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; meeting the requirements of the country's industrialization and modernization process, transforming the economic growth model from breadth to depth to ensure the country's sustainable development; proactively integrating internationally with many new urgent issues, requiring updating, amending, and supplementing the legal system on environmental protection.

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

Delegate Tran Thi Quoc Khanh stated that out of 160 articles of the draft Law, there are 37 articles and clauses stipulating that the Government, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and other ministries provide guidance, 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 make it more convincing, avoiding the situation of "The Law must wait for the guiding Decree."

Delegate Hoang Thi To Nga said that it is necessary to add "household" to the scope 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 stated that the draft law still heavily relies on the mindset that environmental protection is the responsibility of the State, and does not clearly demonstrate the responsibility of households and individuals to protect the environment. The drafting committee needs to study and stipulate 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"...; 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 waste materials affecting 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 not suitable, lack feasibility, and confuse the concepts of "craft villages" and "enterprises." Craft villages are not the same as 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