Resolution No. 35/NQ-CP dated March18, 2013 of the Government on some urgent problems in environment protection

THE GOVERNMENT

Resolution No.  35/NQ-CP dated March18, 2013 of the Government on some urgent problems in environment protection

In recent years, aiming for the sustainable development of Vietnam, the Communist Part, the National Assembly, and the Government have paid attention to guiding the socio-economic development associated with environment protection and improvement. Positive outcomes have been achieved and form a premise for enhancing the environment protection works in the near future. However, the socio-economic development has brought about plenty of complicated environmental implications, especially the pressing matters below:

The development of industrial parks industrial complexes is not synchronous with environmental infrastructure; plenty of industrial parks and industrial complexes are not provided with concentrated sewage treatment systems and cause severe environmental pollution. The mineral extraction in various areas lacks tight management that lead to the increase in the number of environmental pollution black spots. The proportion of solid waste, medical waste, domestic and industrial sewage being properly collected remains low; exhaust and dust from transport, construction, and production are not tightly control and causing severe environmental pollution in major cities and river basins. Waste from agricultural production and families in rural areas are not properly collected and treated; the uncontrolled use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides make environmental pollution in rural area even worse, in some places particularly severe. Environmental pollution in trade villages are hard to be controlled and handled. It becomes more and more severe in some places. The import of obsolete technologies and waste in the form of scrap into Vietnam is troublesome.  Biodiversity is degraded and gravely threatened; the number of species and genetic resources are decreasing; the number of species facing extinction is increasing.

The problems above are due to plenty of reasons, mainly:

The awareness and responsibility for environment protection of the authorities, officials, enterprises, and the public is poor. Environmental benefits are still eclipsed by short-term economic benefits.  The laws on environment protection are still inconsistent and impractical but have not been promptly amended; the enforcement of law is not strict enough. The violations against the law on environment protection are more and more crafty and serious. The management system has not satisfied demands and show weaknesses in the management; the manager force is small in number and limited in expertise. The requirements of environment protection have not receive due attention during the formulation of policies; the budget for environment protection is still restricted. The gathering of integrated strength of the whole society and the supervision of law enforcement of socio-political organizations are very limited.

To resolve these matters and make a fundamental change in environment protection, the Government hereby requests all Ministries, ministerial agencies, Governmental agencies, provincial People’s Committees to fulfill the following tasks:

1.To enhance the environment protection work at industrial parks and industrial complexes; improve the investigations on environment protection requirements in strategies, planning, plans, and projects for development

a) Intensify the inspection of conformity to the laws on environment protection at industrial parks and industrial complexes; strictly penalize the enterprises that commit violations; suspend or ban their operation if serious violations are committed; disclose the information about enterprises that violate the laws on environment protection;

b) Factories and projects in industrial parks and industrial complexes are only built after concentrated sewage treatment factories are built to ensure all sewage meet current standards;

c) Reform and improve the system of strategic environment assessment and assessment of environmental impacts on strategies, zonings, plans, and development projects, especially at the appraisal stage; intensify post-appraisal inspection to report environmental impacts; ensure that the environment protection works and measures of all projects are certified before they are put into operation.

d) Amend the Government s Decree No. 140/2006/ND-CP dated November 22, 2006 of the Government on environment protection in the formulation, appraisal, approval, and implementation of development strategies, zonings, plans, programs and projects. Clarify the subject of application; intensify the supervision, inspection and sanctions.

2.To focus on environment protection in mineral extraction

a) Focus on the inspection of the extraction, transport, and treatment of minerals; strictly penalize violations against the laws on environment protection;

b) Review and complete the regulations on funding for environmental remediation in mineral extraction towards a sufficient funding for environmental remediation works; specify the plans and responsibility for environmental remediation of organizations and individuals;

c) Issue regulations on environment protection in mineral extraction, transport, and processing; specify the responsibility of organizations and individuals participating in mineral extraction, transport, and processing.

3.To focus on resolving pollution and improving the environment in rural areas and trade villages

a) Intensify the control of agricultural chemicals; enhance the collection and treatment of pesticide, fertilizer, and animal feed packages;

b) Take specific measures to efficiently resolve reduce environmental pollution due to solid waste in rural areas and concentrated breeding;

c) Reasonably allocate land and make investments in waste and sewage treatment works and environmental infrastructure;

d) Efficiently settle the trade villages and pesticide depots that cause severe environmental pollution in the National Program for pollution reduction and environmental remediation during 2012 – 2015; quickly issue and execute the Project of trade village environment protection;

dd) Provide a mechanism for raising capital from the State budget and other funding sources to make investments in upgrading infrastructure of recognized trade villages, especially traditional villages.

e) Review the zonings of industries and trade villages in rural areas; make a list of forms and scales of trade villages that need conserving and developing, the forms and scales of trade villages that need removing from residential areas and rural areas;

g) Provide policies on supporting the production technologies, personnel training, production premises, market, and development of trade villages; formulate the regulations on trade village environment protection;

h) Review and add regulations of environment protection to the criteria for recognizing trade villages;

i) intensify the inspection and strictly penalized the facilities that produce products causing severe environmental pollution in the name of trade villages;

k) Confine the areas suffering from severe environmental pollution; provide warnings and instructions on the measures to prevent and minimize the risk to health of people in these areas.

l) Integrate environment protection tasks in National Programs for building new countryside during 2011 – 2020;

m) Assign officials specialized in environment management to work in communes that have trade villages causing environmental pollution.

