Notes: This is the English version of the law with more grammatical textures and a better-looking book cover translated and designed by Alph16, and some extra graphics. It's only available on Wattpad of Alph16. All other websites that reupload this version are thieves and don't have my permission. So if you care, please only read on Wattpad.

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CHAPTER I

General Provisions

Article 1 Governing scope

This Law regulates environmental protection activities; policies, measures, and resources for the protection of the environment; and the rights and obligations of organizations, family households, and individuals concerning the protection of the environment.

Article 2 Applicable entities

This Law applies to Vietnamese State bodies, organizations, family households, and individuals; and to Vietnamese residing overseas and foreign organizations and individuals with operations in the territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Where an international treaty of which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member contains provisions that are different from the provisions in this Law, the provisions of such international treaty shall prevail.

Article 3 Interpretation of terms

In this Law, the following terms shall be construed as follows:

1. Environment comprises the natural elements and man-made factors surrounding humans and affecting the life, development, and existence of humans and living creatures and affecting manufacturing activities.

2. Environmental element means any element forming the environment, such as land, water, air, sound, light, living creatures, ecosystems, and other matter.

3. Environmental protection activities mean activities that are carried out to keep the environment pure and clean, to restrict adverse impacts on the environment and deal with environmental incidents; to overcome environmental pollution and degradation and recover and improve the environment; to exploit and use natural resources properly and economically and protect biological diversity.

4. Sustainable development means development that satisfies the needs of the present generation without prejudicing the ability to satisfy the needs of future generations based on tight and harmonious coordination between economic growth, a guarantee of social progress, and protection of the environment.

5. Environmental standard means the permissible limit of a quality parameter of the surrounding environment and the content of pollutants in wastes as stipulated by the competent State body as the basis for management and protection of the environment.

6. Environmental pollution means any change in environmental elements which does not conform to environmental standards and harms humans and living creatures.

7. Environmental degradation means any reduction of the quality and quantity of an environmental element that harms humans and living creatures.

8. Environmental incident means any catastrophic event or risk which occurs in the course of human activities or any sudden natural occurrence which causes serious environmental pollution, degradation, or change.

9. Pollutant means any substance or physical element which causes environmental pollution when it appears in the environment.

10. Waste means any matter in a solid, liquid, or gaseous state which is discharged from manufacturing, business, services, living activities, or other activities.

11. Hazardous waste means waste with toxic, radioactive, inflammable, explosive, infectious, poisonous, and other hazardous characteristics.

12. Management of waste means activities to classify, collect, transport, minimize, re-use, recycle, process, destroy and dispose of waste.

13. Waste materials mean products or materials which arise as a result of manufacturing processes or consumption and which are recovered to use as raw materials for manufacturing.

14. Burden bearing capacity of the environment means the permissible limit within which the environment may receive and absorb pollutants.

15. Ecosystem means a group of life forms that co-exist and develop in a specific natural environment and which have an impact on each other.

16. Biological diversity means the rich diversity of genes, species of living creatures, and ecosystems.

17. Environmental monitoring means the process of systematic observation of the environment and of elements affecting the environment to provide information to assess the current status of the environment, changes in its quality, and adverse impact on the environment.

18. Information about the environment comprises data and figures about environmental elements, reserves and the ecological and economic value of natural resources, the impact on the environment, waste and

levels of environmental pollution and degradation, and other information on environmental issues.

19. Strategic environmental assessment means the analysis of and forecast of the environmental impact of a strategic project, master plan, or plan for development before the approval of such project or plan to ensure sustainable development.

20. Environmental impact assessment means the analysis of and forecast of the environmental impact of a specific investment project to propose measures to protect the environment upon commencement of such project.

21. Greenhouse gas means any type of gas impacting the thermal exchange between the earth and surrounding space resulting in the temperature of the earth around the surface of the earth becoming warmer.

22. Quota for greenhouse gas emissions means the volume of greenhouse gas that each country is permitted to emit into the atmosphere following relevant international treaties.

Article 4 Principles for environmental protection

1. Environmental protection must coordinate harmoniously with economic development and ensure social progress to achieve national sustainable development. Protection of the national environment must be associated with the protection of the regional and global environment.

2. Environmental protection is a cause of the whole of society and is the right and responsibility of State bodies, organizations, family households, and individuals.

3. Environmental protection activities must be conducted regularly, with prevention being the main purpose, in combination with overcoming environmental pollution or degradation and improving the quality of the environment.

4. Environmental protection must conform to the law, with natural, cultural, and historical characteristics, and to the level of socio-economic development of the country from time to time.

