Chương VI Luật bảo vệ môi trường 2020: Quản lý chất thải và kiểm soát các chất ô nhiễm khác

Chapter IV

STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT, ENVIORNMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL LICENSES

Section 1. STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

Article 25. Subjects required to undergo strategic environmental assessment

1. National strategy for extraction and use of natural resources.

2. National comprehensive planning; national marine spatial planning; national land use planning; regional planning; provincial planning; special administrative-economic unit planning.

3. National and regional strategy for field and sector development, national sector planning and technical and specialized planning having great impacts on the environment on the list prescribed by the Government.

4. Adjustments to the planning specified in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article.

Article 26. Carrying out strategic environmental assessment

1. Organizations assigned to formulate the strategy and planning specified in Article 25 of this Law shall carry out strategic environmental assessment in the process of formulating such strategy and planning.

2. The result of strategic environmental assessment of the strategy specified in Clauses 1 and 3 Article 25 of this Law shall be incorporated in the application for approval of the strategy.

3. The result of strategic environmental assessment of the planning specified in Clauses 2 and 3 Article 25 of this Law shall be presented in a report enclosed with the application for approval of the planning.

4. The agency presiding over appraising planning shall appraise strategic environmental assessment result during the appraisal. The agency approving the strategy shall consider strategic environmental assessment result during the approval.

5. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall give its written opinions on contents of strategic environmental assessment of strategies and planning.

6. The strategic environmental assessment result shall serve as one of the bases for the competent authority to consider approving a strategy or planning.

Article 27. Contents of strategic environmental assessment

1. Contents of strategic environmental assessment include:

a) Assessing conformity of the environmental protection policy with viewpoints, objectives and policies on environmental protection and sustainable development, and international environmental agreements to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a signatory and regulations of this Law;

b) Proposing schemes for adjustment and completion of contents of conformity of the environmental protection policy with viewpoints, objectives and policies on environmental protection and sustainable development, and international environmental agreements to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a signatory and regulations of this Law.

2. Contents of strategic environmental assessment of the planning include:

a) Planning contents that may impact the environment;

b) Scope of strategic environmental assessment;

c) Environmental components and natural heritage sites that may be affected by the planning;

d) Strategic environmental assessment methods applied;

dd) Comparing and assessing conformity of viewpoints and objectives of the planning with viewpoints, objectives and policies on environmental protection, national environmental protection strategy and planning, and environmental protection contents in the regional and provincial planning;

e) Results of identifying negative and positive major environmental issues in the planning;

g) Impacts of climate change;

h) Results of forecasting negative and positive trends of major environmental issues upon implementing the planning; solutions for maintaining positive trends and reducing negative trends of major environmental issues;

i) Orientations for environmental protection during the implementation of planning;

k) Results of consultation with relevant parties during the strategic environmental assessment;

l) Noteworthy environment protection-related issues (if any), proposed directions and solutions for resolution.

3. The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment shall elaborate this Article.

Section 2. ENVIRONMENTAL CRITERIA FOR INVESTMENT PROJECT CLASSIFICATION, PRELIMINARY ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

Article 28. Environmental criteria for investment project classification

1. Environmental criteria for investment project classification include:

a) Scale, capacity and type of production, business and service;

b) Area of land, land with water surface, and sea used; scale of extraction of natural resources;

c) Environmentally sensitive factors including high density residential areas; water source used for supply of domestic water; wildlife sanctuaries prescribed by the law on biodiversity and fisheries; types of forests prescribed by the law on forestry; other tangible cultural heritage and natural heritage sites; land meant for growing wet rice during 02 or more cropping seasons; important wetlands; migration and relocation requirements and other environmental sensitive factors.

2. According to the environmental criteria set out in Clause 1 of this Article, investment projects shall be classified into Group I, II, III and IV.

3. Group I investment projects are those that pose a high risk of adverse environmental impacts, including:

a) Large-scale and capacity projects involved in types of production, business and services that are likely to cause environmental pollution; projects providing hazardous waste treatment service; projects involving import of scrap from foreign countries as production materials;

b) Medium-scale and capacity projects involved in types of production, business and services with environmentally sensitive factors that are likely to cause; large-scale and capacity projects not involved in types of production, business and services with environmentally sensitive factors that are likely to cause environmental pollution;

c) Large- or medium-scale projects using land, land with water surface and marine area with environmentally sensitive factors;

d) Large- or medium-scale and capacity projects on extraction of minerals and water resources with environmentally sensitive factors;

dd) Projects requiring repurposing of land on at least medium scale with environmentally sensitive factors;

e) Large-scale projects requiring migration and relocation.

