Difficulty in collecting environmental protection fees for industrial wastewater

(Baonghean) - Environmental protection fees for industrial wastewater are stipulated in Decree No. 25/2013/ND-CP, dated March 29, 2013 of the Government, on the basis of inheriting and amending and supplementing a number of previous documents. However, in the past, the collection of industrial wastewater fees in the province has been very limited.

The provincial interdisciplinary working group inspected the wastewater treatment system at Trang An Confectionery Factory (Cua Lo Town).

Paying industrial wastewater fees is a legal regulation that production establishments must comply with. However, in recent times, many establishments have deliberately avoided it; even when the competent authorities inspected, reminded and repeatedly sent notices of the obligation to pay environmental protection fees for industrial wastewater, many units were slow to comply. According to a report from the provincial Department of Environmental Protection, from January to September 2014, the unit guided the declaration, appraisal and fee payment notices for 395 production and business establishments in the province. However, by October 20, 2014, the whole province had only collected more than 908 million VND and 209/395 establishments had not paid the fees or had only paid a part of them. In particular, there were enterprises that owed fees from 2005 to present; there were units that notified them to pay the fees for the second and third times, such as Thai Duong Foreign Pig Breeding Company Limited, but they still did not pay. Thus, our province is losing a large budget source for the work of protecting, overcoming environmental degradation and pollution. Besides, there will be an unfairness in the implementation of obligations and responsibilities between fee-paying and non-paying establishments; not ensuring the strictness of the law.

Explaining the fact that the number of production establishments inspected, assessed, instructed and notified to pay fees is only in the hundreds, while the total number of production and business establishments in the whole province is in the thousands, Mr. Hoang Manh Trinh - Head of the Pollution Control Department, Provincial Department of Environmental Protection, said: Because production and business establishments in recent years have changed frequently, established and then dissolved, have headquarters but do not operate...; meanwhile, the force of the department assigned to carry out procedures and urge the collection of this fee fund is very thin, so it is impossible to investigate and update regularly.

During the research process, we also noted that, according to Decree No. 25 of the Government and Circular 06/2013 of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the subjects of fee payment are clearly regulated; the calculation method and fee payment level are changed based on the analysis of pollution content from wastewater and wastewater flow to determine the payment level for each facility. Since it is a regulation, it is mandatory to calculate correctly and fully, not "arbitrarily", and to calculate correctly and fully, it is mandatory to establish a team to organize inspection, evaluation and analysis. If so, it will inadvertently cause reactions from production facilities when there are too many inspection teams in the year. For a long time, the implementation of inspections to determine the fee payment level for each facility has been through coordination and combination with other inspection teams of the Natural Resources and Environment sector, and there has not been any independent inspection.

This also affects the identification of production establishments subject to the fee, leading to the number of notified establishments being modest (395 establishments). Another reason is that the dissemination and popularization of environmental protection laws in general, including regulations on industrial wastewater fees for production and business establishments, is still limited, leading to some enterprises not being aware of their responsibilities and obligations. Coordination between relevant agencies is not really effective. For example, according to Decree No. 25 of the Government stipulating responsibilities and obligations: The Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment at the district and county levels are responsible for coordinating with relevant agencies to conduct and classify fee payers (including fixed fees and variable fees); appraise environmental protection fee declarations for industrial wastewater, issue notices of the amount of fees payable; settle the amount of environmental protection fees for industrial wastewater of fee payers, etc.

However, in reality, this coordination is not tight and complete, leading to missing subjects and determining fees that are not really accurate. Or the tax authority is responsible for checking, urging, and settling the collection, payment, management, and use of environmental protection fees for wastewater of clean water suppliers and local natural resources and environment agencies, but has not yet implemented well.

During the research process, we also learned that the collection and management of environmental protection fees for industrial wastewater is assigned by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to the Provincial Department of Environmental Protection. However, in reality, the implementation of the Department of Environmental Protection has not been effective for a long time. According to Mr. Truong Xuan Lieu - Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Nghi Loc district: "Usually, businesses only care about input and output to have high profits and efficiency in production and business; while voluntary compliance with environmental protection regulations is really limited, not all units are aware of implementation.

Decree No. 25 issued by the Government is an important economic tool for functional agencies to implement, forcing production establishments and enterprises to comply". According to Mr. Truong Xuan Lieu, if the Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment authorizes the District-level Department of Natural Resources and Environment to collect fees, this revenue will increase, because the district level is the closest level and has the best understanding of the subjects. This is also consistent with Decree No. 25 of the Government in Article 8, Point d on implementation organization: "Based on the fee collection requirements of each locality and the management capacity of the district-level Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment can report to the Provincial People's Committee to decentralize to the District-level Department of Natural Resources and Environment to collect environmental protection fees for industrial wastewater in the area".

The purpose of collecting industrial wastewater fees is to have a budget source for environmental protection; supplement operating capital for the local Environmental Protection Fund for use in preventing, limiting, and controlling environmental pollution from wastewater; organize solutions, technological plans, and techniques for treating water pollution, contributing to sustainable development. However, in reality, the collection of wastewater fees is not very effective, requiring consideration of the responsibilities of relevant parties.

