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SECTION 4. INSTITUTIONS AND ADMINISTRATION Study of Coastal Management’s Legal Structure in Iran Introduction Taking into account the geopolitical position of Iran, the socioeconomic and environmental importance of Iranian shorelines becomes even more evident. A brief geographical study provides us with interesting statistics. Thirty one percent or 2,700 km of Iran’s 8,755 km of borders, are coastal borders. Of these, 2,043 km are situated in the south and 657 km in the north. The numbers reveal the necessity and significance of coastal preservation and management. Considering the present regulations in regard to the legal status of the coastal lands and resources and the diversity of opinion in interpretation of these regulations by the concerned authorities, a comprehensive analysis of the legal status of these territories is indispensable. Hereunder the available regulations are reviewed along with a look at the organizations and institutions with legal or executive authority in the coastal territories of Iran. Before engaging in our main discussion, it is essential to define certain terms and divisions. According to the Coastal and Reclaimed Land Regulation ratified in 1975, territories adjacent to bodies of water are divided into three categories: reclaimed, coastal and sea limits.
RECLAIMED LAND Reclaimed lands are the areas recovered as a result of water level decline or reduction of any other water current on the shores of seas, lakes, islands or wetlands. Only the width of these lands are mentioned directly in the National Regulations ratified in 1963. It stipulates the horizontal line as 150 cm above the water level from the last point of seawater advancement. But, the width of the reclaimed lands of the Persian Gulf, Sea of Oman and Lake Urumia is not mentioned in the National Regulations. The Council of Ministers is entrusted to determine the width of the reclaimed lands of the other lakes and wetlands in the country.
COASTAL LAND Coastal lands are the territories with a specified width along the shoreline of seas, lakes or gulfs that are bound at least on one side to these bodies of water. According to law, the width of the coastal lands of the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman is 2 km from the last advancement of water at the highest tidal point. The width of the coastal lands of Lake Urumia is 1,000 meters from the last water advancement in 1974. The muddy areas connected to the width of these lands and salt marshes are considered as coastal lands up to their farthest limits. The width of the coastal lands of the Caspian Sea and other national lakes and wetlands has not yet been specified.
SEA LIMITS Sea limit is a part of the coastal or reclaimed land that is connected to seawater, a lake, gulf or wetland from one side. The sea limit width at Caspian Sea is 60 meters from the last point of water advancement in 1963. The sea limit width at the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman is 60 Meters from the last tidal point. The sea limit width at Lake Urumia is 60 meters from the last point of water advancement in 1974. The sea limit width of other national lakes and wetlands must be determined by the approval of the Council of Ministers. The following table will facilitate access to these data.
Regulations of Ports and Shipping Organization: The Ports and Shipping Organization (PSO) was established in 1960 according to the Ports and Shipping Organization’s Establishment Authorization Act under the supervision of the Ministry of Customs. Its main obligations are: “ Administering harbor related affairs at the national level, completion, expansion and maintenance of port facilities, providing telecommunication equipment and security precautions as well as coordinating and implementing Coastal Ports and Shipping Regulations and safeguarding the development of commercial shipping. “ Article 4 of the act stipulates that: “The regulations incorporated in this act encompass all the ports, harbors, canals, navigable rivers and coastal waters. The limits of each port will be determined by the decree of the Council of Ministers. “ In 1969 special senatorial and parliamentary commissions ratified the General Regulations of the Ports and Shipping Organization. The organization was now defined as an affiliate of the Ministry of Finance in the first chapter of its general regulations. Nevertheless, the entire institution, including all its facilities and personnel were transferred to the Ministry of Road and Transportation on July 6 1973. The second chapter of the General Regulations deals with the duties and the authorities of the organization. Article 22 of this section indicates that: “ The organization has the authority to issue establishment permits for wharves and other facilities as well as ratifying the concerned plan inclusive of the right of supervision in the construction and operation stages.” Although this act has not directly mentioned reclaimed and coastal lands and the limits of the sea, nevertheless, the article is basically related to construction procedures in the coastal areas. The measure does include executive power that is still in force and being invoked. This organization is considered the custodian of ports and marine transportation. In order to implement harbor management, the legislator has made the establishment of any wharf or any related facility contingent upon the issuance of a permit from the organization. It is evident that construction of any marine facility without a permit is a flagrant contradiction of the jurisdiction and powers of the PSO.
