Amending the Law on Geology and Minerals: Removing bottlenecks and 'bottlenecks' in the supply of construction materials

Decentralization to the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee to grant licenses

The Minister of Agriculture and Environment informed: The promulgation of the Law on Geology and Minerals 2010 has created a clear legal corridor for state management and implementation of activities related to geology and minerals. However, the implementation process still has some difficulties and problems that have not been thoroughly resolved.

In particular, there is no complete specific mechanism to thoroughly resolve the difficulty and scarcity of minerals for common construction materials and filling materials for construction of important national projects and works; urgent and urgent investment projects decided by competent authorities; public investment projects, investment projects under the public-private partnership method; socio- economic development projects and works under the approval and investment policy decision authority of local authorities according to the provisions of the law on investment; urgent construction works and urgent tasks according to the provisions of the law on construction; projects and works for natural disaster prevention and control according to the provisions of the law on natural disaster prevention and control.

Recently, a series of important national projects and works, key projects in the transportation sector have been implemented nationwide with a huge demand for construction materials.

Minister Tran Duc Thang said that at many times, the supply of raw materials cannot meet the demand, leading to high prices of construction materials and slow delivery time, affecting construction progress and increasing the total investment in construction projects.

The main reason is that the demand for construction materials has increased dramatically, while the procedures for licensing mineral exploration and exploitation for construction materials to serve projects and works are not really open and convenient; the management of mineral activities in some localities still has many shortcomings and inadequacies; some organizations and individuals do not comply with the provisions of law in mineral activities; the exploitation and transportation capacity of some mineral exploitation organizations and contractors granted mines is still limited.

In addition, through the inspection and examination work in the recent past, it was discovered that many localities had previously granted licenses for exploration and exploitation of minerals for common construction materials without auctioning the rights to exploit minerals, which did not meet the criteria for not auctioning the rights to exploit minerals. Therefore, it is necessary to revoke the licenses, close the mineral mines and carry out procedures for re-issuance.

To overcome the above problems, the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Geology and Minerals has added a provision allowing the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee to decide on granting a license to exploit Group III and IV minerals. For Group III minerals, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee is allowed to grant a license to exploit directly to the construction contractor or investor to implement the project. In case the construction contractor or investor does not request a license, it will be granted to another organization or individual that meets the conditions prescribed by the Law, exploiting only to provide construction materials for the above works and projects with the procedures for granting a license to explore and exploit minerals carried out according to regulations.

There needs to be a control mechanism to avoid negativity.

Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment Nguyen Thanh Hai presented the report on the review of the draft Law. — Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science , Technology and Environment Nguyen Thanh Hai presented the report on the review of the draft Law.

Presenting the report on the review of the Law project, Chairman of the National Assembly 's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment Nguyen Thanh Hai informed: The Committee basically agrees with the necessity of amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Geology and Minerals for the reasons as stated in the Government's report. Thereby, meeting urgent requirements in state management and removing obstacles arising in the practical implementation of the law, especially issues related to the licensing mechanism, exploitation and use of minerals as common construction materials, and filling materials for construction of important projects and works.

However, it is necessary to carefully consider and assess the impact of the policy allowing the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee to grant licenses for exploiting Group III minerals for the above projects, because removing "bottlenecks" to thoroughly resolve the difficulty and scarcity of minerals for common construction materials and filling materials for construction projects and works has been issued by the Government with specific mechanisms and policies in Resolution No. 66.4/2025/NQ-CP of the Government, suitable for the context of the explosive demand for filling materials at a certain time.

Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment Nguyen Thanh Hai added: "If this policy is prolonged, it needs to be carefully evaluated to avoid consequences due to unplanned resource exploitation, lack of control mechanisms, and negative impacts on the environmental landscape."

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/sua-luat-dia-chat-va-khoang-san-go-nut-that-diem-nghen-ve-nguon-cung-vat-lieu-xay-dung.html