{"id":1597,"date":"2022-01-01T09:08:02","date_gmt":"2022-01-01T09:08:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lawpage.vn\/?p=1597"},"modified":"2026-08-05T03:24:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T03:24:35","slug":"the-law-on-environmental-protection-no-72-2020-qh14-takes-effect-from-january-1-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lawpage.vn\/en\/the-law-on-environmental-protection-no-72-2020-qh14-takes-effect-from-january-1-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"The Law on Environmental Protection No. 72\/2020\/QH14 takes effect from January 1, 2022."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #000080\"><strong>Summary of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\"><strong>Chapter I \u2013 General Provisions<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\">This chapter includes:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul role=\"list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Definition of the scope of regulation and subjects of application.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Explanation of key terms such as environment, waste, environmental impact assessment, environmental permit, greenhouse gases, greenhouse effect, best available techniques, etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Principles of environmental protection, emphasizing:<\/span>\n<ul role=\"list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Environmental protection is the responsibility of all organizations and individuals.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Environmental protection must be linked with socio\u2011economic development.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Priority is given to pollution prevention, recycling, and reuse of waste.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">State policies on environmental protection: incentives, support, investment, communication, development of clean technologies, and circular economy.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Prohibited acts: illegal discharge of waste, importation of waste, excessive noise, concealment of pollution-causing acts, destruction of natural heritage, etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em><strong>Article 3. Interpretation of Terms <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>In this Law, the terms below are construed as follows:<\/em><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ol>\n<li><em><strong>Environment<\/strong> means natural and man\u2011made 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.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Environmental protection activities<\/strong> 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.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Environmental components<\/strong> mean physical elements that constitute the environment, including soil, water, air, organisms, sound, light, and other forms of matter.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>National environmental protection planning<\/strong> 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.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Strategic environmental assessment<\/strong> 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.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Preliminary environmental impact assessment<\/strong> means the review and identification of major environmental issues of an investment project during the pre\u2011feasibility study stage or the project proposal stage.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Environmental impact assessment<\/strong> means the process of analyzing, evaluating, identifying, and forecasting environmental impacts of an investment project and proposing measures to mitigate adverse environmental impacts.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Environmental permit<\/strong> 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.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Environmental registration<\/strong> 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.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Environmental technical regulation<\/strong> 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.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Environmental standard<\/strong> 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.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Environmental pollution<\/strong> 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.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Environmental degradation<\/strong> means the decline in quality or quantity of environmental components, causing adverse impacts on human health, organisms, and nature.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Environmental incident<\/strong> means an incident occurring during human activities or due to abnormal natural changes, causing serious pollution or environmental degradation.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Pollutant<\/strong> means a chemical substance or physical or biological agent that, when present in the environment beyond permissible limits, causes environmental pollution.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Persistent pollutant<\/strong> means a pollutant with high toxicity, difficult to degrade, capable of bioaccumulation and environmental dispersion, causing adverse impacts on the environment and human health.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Persistent organic pollutant<\/strong> means a persistent pollutant as defined in the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Waste<\/strong> means matter in solid, liquid, gaseous, or other forms discharged from production, business, service, daily life, or other activities.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Solid waste<\/strong> means waste in solid form or sludge.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Hazardous waste<\/strong> means waste containing toxic, radioactive, infectious, flammable, explosive, corrosive, poisonous, or other hazardous characteristics.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Co\u2011processing of waste<\/strong> 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.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Pollution control<\/strong> means the process of preventing, detecting, stopping, and treating pollution.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Environmental carrying capacity<\/strong> means the limit of environmental tolerance to impacting factors so that the environment can self\u2011recover.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Environmental protection technical infrastructure<\/strong> includes systems for collection, storage, transportation, and treatment of waste; environmental monitoring systems; and other environmental protection works.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Environmental monitoring<\/strong> means continuous, periodic, ad\u2011hoc, 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.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Trial operation of waste treatment works<\/strong> 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.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Scrap<\/strong> 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.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Residential community<\/strong> means a community of people living in the same area such as a hamlet, village, sub\u2011village, cluster, neighborhood, or similar residential point within the territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Greenhouse gas<\/strong> means a gas in the atmosphere that causes the greenhouse effect.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Greenhouse effect<\/strong> means the phenomenon in which solar radiation energy is absorbed in the atmosphere and converted into heat, causing global warming.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Greenhouse gas emission reduction<\/strong> means activities aimed at reducing the level or intensity of greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing greenhouse gas absorption.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Climate change response<\/strong> means human activities aimed at adapting to climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Greenhouse gas emission quota<\/strong> 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 (CO\u2082) or CO\u2082 equivalent.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Ozone layer<\/strong> means a layer in the Earth&#8217;s stratosphere that protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation from the Sun.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Carbon credit<\/strong> means a tradable certificate representing the right to emit one ton of carbon dioxide (CO\u2082) or CO\u2082 equivalent.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Best available techniques<\/strong> mean the best technical solutions selected to ensure practicality and effectiveness in preventing and controlling pollution and minimizing adverse environmental impacts.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Concentrated production, business, and service zones<\/strong> include industrial parks, export processing zones, high\u2011tech parks, and industrial production functional zones of economic zones.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><em><strong>Investment project owner<\/strong> means the investor or project owner under the laws on investment, public investment, public\u2011private partnership investment, and construction.<\/em><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em><strong>Article 6. Prohibited Acts in Environmental Protection <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ol>\n<li><em>Transporting, burying, dumping, discharging, or burning solid waste or hazardous waste in violation of technical procedures or legal regulations on environmental protection.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Discharging untreated wastewater or exhaust gases that fail to meet environmental technical regulations into the environment.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>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.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Causing noise or vibration exceeding permissible limits under environmental technical regulations; emitting smoke, dust, or gases with toxic odors into the air.