19/05/2021
The Law on Environmental Protection 2020 (Law No.72/2020/QH14) was adopted at the 10th Session of the 14th National Assembly on November 17th, 2020. It will take effect from January 1st, 2022. The structure and content of the Law on Environment Protection (LEP) 2020 has breakthroughs that demonstrate the cross-cutting goal of protecting environmental components and people's health. Under this Law, environmental management instruments have been synchronized during the project’s lifecycle from the stage appraisal of decisions on investment policies, the stage of project assessment, the stage of official operation to the termination stage, including national environmental protection strategy, environmental projection planning, strategic environmental assessment, preliminary environmental impact assessment, environmental impact assessment, environmental license and environmental registration.
Prime Minister (PM) issued the Plan to implement the revised Law on Environmental Protection 2020 by Decision No. 343/QD-TTg on 12th March, 2021 to ensure the timely, effective and synchronized adoption of such new policies.
The Plan aims to propagate and disseminate the LEP to all people, officials, civil servants and employees; raising awareness and responsibility of the people in compliance with the Law; assigning specific tasks, implementation schedules and responsibilities to the relevant agencies and units.
On that basis, the implementation Plan for the LEP has to reflect the unified direction of the Government and the PM; the close and effective coordination among concerned ministries, ministerial-level agencies and units in implementing the Law. Furthermore, the Plan identifies the assignment within the scope of the respective duties as well as promoting the active roles of state management agencies at the central and local levels. It also requires certain roadmaps for application from the time the Law takes effect across the country. It shall regularly and promptly inspect, urge and guide the implementation of the Plan to eliminate the arising obstacles and disruption to ensure the effective enforcement of the LEP. Accordingly, the Plan includes three core contents as follows:
Firstly, the Plan sets out the propaganda, dissemination, and training of the Law on Environmental Protection
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) shall assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with the concerned ministries and ministerial-level agencies in compiling documents to serve the propagation and dissemination of the LEP. In addition, MONRE is also assigned to preside over and coordinate with the Vietnam Fatherland Front, Ministries and ministerial-level agencies and provincial people’s committees in propagating and disseminating the LEP with appropriate topics and modes of communication to the people, officials, and civil servants. Besides, MONRE is in charge of chairing and coordinating with ministries and ministerial-level agencies and provincial people’s committees to conduct training courses on the LEP and its’ guiding documents for related individuals and organizations.
The people’s committees of the provinces and cities directly under the central government shall organize the propaganda and dissemination activities in conformity with their practical conditions, for example, integration into the thematic conferences and training courses, updating new legal knowledge according to the legal dissemination and education work plan. The schedule for implementation starts from 2021 and onward.
Secondly, the Plan requires the review of legal documents
The MONRE reviews the current environmental regulations and technical regulations related to the LEP in the fields under its state management; implement or propose competent authorities to promptly amend, supplement, replace, abolish or issue new versions to ensure the compliance with the provisions of the Law in June 2021. Additionally, MONRE is assigned to synthesize all review results in July 2021.
Other ministries, including Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Health and ministerial-level agencies, people's committees of provinces and cities directly under the Central Government are also responsible for undertaking the review of regulations relevant to the LEP 2020 according to their state management domain and sending the results to MONRE in June 2021.
Thirdly, the Plan assigns the development and promulgation of legal documents guiding in details the implementation of the LEP
The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment and other ministers preside over the drafting, then submitting the competence authorities for promulgation or issuing according to their competence the sub-laws assigned in this Plan.
The Ministry of Justice and concerned ministries, line ministries are responsible for closely coordinating with the MONRE in the elaboration of legal documents that are assigned to MONRE according to the Decision. No. 2197/QĐ-TTg dated December 22nd, 2020, of the PM promulgating the List of sub-laws and decisions approved by the 10th session of the 14th National Assembly and the assignment of the drafting agencies.
The people's committees of provinces and cities directly under the Central Government are in charge of reviewing, formulating, and promulgating within their jurisdiction or requesting the provincial people’s councils to promulgate the legislative documents guiding in detail the LEP. It also requires the provincial people’s councils under their competence to issue the legislative documents guiding in detail the LEP according to the List of this Plan.
To implement the Plan, the Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies and chairman of the people's committee of provinces and cities directly under central government within their management fields, shall actively and positively undertake the assigned tasks in the PM's Decision No. 2197/QĐ-TTg.
MONRE annually shall assume the prime responsibility for and coordinate with the Ministry of Justice in evaluating and monitoring the implementation of the LEP. The budget for the implementation of this Plan is allocated from the State Budget and other sources according to the provisions of Law. The Ministry of Finance and the People's Committee at all levels shall guarantee appropriate budgets to effectively implement the tasks of ministries, line ministries, and localities.
Lastly, MONRE has responsibility for assisting the PM to monitor, urgent and guide other Ministries, People's Committees of provinces and cities directly under the central government and relevant agencies in adoption of the tasks and compliance with the schedules that are stated in the Plan. Subsequently, MONRE also has a duty to synthesize and report to the PM on the results of the implementation of this Plan.
Trung Thuận - Châu Loan
(Source: Vietnam Environment Administration Magazine, English Edition I - 2021)
