Strengthening administrative sanctions against the act of littering the environment
(Baonghean.vn) - In recent years, environmental protection laws have been increasingly improved with strict penalties. However, handling environmental violations, especially littering, still faces many difficulties.
Multiple violations
According to statistics from the relevant authorities, in recent years, the total amount of domestic solid waste generated in the province per day is about 1,500 tons; the total amount of domestic solid waste collected is more than 1,100 tons/day. Of which, the amountdomestic solid wasteThe amount of solid waste generated in rural areas is more than 1,150 tons/day and the amount of solid waste generated in urban areas is about 448 tons/day. Of this, solid waste in urban areas is basically collected, while in rural areas only more than 50% is collected.
In fact, domestic solid waste has not been thoroughly classified at source. Individual households still mix hazardous waste (such as neon lights, rags, oil-stained bottles, damaged batteries, etc.) and construction waste with domestic solid waste, making collection and treatment difficult. In addition, many households still have the habit of dumping garbage indiscriminately in gardens, along roads, ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, etc., causing environmental pollution, loss of aesthetics, and affecting public health.
Dien Chau district is currently facing environmental pollution when temporary garbage collection points and open-air landfills have existed for many years but have not been treated, especially the landfill in Hai Bac hamlet, Dien Bich commune, which has existed for many years, and is treated by direct burning. Manual treatment has caused serious environmental pollution. According to local government representatives, the commune is currently looking for a solution to request the transportation of garbage here to the Nghi Yen Solid Waste Treatment Complex (Nghi Loc). However, this has not been implemented yet, causing environmental pollution for people in the surrounding area.
Or the area along the Bung River dike, from Dien Ngoc commune to Dien Van commune (Dien Chau), has long been a temporary garbage collection point and is also burned when full, causing environmental pollution. Garbage is even thrown onto the riverbank with all kinds of things from household waste, broken glass, bricks, stones...
Mr. Truong Van Duc - Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Dien Chau district said: Currently, Dien Chau district does not have a waste treatment plant. Pollution caused by waste has become a burning issue in some localities, especially coastal communes with high population density. In the local land use planning, a few locations have been selected to build centralized waste treatment areas, but implementation has encountered many difficulties. Currently, waste in the district is allowed to be collected at the Nghi Yen Solid Waste Treatment Complex. However, in the long term, there needs to be a solution to classify waste at the source, making it easier to handle and collect.
Regarding the administrative penalty for littering, Mr. Duc said it is very difficult because it is difficult to catch violators. Regarding the pollution situation in Dien Bich commune, the district is directing the commune to soon have a plan to contract with environmental treatment units to relocate the landfill.
In Vinh city, a lot of solid waste is generated every day. In recent years, local authorities at all levels have regularly carried out inspections and advised on the resolute handling of administrative violations in the field of environmental sanitation, so the situation of dumping household waste and construction waste at the wrong time and place has been somewhat limited. However, on some new roads such as the 35m road connecting Hung Hoa commune to Nghi An commune, or the 72m road, the illegal dumping of household waste and construction waste still occurs. In the first 9 months of 2023, the City's Urban Order Management Team also organized 158 campaigns; made records of administrative violations for 55 violations; collected more than 61 million VND for the budget.
Mr. Nguyen Tat Thien - Head of the Urban Order Management Team, Vinh City People's Committee said: Since the beginning of 2023, the team has directed working groups to regularly coordinate with the People's Committees of wards and communes to thoroughly handle violations according to the proposals of the wards and Nghe An Urban Environment and Construction Joint Stock Company. However, due to the poor awareness of some people, illegal dumping of waste still occurs.
According to statistics from the Inspectorate of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the main groups of violations in the field of environmental protection include: discharging waste causing environmental pollution; not properly implementing regulations in environmental impact assessment reports (EIA reports, environmental protection plans, confirmation of completion of environmental protection works, etc.); and improperly managing waste.
Since the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 took effect (January 1, 2021), many violations related to environmental protection have been handled. In 2021, 1,830 cases were handled, with administrative fines totaling more than VND 14 billion; in 2022, 380 cases were handled, with administrative fines totaling more than VND 4.2 billion.
Difficulties in sorting waste at source
On July 7, 2022, the Government issued Decree No. 45/2022/ND-CP on administrative sanctions for violations in the field of environmental protection. This Decree takes effect from August 25, 2022, and is considered an important legal corridor, contributing to better environmental management.
One of the new points of Decree No. 45 is to reduce the fine for groups of violations occurring in public places, to match the sanctioning authority of many local forces such as police officers (maximum fine of VND 500,000) or commune-level police chiefs, police station chiefs (maximum fine of VND 2.5 million). At the same time, the fine for littering in public places, throwing cigarette butts, etc. is reduced.
In particular, this Decree has many new points, regulating violations related to environmental protection, such as more clearly regulating the subjects subject to penalties for violations of not classifying domestic solid waste at source; not classifying, managing, and treating ordinary industrial solid waste; decentralizing and delegating authority over the authority to draw up records of administrative violations and sanction administrative violations... However, implementation according to Decree 45 still faces many difficulties.
According to Mr. Truong Van Duc - Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Dien Chau district, in 37 communes and towns of the district, there has been a movement to buy large trash cans to classify garbage at the source. However, in many cases, after sorting, they are loaded into one truck, then dumped together, which is also very difficult. Not to mention, because violations related to garbage classification and collection... often occur at the commune level, the authority belongs to the Chairman of the People's Committee at the commune level, while currently, in most localities, the People's Committee at the commune level has not yet specified the location, time of gathering, classification, collection... so it is still difficult to apply penalties for this behavior in practice.
Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh - Deputy Chief Inspector of Nghe An Department of Natural Resources and Environment said: In fact, through inspection and examination activities, violations of environmental laws have been detected and strictly and promptly handled. However, administrative violations in the environmental field still occur frequently in the whole province with more sophisticated nature and level; organizations and individuals who violate the law have many tricks to cope and resist.
Therefore, according to Mr. Thanh, in the immediate future, it is necessary to strengthen the propaganda and dissemination of laws on handling administrative violations in the field of environmental protection to raise people's awareness. In addition, organize training courses and professional development on handling administrative violations in the field of environmental protection for cadres, civil servants and public employees working in state management of handling administrative violations and those with authority to handle administrative violations, especially the grassroots forces (district and commune levels) to improve their awareness, consciousness, responsibility, legal knowledge and skills in applying laws on handling administrative violations. At the same time, strengthen inspection, examination and supervision of the implementation of laws on environmental protection, thereby proposing solutions to overcome shortcomings and limitations and recommending competent authorities to improve related mechanisms and policies...