Vietnam issues decree on environmental protection fee for wastewater 
The “Governmental Decree No. 53/2020/ND-CP on Environmental Protection Fee for Wastewater” was enacted in Vietnam on May 5, 2020. This decree detailing environmental protection fee is applied to organizations and individuals that discharge domestic or industrial wastewater. It entered into force on July 1, 2020, and repealed the “Governmental Decree No.154/2016/ND-CP on Environmental Protection Fee for Wastewater”.
The original text of this Decree can be downloaded from the following URL
http://www.monre.gov.vn/VanBan/Pages/ChiTietVanBanHanhChinh.aspx?pID=206
Subject to environmental protection fee
Organizations, households and individuals that discharge industrial or domestic wastewater are eligible for environmental protection fee under this decree. However, if the wastewater is discharged into a centralized wastewater treatment system and its generator pay fee for it, the operator of its system shall pay the environmental protection fee.
Cases in which payment is exempted
Under this decree, the following cases are exempted from the payment of environmental protection fee:
- Wastewater from hydroelectric power plants
- Discharge of seawater for salt production
- Organizations, households, and individuals working and living in areas without a water system
- Cooling water that is not in contact with pollutants and has a dedicated discharge pipe
- Stormwater
- Wastewater from fishing activities by fishermen
- Wastewater from centralized urban wastewater treatment systems that meet the environmental technical standards specified in the Governmental Decree No. 80/2014/ND-CP
Environmental protection costs
The environmental protection fee for domestic wastewater is 10% of the price of 1m3 of tap water (not including consumption tax). However, the provincial/municipal people’s committees may set a higher fee for each subject of payment. In the case of industrial wastewater, facilities discharging less than or equal to 20m3/day on average is charged a fixed fee, depending on the volume of wastewater, as follows:
- 5 million per year until the end of 2020.
- From January 1, 2021, it will follow the table below:
| No. | Average wastewater discharge（m3/day） | Fee（VND/year） |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10－20 | 4,000,000 |
| 2 | 5－10 | 3,000,000 |
| 3 | < 5 | 2,500,000 |
On the other hand, for facilities discharging an average of more than 20m3/day of wastewater, the environmental protection fee is calculated as follows:
- F = f + C
- F: Total environmental protection fee
- f: A fixed amount (VND 1.5 million per year until the end of 2020, and VND 4 million per year from January 1, 2021). However, if the activity starts after Q1, it is calculated at f/4 per each quarter)
- C: Variable fee depending on the amount of pollutants containing in wastewater. Details of the amount to be paid for each pollutant follow the table below:
| No. | Pollutants | Variable Fee（VND/kg） |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | chemical oxygen demand（COD） | 2,000 |
| 2 | Total suspended solids（TSS） | 2,400 |
| 3 | Mercury（Hg） | 20,000,000 |
| 4 | Lead（Pb） | 1,000,000 |
| 5 | Arsenic（As） | 2,000,000 |
| 6 | Cadmium（Cd） | 2,000,000 |
