Vietnam proposes tighter controls on high-emission vehicles in low-emission zones

Minister of Justice Hoang Thanh Tung presented the proposed amendments to the National Assembly on Saturday morning on behalf of the prime minister.

Low-emission zones to minimize impacts on businesses, residents

Under the draft law, the government proposed defining low-emission zones as designated areas where measures would be applied to reduce emissions, primarily from vehicles.

The measures aim to improve air quality and protect public health.

The establishment and management of these zones must meet environmental protection and public health requirements.

They must also align with urban planning, traffic management and the capacity of public transportation systems.

The draft requires low-emission zones to be introduced under an appropriate roadmap to ensure feasibility, transparency and public disclosure.

The measures must also minimize negative impacts on production, business operations, services and residents' daily lives.

The draft proposes prioritizing controls on high-emission vehicles and those powered by fossil fuels.

To establish low-emission zones, the government plans to introduce incentives and support measures for public transportation and renewable energy-powered vehicles.

The policies will also encourage the use of fuel-efficient, low-emission and zero-emission vehicles.

The government also plans to introduce policies supporting the transition from fossil fuel-powered and polluting vehicles.

It will establish criteria for designating low-emission zones and measures to manage emissions within them.

Environmental management decentralization requires central oversight

In its appraisal report, the Committee on Science, Technology and Environment supported the proposed amendments to the Law on Environmental Protection.

The committee said the amendments were necessary to implement the 14th National Party Congress's resolution on green, circular and low-carbon economic development.

They would also support Vietnam's target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

Regarding environmental monitoring and data integrity, the committee noted previous cases of software manipulation that falsified monitoring data and caused substantial damage.

The draft law has therefore been revised to tighten regulations.

The committee recommended requiring environmental monitoring service providers to disclose their capabilities in a national database.

It also proposed allowing professional associations to conduct independent oversight.

Service providers that manipulate software at automatic monitoring stations to falsify data should face strict penalties and be banned from operating.

The committee also recommended recognizing data obtained directly from monitoring systems as legal evidence for imposing administrative penalties.

It called on the government to introduce regulations covering the entire monitoring data chain from its source.

The measures should ensure that monitoring data remains objective, accurate, complete and traceable, with clear accountability.

The data should also have legal validity for state management, administrative penalties and criminal investigations and proceedings when necessary.

The draft law adds a provision holding chairpersons of provincial-level People's Committees responsible for environmental pollution within their jurisdictions and under their management.

However, the committee recommended reviewing the provision to avoid assigning overly broad responsibilities.

It said the regulations should ensure fairness and clearly define individual accountability.

The committee also called for central government oversight mechanisms to accompany the decentralization of environmental management.

It recommended alternative management measures and stronger post-inspection capacity to prevent regulatory oversight from weakening.