Thick polluting haze envelopes the centre of Hanoi (File Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnam may order schools to shut down on days whenthe air quality is poor, according to the draft law revising the 2014 Law onEnvironment Protection.
There are also provisions being discussed to reduce the amount of traffic inurban areas and close factories on days when pollution levels are high.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) said the emergencydeclaration when air pollutants concentration rise to dangerous levels wasincluded in the draft law.
The Prime Minister will be responsible to adopt national action plans, taskmunicipal people’s committees and MoNRE to implement emergency measures in caseair quality witnesses a drop on inter-provincial and inter-regional scale.
Le Hoai Nam, head of the ministry’s Environment Quality Management Department,said the declaration would be based on air quality monitoring indicators,environmental incidents or extreme weather events.
According to Nam, heads of provincial people’s committees will takeresponsibility to develop air environment protection plans.
“The plan includes the assessment of air quality and status quo in eachlocality, lists major emission contributors and presents potential solutions,”said Nam.
“The draft law does not specify the measures to be taken when declaring anemergency. Detailed measures will be adopted by local authorities based ontheir conditions.”
Meanwhile, the draft law offers possible solutions which may be used when airquality drops to unhealthy levels including suspension of factories, schoolclosures or traffic bans in urban areas.
Nghiem Trung Dung, former head of Institute of Environmental Science andTechnology under Hanoi University of Science and Technology, said localauthorities should consider evacuating people in case of air pollutionemergency.
MoNRE blames the amount of motor vehicles for reducing air quality, especiallyin big cities. During the social distancing period, air quality was improvedsignificantly compared to the same period last year.
The ministry proposes to task provincial authorities to classify vehicles basedon types of fuel, emissions and age to reduce air pollution.
The Government is asked to offer incentives to encourage people switch topublic transportation and green vehicles as well as develop a plan to eliminatevehicles using fossil fuel./.
There are also provisions being discussed to reduce the amount of traffic inurban areas and close factories on days when pollution levels are high.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) said the emergencydeclaration when air pollutants concentration rise to dangerous levels wasincluded in the draft law.
The Prime Minister will be responsible to adopt national action plans, taskmunicipal people’s committees and MoNRE to implement emergency measures in caseair quality witnesses a drop on inter-provincial and inter-regional scale.
Le Hoai Nam, head of the ministry’s Environment Quality Management Department,said the declaration would be based on air quality monitoring indicators,environmental incidents or extreme weather events.
According to Nam, heads of provincial people’s committees will takeresponsibility to develop air environment protection plans.
“The plan includes the assessment of air quality and status quo in eachlocality, lists major emission contributors and presents potential solutions,”said Nam.
“The draft law does not specify the measures to be taken when declaring anemergency. Detailed measures will be adopted by local authorities based ontheir conditions.”
Meanwhile, the draft law offers possible solutions which may be used when airquality drops to unhealthy levels including suspension of factories, schoolclosures or traffic bans in urban areas.
Nghiem Trung Dung, former head of Institute of Environmental Science andTechnology under Hanoi University of Science and Technology, said localauthorities should consider evacuating people in case of air pollutionemergency.
MoNRE blames the amount of motor vehicles for reducing air quality, especiallyin big cities. During the social distancing period, air quality was improvedsignificantly compared to the same period last year.
The ministry proposes to task provincial authorities to classify vehicles basedon types of fuel, emissions and age to reduce air pollution.
The Government is asked to offer incentives to encourage people switch topublic transportation and green vehicles as well as develop a plan to eliminatevehicles using fossil fuel./.
VNA