4. Group II investment projects are those that pose a risk of adverse environmental impacts, except for those specified in Clause 3 of this Article, including:

a) Medium-scale and capacity projects involved in types of production, business and services that are likely to cause environmental pollution;

b) Small-scale and capacity projects involved in types of production, business and services with environmentally sensitive factors that are likely to cause environmental pollution; medium-scale and capacity projects not involved in types of production, business and services with environmentally sensitive factors that are likely to cause environmental pollution;

c) Large- or medium-scale projects using land, land with water surface and marine area with environmentally sensitive factors;

d) Small-scale and capacity projects on extraction of minerals and water resources with environmentally sensitive factors;

dd) Small-scale projects requiring repurposing of land with environmentally sensitive factors;

e) Medium-scale projects requiring migration and relocation.

5. Group III investment projects are those that pose a risk of adverse environmental impacts, except for those specified in Clauses 3 and 4 of this Article, including:

a) Small-scale and capacity projects involved in types of production, business and services that are likely to cause environmental pollution;

b) Projects not involved in types of production, business and services that are likely to cause environmental pollution and generating wastewater, dusts and exhaust gases that must be treated or generating hazardous waste that must be managed in accordance with regulations on waste management.

6. Group IV investment projects are those that do not pose a risk of adverse environmental impacts, except for those specified in Clauses 3, 4 and 5 of this Article.

7. The Government shall elaborate Clause 1 and promulgate a list of investment projects specified in Clauses 3, 4 and 5 of this Article.

Article 29. Preliminary environmental impact assessment

1. Projects subject to PEIA are group I investment projects specified in Clause 3 Article 28 of this Law.

2. The PEIA shall be conducted during the period of pre-feasibility study on investment in construction, proposal for investment guidelines and request for approval of investment guidelines for investment projects subject to investment guideline decision or approval in accordance with the Law on Investment, Law on Public Investment, Law on Public-Private Partnership and Law on Construction.

3. The PEIA shall focus on:

a) Assessing the conformity of the investment project location with the national environmental protection strategy, national environmental protection planning and environmental protection contents in regional planning, provincial planning and other relevant planning;

b) Identifying and predicting major environmental impacts of the investment project on the basis of scale, production technology and location of the project;

c) Identifying environmentally sensitive factors present in the investment project location according to the location selection methods (if any);

d) Analyzing, assessing and selecting a scheme regarding scale, production technology, technology for waste treatment and location of the investment project, and solutions for reducing environmental impacts;

dd) Determining notable major environmental issues and environmental impacts during the EIA.

4. Entities proposing the investment projects in Clause 1 of this Article shall conduct PEIA. PEIA contents shall be considered by a competent authority together with the application for investment guideline decision or approval.

Section 3. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

Article 30. Projects subject to EIA

1.  Projects subject to EIA include:

a) Group I investment projects mentioned in Clause 3 Article 28 of this Law;

b) Group II investment projects mentioned in Points c, d, dd and e Clause 4 Article 28 of this Law.

2. If the projects specified in Clause 1 of this Article are urgent public investment projects as prescribed by the Law on Public Investment, they shall not be subject to EIA.

Article 31. Carrying out EIA

1. The EIA shall be conducted by the investment project owner or a qualified consultancy. The EIA shall be conducted together with preparing the feasibility study report or equivalent document.

2. The EIA result shall be presented in an environmental impact assessment report.

3. An environmental impact assessment report is prepared for each investment project.

Article 32. Contents of environmental impact assessment report

1. Main contents of an environmental impact assessment report (hereinafter referred to as “EIAR”) include:

a) Origin of the investment project, project owner, authority approving the project; legal and technical bases; EIA methods and other methods adopted (if any);

b) Conformity of the investment project with the national environmental protection planning, regional planning, provincial planning, regulations of law on environmental protection and other relevant regulations of law;

c) Assessing selected technologies and work items and activities that may result in adverse environmental impacts;

d) Natural, socio-economic and biodiversity conditions; assessment of state of the environment; identifying affected subjects and sensitive environmental factor at the project location; demonstration of the suitability of the project location;

dd) Identifying, assessing and predicting major environmental impacts and waste generated in the phases of the investment project quantity and nature of waste; impacts on biodiversity, natural heritage sites, historical-cultural sites/monuments and other sensitive factors; impacts caused by land clearance, migration and relocation (if any); identifying and assessing environmental emergencies that are likely to occur;

e) Works and methods for collecting, storing and treating waste;

g) Methods for reducing other adverse environmental impacts of the investment project; environmental improvement and remediation scheme (if any); biodiversity offsets scheme (if any); environmental emergency prevention and response plan;

h) Environmental management and supervision program;

i) Consultation result;

k) Conclusions, propositions and commitments made by the investment project owner.