Regulations of the Ministry of Construction Jihad: At present, the Forests and Pastures Organization (FPO) affiliated to the Ministry of Construction Jihad) and the Ministry of Power are the two institutions with the greatest legal responsibilities with respect to the country’s coastal lands. Other public entities might have limited dealings with affairs related to these areas, but their interaction is insignificant in comparison with the above-mentioned ministries. In order to have a better understanding of the established regulations; what follows is a brief chronology of these measures. It is important to point out that management and ownership regulations have altered according to the water level fluctuations in the domestic lakes especially the Caspian Sea and Urumia Lake.
It is important to point out that the FPO was established according to Article 2 of `The Law of Re-establishment and Determination of the Duties Entrusted to the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Dissolution of the Ministry of Natural Resources’ ratified on March 1 1972. The responsibility of this organization in regard to reclaimed coastal lands is stipulated explicitly: “ The Forests and Pastures Organization is being established in order to implement the duties and regulations on the subject of protection, restoration, development and proper exploitation of forests, pastures, forestlands, natural groves, reclaimed coastal lands and water sheds.” Meanwhile, `The Reclaimed and Coastal Lands Regulation’ clearly defined the obligations and authorities of the FPO in regard to the disputed lands. The Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources was renamed the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development according to the law of May 21 1977. Article 1 of this act states that: “ From the ratification date of this act, the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Ministry of Cooperation and Rural Affairs will consolidate and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will be established along with the entire obligations and authorities given by the law to the previous ministries. “ Article 3, Section A indicates the overall tasks of the newly established ministry: “Implementation of the regulations concerning the ownership and incumbency of uncultivated and cultivated lands in the suburbs, forestlands, reclaimed coastal lands, forests and etc… “ On November 28, 1983, Parliament ratified the Ministry of Construction Jihad Establishment Act . Article 4 of the said act states: “All the tasks related to rural development through the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development indicated in the ‘ Renaming the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and re-organization of the National Agricultural Organization Act‘ ratified by the pre-revolution Parliament on March 21 1977 are being entrusted to the Ministry of Construction Jihad. Hereinafter the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will be called Ministry of Agriculture and all the credits, facilities and organizations that were participating in rural development activities will be detached from this organization and transferred to the Ministry of Construction Jihad. “ On February 1 1994, `The Bill of Ratification Regarding the Comprehensive Objectives and Tasks of the Ministries of Agriculture and Construction Jihad‘ was approved by the Council of Ministers. Article 1, Section A defines the goals and tasks of Ministry of Construction Jihad as: “ Protection, support, restoration, expansion and proper exploitation of forests, pastures, forestlands, natural groves and reclaimed coastal lands as well as protection of watersheds. “ Article 3 of this bill describes the above-mentioned goals on the subject of coastal areas: “Preparing and organizing bills and recommendations in order to implement the goals and obligations of the ministry and eventually submitting them to the Cabinet.” Regulations of Ministry of Power: The Ministry of Power as mentioned above is one of the most heavily involved organizations in the area of national coastal management. As previously stated, in 1968, both of houses of the legislature ratified the 66 article `Water and Water Nationalization Process Regulation’ that was abrogated by the 1982 `Fair Distribution of Water Act’. The previous measure said that construction of any type of superstructure on the shorelines of the seas and lakes are subject to the permission of the Ministry of Water and Electricity in accordance with the legal limits. The Fair Distribution of Water Act plays an important role in matters concerned with coastal management. The 52-article regulation was ratified by Parliament on March 5th 1983. The following are selected portions of this law related to our discussion: ARTICLE 1: According to Article 45 of the I.R. Iran’s Constitution, any body of water in the seas or any amount of water flowing in the rivers, natural streams and valleys or any other natural path whether it is on the ground or underground, flood-water, sewage, lakes, marshes, ponds, natural springs, mineral waters or underground water resources are public property. (They) are under the Islamic Government’s jurisdiction. They will be exploited according to the public interest and the government has the authority to protect, rent and supervise their proper exploitation. ARTICLE 2: The natural river-beds, public canals, rivers whether they are seasonal or permanent, dry rivers and the limits of marshes and natural ponds are under the I.R. Iran’s jurisdiction. Also, coastal lands and reclaimed lands recovered from the decline of water levels in the seas and lakes or the drying up of marshes and swamps are considered public property. In case of non-restoration prior to ratification of `Revival of Waste Lands Act’ in the I.R. Iran: NOTE 3: It is forbidden to establish any kind of superstructure or excavation. (It is forbidden to) interfere with or possess river-beds, natural streams, public canals, dry rivers, marshes