Environmental protection fees for industrial wastewater are stipulated in Decree No. 25/2013/ND-CP, dated March 29, 2013 of the Government, on the basis of inheriting and amending and supplementing a number of previous documents. However, in the past, the collection of industrial wastewater fees in the province has been very limited.

Wastewater treatment system of Nam Cam Industrial Park.

Paying industrial wastewater fees is a legal regulation that production establishments must comply with. However, in recent times, many establishments have deliberately avoided it; even when the competent authorities inspected, reminded and repeatedly sent notices of the obligation to pay environmental protection fees for industrial wastewater, many units were slow to comply. According to a report from the provincial Department of Environmental Protection, from January to September 2014, the unit guided the declaration, appraisal and fee payment notices for 395 production and business establishments in the province. However, by October 20, 2014, the whole province had only collected more than 908 million VND and 209/395 establishments had not paid the fees or had only paid a part of them. In particular, there were enterprises that owed fees from 2005 to present; there were units that notified them to pay the fees for the second and third times, such as Thai Duong Foreign Pig Breeding Company Limited, but they still did not pay. Thus, our province is losing a large budget source for the work of protecting, overcoming environmental degradation and pollution. Besides, there will be an unfairness in the implementation of obligations and responsibilities between fee-paying and non-paying establishments; not ensuring the strictness of the law.

Explaining the fact that the number of production establishments inspected, assessed, instructed and notified to pay fees is only in the hundreds, while the total number of production and business establishments in the whole province is in the thousands, Mr. Hoang Manh Trinh - Head of the Pollution Control Department, Provincial Department of Environmental Protection, said: Because production and business establishments in recent years have changed frequently, established and then dissolved, have headquarters but do not operate...; meanwhile, the force of the department assigned to carry out procedures and urge the collection of this fee fund is very thin, so it is impossible to investigate and update regularly.

During the research process, we also noted that, according to Decree No. 25 of the Government and Circular 06/2013 of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the subjects of fee payment are clearly regulated; the calculation method and fee payment level are changed based on the analysis of pollution content from wastewater and wastewater flow to determine the payment level for each facility. Since it is a regulation, it is mandatory to calculate correctly and fully, not "arbitrarily", and to calculate correctly and fully, it is mandatory to establish a team to organize inspection, evaluation and analysis. If so, it will inadvertently cause reactions from production facilities when there are too many inspection teams in the year. For a long time, the implementation of inspections to determine the fee payment level for each facility has been through coordination and combination with other inspection teams of the Natural Resources and Environment sector, and there has not been any independent inspection. This also affects the identification of production facilities subject to payment, resulting in a modest number of notified facilities (395 facilities).

Another reason is that the dissemination and popularization of environmental protection laws in general, including regulations on industrial wastewater fees for production and business establishments, is still limited, leading to some enterprises not being aware of their responsibilities and obligations. Coordination between relevant agencies is not really effective. For example, according to Decree No. 25 of the Government stipulating responsibilities and obligations: The Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment at the district and county levels are responsible for coordinating with relevant agencies to conduct and classify fee payers (including fixed fees and variable fees); appraise environmental protection fee declarations for industrial wastewater, issue notices of the amount of fees payable; settle the amount of environmental protection fees for industrial wastewater of fee payers... However, in reality, this coordination is not strictly and fully ensured, leading to missing subjects and determining the fee level is not really accurate. Or the tax authority is responsible for checking, urging, and settling the collection, payment, management, and use of environmental protection fees for wastewater by clean water suppliers and local natural resources and environment agencies, but has not yet done so well.

During the research process, we also learned that the collection and management of environmental protection fees for industrial wastewater is assigned by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to the Provincial Department of Environmental Protection. However, in reality, the implementation of the Department of Environmental Protection has not been effective for a long time. According to Mr. Truong Xuan Lieu - Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Nghi Loc district: "Usually, enterprises only care about input and output to have high profits and efficiency in production and business; while voluntary compliance with environmental protection regulations is really limited, not all units are aware of implementation. Decree No. 25 issued by the Government is an important economic tool for authorities to implement, forcing production establishments and enterprises to comply".

According to Mr. Truong Xuan Lieu, if the Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment authorizes the district-level Departments of Natural Resources and Environment to collect fees, this revenue will increase, because the district level is the closest level and has the best understanding of the subjects. This is also consistent with Decree 25 of the Government in Article 8, Point d on implementation: "Based on the fee collection requirements of each locality and the management capacity of the district-level Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment can report to the Provincial People's Committee to decentralize to the district-level Department of Natural Resources and Environment to collect environmental protection fees for industrial wastewater in the area".

The purpose of collecting industrial wastewater fees is to have a budget source for environmental protection; supplement operating capital for the local Environmental Protection Fund for use in preventing, limiting, and controlling environmental pollution from wastewater; organize solutions, technological plans, and techniques for treating water pollution, contributing to sustainable development. However, in reality, the collection of wastewater fees is not very effective, requiring consideration of the responsibilities of relevant parties.

Minh Chi