Preliminary review of the draft revised Law on Environmental Protection

On the afternoon of September 4, in Hanoi, the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment conducted a preliminary review of the draft Law on Environmental Protection (amended).

The opinions of the delegates will be received by the Committee on Science, Technology and Environment, completing the preliminary review report of the draft law to submit to the National Assembly Standing Committee for discussion and comments at the 21st session.

Agreeing with the Government's Proposal on the necessity of amending the Law on Environmental Protection, members of the Committee on Science, Technology and Environment emphasized that amending the Law on Environmental Protection aims to institutionalize the Party's guidelines and policies and the State's policies on environmental protection in the new situation; meet the requirements of the country's industrialization and modernization process, transform the economic growth model from breadth to depth to ensure the country's sustainable development; proactively integrate internationally with many new urgent issues, requiring updating, amending, supplementing and perfecting the legal system on environmental protection.

Delegates assessed that the draft law has specified a number of provisions that were previously general, while also adding a number of new contents that are suitable to the actual situation of environmental protection work. However, many delegates pointed out that the draft law is still at the "framework" level, with many provisions having to wait for detailed instructions to be implemented.

Delegate Tran Thi Quoc Khanh pointed out that out of 160 articles of the draft Law, there are 37 articles and clauses stipulating guidance from the Government, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and other ministries, so it is necessary to have a draft Decree soon so that the law is truly feasible and comes into practice.

Agreeing with the above opinion, delegate Nguyen Manh Tien, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee, suggested that the drafting committee should soon issue a list of draft Decrees guiding the Law to submit to the National Assembly to be more convincing, avoiding the situation of "Laws must wait for guiding Decrees."

Delegate Hoang Thi To Nga said that it is necessary to add "household" to the scope of regulation of the draft law because households are "cells of society," playing an important role in increasing pollution levels or protecting the environment.

Sharing the same view, delegate Do Van Ve pointed out that the draft law still has a heavy mindset that environmental protection is the responsibility of the State, and has not clearly shown the responsibility of households and individuals to protect the environment. The drafting committee needs to study and regulate the responsibility for environmental protection for the non-state sector and households.

Some opinions also suggested that the drafting committee should specifically study a number of new regulations related to "climate change," "green growth," "environmental security," etc.; carefully review issues with many shortcomings such as environmental pollution; inspect and handle violations of environmental protection laws; compensate for environmental damage; and state management responsibility for environmental protection.

Delegate Bui Thi An emphasized the need to clearly define the rights, responsibilities, and obligations of heads of ministries, branches, and organizations in environmental protection; publicly announce the identities of scrap materials that affect the environment and people's health on mass media so that people know and monitor.

Regarding environmental protection in craft villages, delegate Do Van Ve said that the provisions related to craft villages are inappropriate, lack feasibility, and confuse the concepts of "craft villages" and "enterprises." Craft villages are not like formal enterprises, production technology is still backward, and management is traditional, so applying sanctions to handle environmental pollution violations of enterprises to craft villages is unreasonable.

Delegate Hoang Thi To Nga also suggested that the drafting committee should carefully consider whether the regulation on establishing specialized environmental teams in craft villages can be implemented, because currently the financial resources of many communes are very difficult...

Concerned about environmental protection in cemetery areas, delegate Tran Thi Quoc Khanh mentioned the current situation that many businesses are investing in building cemeteries in high, beautiful areas while people live below, polluting the living environment of the people. This is an issue that is being "left hanging", causing public outrage. The draft Law on Environmental Protection (amended) needs to clearly stipulate that the cemetery area is far from residential areas, far from water sources, and must not be higher than residential areas to ensure the lives of people around...

At the same time, delegates also spent time discussing environmental protection planning; environmental protection in the exploitation and use of natural resources, adaptation to climate change; strategic environment, environmental impact assessment, and environmental protection plans./.

According to VNA - LT