundwater drilling license;

+ Providing groundwater exploration and/or extraction drilling services to an entity without obtaining the license to explore or extract groundwater as prescribed.

- A fine ranging from VND 30,000,000 to VND 40,000,000 shall be imposed for any of following violations against regulations on groundwater drilling practice for the drilling work with the casing diameter smaller than 250 mm and the flow from 200 m3/24 hours to less than 3,000 m3/24 hours:

+ Lending or leasing out the license;

+ Practicing groundwater drilling without the license;

+ Practicing groundwater drilling with an unexpired license, except for the case where the application for license renewal has been submitted as prescribed.

- A fine ranging from VND 40,000,000 to VND 50,000,000 shall be imposed for any of the following violations against regulations on groundwater drilling practice with a scale other than that prescribed in Clause 2 and Clause 5 of Article 11 of Decree 36/2020/ND-CP:

+ Lending or leasing out the license;

+ Practicing groundwater drilling without the license;

+ Practicing groundwater drilling with an unexpired license, except for the case where the application for license renewal has been submitted as prescribed.

- A fine ranging from VND 50,000,000 to VND 60,000,000 shall be imposed for any of the following violations:

+ Keep carrying out drilling activities when such drilling activities cause land subsidence or other emergencies which cause adverse impacts on construction works and life of the people in the area where drilling activities are conducted;

+ Failure to take remedial measures against the land subsidence or other emergencies which cause adverse impacts on construction works and life of the people in the area where drilling activities are conducted.

In addition, Clause 8, Article 11 of Decree 36/2020/ND-CP: stipulates additional sanctions for violations against regulations on groundwater drilling practice as follows:

+ Suspend the groundwater drilling license for 03 - 06 months if any of the violations prescribed in Point a Clause 3, Point a Clause 4, Point a Clause 5 and Point a Clause 6 of Article 11 of Decree 36/2020/ND-CP is committed;

+ Suspend the groundwater exploration drilling for 03 – 06 months if the violation prescribed in Point e Clause 4 of Article 11 of Decree 36/2020/ND-CP is committed.

In addition, based on Clause 9, Article 11 of Decree 36/2020/ND-CP: regulations on remedial measures for violations against regulations on groundwater drilling practice are as follows:

+ The violator is compelled to adopt remedial measures against environmental pollution, degradation or depletion of water resources if any of the violations in Points b and c Clause 3, Points b and c Clause 5, Points b and c Clause 6 and Clause 7 of Article 11 of Decree 36/2020/ND-CP causes pollution and/or degradation of water quality and decrease in water quantity.

+ The violator is compelled to take remedial measures against land subsidence or other emergencies if the violation mentioned in Clause 7 of Article 11 of Decree 36/2020/ND-CP is committed.

Thus, the fine for violations against regulations on groundwater drilling practice can be up to 60,000,000 VND for individuals and 120,000,000 VND for organizations, if they fall into the cases in Clause 8, Clause 9, Article 11 of Decree 36/2020/ND-CP: additional penalties and remedial measures must be implemented as prescribed.

Nguyen Pham Nhut Tan

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