2. The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment shall elaborate this Article.

Article 33. Consultation during EIA

1. Consultees include:

a) Residential communities and individuals under direct impact of the investment project;

b) Agencies and organizations directly related to the investment project.

2. Responsibility for holding a consultation:

a) The investment project owner shall hold a consultation with the consultees specified in Clause 1 of this Article. It is advisable to consult experts during the EIA;

b) Agencies and organizations mentioned in Point b Clause 1 of this Article shall give a written response to the investment project owner within the prescribed time limit; if the time limit expires and a written response fails to be given, it is considered that such agencies and organizations agree to the consultation contents.

3. Contents of a consultation consist of:

a) Location of the investment project;

b) Environmental impacts of the investment project;

c) Measures to reduce adverse environmental impacts;

d) Environmental management and supervision program; environmental emergency prevention and response scheme;

dd) Other contents related to the investment project.

4. The consultation shall be held by publishing it on websites and adopting one or more of the following methods:

a) Holding a meeting to collect comments;

b) Collecting written comments.

5. The consultation result is important for the investment project owner to work out solutions for minimizing environmental impacts and complete the environmental impact assessment report. The consultation result shall be processed and fully and truthfully present comments and propositions made by consultees and entities getting interested in the investment project (if any). If the comments or propositions are objected, the investment project owner is required to provide a clear explanation. The investment project owner shall take legal responsibility for consultation contents and result specified in the environmental impact assessment report.

6. Investment projects on the list of state secrets are not subject to consultation.

7. The Government shall elaborate this Article.

Article 34. Appraisal of EIAR

1. An application for EIAR appraisal consists of:

a) An application form EIAR appraisal;

b) The EIAR;

c) A feasibility study report of the investment project or equivalent document.

2. For a construction project whose feasibility study report is subject to appraisal by the specialized construction authority as prescribed by the Law on Construction, the project owner is entitled to submit the application for EIAR appraisal together with the application for feasibility study report appraisal; the project owner must submit the application before the verdict on feasibility study report appraisal is available.

3. The EIAR shall be appraised as follows:

a) The appraising authority shall decide to establish an appraisal council consisting of at least 07 members; send the council establishment decision together with the documents specified in Points b and c Clause 1 of this Article to each member;

b) At least one-third of the appraisal council’s members are experts. An expert must have expertise in environment or another field related to the investment project and at least 07 years' working experience if he/she holds a bachelor's degree or equivalent qualification, at least 03 years’ working experience if he/she holds a master's degree or equivalent qualification or at least 02 years’ working experience if he/she holds a doctorate degree or equivalent qualification;

c) Experts participating in conducting EIA of the investment project are not allowed to join the council appraising the EIAR of such project;

d) If the investment project discharges wastewater into a hydraulic structure, the appraisal council must have a representative of the regulatory body managing such hydraulic structure; the appraising authority shall collect written comments and reach an agreement with that regulatory body before approving the appraisal result.

The regulatory body managing the hydraulic structure shall appoint a member to join the appraisal council and comment on the approval of the appraisal result in writing within the time limit for comment collection; if such time limit expires and a written response fails to be given, it is considered that such body agrees to the EIAR contents;

d) Council's members shall consider the application for appraisal, make remarks about the appraisal contents specified in Clause 7 of this Article and take legal responsibility for their remarks;

e) The appraising authority shall consider, evaluate and consolidate comments of council’s members and relevant organizations (if any) to form a basis for deciding to approve the EIAR appraisal result.

4. If necessary, the appraising authority shall carry out a survey to collect comments of organizations and experts to appraise the EIAR.

5. During the appraisal, if revisions to the EIAR are necessary, the appraising authority shall notify the investment project owner in writing to make such revisions.

6. The time limit for EIAR appraisal begins on the date of receiving a satisfactory application and is as follows:

a) Not exceeding 45 days with respect to the Group I investment project mentioned in Clause 3 Article 28 of this Law;

b) Not exceeding 30 days with respect to the Group II investment project mentioned in Point c, d, dd or e Clause 4 Article 28 of this Law.

c) Within the time limit specified in Points a and b of this Clause, the appraising authority shall notify the investment project owner in writing of the appraisal result. The time when the investment project owner revises the EIAR at the request of the appraising authority and the time when the approval decision is considered to be issued as prescribed in Clause 9 of this Article shall not be included in the time limit for appraisal;

d) The time limit mentioned in Points a and b of this Clause may be extended under the Prime Minister’s decision.

