THE PRIME MINISTER

DECIDES:

Article 1.- To approve the plan for thoroughly handling establishments which cause serious environmental pollution (hereinafter called the plan for short) with the following principal contents:

I. THE PLAN’S OBJECTIVES:

1. Immediate objectives till 2007:

To concentrate efforts on thoroughly handling 439 establishments causing serious environmental pollution out of a total of 4,295 polluting establishments, which had been scrutinized and listed by 2002, including 284 production and business establishments, 52 rubbish dumps, 84 hospitals, 15 plant protection drug warehouses, 3 toxic chemical storage zones and 1 wartime bomb warehouse, in order to settle immediately the hottest and most burning environmental pollution spots in urban centers, densely populated areas and severely polluted areas, thus contributing to protecting the environment and community’s health; to step up the work of pollution prevention and preclusion, step by step control and limit the rate of increase in the number of establishments causing serious environmental pollution throughout the country.

2. Long-term objectives till 2012:

To continue thoroughly handling the remaining 3,856 establishments which cause serious environmental pollution and newly arising establishments. To further step up the work of pollution prevention and preclusion, proceeding to control and limit the rate of increase in the number of establishments causing serious environmental pollution throughout the country, ensuring the sustainable development in the period of national industrialization and modernization.

II. HANDLING PRINCIPLES

1. The thorough handling of environmental pollution-causing establishments shall be conducted on the principle of ensuring the sustainable development.

2. The thorough handling of establishments causing serious environmental pollution must be conducted in a resolute manner and suitable to the reality of each locality, each branch and each establishment; to review and select the most typical and burning polluting establishments for handling first in order to draw experiences for widespread application.

3. Those subjects that cause environmental pollution must take the responsibility to thoroughly treat and overcome the pollution. The State shall have to treat and overcome environmental pollution in particular cases.

4. In the course of thoroughly handling establishments which cause serious environmental pollution, the laborers’ legitimate interests must be ensured according to the current legislation.

III. THE PLAN’S CONTENTS

1. Stage I (2003-2007):

To concentrate efforts on thoroughly handling 439 establishments which cause serious environmental pollution mentioned in Appendices No. 1 and 2 to this Decision (not printed herein), of which:

a/ From 2003 to 2005, to concentrate efforts on immediately handling 51 establishments which cause particularly serious environmental pollution, including 29 production and business establishments, 3 toxic chemical storage zones, 1 wartime bomb warehouse, 15 plant protection drug warehouses and 3 rubbish dumps (Appendix No. 1, not printed herein).

b/ At the same time, to expeditiously elaborate plans, handle and complete the handling of the remaining 388 establishments which cause serious environmental pollution of stage 1 (Appendix No. 2, not printed herein), including:

- To renovate and upgrade technologies at 55 production and business establishments.

- To build waste treatment works at 200 production and business establishments.

- To control pollution, upgrade, renovate and build the pollution treatment systems at 49 former and existing rubbish dumps.

- To treat environmental pollution at 84 hospitals.

2. Stage II (2008-2012):

On the basis of making final review on, and draw experiences from, the handling in the 2003-2007 period, to take synchronous measures, continue thoroughly handling the remaining 3,856 establishments which cause serious environmental pollution and newly arising establishments.

IV. BASIC SOLUTIONS

In order to efficiently implement the plan throughout the country, the concerned ministries, branches, localities and establishments should apply the following synchronous solutions:

1. To study, elaborate, promulgate or supplement and perfect the system of relevant legal documents as well as mechanisms and policies with a view to ensuring the high efficiency of the plan implementation.

2. To diversify investment capital sources for the plan implementation (own capital, State budget capital, loan capital from different funds and other sources).

- The establishments’ owners shall take the prime responsibility for capital investment in the treatment of serious environmental pollution they have caused; be entitled to use financial-assistance sources and voluntary contributions of domestic and foreign organizations and individuals for the implementation thereof; be considered for borrowing preferential capital from Vietnam Environmental Protection Fund according to the provisions in the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 82/2002/QD-TTg of June 26, 2002 on the establishment, organization and operation of Vietnam Environmental Protection Fund.

