NEW DECREE NO.155/2016/NĐ-CP ON ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTIES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL OFFENSES ISSUED
1. Viet Nam issues new Decree No. 155/2016 /NĐ-CP on administrative penalties for environmental offenses, enhancing inspections to protect the environment.
Individuals and organisations violating environmental protection regulations will be fined based on the Government’s Decree 155/2016/NĐ-CP. The highest administrative fine for individuals caught violating regulations related to environmental protection is VNĐ1 billion (US$44,400), and the highest fine for an organisation is VNĐ2 billion ($88,800). The Decree takes effect from Feb 1st, 2017.
The administrative violations in the field of environmental protection provisions in the Decree include: Behaviors that violating the regulations on environmental protection plan, environmental impact assessment and environmental protection scheme; Behaviors that cause environmental pollution; Behaviors that violating the regulations of environmental protection at industrial parks, export processing zone, high-tech zones, industrial clusters, zones of service and business…
The Decree specifies the penalty for each violation. In particular, individuals violating the regulations on environmental protection at its own facility, industrial parks, export proccessing zone, high-tech zone, industrial clusters, zones of service and business, vocational villages and aquaculture zones will be fined from 5 millions to 500 millions VND. Individuals violating the regulations of discharging wastewater with conventional and dangerous environmental parameters will be fined from 300 thousand to 1 billion VND depending on the seriousness of the violation.
When determining the fine levels, the Decree regulates to select parameters corresponding to the violation that has the highest fine level of wastewater sample or emission for penalizing. Environmental parameters that exceed the remaining technical specifications of the same wastewater sample will be fine between 10%-50% of the highest fines of the selected violation for each environmental parameter.
Regarding to the inspection, the Decree specifies that there is only one inspection team of competent authorities (Ministry of natural resources and environment, cities and provinces’ environment & natural resources department) having right to inspect in the field of environmental protection at one facility, enterprise, excepting for cases of unexpected inspection according to the law. Particularly, the environmental police will be responsible for preventing, detecting, fighting crimes and violations of the environmental protection law. Therefore, there is no limit on the number of inspection times and investigated ways to dectect violations of individuals or organizations.
2. Economic fields will be enhanced inspection in 2017
Environmental inspection on textile dyeing and steel industries in 2017
TTO – Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment sent the expected environmental inspection plan in 2017 to all provinces and cities, which focuses on units having pollution risks in the fields of textile & dyeing, metallurgy & steel production.
Specifically, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said that it will concentrate on inspecting three main segments:
Projects and units that had the environmental impact assessment study report, Environment Protection Scheme, registration of Environmental standards approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
Infrastructure investors of industrial parks, industrial clusters and a number of production facilities be likely to cause serious environmental pollution in the fields of textile, tanning, plating, steel manufacturing and metallurgy, thermal power, mineral processing, pulp and paper, starch, rubber processing, sugar and chemicals.
Units with the wastewater flow are from 200 m3/day.
Source: tuoitre.vn
Series of environmental inspectors provinces in 2017
Ministry of Natural Resources - Environment has approved the inspection plan of the General Department of Environment in 2017.
Specifically, in 2017, Vietnam environment administration will inspect law observance on environmental protection of service and manufacturing organizations in some provinces and cities including: Hải Phòng, Nghệ An, Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình, Gia Lai, Khánh Hòa, Kiên Giang, Cà Mau, Trà Vinh, Vĩnh Long.
Inspecting law observance on environmental protection towards units, industrial parks, export proccessing zones, high-tech zones and industrial clusters in provinces and cities of Cầu River basin including Bắc Ninh, Thái Bình, Vĩnh Phúc, Hải Dương; Nhuệ-Đáy river including Ha Nam, Ninh Binh and Đồng Nai river including Đắk Nông, Lâm Đồng, Đồng Nai, Long An, Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu.
Source: vea.gov.vn
