The Environment Permit (Giấy phép môi trường) is a new concept under the Environment Protection Law 2020. In essence, an Environment Permit consolidates most of the environment permits or licences under the previous environment laws into a single document which would help the relevant authorities and businesses to monitor and record all the environmental aspects of an investment project. 

Projects subject to Environment Permit

Except for some certain emergency public investment projects, an Environment Permit is required for all investment projects which have potential adverse effect on the environment and which generate wastewater, dust and emissions or hazardous waste which must be treated or managed (the Regulated Projects).

Timing

Regulated Projects which have not started commercial operation by 1 January 2022, and which have an approved Environment Impact Assessment Report must obtain the Environment Permit before commissioning the environmental protection works of the Regulated Project.

Regulated Projects which have not started commercial operation by 1 January 2022, and which do not have an approved Environment Impact Assessment Report must obtain the Environment Permit before issuance of the mining licence (for mining project), the approval of the field development plan (for oil exploration project), the approval of the feasibility study (for PPP project or construction project), and the investment decision for other projects.

Content of the Environment Permit

An Environment Permit will contain the following information:

·       General information about the Regulated Project which includes location, business sectors/ permitted business sectors, and scope and capacity of the Regulated Project.

·       Items to be licensed, which include (if relevant): (1) wastewater discharge; (2) emissions; (3) noise and vibration; (4) hazardous waste treatment; and/or (5) scrap permitted for import.

·       Environmental protection requirements which include requirements on: (1) environmental protection works; (2) plan on environmental management, supervision, monitoring and emergency, and respective equipment and environmental works, (3) waste management, and (4) other requirements (if any).

·       Validity period: from 07 to 10 years depending on the type of projects.

Component Environment Permits

The following environment approvals and licences issued pursuant to the previous Environment Protection Law 2014 are considered as “Component Environment Permits” (Giấy phép môi trường thành phần) under the Environment Protection Law 2020:

·       The certificate of completion of environmental protection work (Giấy xác nhận hoàn thành công trình bảo vệ môi trường);

·       The certificate of conformity with environmental standard (Giấy chứng nhận đạt tiêu chuẩn môi trường);

·       The certificate of eligibility for environment protection in import of scrap from foreign countries as production materials (Giấy xác nhận đủ điều kiện về bảo vệ môi trường trong nhập khẩu phế liệu từ nước ngoài làm nguyên liệu sản xuất);

·       The license for hazardous waste treatment (Giấy phép xử lý chất thải nguy hại);

·       The license to discharge wastewater into water sources (Giấy phép xả nước thải vào nguồn nước); and

·       The license to discharge wastewater into irrigation work (Giấy phép xả nước thải vào công trình thủy lợi).

Under the Environment Protection Law 2020, a Component Environment Permit will continue to be effective until the earlier of the following: (1) the expiry date of the Component Environment Permit, or (2) 1 January 2027.

Regulated Projects before 1 January 2022

Regulated Projects which have started commercial operation before 1 January 2022 and which have obtained one or more Component Environment Permits under the previous Environment Protection Law 2014 will not need to obtain an Environment Permit until the expiry of any Component Environment Permit or until 1 January 2027, whichever is earlier.

Regulated Projects which have started commercial operation before 1 January 2022 and do not have any Component Environment Permit under the Environment Protection Law 2014 will need to obtain an Environment Permit by 1 January 2025.

This post is written by Ha Kieu Anh and edited by Luu The Hung and Nguyen Quang Vu.