Summary of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020
Chapter I – General Provisions
This chapter includes:
- Definition of the scope of regulation and subjects of application.
- Explanation of key terms such as environment, waste, environmental impact assessment, environmental permit, greenhouse gases, greenhouse effect, best available techniques, etc.
- Principles of environmental protection, emphasizing:
- Environmental protection is the responsibility of all organizations and individuals.
- Environmental protection must be linked with socio‑economic development.
- Priority is given to pollution prevention, recycling, and reuse of waste.
- State policies on environmental protection: incentives, support, investment, communication, development of clean technologies, and circular economy.
- Prohibited acts: illegal discharge of waste, importation of waste, excessive noise, concealment of pollution-causing acts, destruction of natural heritage, etc.
Article 3. Interpretation of Terms
In this Law, the terms below are construed as follows:
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- Environment means natural and man‑made physical elements that are closely related to each other, surrounding humans, and affecting human life, economy, society, the existence and development of humans, organisms, and nature.
- Environmental protection activities mean activities to prevent and reduce adverse impacts on the environment; respond to environmental incidents; remedy pollution and environmental degradation; improve environmental quality; rationally use natural resources and biodiversity; and respond to climate change.
- Environmental components mean physical elements that constitute the environment, including soil, water, air, organisms, sound, light, and other forms of matter.
- National environmental protection planning means the arrangement and orientation of spatial distribution of environmental quality management zones, nature and biodiversity conservation, waste management, environmental monitoring and warning within a defined territory to protect the environment and serve sustainable national development for a specified period.
- Strategic environmental assessment means the process of identifying and forecasting trends of major environmental issues, serving as a basis for integrating environmental protection solutions into policies, strategies, and planning.
- Preliminary environmental impact assessment means the review and identification of major environmental issues of an investment project during the pre‑feasibility study stage or the project proposal stage.
- Environmental impact assessment means the process of analyzing, evaluating, identifying, and forecasting environmental impacts of an investment project and proposing measures to mitigate adverse environmental impacts.
- Environmental permit means a document issued by a competent state management agency to organizations or individuals engaged in production, business, or service activities that discharge waste into the environment, manage waste, or import scrap for production, together with environmental protection requirements and conditions as prescribed by law.
- Environmental registration means the act of an investment project owner or a production, business, or service establishment registering with a state management agency the contents related to waste discharge and environmental protection measures of the project or establishment.
- Environmental technical regulation means mandatory limits of environmental quality parameters, pollutant concentrations in raw materials, fuels, materials, equipment, products, goods, waste, and technical and management requirements issued by competent state agencies under the law on standards and technical regulations.
- Environmental standard means voluntary limits of environmental quality parameters, pollutant concentrations in waste, and technical and management requirements announced by competent state agencies or organizations under the law on standards and technical regulations.
- Environmental pollution means the alteration of physical, chemical, or biological properties of environmental components that does not conform to environmental technical regulations or environmental standards, causing adverse impacts on human health, organisms, and nature.
- Environmental degradation means the decline in quality or quantity of environmental components, causing adverse impacts on human health, organisms, and nature.
- Environmental incident means an incident occurring during human activities or due to abnormal natural changes, causing serious pollution or environmental degradation.
- Pollutant means a chemical substance or physical or biological agent that, when present in the environment beyond permissible limits, causes environmental pollution.
- Persistent pollutant means a pollutant with high toxicity, difficult to degrade, capable of bioaccumulation and environmental dispersion, causing adverse impacts on the environment and human health.
- Persistent organic pollutant means a persistent pollutant as defined in the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.
- Waste means matter in solid, liquid, gaseous, or other forms discharged from production, business, service, daily life, or other activities.
- Solid waste means waste in solid form or sludge.
- Hazardous waste means waste containing toxic, radioactive, infectious, flammable, explosive, corrosive, poisonous, or other hazardous characteristics.
- Co‑processing of waste means combining an existing production process to recycle, treat, or recover energy from waste, in which waste is used as raw materials, materials, substitute fuels, or is treated.
- Pollution control means the process of preventing, detecting, stopping, and treating pollution.
- Environmental carrying capacity means the limit of environmental tolerance to impacting factors so that the environment can self‑recover.
- Environmental protection technical infrastructure includes systems for collection, storage, transportation, and treatment of waste; environmental monitoring systems; and other environmental protection works.
- Environmental monitoring means continuous, periodic, ad‑hoc, and systematic observation of environmental components, environmental impact factors, and waste to provide information for assessing environmental status, environmental quality trends, and adverse environmental impacts.
- Trial operation of waste treatment works means operating waste treatment works to test and evaluate their effectiveness and compliance with environmental protection requirements for investment projects, establishments, concentrated production, business, service zones, and industrial clusters.
- Scrap means materials recovered, sorted, and selected from discarded materials or products during production, business, service, or consumption activities for use as raw materials in another production process.
- Residential community means a community of people living in the same area such as a hamlet, village, sub‑village, cluster, neighborhood, or similar residential point within the territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
- Greenhouse gas means a gas in the atmosphere that causes the greenhouse effect.
- Greenhouse effect means the phenomenon in which solar radiation energy is absorbed in the atmosphere and converted into heat, causing global warming.
- Greenhouse gas emission reduction means activities aimed at reducing the level or intensity of greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing greenhouse gas absorption.