7. Contents of EIAR appraisal are composed of:

a) Conformity with the national environmental protection planning, regional planning, provincial planning and regulations of law on environmental protection;

b) Conformity of the EIA method and other methods adopted (if any);

c) Conformity of result of identification of a work item or activity likely to result in adverse environmental impacts;

d) Conformity of result of assessment of state of the environment and biodiversity; identification of affected subjects and sensitive environmental factor at the project location;

dd) Conformity of result of identification and prediction of major environmental impacts and waste generated from the investment project; prediction of environmental emergencies;

e) Conformity and feasibility of environmental protection works and measures; environmental improvement and remediation scheme (if any); biodiversity offsetting plan (if any); environmental emergency prevention and response scheme;

g) Conformity of the environmental management and supervision program; adequacy and feasibility of environmental commitments made by the investment project owner.

8. The Prime Minister shall decide to organize the EIAR appraisal that needs foreign consultants. Result of the EIAR appraisal carried out by foreign consultants shall serve as the basis for the competent authority specified in Article 35 of this Law to approve the EIAR appraisal result.

9. Within 20 days from the receipt of the EIAR revised (if any) as requested by the appraising authority, the head of the appraising authority shall decide to approve the appraisal result; in case of refusal to grant approval, respond to the investment project owner and provide explanation in writing.

10. The submission of application for EIAR appraisal, receipt, processing and notification of the EIAR appraisal result shall be carried out in person or by post or through the online public service system at the request of the investment project owner.

11. The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment shall elaborate organizational structures and operation of appraisal councils; make publicly available list of appraisal councils; forms of documents included in the application for EIAR appraisal and decision to approve EIAR appraisal result; time limit for comment collection specified in Point d Clause 3 of this Article.

Article 35. Power to appraise EIAR

1. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall organize appraisal of EIARs for the following investment projects, except for the investment projects specified in Clause 2 of this Article:

a) Group I investment projects mentioned in Clause 3 Article 28 of this Law;

b) Group II investment projects in Points c, d, dd and e Clause 4 Article 28 of this Law subject to investment guideline decision or approval by the National Assembly and Prime Minister; investment projects involving 02 provinces or more; investment projects located within territorial waters to which responsibility of the provincial People’s Committee for administrative management are yet to be assigned; investment projects subject to issuance of the mineral mining license, license to extract and use water resources, ocean dumping permit and marine area transfer decision by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

2. The Ministry of National Defense and Ministry of Public Security shall organize appraisal of EIARs for investment projects classified as state secrets in the field of national defense and security.

3. Provincial People’s Committees shall organize appraisal of EIARs for investment projects within their provinces, except for the investment projects in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article. Ministries and ministerial agencies shall cooperate with provincial People’s Committees shall appraise EIARs for investment projects subject to investment guideline and decision by such provincial People’s Committees.

Article 36. Decision on approval of EIAR appraisal result

1. The decision on approval of EIAR appraisal result shall serve as the basis for a competent authority to perform the following tasks:

a) Issue and adjust the mineral mining license for mineral mining projects;

b) Approve oil and gas exploration and field development plan for oil and gas exploration and extraction projects;

c) Approve feasibility study reports for public-private partnership investment projects;

d) Give conclusions on appraisal of feasibility study reports for construction projects;

dd) Issue environmental licenses;

e) Issue ocean dumping permits; marine area transfer decisions;

g) Issue investment decisions for investment projects not mentioned in Points a, b, c, d, dd and e of this Clause.

2. Except for the investment projects classified as state secrets, the appraising authority shall send the decision on approval of EIAR appraisal result to the investment project owner and agencies concerned as follows:

a) The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall send it to the People’s Committee of the province where the investment project is executed and other agencies in accordance with relevant regulations of law. The provincial People’s Committee shall send it to the provincial specialized environmental protection authority, People’s Committee of the district or commune where the investment project is executed and management board of an industrial park, export-processing zone, hi-tech zone or economic zone of the province or central-affiliated city for the investment project executed in the dedicated area for production, business operation and service provision;

b) The provincial People’s Committee shall send it to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, provincial specialized environmental protection authority, People’s Committee of the district or commune where the investment project is executed and management board of an industrial park, export-processing zone, hi-tech zone or economic zone of the province or central-affiliated city for the investment project executed in the dedicated area for production, business operation and service provision.

3. If the investment project owner is changed, the new one shall continue to implement the decision on approval of EIAR result and inform the EIAR appraising authority and provincial specialized environmental protection authority.

Article 37. Responsibility of investment project owner after obtaining decision on approval of EIAR appraisal result

1. Revise contents of the investment project and EIAR in conformity with environmental protection contents and requirements set out in the decision on approval of EIAR appraisal result.

2. Fully comply with the decision on approval of EIAR appraisal result.

3. Send a notification of completion of environmental protection work to the authority approving EIAR appraisal result before officially putting the project into official operation in the case where the project is not required to obtain the environmental license.