and natural ponds, as well as any land within the legal coastal limits of the seas and lakes, whether they are natural or artificial, unless the Ministry of Power grants its permission. NOTE 4: The Ministry of Power will notify the owner or the occupant of the superstructure to evacuate or demolish it during a certain period of time, if the superstructure is built on the river-bed or limits of the streams, rivers, public canals, dry rivers, marshes or natural ponds and interferes with the activities of the aforesaid ministry. If the owner or the occupant refuses to abide by the Ministry of Power’s notification, this ministry would attempt to evacuate or demolish the superstructure with the permission and supervision of the public prosecutor or his/her representative. Damages will be determined and compensated according to the Articles 43 and 44 of this act. ARTICLE 48: Issuance of operating permits or transfer of operation rights for exploitation of gravel, sand and clay from the river-beds, streams, dry rivers or lands within the legal coastal limits of the seas and lakes is subject to prior approval by the Ministry of Power. It is important to point out that the obligations and the range of authority of the Ministry of Power in proximity to the seas are limited to the lands within the sea limits and do not include the coastal lands. The main reason for this limitation is enshrined in the reason for being of the ministry. In 1974, the Ministry of Power was established and superseded the Ministry of Water and Electricity. Article 1 of the `Ministry of Power Establishment Act ‘ reads: “In order to maximize the exploitation of national water and energy resources, as well as providing an adequate amount of water and energy for various kinds of consumption including industrial, agricultural, rural, urban and transportation means, the Ministry of Power is being established to fulfill the following main objectives:
It is quite evident from the above legal text that the Ministry of Power has a broad range of responsibilities in regard to water-energy. Hence any kind of interference, possession or exploitation of national water resources must be under the continual supervision of this ministry. Therefore, the legislator has subjected the establishment of any facility within the limits of any body of water, to prior approval by the Ministry of Power. It is clearly quite possible that the establishment of any superstructure, excavation, alteration and possession within the limits of any body of water could interfere with optimum exploitation of water resources by the Ministry of Power. Regulations of Other Organizations in the Coastal Areas 1-5-1 Regulations Concerning the National Trade and Industrial Free Zones The Supreme Council of Trade and Industrial Free Zone in I.R. Iran ratified 16 articles of regulation regarding exploitation of land and national resources in the I.R. Iran’s Trade and Industrial Free Zone. Articles 5 and 15 are cited for better understanding our discussion: ARTICLE 5: All the rights concerned with the lands located within the boundary of each region and subject to the Urban Land Regulation, State Forests and Pastures Nationalization Act, State Forests and Pastures Protection and Exploitation Act and the Coastal and Reclaimed Lands Regulation will be exercised by the aforesaid organization according to this regulation. ARTICLE 15: All the authorities entrusted to the concerned ministries in dealing with trespassing, occupation and destruction of public and national lands, coastal lands and the sea limits according to the State Forests and Pastures Protection and Exploitation Act ratified in 1969 and its subsequent amendments, Coastal and Reclaimed Lands Regulation ratified in 1975, the entrusted authorities subject to Articles 11 and 15 of the Environmental Protection Act as well as the special authorities delegated to other public institutions, from the date of this regulation will be entrusted to this organization within the jurisdiction of the Free Zones. 1-5-2 Regulations of Fisheries Joint Stock Company: The Fisheries Joint Stock Company (FJSC) is a national institution closely associated to the question of marine affairs. It is the sole legal authority for exploitation of aquatic resources in the country. All legal articles concerned with this company have emphasized the observance of other ministries’ regulations. And even though the company is not the decision- making authority in regard to national coastal management, there are certain legal articles worth mentioning that give this company freedom and authority in coastal constructions: In Article 3 of the FJSC’s Memorandum of Association, the domain of its activities is described as the entirety of the bodies of water located within the jurisdiction of I.R. Iran including Caspian Sea, internal waters (including all the lakes, rivers, marshes, dam-lakes), coastal waters and etc… The Note attached to the article states that: “Fisheries joint Stock Company could employ any potentially suitable area for establishment of fisheries facilities in its domain of activities by observing all the legal principles concerned with coastal waters. “ Article 4 of this act describes the duties of fisheries and Clause A stipulates its major tasks:
The FJSC has the legal responsibility of establishing structures for catching purposes in the coastal areas, but it has to acquire necessary permits from the concerned ministries. For example, the company has to obtain permission from the authorities listed below for port construction:
