Decision No. 11/2025/QD-TTg Issuing the Emergency Response Regulation for Hazardous Waste Incidents

Pursuant to …;

Issuing Regulations on Response to Hazardous Waste Incidents

On the basis of Law on Government Organization dated February 18, 2025;

On the basis of Environmental Protection Law dated November 17, 2020;

On the basis of Civil Defense Law dated June 20, 2023;

Decree No. Decree No. 30/2017/NĐ-CP dated March 21, 2017 of the Government stipulating organization and operation for response to incidents, natural disasters, and search and rescue operations;

Decree No. 08/2022/NĐ-CP dated January 10, 2022, providing detailed regulations on some provisions of Environmental Protection Law; Decree No. 05/2025/NĐ-CP dated January 6, 2025 of the Government amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree No. 08/2022/NĐ-CP dated January 10, 2022, providing detailed regulations on some provisions of The Environmental Protection Law;

At the proposal of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development;

The Prime Minister issues this Decision on Regulations on Response to Hazardous Waste Incidents.

Article 1. These Regulations are promulgated together with this Decision.

Article 2. This Decision takes effect from June 10, 2025.

Decision No. 09/2020/QĐ-TTg dated March 18, 2020 of the Prime Minister issuing Regulations on Response to Hazardous Waste Incidents shall cease to be effective from the date this Decision takes effect.

Article 3. National Civil Defense Steering Committee Chairmen, Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of governmental agencies, Chairpersons of provincial People's Committees under central government jurisdiction, and organizations and individuals related to this Decision are responsible for its implementation./.

 

REGULATIONS

RESPONSE TO HAZARDOUS WASTE INCIDENTS
(Attached to Decision No. 11/2025/QĐ-TTg dated April 23, 2025 of the Prime Minister)

PART I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

Article 1. This Regulation provides for the response to hazardous waste incidents occurring in production, business, and service activities, including: Preparation for response to incidents; organization of incident response; environmental remediation and recovery after incidents; support mechanisms for response and recovery, community participation, and the responsibilities of relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals.

Article 2. This Regulation does not apply to hazardous waste incidents occurring at sea. Response to hazardous waste incidents at sea shall be carried out in accordance with laws on response to toxic chemical incidents, oil spills, and other relevant laws.

Article 2. Applicability

This Regulation applies to agencies, organizations, communities, and individuals involved in responding to hazardous waste incidents and recovering the environment after incidents.

Article 3. Hazardous waste incidents, classification of hazardous waste incidents, and principles for responding to hazardous waste incidents

Clause 1. A hazardous waste incident is an environmental incident caused by leakage, spillage, or dispersion of hazardous waste during generation, collection, storage, transfer, transportation, pre-treatment, co-processing, recycling, energy recovery, or disposal of hazardous waste.

Clause 2. Hazardous waste incidents are classified according to the classification of environmental incidents specified in Article 123 of the Environmental Protection Law, including:

a) Local-level hazardous waste incident;

b) District-level hazardous waste incident;

c) Provincial-level hazardous waste incident;

d) National-level hazardous waste incident.

Clause 3. Principles for responding to hazardous waste incidents:

a) Proactively prevent, proactively develop plans, prepare resources, and joint plans to be ready to respond when hazardous waste incidents occur;

b) Timely reception and processing of information about hazardous waste incidents, prioritizing information for response activities, and timely reporting to competent authorities when the response capacity is exceeded;

c) Response to hazardous waste incidents should follow the principle of four localities (command at the scene, forces at the scene, equipment and materials at the scene, logistics at the scene) and three readiness (proactive prevention, timely response, prompt and effective recovery). Coordination and mobilization of all resources to enhance the effectiveness of preparation and response to hazardous waste incidents;

d) Unified command, close coordination and cooperation among participating forces, equipment, and devices in response to hazardous waste incidents;

đ) Ensuring safety measures for response forces and residents affected by hazardous waste incidents;

e) Organizations and individuals causing hazardous waste incidents must bear the cost of responding to incidents, environmental remediation, compensation for losses, and other costs caused by the incidents, except where the State pays according to the provisions of the law.

