Mr. TRAN VAN QUANG, Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, answered the interview
Currently, in the province, there are 66 land mines for landfill materials approved in the planning period 2021-2030 with a total area of 948.11 hectares, total forecast resources of 50.715 million m3 , of which land managed by households accounts for about 85%.
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- Sir! Could you please tell us about the current status of planning and licensing of land mines for landfill materials in Quang Tri province?
- Currently, in the province, there are 66 land mines for landfill materials approved in the planning period 2021-2030 with a total area of 948.11 hectares, total forecast resources of 50.715 million m3 , of which land managed by households accounts for about 85%.
In 2022, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment presided over and organized the auction of 27 land mines for landfill materials, of which 16 mines won the auction. Up to now, 10 mines (out of a total of 16 mines) of land for landfill materials won the auction (estimated resources of about 11.845 million m3 ) and submitted complete application documents for exploration licenses to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment.
On May 31, 2023, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 1118/QD-UBND granting a license to exploit Hai Le 1 soil mine to Toan Thinh Quang Tri One Member Co., Ltd. with an exploitable reserve of 2.712 million m3 .
On October 4, 2023, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 2261/QD-UBND granting a license to exploit Vinh Ha 3 soil mine to Quy Hoai One Member Co., Ltd. with an exploitation reserve of 0.194 million m3 ; Vinh Long soil mines (reserves 1.937 million m3 ), Trieu Thuong (reserves 4.467 million m3 ), Hai Le 4 (reserves 3.412 million m3 ), Vinh Thuy 1 (reserves 0.576 million m3 ), Vinh Son 6 (reserves 0.385 million m3 ) the investor is editing and supplementing the exploitation license dossier; Dong Luong soil mine (2.01 million m3 ), Km 6 Hung Vuong extension (5,228,298 m3 ) has been approved by the Provincial People's Committee for mineral exploration reserves, is requesting investment policy and is coordinating with departments and localities to review the area, land use plan; make mine design, environmental impact assessment documents and reforestation; Hai Lam soil mine (reserves of about 1.8 million m3 ) is conducting reserve exploration.
Currently, the source of land for filling materials in the province is mobilized from 3 sources. Of which, from 6 licensed mines, about 6.31 million m3 of land has been exploited, currently about 353,248 m3 ; from the dredging process of 27 irrigation reservoirs, about 14.44 million m3 of land has been recovered; nearly 1.773 million m3 of land has been dredged and recovered for filling materials, the reservoir dredging units have been storing about 289,000 m3 of land, which can be immediately supplied for filling materials and from the surplus land due to the balance of excavation and filling of 10 works and projects, about 1.009 million m3 .
According to calculations, the total volume of soil from 6 licensed mines, recovered from dredging the reservoir and the balanced source of excavation and filling is about 21.76 million m3 . The capacity mobilized in 1 year is about 6.1 million m3 of soil for filling material (of which: 6 licensed mines are 0.54 million m3 , 4.76 million m3 from dredging the reservoir and the rest is balanced source of excavation and filling).
Through review, the total demand in 2023 is about 4.22 million m3 , currently only 0.83 million m3 of soil can be immediately supplied as filling material. In early 2024, when the Hai Le 4, Vinh Son 6, Vinh Thuy 1, Vinh Long and Trieu Thuong mines are licensed, if not calculated from the source of dredging the reservoir bed and balancing excavation and filling, the soil source that can be immediately supplied from the 11 licensed mines is 1.371 million m3 .
Reasonable planning of soil mines, creating soil sources as filling materials for key projects in the province - Photo: HNK
Up to now, the Department has also received, reviewed, appraised and submitted to the Provincial People's Committee 2 dossiers of registration for land mine exploitation to serve the construction of the Van Ninh-Cam Lo expressway for representatives of construction contractors. Specifically, Linh Truong 3 land mine has an area of 5.53 hectares, the permitted land reserve is 700,000m3 , Vinh Son 5 land mine has an area of 3.52 hectares, the reserve is 270,000m3 of land.