- Climate change response means human activities aimed at adapting to climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
- Greenhouse gas emission quota means the amount of greenhouse gas that a country, organization, or individual is permitted to emit within a specified period, calculated in tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) or CO₂ equivalent.
- Ozone layer means a layer in the Earth’s stratosphere that protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation from the Sun.
- Carbon credit means a tradable certificate representing the right to emit one ton of carbon dioxide (CO₂) or CO₂ equivalent.
- Best available techniques mean the best technical solutions selected to ensure practicality and effectiveness in preventing and controlling pollution and minimizing adverse environmental impacts.
- Concentrated production, business, and service zones include industrial parks, export processing zones, high‑tech parks, and industrial production functional zones of economic zones.
- Investment project owner means the investor or project owner under the laws on investment, public investment, public‑private partnership investment, and construction.
Article 6. Prohibited Acts in Environmental Protection
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- Transporting, burying, dumping, discharging, or burning solid waste or hazardous waste in violation of technical procedures or legal regulations on environmental protection.
- Discharging untreated wastewater or exhaust gases that fail to meet environmental technical regulations into the environment.
- Releasing or discharging hazardous substances, harmful viruses capable of infecting humans, animals, or microorganisms that have not been inspected; disposing of animals that died from epidemics; and other harmful agents that pose risks to human health, organisms, and nature.
- Causing noise or vibration exceeding permissible limits under environmental technical regulations; emitting smoke, dust, or gases with toxic odors into the air.
- Implementing investment projects or discharging waste without meeting environmental protection requirements as prescribed by law.
- Importing, temporarily importing, re‑exporting, or transiting waste from abroad in any form.
- Illegally importing used vehicles, machinery, or equipment for dismantling or recycling.
- Failing to implement works, measures, or activities for preventing, responding to, remediating, or mitigating environmental incidents as required by environmental protection laws and other relevant legal regulations.
- Concealing acts that cause environmental pollution; obstructing, falsifying information, or committing fraud in environmental protection activities that result in adverse environmental consequences.
- Producing or trading products harmful to human health, organisms, and nature; producing or using construction materials containing toxic elements exceeding permissible limits under environmental technical regulations.
- Producing, importing, temporarily importing, re‑exporting, or consuming substances that deplete the ozone layer as regulated by international treaties on ozone‑depleting substances to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member.
- Destroying or illegally encroaching upon natural heritage sites.
- Destroying or illegally encroaching upon works, equipment, or facilities serving environmental protection activities.
- Abusing positions or powers to violate environmental protection laws.
Chapter II – Protection of Environmental Components and Natural Heritage
This chapter includes:
Section 1 – Protection of Water Environment
Section 2 – Protection of Air Environment
- Control of emissions, noise, and vibration; management of air quality.
Section 3 – Protection of Soil Environment
- Prevention of soil pollution and restoration of contaminated land.
Section 4 – Protection of Forests and Biodiversity
- Conservation of ecosystems, endangered species, and nature reserves.
Section 5 – Protection of Natural Heritage
- Management, protection, prevention of encroachment and illegal exploitation.
Chapter III – Environmental Protection Planning
This chapter includes:
- Regulations on the content and principles of national environmental protection planning.
- Integration with regional and provincial planning.
- Identification of environmental zones, sensitive areas, and emission‑restricted zones.
Chapter IV – Strategic Environmental Assessment, Environmental Impact Assessment, and Environmental Permits
This chapter includes:
- Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA): applied to major strategies and planning.
- Preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment: conducted during the pre‑feasibility stage.
- Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA): required for projects with potential environmental impacts.
- Environmental permits: regulations on entities required to obtain permits, permit contents, and issuing authorities.
Chapter V – Environmental Protection in Production, Business, and Services
This chapter includes:
- Environmental requirements for production facilities.
- Management of solid waste, hazardous waste, wastewater, and emissions.
- Regulations on recycling, reuse, and co‑processing of waste.
- Responsibilities of facility owners in preventing environmental incidents.
Chapter VI – Waste Management
This chapter includes:
- Waste classification at source.
- Collection, transportation, and treatment of municipal, industrial, and hazardous waste.
- Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR): recycling and product take‑back obligations.
Chapter VII – Climate Change Response
This chapter includes:
- Greenhouse gas inventory.
- Greenhouse gas emission reduction.
- Climate change adaptation.
- Carbon credit mechanisms and emission quotas.
Chapter VIII – Economic Instruments and Environmental Protection Resources
This chapter includes:
- Environmental taxes and fees.
- Environmental protection funds.
- Incentive mechanisms and financial support for green projects.
Chapter IX – Environmental Monitoring
This chapter includes:
- Establishment of the national environmental monitoring network.
- Disclosure of environmental information.
- Responsibilities of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and local authorities.
Chapter X – Responsibilities of Agencies, Organizations, and Communities
This chapter includes:
- Responsibilities of the State and People’s Committees at all levels.
- Responsibilities of organizations and enterprises.
- Community rights in environmental monitoring and supervision.
Chapter XI – Inspection, Examination, and Handling of Violations
This chapter includes:
- Regulations on environmental inspection.
- Administrative sanctions for violations.
- Compensation for environmental damage.
Chapter XII – Implementation Provisions
This chapter includes:
- Effective date of the law.
- Transitional provisions.
- Repeal of previous legal documents.