Chapter II
PREPARATION FOR RESPONSE TO HAZARDOUS WASTE INCIDENTS

Article 4. Construction of plans and drills for emergency response to waste incidents

1. Responsibilities for constructing emergency response plans for waste incidents:

a) The project investor and facility responsible for constructing and promulgating emergency response plans for waste incidents. The content of facility-level emergency response to waste incidents shall be carried out in accordance with Clause 2, Article 108 of Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP. Emergency response plans for waste incidents may be integrated into other emergency response plans; in cases where emergency response plans for waste incidents are integrated and approved together with other emergency response plans in accordance with point b, Clause 6, Article 124 of the Environmental Protection Law, they must ensure all contents as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 108 of Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP;

b) The National Civil Defense Steering Committee takes the lead and coordinates with relevant ministries and sectors to construct and promulgate national-level emergency response plans for waste incidents; the provincial civil defense command constructs and promulgates provincial-level emergency response plans for waste incidents; the district civil defense command constructs and promulgates district-level emergency response plans for waste incidents. The content of national, provincial, and district-level emergency response to waste incidents shall be carried out in accordance with Clause 3, Article 108 of Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP. National, provincial, and district-level emergency response plans for waste incidents stipulated herein may be integrated into civil defense plans or other emergency response plans; in cases where national, provincial, and district-level preventive and emergency response plans for waste incidents are integrated into same-level civil defense plans, such civil defense plans must ensure all contents as prescribed in Clause 3, Article 108 of Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP.

2. Emergency response plans for waste incidents are established for the preparation phase of emergency response and the organization of emergency response. Emergency response plans for waste incidents must include scenarios for emergency response to have corresponding response measures.

3. Publicizing emergency response plans for waste incidents of facilities, districts, provinces, and the nation shall be carried out in accordance with Article 110 of Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP.

4. Directing the drill of emergency response plans for waste incidents shall be carried out in accordance with Clause 1, Article 124 of the Environmental Protection Law. Organizing drills for emergency response to waste incidents of facilities, districts, provinces, and the nation shall be carried out in accordance with Clause 7, Article 124 of the Environmental Protection Law.

Article 5. Building forces, resources, equipment, and implementing emergency response plans for waste incidents

1. Project investors and facilities must have works, equipment, and means for responding to waste incidents in accordance with the law or cooperate with competent units in preventing and responding to waste incidents; build and train local forces for responding to waste incidents.

2. The Ministry of National Defense leads and coordinates with ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, and provincial People's Committees to guide and build forces and resources, equipment for responding to waste incidents in accordance with Clause 1, Article 111 of Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP.

3. Implementing emergency response plans for waste incidents at the facility, district, provincial, and national levels shall be carried out in accordance with Clause 4, Article 124 of the Environmental Protection Law.

Chapter III
ORGANIZATION FOR RESPONSE TO WASTE INCIDENTS

Article 6. Receiving and Processing Information on Waste Incidents

1. The project investor, facility where the waste incident occurs shall immediately and promptly report to the Civil Defense Command Board at the district level and the People's Committee at the commune level, and the Civil Defense Board at the commune level where the incident occurs. Organizations and individuals who discover the waste incident shall immediately notify the competent authority as stipulated in this clause.

2. The Civil Defense Command Board at the district level shall cooperate with the People's Committee at the commune level and the Civil Defense Board at the commune level where the incident occurs to directly verify, organize timely response to the incident and report to the People's Committee at the district level to announce the waste incident or notify the competent authority to organize response to the incident according to the level of the waste incident as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 3 of this Regulation.

3. The People's Committees at the provincial, district, and commune levels where the incident occurs shall be responsible for promptly informing the National Civil Defense Steering Board, the Civil Defense Command Board at the same level or the higher level directly to inspect and handle the situation.

Article 7. Response to Waste Incidents at Facilities

1. The legal representative of the facility or the person authorized is the person in charge of responding to the waste incident at the facility.