4.To reduce environmental pollution in major cities and river basins

a) Efficiently control the wastes from vehicles according to effective standards; provide policies on encouraging the use of public transport and vehicles that use clean energy and not causing pollution.

b) Issue specific regulations on environment protection applicable to constructions and vehicles that transport building materials; provide a mechanism paying compensation for causing environmental pollution in construction;

c) Strictly control the conformity to regulations on environment protection according to the technical standards of construction in new cities and public works;

d) Consider formulating a National Program for investment in sewage treatment; first focus on major cities and river basins in a reasonable itinerary;

dd) Focus on providing guidance on the implementation of the Program for investment in solid waste treatment and the Project on medical waste treatment;

e) Quickly move the facilities causing severe environmental pollution away from urban areas and residential areas; 

g) Improve the capability of air and water observation stations; build a national environment observation database to serve the state management of environment protection;

h) Provide a mechanism for interdisciplinary cooperation to improve the efficiency of inspection; strictly penalize violations against the law on environment protection in transport and construction in major cities.

5. To control strictly scrap’s import

a) Thoroughly implement Basel Convention on the control of trans-boundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal; enhance information exchange; prevent the import of wastes into Vietnam;

b) Focus on completing National Technical Regulation on scrap allowed to be imported; provide a mechanism for interdisciplinary cooperation in controlling scrap import;

c) Review and supplement the regulations on temporary import for re-export, export, and import of scrap right at the licensing stage.

6. To prevent effectively ecosystem degradation and species reduction

a) Promulgate a National strategy on biodiversity by 2020 and an orientation towards 2030, and the Master plan on biodiversity conservation;

b) Review and amend the relevant legislative documents towards a uniform management of biodiversity conservation

c) Consider providing a mechanism for paying for environmental services, a mechanism for approaching genetic resources and sharing benefits from genetic resources;

d) Intensify the state management of biodiversity and penalties for illegally trading in endangered and rare animals and plants.

7.To raise the efficiency of state management of environment protection

a) Submit the draft of the Law on Environment protection (amended) on schedule;

b) Review the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of Ministries involving in environment protection tasks by specifying the responsibilities and unifying the management, resolve the current dispersal and overlap;

Concentrate on formulating the Project of strengthening the environment protection apparatus from central to local government and the Project of improving environmental officers, especially at district-, ward- and commune-level; and submit them to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision;

c) Promptly promulgate documents guiding the implementation of the Criminal Codes on environmental crimes; intensify inspection and prosecution for environmental crimes;

d) Provide funding for environment protection from development investment capital; gradually increase the proportion of funding for environmental works according to the growth of the economy; consider supplementing the list of expenditures on environment protection works belonging to public sector in the Law on State budget; then submit it to the Government for consideration;

dd) Review and adjust the mechanisms and policies on encouraging private sector involvement and attracting resources to environment protection;

e) Increase the duration and improve the contents of about environment protection on national television and radio towards establish an Environment channel;

g) Keep integrating environment protection into national education system; enhance the curricular and extracurricular education about environment protection in school;

h) Enhance the propagation and encourage people to follow an eco-friendly lifestyle, and abide by the laws on environment protection;

i) Provide an mechanism for encouraging organizations and individuals to participate in scientific research serving environment protection, focus on researching and transferring technologies for waste treatment, clean production, energy-saving, eco-friendliness, and green economic development models;

k) Review and supplement the list of technologies restricted from transfer and banned from transfer in order to prevent the import of obsolete technologies and equipment that cause environmental pollution into Vietnam; consider amending the regulations on environment protection in technology when licensing investments;

l) Develop the Technology and Science Research serving environment protection in the List of national Science and Technology Programs.

8.Implementation organization

a) The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall:

- Request the Prime Minister to promulgate the Decision on assignment of Ministries, authorities, and local governments on the implementation of this Resolution;

- Supervise the implementation of this Resolution of Ministries, authorities, and local governments; report the implementation of this Resolution to the Prime Minister annually.

b) Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies, provincial People’s Committees shall formulate and launch their plans for the implementation of this Resolution.

c) The Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance shall balance funding for provincial People’s Committees to implement the solutions of this Resolution.

d) Vietnamese Fatherland Front and member organizations shall cooperate with local governments in:

- Encourage the people to participate in environment protection; keep innovating methods to improve the quality and efficiency of the campaigns to encourage the community to participate in environment protection;

- Intensify the supervision and debate over the policies, measures, programs, and projects on environment protection; enable the people to exercise their rights and fulfill their responsibility to comply with the policies and laws on environment protection./.

For the Government

Prime Minister

Nguyen Tan Dung