4. During the preparation and execution of the investment project before being put into operation, in case of deviation from the decision on approval of EIAR appraisal result, the investment project owner shall:

a) conduct EIA of the investment project if there is any change to scale, capacity or production technology or another change resulting in an increase in environmental adverse impacts;

b) notify the competent authority for approval during the issuance of the environmental license to the investment project required to obtain the environmental license in the case of change of a production technology, waste treatment technology or location into which treated wastewater is directly discharged other than the case specified in Point a of this Clause; addition of an industry or business line in which investment is encouraged to the dedicated area for production, business operation and service provision or industrial cluster;

c) conduct environmental impact self-assessment, consider, decide and take legal responsibility for other changes other than those specified in Points a and b of this Clause; incorporate the environmental impact self-assessment in the report on proposal for issuance of the environmental license (if any).

5. Make publicly available the EIAR of which the result of appraisal has been approved as prescribed in Article 114 of this Law, except for the information classified as state secrets or enterprise’s secrets as prescribed by law.

6. Perform other tasks as prescribed by the law on environmental protection.

7. The Government shall elaborate Clause 4 of this Article.

Article 38. Responsibility of EIAR appraising authority

1. Take responsibility for EIAR appraisal results and decisions on approval of EIAR appraisal results.

2. Publish decisions on approval of EIAR appraisal results on its web portal, except for the information classified as state secrets or enterprise’s secrets as prescribed by law.

3. Establish and integrate EIA database to the national environmental database.

Section 4. ENVIRONMENTAL LICENSE

Article 39. Obliged applicants for environmental license

1. Group I, II and III projects that generate wastewater, dusts and exhaust gases that must be treated into the environment or generate hazardous waste that must be managed in accordance with regulations on waste management before officially being put into operation.

2. Investment projects, dedicated areas for production, business operation and service provision and industrial clusters operating before the effective date of this Law and applying environmental criteria as the projects mentioned in Clause 1 of this Article.

3. If the projects mentioned in Clause 1 of this Article are urgent public investment projects as prescribed by the Law on Public Investment, they are exempt from the environmental license.

Article 40. Contents of environmental license

1. Contents of an environmental license include general information about the investment project, business, dedicated area for production, business operation and service provision or industrial cluster; items to be licensed; environmental protection requirements; validity period; other contents (if any).

2. Items to be licensed include:

a) Source of wastewater; maximum wastewater flow rate; wastewater flow; pollutants and permissible limits of pollutants in the wastewater flow; location and method of wastewater discharge and wastewater receiving bodies;

b) Source of emissions; maximum exhaust gas flow rate; wastewater flow; pollutants and permissible limits of pollutants in the emissions flow; location and method of exhaust gas discharge;

c) Source and permissible limits of noise and vibration;

d) Works and system for hazardous waste treatment; hazardous waste code and quantity of waste permitted for treatment, quantity of hazardous waste transfer stations, operating area with regard to the investment project, hazardous waste treatment service providers;

dd) Type and quantity of scrap permitted for import with regard to the investment project, establishments importing scrap from foreign countries as production materials

3. Environmental protection requirements are as follows:

a) There should be appropriate works and measures for collecting and treating waste and emissions and reducing noise and vibration; in the case of discharge of wastewater into hydraulic structures, environmental protection requirements should be in place to be applied to the source of water discharged into hydraulic structures;

b) Regarding investment projects and hazardous waste treatment providers, there should be measures, systems, works and equipment serving storage, transport, transfer, preliminary processing and treatment which satisfy technical and managerial requirements;

c) Regarding investment projects and establishments importing scrap from foreign countries as production materials, there should be appropriate warehouses and yards for scrap storage; recycling equipment; impurity treatment scheme; re-export scheme;

d) There should be environmental management and supervision plans, environmental emergency prevention and response plans; equipment and works serving environmental emergency prevention and response and environmental monitoring;

dd) It is required to manage domestic solid waste, normal industrial solid waste and hazardous waste; improve and remediate environmental; carry out biodiversity offsets according to regulations of law;

e) Other environmental protection requirements (if any).

4. The environmental license shall be valid for:

a) 07 years, regarding group I investment projects;

b) 07 years, regarding businesses, dedicated areas for production, business operation and service provision and industrial clusters operating before the effective date of this Law and applying environmental criteria as Group I investment projects;

c) 10 years, regarding the license holders not mentioned in Points a and b of this Clause;

d) The validity period may be shorter than that specified in Points a, b and c of this Clause at the request of the investment project owners, businesses, investors in construction and commercial operation of infrastructure in dedicated areas for production, business operation and service provision and industrial clusters (hereinafter collectively referred to as “investment project/business owners”).