2. The person in charge of responding to the waste incident at the facility must organize the response to the incident, assess the scope of impact and the facility's ability to respond independently to carry out the following activities:

a) In case the incident is within the facility's independent response capability, the person in charge is responsible for implementing response measures according to the approved plan and scenario; simultaneously, they are responsible for reporting to the Civil Defense Command Board at the district level and the People's Committee at the commune level about the incident response within 24 hours from the time of discovering the incident;

b) In case the incident exceeds the facility's independent response capability, the person in charge must immediately inform the People's Committee at the commune level, the Civil Defense Board at the commune level where the incident occurs, or the Civil Defense Command Board at the district level to organize the response; transfer command authority to the Civil Defense Command Board at the district level and direct the facility's emergency response force to act according to the requirements of the Civil Defense Command Board at the district level.

3. Reporting and notifying waste incidents as prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article shall include the following contents: Time, location, cause of the incident; degree, scope of impact, losses caused by the incident; emergency response activities already carried out; assessment of the facility's response capability and other related contents.

Article 8. Response to Waste Incidents Outside Facilities

1. Determining and Announcing Waste Incidents:

a) Immediately upon receiving the notification as prescribed in Article 6 of this Regulation but not later than 24 hours from the time of receiving the notification, the Chairman of the People's Committee, the Head of the Civil Defense Command Board at the district level shall organize to determine the level of the incident according to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 3 of this Regulation and direct the response to the incident according to this Regulation; in cases exceeding their authority, they shall immediately report to the Civil Defense Command Board at the provincial level to direct the response to the incident. The Head of the Civil Defense Command Board at the district level decides to announce the waste incident. Immediately upon receiving the report of the Civil Defense Command Board at the district level or having grounds to determine a provincial-level incident but not later than 12 hours from the time of receiving the report or having grounds to determine a provincial-level incident, the Head of the Civil Defense Command Board at the provincial level decides to announce the waste incident. The Chairman of the People's Committee, the Head of the Civil Defense Command Board at the provincial level directs the response to the incident according to this Regulation; in cases exceeding their authority, they shall immediately report to the National Civil Defense Steering Board to direct the response to the incident.

Immediately upon receiving the report of the Civil Defense Command Board at the provincial level or having grounds to determine a national-level incident but not later than 12 hours from the time of receiving the report or having grounds to determine a national-level incident, the Head of the National Civil Defense Steering Board decides to announce the waste incident and directs the response to the incident according to this Regulation;

b) The decision to announce the waste incident includes the following information: Level of the incident, location, time, scope of impact, and relevant recommendations; establish a field command post to organize the response to the incident; designate the person in charge of the response, the spokesperson for the response (clearly stating name, position, contact information), and the forces participating in the response to the incident.

2. Persons Directing and Persons in Charge of Responding to Waste Incidents:

a) The Chairman of the People's Committee at the district level, the Head of the Civil Defense Command Board at the district level is the person directing the response to the incident, mobilizing forces, equipment, means for responding to the incident, designating the person in charge and the spokesperson for the district-level waste incident occurring in the area;

b) The Chairman of the People's Committee at the provincial level, the Head of the Civil Defense Command Board at the provincial level is the person directing the response to the incident, mobilizing forces, equipment, means for responding to the incident, designating the person in charge and the spokesperson for the provincial-level waste incident occurring in the area;

c) The Head of the National Civil Defense Steering Board is the person directing the response to the incident, mobilizing forces, equipment, means for responding to the incident, designating the person in charge and the spokesperson for the national-level waste incident.

3. Duties and Authorities of the Person Directing the Response to Waste Incidents:

a) Establish a command post, designate the person in charge, the spokesperson, and the emergency response force; establish a working group to determine the cause of the incident if necessary;

b) Mobilize, allocate funds, means, equipment, and mobilize the emergency response force for the person in charge of the response to the incident, the working group determining the cause of the incident; direct relevant agencies, organizations, units, and individuals to participate and coordinate in responding to the incident;

c) Directly direct the response to the incident; report and request higher authorities to support the response to the incident and restore the environment when necessary;

d) Other responsibilities and authorities as prescribed by relevant laws.

