Perfecting Mechanisms and Policies on Environmental Protection

On the afternoon of May 26, a working delegation from the National Assembly’s Committee on Science, Technology, and Environment, led by Mr. Ta Dinh Thi—Deputy Chairman of the Committee—held a working session with the Phu Tho Provincial People’s Committee. The visit aimed to conduct field surveys to serve the verification process for the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Environmental Protection. Welcoming the delegation were Mr. Phan Trong Tan—Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee—alongside leaders from relevant provincial departments, boards, and sectors.

Mr. Ta Dinh Thi—Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee on Science, Technology, and Environment—delivers his concluding speech at the session.

Over the past years, state regulatory management over environmental protection across the province has been deployed in a synchronized manner, closely sticking to the Party’s guidelines, the State’s policies and laws, and local sustainable development criteria.

In 2025, the rate of active industrial parks equipped with centralized wastewater treatment systems satisfying environmental standards reached 82.4%, while the figure for industrial clusters stood at 56.3%. The collection and treatment rate of rural domestic solid waste achieved 75%.

Regarding waste management, the total volume of generated hazardous waste—hovering around 236,000 tons per year—was completely collected and treated, hitting a 100% rate. The collection and treatment rate of urban domestic solid waste reached 97.8%, while rural areas hit 81.2%. Approximately 1,103 tons of generated medical waste were entirely collected and handled in compliance with statutory regulations.

At the session, Phu Tho Province petitioned the Central Government to soon research and formulate a new comprehensive Law on Environmental Protection to replace the 2020 iteration, thereby generating legal uniformity during implementation. The province also requested amendments and supplements to various guiding circulars concerning the management of automated environmental monitoring and specialized environmental inspections.

Contributing opinions to the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Environmental Protection, Phu Tho Province proposed removing the clause regarding “other environmentally sensitive factors” since they have already been explicitly listed. The province recommended not adding a mandatory regulation requiring the installation of emissions monitoring equipment on diesel-engine cargo trucks. Concurrently, the province petitioned to select the option of classifying domestic solid waste into three distinct groups to fit the actual conditions of local municipalities.

Mr. Phan Trong Tan—Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee—addresses the session.

Addressing the session, Vice Chairman Phan Trong Tan emphasized that over the years, Phu Tho has consistently identified environmental protection as a core, vital task for sustainable socio-economic development. The province has intensively directed the synchronized deployment of numerous solutions to strengthen state environmental management, strictly control emissions sources, and progressively upgrade the living environment quality for its citizens.

Particularly, regarding at-source domestic solid waste classification, the Vice Chairman noted that this is a mission requiring execution under a tailored roadmap, backed by concrete guidelines, synchronized technical infrastructure, treatment technologies, and supportive mechanisms to guarantee feasibility during implementation.

Moving forward, Phu Tho Province will continuously prioritize resources to handle key environmental bottlenecks, accelerate investments in waste treatment infrastructure, and drive the application of science and technology in environmental monitoring and oversight. The province aims to robustly promote a green and circular economy, upgrading the efficacy and efficiency of state management over environmental protection across its territory.

Delivering his concluding speech, Mr. Ta Dinh Thi—Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee on Science, Technology, and Environment—highly evaluated the achievements recorded by Phu Tho Province in the state regulatory management of environmental protection. Despite facing ongoing constraints in technical infrastructure, investment capital, and specialized personnel, the province has proactively deployed synchronized solutions, recording positive outcomes in waste collection, treatment, pollution control, and lifting public awareness.

He emphasized that the opinions, petitions, and proposals raised by Phu Tho Province at the session serve as vital, practical inputs, especially regarding the perfection of the legal framework, decentralization of management, regulations on domestic solid waste classification, and automated environmental monitoring.

The panoramic view of the working session.

The delegation will fully absorb the locality’s feedback to synthesize and research for the verification process of the draft amendment law. This will efficiently contribute to perfecting mechanisms and policies, guaranteeing synchronization, feasibility, and alignment with practical requirements in the current cycle.

Le Minh