WORK PLAN STRENGTHENING CONTAMINATED SOIL MONITORING IN VIETNAM AECEN Twinning Partnership: Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Vietnam and Ministry of Environment of Korea A. Background Soil contamination management is one of priorities of the Government of Vietnam. As indicated in the 2009 report, Comprehensive Assessment of Dioxin Contamination in Da Nang Airport, Vietnam, the area around the Da Nang Airport, as well as Bien Hoa and Phu Cat, remain dioxin contamination hotspots posing significant health and environmental risks to the local population. As a result, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) is working to develop policies, practices and tools to strengthening its soil contamination management capabilities, including soil contamination monitoring. In 2006, MoNRE established procedures and a handbook on monitoring and soil analysis. In 2009, MoNRE put forward draft regulations of soil monitoring, though these regulations have not been formally approved. Established in 2005, the Asian Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network (AECEN) is a network of national and sub-national environmental agencies from 16 Asian countries, including Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. AECEN promotes improved environmental compliance and enforcement in Asia by facilitating the replication and scale-up of innovation and good practices through member twinning partnerships, demonstration activities and information dissemination. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provides principal funding and secretariat support for AECEN through the Environmental Cooperation-Asia (ECO-Asia) project. At a decision taken by the AECEN Executive Committee in October 2009, the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) of Japan will gradually assume responsibilities as the AECEN Secretariat beginning in 2011 with full responsibilities in 2013. B. Vietnam Korea Twinning Partnership To strengthen its policies and practices on soil contamination monitoring for application in Da Nang and other hotspots, MoNRE and the Korea Ministry of Environment (KMOE) have established an AECEN twinning partnership with funding and coordination support from the USAID ECO-Asia project. Through technical exchange and targeted training, the partnership will enable the transfer of knowledge and expertise leading to the improvement of Vietnam s draft regulation on soil contamination monitoring, as well as enhanced technical capacity of MoNRE and other key agencies. Under the guidance of a Working Group composed of representatives from relevant agencies and technical experts and chaired by MoNRE, the main objectives of the partnership are as follows: DRAFT: For Discussion Purposes Only 1
Promote the transfer of best practices and experience from Korea to Vietnam related to soil contamination management; Identify regulatory gaps related to contaminated soil monitoring in Vietnam; Develop recommendations to strengthen the regulations and soil monitoring practices; Build the capacity of key practitioners and stakeholders in Vietnam; and Facilitate linkages with Asian counterparts. Expected outputs include: (1) legal analysis of existing laws and regulations related to contaminated soil monitoring: (2) recommendations to improve the existing regulations; and (3) final report and revised relevant regulations on soil monitoring. C. Activities To achieve twinning partnership objectives, MONRE and KMOE will co-organize a series of program activities in three components: Component 1: Information Gathering, Initial Assessment and Scoping As an initial activity, a local consultant(s) engaged by the AECEN Secretariat will gather information related to laws, regulations, and standards on soil contamination monitoring for translation to English. KMOE will identify a team of experts who will review and conduct legal analysis and technical assessment on existing regulations related to soil contamination monitoring. As a next step, the KMOE expert team will visit Hanoi to meet with the Working Group and MONRE to discuss the preliminary assessment and exchange information on relevant laws, regulation, and practices on contaminated soil monitoring in Korea and Vietnam. KMOE and MoNRE plan to sign a Memorandum of Understanding(MOU during this visit. Component 2: Observational Program KMOE will host an observational program in Korea for Vietnamese officials to gather information firsthand on law, policies and practices in Korea related to soil contamination monitoring. In Korea, the Vietnamese delegation will continue discussions related to the assessment of the Vietnamese laws, regulations, and standards on soil contamination monitoring. Based on discussions, the Working Group will further refine the soil monitoring rules with inputs from stakeholders in Vietnam. AECEN will coordinate the observational program and cover related costs. Component 3: Legal and Technical Recommendations Based on lessons learned from Korea, the Working Group will further refine the soil monitoring regulations. The Working Group will present the revised rules/regulations at a consultation workshop in Hanoi attended by Vietnamese stakeholders and experts from KMOE. Based on the findings from the consultation workshop, the Working Group will further modify the soil monitoring regulations and finalize a report to submit for formal approval. The AECEN consultant(s) will assist in preparation of the final report to include the legal analysis on soil monitoring, recommendations from KMOE experts, and revised soil monitoring regulations. DRAFT: For Discussion Purposes Only 2