4. Duties and Authorities of the Person in Charge of Responding to Waste Incidents:

a) Timely organize emergency measures to protect the lives and property of the people, state, organizations, and individuals concerned and minimize losses and mitigate consequences as much as possible.

b) Receive, utilize funds, equipment, and facilities, and directly command forces to organize responses to incidents; mobilize necessary forces and equipment to respond to waste incidents; regularly report to the person in charge and provide information to the spokesperson on incident response;

c) Consult organizations, experts, or request support from agencies, units, organizations, or individuals during the incident response process.

5. Incident Response Advisory Agencies:

a) The environmental protection agency at the district level shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant agencies and units under the People's Committee at the district level to advise on organizing responses to district-level waste incidents;

b) The environmental protection agency at the provincial level shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant agencies under the People's Committee at the provincial level to advise on organizing responses to provincial-level waste incidents;

c) The Ministry of National Defense shall take the lead and coordinate with the Ministries of Agriculture and Environment, Public Security, Finance, Industry and Trade, Science and Technology, Health, and other relevant agencies to advise the Head of the National Civil Defense Steering Committee on organizing responses to national-level waste incidents;

d) The agencies specified in points a, b, and c of this clause shall be responsible for providing technical support to the incident response commander and the team determining the cause of the incident according to their assigned functions, tasks, and authorities.

Article 9. Determining the Cause of Waste Incidents

1. The Head of the National Civil Defense Steering Committee shall establish a team to determine the cause of national-level incidents immediately after the incident occurs; the Chairman of the People's Committee at the provincial level shall establish a team to determine the cause of provincial-level incidents immediately after the incident occurs; the Chairman of the People's Committee at the district level shall establish a team to determine the cause of district-level incidents immediately after the incident occurs.

2. The team composition includes: National Defense; Agriculture and Environment; Industry and Trade; Environmental Crime Police, Fire Prevention, Firefighting, and Rescue Services; Health; experts (if any); and other relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals.

Article 10. Activities of the Team

1. The team has the following responsibilities:

a) Collect environmental samples such as soil, water, air, and waste in the area where the incident occurred and in areas potentially affected;

b) Gather information on health symptoms related to people affected around the incident area;

c) Determine the cause of the waste incident and collect relevant documents from the facility where the incident occurred to assist in the investigation;

d) Photograph, film, and record the incident scene or seal and protect the incident scene (if necessary) after the waste incident response work is completed;

e) Compile a list and conduct quick interviews with organizations and individuals related to the incident at the scene, including: Project investors, the facility causing the incident, employees of the facility present at the scene, victims of the incident, and related parties;

f) Survey, analyze, and warn of potential causes of incidents and affected areas;

g) Provide information and technical support to advisory agencies for the incident response commander.

2. The team may mobilize laboratories and mobile equipment to serve the determination of the cause of waste incidents when necessary.

3. The team shall dissolve itself upon completion of its mission.

Article 11. Announcing and Providing Information on Waste Emergency Response

1. The spokesperson for waste emergency response designated according to Clause 2, Article 8 of this Regulation shall be responsible for reporting on waste emergencies.

2. Responsibilities and authorities of the spokesperson:

a) Timely, fully, truthfully, and accurately provide information about waste emergencies and the situation of waste emergency response to relevant communities, organizations, individuals, and media agencies;

b) Receive or request information about waste emergencies and waste emergency responses from the person in charge, the commander, the advisory agency, the team identifying the cause of the incident, and related organizations and individuals.

3. Forms of providing information:

a) Through contact points of relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals according to the waste emergency response plan and scenarios or by announcing information on the electronic portal of People's Committees at all levels;

b) Organize press conferences to provide information or through central and local media agencies to inform about incidents and emergency responses;

c) Other appropriate communication channels based on the characteristics, circumstances, and conditions of the area where the incident occurred.