- The ministries, branches and localities, which manage establishments causing serious environmental pollution, shall draw up plan on partial capital support from the State budget for the plan implementation (for parts under the responsibilities of their respective ministries, branches and localities).

3. The owners of the establishments causing serious environmental pollution, who implement the plan, shall be entitled to enjoy tax exemption and/or reduction policies or preferences on tax rates, enterprise income tax, tax on the import of advanced machinery and equipment as well as clean production and environment-friendly technologies; enjoy policies, land use levy, land rental and land use tax preferences or exemption according to the provisions of the Government’s Decree No. 51/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999 detailing the implementation of the Domestic Investment Promotion Law (amended).

4. To encourage the renovation and upgrading of technologies; to step up the application of clean and environment-friendly technologies to enterprises’ production.

5. To enhance the work of State management over environment from the central to local level, especially in examining, inspecting, monitoring and urging the plan implementation as well as the work of State inspection and specialized inspection of environmental protection. To encourage and support enterprises to apply the environmental management system according to the Vietnamese Environmental Standards. To study and apply the fixture of environmental labels on enterprises’ products, first of all to experimentally apply it in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh cities.

6. To step up the work of education and communication on the mass media for the plan implementation. To mobilize and encourage all people and each population community to actively participate in preventing and treating pollution as well as overcoming environmental decline.

7. To enhance international cooperation with a view to exploiting resources of foreign organizations and individuals for the plan implementation.

8. To take administratively coercive measures as prescribed by law for those establishments causing serious environmental pollution, which commit acts of dragging on, delaying the implementation of, or involuntarily implementing, the plan already approved by the Prime Minister.

V. ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

1. To set up an inter-branch Steering Committee to direct the plan implementation, which is composed of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment as its head, a vice-minister of Natural Resources and Environment as its standing deputy-head, and vice ministers of Planning and Investment, Finance, Science and Technology, Industry, Construction, Communications and Transport, Agriculture and Rural Development, Health, Aquatic Resources, and Defense, as its members. The inter-branch Steering Committee has its standing section based at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The Steering Committee operates under the Regulation issued by its head in accordance with the current law provisions.

2. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall have the tasks:

a/ To act as a standing body of the Steering Committee, which is tasked to assist the Government in assuming the prime responsibility and coordinating with the concerned ministries, branches and localities in organizing the plan implementation.

b/ To organize the thorough study of the plan contents for the subjects participating in thoroughly handling establishments which cause serious environmental pollution.

c/ To elaborate and promulgate according to its competence or submit to the Prime Minister for promulgation legal documents as well as mechanisms and policies on environmental protection, preferences on investment capital, credit, taxes, land, and techniques, and ensure the legitimate interests of laborers of the environment polluting establishments which implement the plan.

d/ To take responsibility for urging, examining, inspecting, monitoring and organizing the coercion for plan implementation. To synthesize, review and evaluate the plan implementation, make annual reports and submit them to the Prime Minister.

3. The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance in properly balancing and apportioning capital for the concerned ministries, branches and localities in order to support them and ensure that the plan is implemented strictly according to the schedule already approved by the Prime Minister.

4. The ministries, branches and local administrations mentioned in Appendices 1 and 2 (not printed herein), which manage establishments causing serious environmental pollution, shall have to coordinate with the Ministries of: Natural Resources and Environment; Planning and Investment; and Finance in evaluating and approving the establishments’ handling schemes; mobilize capital sources and direct the plan implementation strictly according to the time and tempo prescribed in Appendices No. 1 and 2.

5. The establishments causing serious environ-mental pollution mentioned in Appendices No. 1 and 2 shall have to elaborate schemes, invest capital and organize the treatment of environmental pollution they have caused.

6. Communication agencies should intensify the propagation and education contents on environmental protection, pollution prevention and thorough handling of establishments causing serious environmental pollution and bad impacts on ecological environment and health.

Article 2.- This Decision takes implementation effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

Article 3.- The ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies, the heads of the agencies attached to the Government, the presidents of the People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities as well as the concerned organizations and individuals mentioned in Appendices No. 1 and 2 shall have to implement this Decision.

For the Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister
NGUYEN TAN DUNG