Unfortunately, there is no well-defined procedure for acquiring these permits. This results in time consuming bureaucratic entanglements and potentially irreversible mistakes in exploitation of national water resources. 1-5-3 Regulations of the Department of the Environment (DOE): The ` Protection of Seas and Rivers against Petroleum Contamination at International Borders Act ‘ was ratified on February 2nd, 1976. Article 13 of this regulation in regard to possible damages incurred to the ports or coastal structures stipulates that: “ In case of any damage incurred to the Iranian ports, beaches, coastal facilities, fishes or natural resources due to violation of these regulations, a court will sentence the concerned authorities to compensate the damages.” Article 18 of the same act in regard to ecological studies states that: “ Any kind of marine ecological study as well as prevention of water contamination within our national territorial jurisdiction is still entrusted to the Department of the Environment.” According to the Article 19 the Ministry of Road and Transportation and the Ministry of Justice are bound to implement the above-mentioned law. 1-5-4 The Act of Establishment for the National Committee of Abatement of Natural Disasters and Their Effects: According to this law: “ This committee is being established to exchange information, studies and national research and to develop rational procedures for prevention and reduction of natural disasters’ effects due to storms, floods, drought, from pests, air pollution, earthquakes and earth movement, water level fluctuation in seas, lakes, rivers and etc… The chairman of this committee is the Interior Minister. (The committee) is comprised of ministers and high authorities of the following institutions and ministries: National Meteorological Organization, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Construction Jihad, Ministry of Road and Transportation, Budget and Planning Organization, Department of the Environment, Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Geophysics Institute, Red Crescent, Forests and Pastures Organization and Ministry of Commerce (With approval of the chairman, the military forces could have a representative in this committee). In the Second Note of the same article, the Budget and Planning Organization is ordered to allocate the necessary credits to implement this plan, if other related institutions have not foreseen a specific budget for this issue. Following this act, the decree for its enforcement was ratified by the Council of Ministers on March 2nd, 1994. Article 1 of this directive stipulates that: “ In order to prevent and abate the effects of natural disasters, the aforesaid national committee is being established as a coordinating committee with nine supplementary research committees to exchange information, studies and scientific research.“ “The Supplementary Committee of Flood, Sea Water Level Fluctuation and River Overflow Prevention” has been established under the authority of the Ministry of Power and has the following members: Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Construction Jihad, Ministry of Road and Transportation, Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Housing and Building Research Center, I.R. Iran Broadcasting, National Meteorological Organization, National Geology Organization, Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Telecommunications. Its permanent secretariat is located in the Office of Protection, Engineering and Control of Rivers, Shorelines and Floods. 1-5-5 The Act for Establishment for the Higher Council of Oceanography: The above-mentioned council was instituted for scientific enhancement, development of a comprehensive policy, coordination of national activities and expertise and to insure proper exploitation of the valuable resources of the Persian Gulf, Sea of Oman and the Caspian Sea. Its establishment was ratified by the I.R. Iran Parliament on August 10 1991. The members of the aforesaid council are: Minister of Road and Transportation, Director of National Meteorological Organization, Managing Director of the Ports and Shipping Organization, Director of the Department of the Environment, Managing Director of Fisheries and Aquatic Affairs Company, Director of the National Geology Organization, Managing Director of the Continental Shelf Oil Company, Deputy Minister of Culture and Higher Education, Commander of I.R. Iran Navy, Commander of Sepah-e-Pasdaran Navy, Director of the Armed Forces Geographical Organization, three experts in this field appointed by the chairman of the council and the Deputy Minister of Telecommunications for International Affairs. The Minister of Road and Transportation is the chairman of the above-mentioned council and its secretariat is located in the National Meteorological Organization. This council is comprised of seven specialized committees that include:
(Oil Ministry) 3-CONCLUSION:
A) In reference to Article 7 of the Coastal and Reclaimed Lands Regulation: “ If a public institution is planning to establish a necessary facility within the legal coastal limits, it has to obtain the permission of the Council of Ministers for the desired exploitation and application. Upon completion of this stage, the permission of the following authorities for construction on the land areas within the sea limits is required:
B) If the private sector wants to establish a facility within the legal sea limits, it has to receive permission from at least four different authorities. 1st- Permission of an institution that the facility’s activity falls within the jurisdiction of. 2nd- National Forests and Pastures Organization (for implementation of
Coastal and Reclaimed Lands Regulation) 3rd- Ministry of Power (for implementation under the Fair Water Distribution Act) 4th- Ports and Shipping Organization (According to the General Regulations of the Ports and Shipping Organization, Article 3, Clause 22)
REFERENCES: 1-Compendium of Regulations and Legal Reports / Ministry of Power 2-Compendium of Regulations and Legal Reports / Ministry of Construction 3-Compendium of Regulations and Legal Reports / Ministry of Agriculture 4-Compendium of Regulations and Legal Reports / Ports and Shipping Organization 5-Compendium of Regulations and Legal Reports / Department of The Environment Referenced Regulations:
(January 20th 1969) Contamination Act (January 7th 1995) (November 23rd, 1991) |
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