4. Relevant communities, organizations, and individuals have the right to request information about waste emergencies and waste emergency responses; media agencies have access to information about waste emergencies and are responsible for promptly and accurately conveying such information to the public.

5. Information on waste emergency response as stipulated in this Article shall be decided by the person in charge of waste emergency response and provided within 48 hours from the time of announcing the waste emergency.

Article 12. Ending the Organization Phase of Waste Emergency Response

1. The organization phase of waste emergency response ends when the following requirements are fully met:

a) The main source causing the waste emergency is isolated, controlled, collected, and safely treated without the potential to cause further incidents;

b) There are no factors arising from the waste emergency that can seriously endanger human life and health.

2. The person in charge of waste emergency response decides to announce the end of the organization phase of waste emergency response when all conditions specified in Clause 1 of this Article are met. The decision to announce the end of the organization phase of waste emergency response must be publicly disclosed through one of the forms of information provision as stipulated in Clause 3 of Article 11 of this Regulation.

3. The person in charge of waste emergency response shall perform the following tasks:

a) Transfer files to the police agency if there are signs of criminal law violations;

b) Report the results of waste emergency response to the higher-level civil defense agency;

c) Store waste emergency response files in accordance with storage regulations.

Chapter IV
RECONSTRUCTION AND RESTORATION OF THE ENVIRONMENT AFTER WASTE INCIDENTS

Article 13. Reconstruction and Restoration of the Environment After Waste Incidents

1. The project investor and the facility causing the waste incident must implement environmental restoration after the waste incident within the scope of the facility. The People's Committee of the commune where the waste incident occurs is responsible for inspecting and supervising environmental restoration activities.

2. Environmental restoration after county, provincial, and national level waste incidents shall be carried out in accordance with Clause 2, Article 126 of the Environmental Protection Law.

a) The specialized agency on environmental protection at the provincial and county levels is responsible for advising the same-level People's Committee on directing the implementation of environmental restoration after waste incidents in their respective areas;

b) The specialized agency assigned or tasked by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is responsible for advising the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment on directing the implementation of national-level environmental restoration after waste incidents.

3. Environmental reconstruction and restoration after incidents must ensure compliance with technical standards for ambient environmental quality; restore residential and production business land surfaces, natural environments in areas without protected ecosystems; restore key features of the ecosystem in areas with protected ecosystems.

Article 14. Approval of Environmental Remediation and Restoration Plans

1. The specialized environmental protection agency at the district level shall be responsible for submitting to the People's Committee of the district for approval the environmental remediation and restoration plan for waste incidents as specified in point b, Clause 2, Article 3 of this Regulation.

2. The specialized environmental protection agency at the provincial level shall be responsible for submitting to the People's Committee of the province for approval the environmental remediation and restoration plan for waste incidents as specified in point c, Clause 2, Article 3 of this Regulation.

3. The specialized agency assigned tasks by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment shall submit to the Minister of Agriculture and Environment for approval the environmental remediation and restoration plan for waste incidents as specified in point d, Clause 2, Article 3 of this Regulation.

4. The main contents of the environmental remediation and restoration plan shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of Clause 3, Article 126 of the Law on Environmental Protection.

Article 15. Implementation of Environmental Remediation and Restoration

1. The project investor and the facility causing the waste incident must mobilize their own forces, means, and equipment to implement post-waste incident environmental restoration within the scope of the facility. In cases where support from local authorities is required to implement post-waste incident environmental restoration, they must submit a written proposal for the local authorities to arrange appropriate forces, means, and equipment.

2. Post-waste incident environmental remediation and restoration at the district, provincial, and national levels shall be carried out in one of the following cases:

a) The project investor or the facility causing the waste incident implements the environmental restoration plan themselves or hires another entity to implement it, after the plan has been approved by the competent authority.

b) The agency approving the environmental restoration plan organizes the implementation of the environmental remediation and restoration plan through public bidding in accordance with the Public Procurement Law if such bidding is required.

