Effective implementation of the Law on Environmental Protection

Deputy Director of Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment Mai Trong Thai.

New points of the Law on Environmental Protection

- Can you tell us what is new in the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection?

- The Law on Environmental Protection 2020 was passed by the 14th National Assembly , 10th session on November 17, 2020, effective from January 1, 2022. The law has many new points to overcome the limitations of the Law on Environmental Protection 2014. Specifically, the new law divides investment projects into 4 groups, based on assessments from many different criteria, such as: Scale, capacity, type of production, business, services; land use area, land with water surface, sea area; scale of natural resource exploitation; environmentally sensitive factors.

The Law on Environmental Protection 2020 approaches a consistent and scientific environmental management method for investment projects based on environmental criteria. In addition, the addition of environmental criteria and subjects subject to environmental impact assessment can be considered as a basis for businesses to be more proactive in submitting correct and complete documents, helping state management agencies improve the effectiveness of inspection and supervision...

The new law also strongly reforms administrative procedures, through the integration of environmental licenses and certificates into one environmental license, thereby reducing costs for businesses and helping state management agencies effectively control environmental impacts from production, business and service activities...

- After more than a year since the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 took effect, how has Hanoi city implemented it, sir?

- The Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment has advised the City People's Committee to issue Plan No. 196/KH-UBND dated August 27, 2021 and many documents on the implementation of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 in the city; urged departments, branches, districts, towns to implement Plan No. 196/KH-UBND and propagate and implement the Law on Environmental Protection 2020. In addition, the Department advised and submitted to the Hanoi People's Committee to issue Decision No. 1040/QD-UBND dated March 25, 2022 on promulgating the list of newly issued administrative procedures; replacement administrative procedures, abolished administrative procedures in the environmental field under its authority; guiding the People's Committees at district and commune levels to approve and abolish internal procedures in the environmental field that are no longer consistent with the new law...

In addition, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment issued Document No. 10298/STNMT-QLCTR dated December 28, 2022 reporting to the Hanoi People's Committee on reviewing and proposing adjustments to the capital's solid waste treatment planning.

- The new regulation states: By December 31, 2024 at the latest, solid waste from households and individuals must be classified into 3 types. So, how has Hanoi city implemented this regulation so far?

- The city identifies waste management as a key issue in environmental protection. In which, the 3R solution (reduce, reuse, recycle) is given top priority. According to Article 75 of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020, solid waste generated from households and individuals is classified according to the following principles: Solid waste that can be reused or recycled; food waste; other solid waste.

To implement the regulation that by December 31, 2024, household and individual solid waste must be classified into 3 types, the Hanoi People's Committee has issued plans and directive documents such as Plan No. 196/KH-UBND dated August 20, 2021 on implementing the Law on Environmental Protection 2020; Plan No. 62/KH-UBND dated February 6, 2023 on implementing Article 79 of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020; requesting a comprehensive review of the capital's solid waste treatment plan until 2030, with a vision to 2050, to build a synchronous infrastructure to serve the work of classifying, collecting, transporting and treating waste after classification.

Implementing the direction of the City People's Committee, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment has coordinated with departments, branches, People's Committees of districts, towns to develop a project to classify domestic waste at source in the city for the period 2023-2030, and submit it to competent authorities for approval.

Quickly put the law into practice

- In the process of implementing the Law on Environmental Protection 2020, what difficulties and problems does Hanoi city encounter, sir?

- Although the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 is assessed to have many new points, improving the effectiveness of environmental protection, the implementation process still faces difficulties and obstacles. For example, when implementing projects that require environmental procedures, the Law on Environmental Protection 2020's instructions are not clear, the scope of application is not specific, causing difficulties in the implementation process. According to regulations, investment projects that require changing the purpose of using rice-growing land must prepare an environmental impact assessment report. Thus, projects are exempted from environmental registration according to Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP of the Government, but if there is a change in the purpose of using rice-growing land, an environmental impact assessment report must still be prepared. In fact, there are some projects that use very little rice land, such as building cultural houses, schools, and communal cemeteries, but still have to carry out procedures for preparing environmental impact assessment reports, causing many difficulties in the project implementation process.

Furthermore, some documents guiding the implementation of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 have not yet issued environmental technical regulations on safe distances for residential areas of production, business, service establishments and warehouses that are at risk of emitting dust, unpleasant odors, and noise that adversely affect human health...

In addition, the new law also does not have instructions on pricing methods for domestic waste treatment services; regulations on technical and economic norms for collection, transportation and treatment of domestic solid waste... Because of these problems, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment does not have a basis to implement the articles and clauses of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020...

- According to you, to effectively implement the Law on Environmental Protection 2020, in the coming time, what tasks and solutions will the Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment carry out?

- The Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment has proactively issued Document No. 988/STNMT-CCBVMT dated February 18, 2022 to the city's departments, branches, and People's Committees of districts, towns, and cities, requesting to promote propaganda and implementation of the law. At the same time, the department has developed a handbook, organized training conferences, and issued a set of answers to frequently asked questions related to the implementation of the law. On that basis, units and localities continue to promote propaganda and dissemination of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 in many forms to raise awareness and sense of responsibility of all classes of people and businesses.

In addition, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment advised the city to develop a roadmap to completely resolve outstanding issues to implement the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 most effectively in life.

Thank you very much!

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