heard an NA Full-Time Deputies conference to discuss the draft revised Law on Environmental Protection.

Nguyen Sy Cuong, deputy head of the NA Foreign Relations Committee, speaks at the NA Full-Time Deputies conference on September 4. Many National Assembly (NA) deputies have proposed integrating seven types of administrative procedures related to the environment into one license – PHOTO: VNA

The seven types include certification for completed environmental protection project, certification for discharging wastewater into water sources (regulated in the Law on Water Resources), certification for releasing wastewater into irrigation systems (in the Law on Irrigation) and certification for meeting requirements on environmental protection to import scrap for production.

The remaining three licenses are certification for harmful waste treatment, registration for discharging harmful waste and certification for industrial emissions.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said that the integration would simplify administrative procedures, adding that these licenses are granted based on environmental impact assessment reports while the regulations on management of wastewater are similar.

Agreeing with the integration, NA Deputy Tran Thi Quoc Khanh said it was unnecessary to issue too many licenses, the local media reported.

The revised Law on Environmental Protection should feature one license which is integrated from seven others and eliminate some relevant regulations in the Law on Water Resources and the Law on Irrigation, according to Nguyen Sy Cuong, deputy head of the NA Foreign Relations Committee.

The regulations on the management of wastewater in the above-mentioned licenses are similar, so firms which discharge wastewater have to be subject to two administrative procedures with similar contents, said Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha.

The draft revised Law on Environmental Protection will be considered by the National Assembly at the tenth sitting of the 14th National Assembly. SGT

Revised environmental protection highlights recycling: National Assembly

The principle of “considering waste as a resource” mentioned in the environmental protection bill introduced in the National Assembly’s meeting in April has been clarified, emphasising recycling and reusing.