3. The organization or unit that wins the bid shall carry out environmental remediation and restoration according to the approved environmental remediation and restoration plan and ensure compliance with the requirements stipulated in Clause 3, Article 13 of this Regulation and other relevant laws.

4. The agency submitting the environmental remediation and restoration plan for approval shall be responsible for supervising, inspecting, and accepting completion of environmental remediation and restoration according to the approved plan. Individuals and organizations causing the incident have the right to participate in monitoring, reviewing, inspecting, and accepting completion of environmental remediation and restoration.

Article 16. Completion of Environmental Remediation and Restoration

1. The phase of environmental remediation and restoration ends when the competent authority decides to accept the results of environmental remediation and restoration.

2. The agency approving the environmental restoration plan shall be responsible for announcing the end of the environmental restoration phase to the community, media, and communication agencies.

3. Within thirty days after announcing the end of the environmental remediation and restoration process, the agency approving the environmental remediation and restoration plan shall report the results to the directly superior competent authority.

Chapter V
FINANCIAL MECHANISM AND COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN WASTE INCIDENT RESPONSE

Article 17. Financial Provisions for Waste Incident Response

1. The organization or individual causing the incident shall be responsible for promptly and fully paying all costs related to organizing the response to the waste incident and environmental remediation and restoration. If the organization or individual causing the incident cannot be identified, the costs for response, remediation, and restoration shall be borne by the State.

2. The organization or individual causing the incident shall be responsible for compensating the costs related to organizing the response to the waste incident and environmental remediation and restoration after the incident to the state budget upon request for compensation in writing by the state agency that has incurred these costs.

3. Organizations, individuals, and communities affected by the incident have the right to demand compensation from the organization or individual causing the waste incident in accordance with the law.

Article 18. Community Participation in Dealing with Waste Incidents

1. The project investor and facility responsible for publicly disclosing plans and response scenarios through posting at the facility and the People's Committee offices of the commune and other convenient methods.

2. Communities potentially affected by waste incidents must be informed about the risks of such incidents and the measures to deal with them implemented by the facility; they shall be aware of and monitor activities to deal with waste incidents and environmental remediation carried out by the facility or state agencies.

3. Representatives of communities potentially affected must participate in the facility and state agency's emergency response drill activities. Community representatives are responsible for informing the community and serving as communication points during preparation, implementation of dealing with waste incidents, and post-incident environmental remediation. In necessary cases, community representatives have the right to request facilities, relevant agencies, and units to provide and explain information on waste incidents, dealing with waste incidents, and environmental remediation.

Article 19. Encouraging Participation in Emergency Response Activities for Waste Incidents

1. The State encourages and creates conditions for organizations and individuals to invest in and participate in providing services to deal with waste incidents, including: preparing for waste incidents, organizing responses to waste incidents, and post-waste incident environmental remediation.

2. Encourage organizations and individuals to participate and contribute efforts and funds to emergency response activities for waste incidents as stipulated in this Regulation.

Chapter VI
RESPONSIBILITIES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

Article 20. Responsibilities of Ministries and Equivalent Agencies

1. The Ministry of National Defense is responsible for:

a) Directing, inspecting, and building capacity for prevention and warning of waste incident risks for investment projects and facilities classified as state secrets related to national defense; activities to prepare for dealing with waste incidents, organizing responses to waste incidents within their management scope according to the provisions of the law;

b) Directing the content of waste incident response plans; procedures and techniques for dealing with waste incidents, waste incident scenarios for investment projects and facilities classified as state secrets related to national defense according to the provisions of the law.

2. The Ministry of Public Security is responsible for:

a) Directing fire prevention, firefighting, rescue forces; environmental crime prevention police forces, and public security agencies at all levels to participate in dealing with waste incidents according to the requirements of competent authorities;

b) Directing and ensuring political security, social order, and safety in areas where waste incidents occur; investigating and clarifying the causes of waste incidents according to the provisions of the law;

c) Directing, inspecting, and building capacity for prevention and warning of waste incident risks for investment projects and facilities classified as state secrets related to national security; activities to prepare for dealing with waste incidents, organizing responses to waste incidents within their management scope according to the provisions of the law;

d) Directing the content of waste incident response plans; procedures and techniques for dealing with waste incidents, waste incident scenarios for investment projects and facilities classified as state secrets related to national security according to the provisions of the law.

3. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is responsible for:

a) Participating in organizing national-level responses to waste incidents according to the division of labor of the National Civil Defense Steering Committee;

b) Directing the organization to implement national-level environmental restoration after waste incidents.

4. The Ministry of Health is responsible for:

a) Participating in national-level responses to waste incidents according to the division of labor of the National Civil Defense Steering Committee;

b) Organizing the assessment of the scope and degree of impact of national-level waste incidents on human health.

5. The Ministry of Construction, in collaboration with the Ministry of National Defense, other ministries, equivalent agencies, and provincial People's Committees, implements plans regarding the use of transportation infrastructure, equipment, means, and materials within their responsibility to participate in dealing with waste incidents according to the directives of the National Civil Defense Steering Committee.

6. Ministries and equivalent agencies are responsible for organizing the implementation of this Regulation according to their authority to ensure compliance with the provisions.

Article 21. Responsibilities of the National Civil Defense Steering Committee; Provincial and District Civil Defense Command

1. The National Civil Defense Steering Committee shall direct the development, implementation, and inspection of the execution of national and provincial emergency response plans for hazardous waste incidents; inspect and urge preparation and readiness for organizing emergency responses; organize training and drills for national and provincial emergency responses to hazardous waste incidents.

2. The Provincial Civil Defense Command shall direct the development, implementation, and inspection of the execution of district-level emergency response plans for hazardous waste incidents; inspect and urge preparation and readiness for organizing emergency responses; organize training and drills for district-level emergency responses to hazardous waste incidents.

3. The District Civil Defense Command shall direct the development, implementation, and inspection of the execution of facility-level emergency response plans for hazardous waste incidents; inspect and urge preparation and readiness for organizing emergency responses; organize training and drills for facility-level emergency responses to hazardous waste incidents.

4. Direct and directly organize emergency responses to hazardous waste incidents according to this Regulation.

Article 22. Responsibilities of local authorities

1. People's Committees at all levels shall be responsible for:

a) Promoting awareness-raising activities, enhancing community understanding, disseminating knowledge on prevention and emergency response to hazardous waste incidents at the local level; directing units within the locality to implement, organize drills, and execute emergency response plans;

b) Building emergency response forces, ensuring human resources, equipment, and facilities for emergency response and being ready to participate in emergency responses to hazardous waste incidents within their jurisdiction;

c) Directing, organizing, and mobilizing related forces to respond to hazardous waste incidents within their jurisdiction;

d) Submitting to the People's Councils at the same level to allocate funds from the local budget and mobilize other legitimate sources to implement preventive and emergency response measures for hazardous waste incidents under their management according to the law.

2. Environmental protection agencies at the provincial and district levels shall be responsible for:

a) Advising the People's Committees and Civil Defense Commands at the same level to organize inspections and assessments of the risk of hazardous waste incidents at the local level; developing and submitting to competent authorities for issuance emergency response plans for hazardous waste incidents as prescribed; guiding the implementation of preparatory activities and organization of emergency responses to hazardous waste incidents within their jurisdiction;

b) Advising the People's Committees and Civil Defense Commands at the same level to organize emergency responses to hazardous waste incidents, restore and rehabilitate the environment after hazardous waste incidents within their jurisdiction;

c) Fulfilling other responsibilities regarding emergency responses to hazardous waste incidents as prescribed.

Article 23. Responsibilities of project investors and facilities

1. Implement preventive measures against hazardous waste incidents; develop and implement emergency response plans for hazardous waste incidents; organize emergency responses to hazardous waste incidents at the facility and participate in emergency responses to hazardous waste incidents according to the directives of competent authorities.

2. Regularly organize drills for emergency responses to hazardous waste incidents annually and invest in equipment to ensure readiness for emergency responses to hazardous waste incidents.