5. Any organization, family household, or individual causing environmental pollution or degradation shall be obliged to remedy it and to compensate for loss and damage, and shall bear other liabilities following the law.

Article 5 State policies on the protection of the environment

1. Encouraging and facilitating all organizations, communities, family households, and individuals to participate in environmental protection activities.

2. Promoting the dissemination of information, education, activation, and coordination in the application of administrative, economic, and other measures to build awareness and discipline in environmental protection activities.

3. Using natural resources rationally and economically, developing clean and renewable energy; and promoting the recycling, reuse, and minimization of waste.

4. Giving priority to the resolution of urgent environmental problems; concentrating on dealing with establishments that cause serious environmental pollution; recovering the environment that is polluted and degraded areas; attaching special importance to the protection of the environment in urban and residential areas.

5. Investing in the protection of the environment as an investment for development; diversifying capital investment sources for the protection of the environment and allocating a separate budget from the annual State Budget for the work of environmental protection.

6. Granting land and tax incentives and providing financial support to environmental protection activities and environmentally-friendly products; combining harmoniously the protection of the environment with efficient utilization of environmental elements for development.

7. Improving the training of human resources and encouraging research, application, and transfer of scientific and technological achievements in the protection of the environment; forming and developing an environmental industry.

8. Expanding and improving the efficiency of international co-operation; performing fully international undertakings to protect the environment; encouraging organizations and individuals to participate in international co-operative ventures to protect the environment.

9. Developing infrastructure facilities for the protection of the environment; improving the national capacity to protect the environment in a professional and modern manner.

Article 6 Encouraged environmental protection activities

1. Disseminating information, educating and activating all people to participate in the protection of the environment;

preserving environmental hygiene and protecting the natural landscape and biological diversity.

2. Protecting natural resources and using them rationally and economically.

3. Minimizing, collecting, recycling, and reusing waste.

4. Developing and using clean or renewable energy; minimizing waste gas which causes a greenhouse effect or destroys the ozone layer.

5. Registering establishments satisfying environmental standards and environmentally friendly products.

6. Carrying out scientific research, transferring and applying technology for treating and recycling waste and environmentally-friendly technology.

7. Investing in the construction of establishments to manufacture equipment and apparatus to protect the environment, produce and trade in environmentally-friendly products; and provide environmental protection services.

8. Carrying out conservation and development of indigenous gene pools; cross-breeding and importing gene sources with economic value and profit for the environment.

9. Forming environmentally-friendly villages and hamlets in rural and mountainous areas and environmentally-friendly manufacturing, business, and services establishments.

10. Developing forms of self-management and organizing activities and services to preserve environmental hygiene within communities.

11. Forming a lifestyle and habits of maintenance of environmental hygiene, and abolishing obsolete customs which harm the environment.

12. Contributing knowledge, effort, and finance to environmental protection activities

Article 7 Prohibited practices

1. Destroying or carrying out any unauthorized exploitation of forests or other natural resources.

2. Exploiting and catching natural living creatures by destructive means, apparatus, or methods or not in the season and quantity stipulated by law.

3. Exploiting, trading, consuming and using rare and precious wild plants and animals on the prohibited lists issued by the competent State body.

4. Failing to bury toxic substances, radioactive substances, waste, and other hazardous substances in stipulated places and by technical procedures for the protection of the environment.

5. Discharging waste that has not been treated to environmental standards; discharging toxic, radioactive, and other hazardous substances into land or water sources.

6. Emitting smoke, dust, or gases with toxic substances or fumes into the atmosphere; discharging radiation, radioactivity, and ionized substances over the permissible environmental standards.

7. Causing noise and vibration over the permissible standards.

8. Importing machinery, equipment, and facilities that do not satisfy environmental standards.

9. Importing and transiting waste in any form.

10. Importing and transiting animals and plants which have not been quarantined and microorganisms which are not on the permitted list.

11. Producing and trading products that hurt human health, living creatures, and ecosystems; producing and using raw materials and building materials containing toxic elements over the permissible standards.

12. Causing damage to or prejudicing natural heritage sites and nature conservation zones.

13. Causing damage to or prejudicing works, equipment, and facilities used for environmental protection activities.

14. Carrying out unauthorized activities or living in zones that have been restricted according to a decision of a competent State body due to the extreme environmental danger to human life and health in such zones.

15. Concealing acts of destroying the environment, obstructing environmental protection activities, or distorting information resulting in adverse consequences to the environment.

16. Other prohibited practices regarding the protection of the environment as stipulated by law.