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Implementing investment projects or discharging waste without meeting environmental protection requirements as prescribed by law.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Importing, temporarily importing, re\u2011exporting, or transiting waste from abroad in any form.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Illegally importing used vehicles, machinery, or equipment for dismantling or recycling.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>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.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Concealing acts that cause environmental pollution; obstructing, falsifying information, or committing fraud in environmental protection activities that result in adverse environmental consequences.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>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.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Producing, importing, temporarily importing, re\u2011exporting, or consuming substances that deplete the ozone layer as regulated by international treaties on ozone\u2011depleting substances to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Destroying or illegally encroaching upon natural heritage sites.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Destroying or illegally encroaching upon works, equipment, or facilities serving environmental protection activities.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Abusing positions or powers to violate environmental protection laws.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\"><strong>Chapter II \u2013 Protection of Environmental Components and Natural Heritage<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\">This chapter includes:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\"><strong>Section 1 \u2013 Protection of Water Environment<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\"><strong>Section 2 \u2013 Protection of Air Environment<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul role=\"list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Control of emissions, noise, and vibration; management of air quality.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\"><strong>Section 3 \u2013 Protection of Soil Environment<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul role=\"list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Prevention of soil pollution and restoration of contaminated land.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\"><strong>Section 4 \u2013 Protection of Forests and Biodiversity<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul role=\"list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Conservation of ecosystems, endangered species, and nature reserves.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\"><strong>Section 5 \u2013 Protection of Natural Heritage<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul role=\"list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Management, protection, prevention of encroachment and illegal exploitation.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\"><strong>Chapter III \u2013 Environmental Protection Planning<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\">This chapter includes:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul role=\"list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Regulations on the content and principles of national environmental protection planning.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Integration with regional and provincial planning.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Identification of environmental zones, sensitive areas, and emission\u2011restricted zones.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\"><strong>Chapter IV \u2013 Strategic Environmental Assessment, Environmental Impact Assessment, and Environmental Permits<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\">This chapter includes:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul role=\"list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\"><strong>Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA):<\/strong> applied to major strategies and planning.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\"><strong>Preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment:<\/strong> conducted during the pre\u2011feasibility stage.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\"><strong>Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA):<\/strong> required for projects with potential environmental impacts.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\"><strong>Environmental permits:<\/strong> regulations on entities required to obtain permits, permit contents, and issuing authorities.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\"><strong>Chapter V \u2013 Environmental Protection in Production, Business, and Services<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\">This chapter includes:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul role=\"list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Environmental requirements for production facilities.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Management of solid waste, hazardous waste, wastewater, and emissions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Regulations on recycling, reuse, and co\u2011processing of waste.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Responsibilities of facility owners in preventing environmental incidents.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\"><strong>Chapter VI \u2013 Waste Management<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\">This chapter includes:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul role=\"list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Waste classification at source.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Collection, transportation, and treatment of municipal, industrial, and hazardous waste.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR): recycling and product take\u2011back obligations.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\"><strong>Chapter VII \u2013 Climate Change Response<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\">This chapter includes:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul role=\"list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Greenhouse gas inventory.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Greenhouse gas emission reduction.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Climate change adaptation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Carbon credit mechanisms and emission quotas.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\"><strong>Chapter VIII \u2013 Economic Instruments and Environmental Protection Resources<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\">This chapter includes:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul role=\"list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Environmental taxes and fees.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Environmental protection funds.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Incentive mechanisms and financial support for green projects.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\"><strong>Chapter IX \u2013 Environmental Monitoring<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\">This chapter includes:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul role=\"list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Establishment of the national environmental monitoring network.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Disclosure of environmental information.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Responsibilities of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and local authorities.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\"><strong>Chapter X \u2013 Responsibilities of Agencies, Organizations, and Communities<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\">This chapter includes:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul role=\"list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Responsibilities of the State and People\u2019s Committees at all levels.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Responsibilities of organizations and enterprises.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Community rights in environmental monitoring and supervision.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\"><strong>Chapter XI \u2013 Inspection, Examination, and Handling of Violations<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\">This chapter includes:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul role=\"list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Regulations on environmental inspection.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Administrative sanctions for violations.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Compensation for environmental damage.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\"><strong>Chapter XII \u2013 Implementation Provisions<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #282828\">This chapter includes:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul role=\"list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Effective date of the law.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Transitional provisions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #282828\">Repeal of previous legal documents.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Summary of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020\u00a0 Chapter I \u2013 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 [&#8230;]\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawpage.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawpage.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawpage.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawpage.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawpage.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lawpage.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1597\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawpage.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawpage.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawpage.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}