Proposal to assign Hanoi City to approve environmental impact assessment report

Discussing the Draft Law on the Capital (amended) at the 7th Session of the 15th National Assembly , National Assembly deputies expressed interest in the contents on environmental protection of the Capital.

Capital planning ensures a healthy living environment

Commenting on the content of the planning for construction and development of the Capital in Article 17, National Assembly delegate Nguyen Hai Anh ( Dong Thap Provincial Delegation) proposed to add the phrase "clean living environment" in Clause 1 and rewrite this clause as follows: "The general planning of the Capital must ensure the construction of a civilized, modern, and cultural Capital with a clean living environment and sustainable development, in order to meet the needs of the people to live in a green, clean, pure, and quality environment with a balanced ecosystem, without environmental incidents affecting the health, lives, and daily activities of the people."

Delegates attending the discussion session - Photo: Quochoi.vn

At the same time, delegate Nguyen Hai Anh proposed to add to Clause 1, Article 28 of the Capital's environmental management and protection the principles of building a clean living environment and regulations on implementation mechanisms to ensure the capital's clean living environment are strictly enforced.

Regarding the issue of management and use of underground space stipulated in Article 19, delegate Nguyen Hai Anh proposed to more clearly stipulate in this Draft Law the policies to prioritize underground space development.

At the same time, delegate Nguyen Hai Anh said that Hanoi must focus on preserving and further developing the forest land area; considering increasing the forest cover rate of Hanoi as a core issue. Minimize projects with the purpose of converting forest land and production; have solutions to increase the green area in the central urban area of ​​the city.

Commenting on the Draft Law, National Assembly delegate Pham Van Thinh (Bac Giang Province Delegation) proposed adding Clause 5 to Article 28 on environmental protection. The delegate suggested adding a provision assigning the Hanoi People's Committee to decide on approving environmental impact assessment reports for projects under the investment policy decision authority of the Hanoi People's Council.

At point b, article 54, for land areas that have been invested in infrastructure but have not yet been leased, the Hanoi People's Committee shall recover land and lease it directly to investors. Delegate Pham Van Thinh said that if the above regulation is applied, it will easily lead to misunderstandings and suggested considering revising it.

National Assembly Delegate Nguyen Hai Anh (Dong Thap Provincial Delegation)

Decentralization to Hanoi to regulate environmental flows

National Assembly delegate Nguyen Tuan Anh (Long An province delegation) commented on the regulations on low emission zones in Clause 6, Article 3 and environmental standards in Clause 3, Article 28. The delegate said that these regulations are not consistent with environmental protection laws and suggested that in case the regulations are still as in the Draft Law, there should be a report on the scientific basis for determining what is considered a low emission level to ensure the feasibility of this regulation.

Along with that, the delegate also proposed that there should be a breakthrough policy compared to current law, which is to decentralize power to Hanoi to adjust environmental flows in the capital's planning without applying the procedures prescribed in the Planning Law.

Specifically, the delegates proposed to revise Point 3, Clause 3, Article 28 as follows: The Hanoi People's Council shall prescribe criteria, conditions, procedures, determine adjustments to strictly protected areas, emission-restricted areas and roadmap for applying environmental protection technical standards for each environmental stream. At the same time, it is necessary to review and supplement appropriate regulations to avoid practical difficulties when applying this Law and the Law on Planning.

National Assembly Delegate Nguyen Tuan Anh (Long An Provincial Delegation)

Regarding the mobilization of financial resources for environmental protection as stipulated in Articles 34 and 37, delegate Nguyen Tuan Anh proposed to amend Clause 5, Article 34 to: Hanoi City budget is entitled to 100% of the additional revenue from revenues due to the adjustment of fee and charge policies as stipulated in Clause 4 of this Article to invest in infrastructure development, socio-economic and economic, scientific, technological activities and environmental protection.

In addition, the delegates proposed to amend Clause 1, Article 37 in the direction of increasing decentralization for Hanoi in approving key projects on environmental protection. The key projects of the Capital are large-scale projects, playing a role in spreading and connecting to implement the goals, tasks and solutions for socio-economic development and environmental protection of the Capital and the Hanoi People's Council decides on the list of key projects of the Capital.

Regarding the financial mechanism related to greenhouse gas emission reduction in Clause 4, Article 28, the delegate proposed to add the following content at the end of Point a, Clause 4, Article 28: "The City People's Committee shall promulgate procedures and decide on the selection of investors to trade carbon credits in the market, equivalent to the new special mechanism approved by the National Assembly for Ho Chi Minh City".

At the same time, the delegate also proposed to remove the digital economy content at Point c, Clause 4, Article 28 because it is not related to environmental protection and proposed to add the environmental protection project to the Hanoi People's Council to decide to use revenue from carbon credit transactions for programs and projects to protect the environment, respond to climate change, develop green economy, and circular economy in the city.

National Assembly Delegate Pham Van Thinh (Bac Giang Provincial Delegation)

Clause 4, Article 28 of the Draft Law on the Capital (amended) on environmental protection stipulates that the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions according to the carbon credit exchange and offset mechanism is implemented as follows:

a) Carbon credits formed from programs and projects under the carbon credit exchange and offset mechanism invested from the City's budget are traded with domestic and international investors;

b) Revenue from carbon credit transactions specified in Point a of this Clause is 100% of the revenue enjoyed by the city budget; these revenues are not used to determine the percentage of revenue divided between the central budget and the city budget.

c) The Hanoi People's Council decides to use revenue from carbon credit transactions for programs and projects to respond to climate change, develop green economy, digital economy, and circular economy in the city;

d) The Hanoi People's Committee shall prescribe the contribution rate of greenhouse gas emission reduction and absorption in the city to the national greenhouse gas emission reduction target before carbon credit trading; promulgate procedures and decide on the selection of investors for greenhouse gas emission reduction projects.

Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/de-xuat-giao-tp-ha-noi-phe-duyet-bao-cao-danh-gia-tac-dong-moi-truong.html