5. The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment shall promulgate form of the environmental license.

Article 41. The power to issue environmental license

1. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall issue the environmental license to the following applicants, except for the case specified in Clause 2 of this Article:

a) The projects in Article 39 hereof for which the EIAR appraisal result has been approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment;

b) The projects specified in Article 39 hereof that involve 02 provinces or more or are located within territorial waters to which responsibility of the provincial People’s Committee for administrative management are yet to be assigned; establishments importing scrap from foreign countries as production materials, hazardous waste treatment service providers.

2. The Ministry of National Defense and Ministry of Public Security shall issue the environmental license to investment projects and establishments classified as state secrets in the field of national defense and security.

3. Provincial People’s Committees shall issue the environmental license to the following obliged applicants, except for the cases specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article:

a) Group II investment projects in Article 39 hereof;

b) Group II investment projects in Article 39 hereof that involve 02 districts or more;

c) The investment projects in Clause 2 Article 39 hereof for which the EIAR appraisal result has been approved by the provincial People’s Committee or Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment or ministerial agency.

4. District-level People’s Committees shall issue the environmental license to the applicants in Article 39 hereof, except for the cases specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article.

Article 42. Bases and time for issuance of environmental license

1. Bases for issuance of the environmental license include:

a) The application for issuance of environmental license specified in Clause 1 Article 43 hereof;

b) The EIAR of which result of appraisal has been approved by the competent authority (if any);

c) National environmental protection planning, provincial planning, regulations on environmental zoning and environment’s carrying capacity under the competent authority’s decision, except for the case specified in Point e of this Clause;

d) Technical regulation on environment;

dd) Regulations of law on environmental protection, water resources and other relevant regulations of law;

e) At the time of issuing the environmental license, if the national environmental protection planning, provincial planning or regulation on environmental zoning or environment’s carrying capacity has not yet been promulgated by the competent authority, the environmental license shall be issued according to Points a, b, d and dd of this Clause.

2. The time for issuance of the environmental license is as follows:

a) An investment project subject to EIA must obtain the environmental license before trial operation of the waste treatment work, except for the case in Point c of this Clause;

b) An investment project not subject to EIA must obtain the environmental license before the competent authority promulgates the document specified in Points a, b, c, d and g Clause 1 Article 36 of this Law. If a construction project is not subject to feasibility study report appraisal by the specialized construction authority in accordance with regulations of law on construction, it must obtain the environmental license before the competent authority issues or adjusts the construction permit;

c) If the waste treatment work of the investment project in Clause 2 Article 39 hereof is currently under trial operation as prescribed by law before the effective date of this Law, the project owner is entitled to continue the trial operation to obtain the environmental license after the trial operation is done or prepare an application for the environmental license before the trial operation is done. The project owner is not required to carry out the trial operation again, however, the result of trial operation must be reported and evaluated as prescribed in Article 46 of this Law;

d) The business, dedicated area for production, business operation and service provision or industrial cluster in Clause 2 Article 30 hereof that has been put into official operation before the effective date of this Law must obtain the environmental license within 36 months from the effective date of this Law, except for the case where the competent authority has issued the certificate of completion of environmental protection work, certificate of conformity with environmental standard, certificate of eligibility for environment protection in import of scrap from foreign countries as production materials, license for hazardous waste treatment, license to discharge wastewater into water sources, license to discharge wastewater into hydraulic structure (hereinafter collectively referred to as the “component environmental license”). The component environmental license may be used as the environmental license until its expiry or within 05 years from the effective date of this Law if it is an indefinite-term component environmental license.

3. If the investment project or project on construction of a business, dedicated area for production, business operation and service provision or industrial cluster is executed in multiple phases or has multiple works or work items, the environmental license may be issued to each phase, work or item work that generates waste. The later issued environmental license shall incorporate contents of the previously issued license that is still effective.

4. The environmental license shall serve as the basis for carrying out the following activities:

a) Inspection and supervision by competent authorities of environmental protection activities of investment projects, businesses, dedicated areas for production, business operation and service provision and industrial clusters;

b) Assumption of responsibility for environmental protection by investment project/business owners.

5. If name of the investment project, business or dedicated area production, business operation and service provision or investment project/business owner is changed, the investment project/business owner shall continue to comply with the environmental license and notify the licensing authority for renewal of the license.

6. From the effective date of the environmental license, the decision on approval of EIAR appraisal result and component environmental license becomes null and void.

Article 43. Applications and procedures for issuance of environmental license

1. An application for issuance of an environmental license includes:

a) An application form;

b) A report on proposal for issuance of the environmental license;

c) Legal and technical documentation of the investment project, business, dedicated area for production, business operation and service provision or industrial cluster.

