National Environmental Monitoring Master Planning for the period 2021 - 2030 approved by the Prime Minister of Vietnam

National Environmental Monitoring Master Planning for the period 2021 - 2030 approved by the Prime Minister of Vietnam (Internet image)

Regarding this issue, LawNet provides the following explanation:

National Environmental Monitoring Master Planning for the period 2021 - 2030 approved by the Prime Minister of Vietnam 

On March 7, 2024, the Prime Minister issued Decision 224/QD-TTg on the approval of the National Environmental Monitoring Master Planning for the period 2021–2030, with a vision towards 2050 (hereinafter referred to as the Plan).

The objectives of the Plan are as follows:

(1) General objectives:

To build a comprehensive and advanced national environmental monitoring system capable of monitoring important cross-regional, cross-provincial, and cross-border areas, areas with high pollutant concentrations, and conducting biodiversity monitoring in nature reserves, biodiversity corridors, and areas with high biodiversity; to enhance connectivity with provincial-level environmental monitoring systems; to ensure monitoring of environmental quality changes; to meet requirements for providing, publishing, and disclosing environmental monitoring information and data; and to enhance capacity for environmental warning and forecasting.

(2) Specific objectives:

* For the period 2021–2030:

- Regarding the air quality monitoring network:

+ Maintain 19 operational continuous automatic air quality monitoring stations; complete the investment and installation of 18 continuous automatic air quality monitoring stations currently being implemented at inherited monitoring locations from previous plans;

+ Continue to invest and supplement to complete 31 continuous automatic environmental air quality monitoring stations nationwide, including 06 automatic continuous air quality monitoring stations in 06 economic-social development regions;

+ Establish and improve the network of periodic air quality monitoring points nationwide, focusing on economically and socially important regions with large pollutant sources, ensuring assessment of air quality impacts in industrial development and densely populated areas;

+ Initial establishment of an automatic mercury monitoring network in the air.

- Regarding the surface water quality monitoring network:

+ Establish and improve the network of automatic continuous water quality monitoring stations for inter-provincial rivers and lakes at headwater locations, cross-border areas, and provincial boundary areas;

+ Build periodic water quality monitoring networks for the main streams of inter-provincial rivers and lakes with important roles in economic-social development and environmental protection.

- Regarding estuary and coastal water quality monitoring:

+ Maintain and expand monitoring at estuary and coastal points according to previous plans;

+ Establish a network for monitoring coastal water quality in the seas under Vietnam's sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction as regulated by Vietnamese law.

- Regarding soil quality monitoring: develop monitoring programs that are open and suitable for the goal of soil environmental protection as stipulated by the Environmental Protection Law.

- Regarding groundwater monitoring: conduct monitoring in densely populated areas and areas with important roles in economic-social development and environmental protection.

- Regarding acid rain monitoring: establish a monitoring network based on the existing infrastructure and equipment from current monitoring stations.

- Regarding biodiversity monitoring: prioritize the implementation of monitoring at internationally recognized nature reserves, aiming for comprehensive implementation at all national nature reserves according to the roadmap and biodiversity monitoring directives.

- Invest in upgrading and modernizing existing environmental quality monitoring laboratories and stations; complete investment and construction of laboratories under the Environmental Monitoring Station in the Southeast region.

- Design and develop an information system and database for national environmental monitoring, integrating all environmental quality monitoring data into a unified system nationwide, implementing data sharing and disclosure of environmental quality information from all national and local monitoring points; establish coordination mechanisms and information sharing for environmental monitoring among networks/programs; focusing on modernizing and enhancing the capacity of environmental monitoring data processing centers, and implementing some digital transformation models to ensure synchronized, systematic, and highly reliable information. Initial steps in building and developing environmental warning systems and moving towards environmental quality forecasting in major cities.

More details can be found in Decision 224/QD-TTg, issued on March 7, 2024.

Nguyen Ngoc Que Anh

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