D. Roles and Responsibilities Office 33 (O33) of MoNRE will provide overall coordination support to the Working Group. KMOE will provide technical guidance and support. With support from USAID ECO-Asia, AECEN will provide technical, coordination and funding support for the partnership. MoNRE and KMOE will leverage their comparative advantages and provide in-kind and other cost-share inputs to achieve partnership objectives. Other stakeholder partners may include the MoNRE Directorate for Standards, Meteorology Vietnam Environment Administration, Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE-VIETNAM) and Da Nang Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DONRE). E. Implementation Schedule Proposed winning activities will be implemented during 12 months period beginning in Dec. 2010. Detailed implementation schedule is as follows: DRAFT: For Discussion Purposes Only 3
STRENGTHENING CONTAMINATED SOIL REGULATIONS IN VIETNAM Activities Main Tasks Timing Expected Outputs Component 1: Information Gathering, Initial Assessment and Scoping Work Plan Development Information Gathering Initial Assessment Scoping Mission O33 and KMOE develop work plan and interventions with AECEN inputs based on consultations with relevant partner agencies MONRE and O33 establish a Working Group composed of relevant stakeholders and agency partners to guide partnership activities and review results O33 and AECEN identify consultants to assist with collecting relevant laws, rules, regulations, and standards Working Group and consultants collect relevant information and translate related rules, standards, and other information for KMOE experts to conduct initial legal and technical assessment KMOE experts team reviews documents and conducts initial assessment and analysis of existing relevant rules and practices O33 prepare a scoping mission and a series of meetings and site visit to discuss the findings from KMOE experts team Component 2: Observational Program Program Preparation Visit to Korea KMOE and experts team visit Hanoi and Da Nang to exchange information on soil monitoring practices MONRE and KMOE sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for twining partnership cooperation Facilitated by AECEN, KMOE and O33 prepare an observational program for 5-6 Vietnamese officials to visit Korea Vietnamese Officials visit KMOE to understand Korean practices on soil monitoring and discuss the legal and technical challenges faced by Vietnam related to soil monitoring Component 3: Legal and Technical Recommendations Recommendations Revise Regulations Consultation Workshop Final Rule Based on scoping mission in Vietnam and meetings with Vietnamese officials in Korea, KMOE experts team prepare legal and technical recommendations for Working Group to strengthen soil monitoring regulations. Based on recommendations from KMOE, Working Group and O33 further refine the draft regulations MONRE and O33 organize a consultation workshop to present revised draft regulations for discussions with stakeholders and KMOE experts in Hanoi Working Group, O33, and consultant(s) finalize report and regulations to submit for further approval Dec-Jan Jan-Feb Dec-Jan Jan- Feb- 20-25 -May May 15-21 -July July-Aug Nov 2-3 Nov-Dec Detailed work plan Working Group participants and chair Consultants identified Compendium of translated materials Preliminary assessment Scoping mission program itinerary Legal and technical exchange of best practices Partnership LOI Program itinerary Recommendations by Vietnamese delegates to improve soil monitoring regulations Legal and technical recommendations based on Korean best practices Revised draft regulations Stakeholders inputs Final report and revised regulations DRAFT: For Discussion Purposes Only 4
F. Budget With funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the AECEN Secretariat will facilitate and fund all activities. While AECEN funds would cover travel expenses, work shop costs, and targeted technical assistance, MONRE and KMOE will provide some cost share in terms of staff labor, and some travel and other expenses. Outline of the budget plan is attached in Annex. G. Contact Persons Dr. Nguyen My Hang Deputy Chief in charge International Cooperation Department Office of National Steering Committee 33 Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment 83 Nguyen Chi Thanh, Dong Da Hanoi, Vietnam Tel: 84 4 3773 6354 Fax: 84 4 3773 6356 Mobile: 84 983 25 0573 E-mail: Nguyen.my.hang@gmail.com Mr. Wan, Jun Deputy Director Ministry of Environment-Korea Bldg. 2, Goverment Complex - Gwacheon 88, Gwanmun-ro Gwacheon-si Gyeonggi-do, 427-729, Republic of Korea Tel: 82-2-2110-7693 Fax: 82-2-507-6282 Mobile: 82-10-2688-4788 E-mail: nobrainwan@korea.kr Ms. Watcharee Limanon AECEN Secretariat USAID ECO-Asia Project SG Tower, 5th Floor, Unit 506 161/1 Soi Manadiek Luang 3 Rajdamri Rd., Patumwan Bangkok 10330 Thailand Tel: 66 2 651 8826 Fax: 66 2 651 8864 E-mail: wlimanon@eco-asia.org DRAFT: For Discussion Purposes Only 5