2. Procedures for issuance of the environmental license are as follows:

a) An investment project/business owner shall send an application for issuance of the environmental license to the competent authority specified in Article 41 hereof. The application may be submitted in person or by post or through the online public service system;

b) The licensing authority shall receive the application and inspect its adequacy and validity; make publicly available contents of the report on proposal for issuance of the environmental license, except for information classified as state secrets or enterprise's secrets as prescribed by law; consult relevant organizations and individuals; carry out a site inspection of the investment project, business, dedicated area for production, business operation and service provision or industrial cluster; carry out appraisal and issue the environmental license.

The sequence of receiving and handling administrative procedures shall be followed in person, by post or through the online public service system at the request of the investment project/business owner;

c) If the investment project, business, dedicated area for production, business operation and service provision or industrial cluster discharges wastewater into a hydraulic structure, the licensing authority shall collect written comments and reach an agreement with the regulatory body managing such hydraulic structure before issuing the environmental license;

d) If the investment project or business is located within a dedicated area for production, business operation and service provision or industrial cluster, the licensing authority shall collect written comments of the investor in construction and commercial operation of such dedicated area for production, business operation and service provision or industrial cluster before issuing the environmental license.

3. The licensing shall be based on appraisal of the report on proposal for issuance of the environmental license. The licensing authority shall establish an appraisal council and inspectorate in accordance with the Government's regulations.

Regarding the investment project, business, dedicated area for production, business operation and service provision or industrial cluster that discharges wastewater into a hydraulic structure, the appraisal council and inspectorate shall include a representative from the regulatory body managing such hydraulic structure.

The regulatory body managing the hydraulic structure shall appoint a member to join the appraisal council and inspectorate and comment on the licensing within the time limit for comment collection; if such time limit expires and a written response fails to be given, it is considered that such body agrees to the licensing.

4. The time limit for licensing begins on the date of receiving a satisfactory application and is as follow:

a) Not exceeding 45 days if the environmental license is issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of National Defense and Ministry of Public Security;

b) Not exceeding 30 days if the environmental license is issued by a provincial or district-level People’s Committee;

c) The licensing authority may impose a time limit shorter than that specified in Points a and b of this Clause according to the type, scale and nature of the investment project, business, dedicated area for production, business operation and service provision or industrial cluster.

5. If an investment project, business, dedicated area for production, business operation and service provision required to obtain the environmental license performs radiation works, it shall, in addition to complying with regulations of this Law, comply with regulations of law on atomic energy.

6. The Government shall elaborate this Article.

Article 44. Renewal, adjustment, re-issuance, suspension and revocation of environmental license

1. An environmental license shall be renewed in the case specified in Clause 5 Article 42 of this Law but other information in the license remains unchanged.

2. An environmental license may be adjusted within its validity period in one of the following cases:

a) Any of the items specified in Clause 2 Article 40 hereof is changed at the request of the investment project/business owner as prescribed by law, except for the case specified in Point b Clause 3 of this Article;

b) The investment project or business provides hazardous waste services or imports scrap from a foreign country as production materials after the trial operation is done to suit its operating capacity.

3. An environmental license may be re-issued in the following cases:

a) The license expires;

b) The investment project, business, dedicated area for production, business operation and service provision or industrial cluster makes any of the changes in the total scale, capacity or technology production or another change resulting in adverse impacts on the environment, except for the case where the investment project making the change is not subject to EIA.

4. The environmental license shall be suspended if the investment project/business owner commits an administrative violation against regulations on environmental protection which is so serious that the environmental license is suspended in accordance with regulations of law on penalties for administrative violations.

5. An environmental license shall be revoked in one of the following cases:

a) The license is issued ultra vires;

b) Its contents are against the law.

6. The Government shall elaborate this Article.

Article 45. Fees for issuance of environmental license

1. The investment project/business owner shall pay fees for issuance, re-issuance and adjustment of the environmental license.

2. The Minister of Finance shall provide for collection, payment, management and use of fees for issuance, re-issuance and adjustment of the environmental license issued by central government authorities.

3. Provincial People's Councils shall provide for collection, payment, management and use of fees for issuance, re-issuance and adjustment of the environmental license issued by provincial and district-level People’s Committees as prescribed by law.

Article 46. Environmental protection works and trial operation of waste treatment works of investment projects after obtaining environmental license

1. Environmental protection works of an investment project include:

a) Waste treatment works which are works and equipment serving treatment of wastewater, dusts, emissions, solid waste and hazardous waste;

b) Works for solid waste collection and storage which are works and equipment serving collection and storage of normal solid waste, medical solid waste and hazardous waste to satisfy the requirements for classifying, collecting, storing, reusing, recycling and transporting solid waste to places of treatment, reuse or recycling;

c) Other environmental protection works.

