Law on Environmental Protection No. 55/2014/QH13.

This Law, consisting of 170 articles divided into 20 Chapters, makes statutory provisions on environmental protection activities; measures and resources used for the purpose of environmental protection; rights, powers, duties and obligations of regulatory bodies, agencies, organizations, households and individuals who are tasked with the environmental protection task. It applies to regulatory bodies, public agencies, organizations, family households and individuals within the territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, including mainland, islands, territorial waters and airspace.
The Law is divided as follows: General Provisions (Chap. I); Planning for Environmental Protection, Strategic Environment Assessment, Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Protection Plan (Chap. II); Environmental Protection Concerns During the Extraction and Utilization of Natural Resources (Chap. III); Response to Climate Change (Chap. IV); Protection of Marine and Island Environment (Chap. V); Environmental Protection for Water, Land and Air (Chap. VI); Environmental Protection in Manufacturing, Trading, and Service Provision (Chap. VII); Environmental Protection in Urban Areas and Residential Areas (Chap. VIII); Waste Management (Chap. IX); Pollution Control, Environmental Remediation and Improvement (Chap. X); Environmental Technical Regulations, Environmental Standards (Chap. XI); Environmental Monitoring (Chap. XII); Environmental Information, Directive, Statistics and Reporting (Chap. XIII); Responsibilities of Regulatory Agencies for Environmental Protection (Chap. XIV); Responsibilities of Vietnam Fatherland Front, Socio-Political Organizations, Socio–Occupational Organizations and Residential Community for Environmental Protection (Chap. XV); Resources for Environmental Protection (Chap. XVI); International Cooperation on Environmental Protection (Chap. XVII); Investigating, Inspecting and Handling Violations, Settling Environmental Disputes, Claims and Accusations (Chap. XVIII); Compensations for Environmental Damages (Chap. XIX); Execution Provisions (Chap. XX).
The Law specifies that environmental protection should be in harmony with economic development, social protection, biodiversity protection and adapting to climate change. The Law states that protecting the environment is the responsibility of all agencies, organisations, households and individuals; and that organisations and individuals that benefit from the environment are responsible for providing financial support for environmental protection activities. The Law also outlines a polluter-pays principle. It recommends that the development and use of clean and renewable forms of energy be encouraged to reduce GHG emissions and to protect the ozone layer. The Law requires the development of a National Environmental Protection Plan to assess current environmental status, and environmental and climate change forecasts. Environmental information to be made known in public shall include: a) Strategic environmental assessment report, environmental impact assessment report and environmental protection plan; b) Information of emission sources, emissions and treatment of waste; c) Areas suffering from serious and particularly serious pollution, degradation, areas at risk of environmental incident; d) Environmental reports; đ) Results of environment inspections.
The current status, recyclability and economic value of natural resources and biodiversity must be investigated and evaluated to serve as a basis for the preparation of the plan for proper utilization; define the limit on permitted extraction levels, severance tax rates, environmental protection fees, environmental remediation deposits, biodiversity reimbursable costs, environmental damages and other measures for the environmental protection. All activities relating to production, trading and service provision as well as others that cause impacts on land, water, air resources and forest-related biodiversity must comply with regulations set out in this Law and the law on biodiversity, protection and development of forests, and other relevant laws.