- It is known that the capacity of mobilizing land for filling materials in 1 year is about 6.1 million m3 of land and after reviewing the total demand in 2023 is about 4.22 million m3 but currently only 0.83 million m3 can be supplied immediately and it is expected to be 1.371 million m3 in 2024. So, can you tell us about the difficulties and problems in ensuring adequate supply of land for filling materials?
- Currently, the legal regulations on minerals still have many overlapping points, the content is in many different sectors, causing difficulties in the process of implementing state management work; especially the problem of the regulation that land used for common construction materials is "mineral" so it must be licensed according to the Law on Minerals.
For example, some enterprises won the auction for land mines for landfill materials (in some cases, the price increased 31 times compared to the starting price) but did not submit the application for exploration and exploitation of the mine. After winning the auction for the land mines, the investors must prepare the documents, submit for appraisal and approval according to administrative procedures on: exploration, approval of reserves, issuance of investment policies, change of land use purpose and replacement forestation, environmental impact assessment, appraisal of technical design and construction drawings, issuance of mining licenses, land allocation/lease for project implementation with a total time of more than 15 months, involving many departments, branches and localities.
The most important thing is the initiative and positivity of investors in preparing and completing all types of documents. On the other hand, it is necessary to pay attention and actively coordinate in reviewing and appraising documents, procedures and supporting the site clearance work of departments, branches and localities. In addition to completing documents and procedures, investors are facing many difficulties when having to pay the auction winning fee for mines before being granted a mineral exploitation license.
In reality, the planned area of the mines is mainly production land granted to the people, on the land there are assets, trees, crops. Meanwhile, according to the Land Law and documents guiding the implementation of the law, for mining projects that are not subject to land acquisition, compensation is in the form of agreement (assets on the land belong to the right of use of households and individuals), so compensation and site clearance after winning the auction face many difficulties.
In the past, investors were not really active in coordinating with material quarry owners (or units with dredged products used as filling materials) in the process of supplying filling materials for constructions and projects.
Price competition is one of the important factors for investors to decide on the source of supply of filling materials. Some land mines stop at the stage of submitting the auction winning money appraisal due to financial difficulties of investors. Another difficulty and problem is that households and individuals are only licensed to explore and exploit land for filling materials with a volume of no more than 1 hectare and no more than 3,000 m3 /year.
- To solve the difficulty in the source of land and filling materials to meet the construction needs of many key projects in the province, could you please tell us what basic and key solutions the Department of Natural Resources and Environment has had?
- In order to promptly meet the demand for land as filling materials for projects that the province has been, is and will be implementing from now until 2025, implementing key projects and medium-term public investment on schedule, in accordance with the provisions of law, it is extremely necessary to propose to the Provincial People's Council and Provincial People's Committee a number of solutions to remove obstacles in the process of licensing the exploitation and use of land as filling materials in the province. The proposed solutions ensure harmony between socio-economic development and the interests of the people and businesses.
Therefore, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment has proposed to the Provincial People's Committee, reported to the Party Committee of the Provincial People's Committee to ask for opinions from the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee on 2 solutions:
Firstly, delineate the area where land fill auctions are not held to serve projects on developing transport infrastructure, irrigation and hydropower works; overcoming natural disasters; building new rural areas of the province; in accordance with the provisions of Article 22, Decree No. 158/2016/ND-CP dated November 29, 2016 of the Government; Articles 78 and 82 of the 2010 Law on Minerals.
Second, allowing the improvement of residential land, agricultural land and the use of land as filling materials; the solution is consistent with the provisions of Articles 9, 166, 170 of the 2013 Land Law, the 2010 Mineral Law and the 2020 Environmental Protection Law.
To obtain these two basic solutions, we have conducted a very careful survey and review of land funds and the current status of land exploitation and use in the province; studied and analyzed scientifically and reasonably the shortcomings and problems in state management of licensing and exploitation of land for filling materials.
In particular, it is necessary to strictly apply the provisions of the 2010 Mineral Law, the 2013 Land Law and the 2020 Environmental Protection Law. Therefore, we expect that these two solutions, if approved by the Provincial Party Standing Committee, will fundamentally resolve the current situation of land scarcity for filling materials for investment projects in Quang Tri province.
Thank you very much!
Ho Nguyen Kha (performed)
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