2. Every investment project owner that has the waste treatment work specified in Point a Clause 1 of this Article shall, after obtaining the environmental license, carry out trial operation of such waste treatment work together with the trial operation of the entire investment project or for each investment phase of the project (if any) or for the independent waste treatment work item of the project to assess the conformity and satisfaction of a technical regulation on environment.

3. During trial operation of a waste treatment work, the investment project owner shall comply with environmental protection requirements according to the environmental license and regulations of law on environmental protection.

4. For the investment project that involves provision of hazardous waste treatment services or import of scrap from a foreign country as production materials, at least 45 days before the end of its trial operation, the investment project owner shall send a report on trial operation to the authority issuing the environmental license to the project. The licensing authority shall carry out an inspection and decide to adjust the type and quantity of hazardous waste licensed for treatment or quantity of scrap licensed for import and impose penalties for violations (if any) as prescribed by law.

5. The Government shall elaborate this Article.

Article 47. Rights and obligations of investment project/business owners issued with the environmental license

1. Every investment project/business owner issued with the environmental license has the right to:

a) perform the licensed tasks specified in the environmental license;

b) apply for renewal, adjustment or re-issuance of the environmental license;

c) Other rights prescribed by law.

2. Every investment project/business owner issued with the environmental license has the obligation to:

a) correctly and fully comply with the environmental protection requirements specified in the issued environmental license. If any content of the issued environmental license is changed, notify the licensing authority for consideration;

b) pay fees for issuance, re-issuance or adjustment of the environmental license;

c) correctly comply with regulations on trial operation of waste treatment works of investment projects as prescribed in Article 46 of this Law;

d) take responsibility for the accuracy and truthfulness of the application for issuance of the environmental license;

dd) make publicly available the environmental license, except for information classified as state secrets and enterprise’s secrets as prescribed by law;

e) provide relevant information at the request of environmental protection authorities during the inspection;

g) Other obligations prescribed by law.

Article 48. Responsibilities of licensing authorities

Each licensing authority has the responsibility to:

1. Receive, inspect and appraise the application for environmental license and issue environmental licenses; renew, adjust or re-issue the environmental license at the request of investment project/business owners; take responsibility for contents of the environmental license; manage and store documents and data on the environmental license; partially suspend any investment projects, business, dedicated areas for production, business operation and service provision and industrial clusters’ activity that causes or is likely to cause serious consequences the environment; revoke environmental licenses.

2. Publish environmental licenses on its website, except for information classified as state secrets and enterprise’s secrets as prescribed by law.

3. Inspect the performance of environmental protection activities and compliance with environmental protection requirements by investment projects, businesses, dedicated areas for production, business operation and service provision and industrial clusters as prescribed by law.

4. Receive and handle propositions about environmental protection regarding the contents specified in the environmental license; instruct project investment owners to carry out trial operation of waste treatment works, remediation the environment and respond to environmental emergencies (if any) during trial operation.

5. Operate, update and integrate data on environmental licenses into the environmental information system and database. The reporting and sharing of information and data on environmental licenses shall be carried out in an interconnected manner and online within the environmental information system and database.

Article 49. Environmental registration

1. Obliged registrants:

a) Waste-generating investment projects not required to obtain an environmental license;

b) Waste-generating businesses operating before the effective date of this Law not required to obtain an environmental license.

2. The registrants specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall be exempt from environmental registration, including:

a) Investment projects and businesses classified as state secrets in the field of national defense and security;

b) Investment projects when put into operation and businesses that do not generate waste or only generate a small quantity of waste which is treated using in situ waste treatment works or managed in accordance with regulations of the local government;

c) Other registrants.

3. Communal People’s Committees shall receive environmental registration forms of the registrants specified in Clause 1 of this Article in person, by post or through the online public service system.

For an investment project or business that involves at least 02 communes, the investment project/business owner is entitled to select the People’s Committee of any commune to carry out environmental registration.

4. Environmental registration shall cover:

a) General information about the investment project/business;

b) Type of production, business and service; technologies, capacity, products; raw materials, fuels and chemicals used (if any);

c) Type and quantity of waste generated;

d) A scheme to collect, manage and treat waste as prescribed;

dd) Commitments to environmental protection.

5. During the operation, if the investment project or business changes any registered content, the investment project/business owner shall carry out environmental registration again before making a change.

If the scale or nature of the investment project or business that is subject to EIA or required to obtain an environmental license, the investment project/business owner shall comply with regulations on EIA and environmental licenses in accordance with this Law.

6. The time for environmental registration is as follows:

a) The investment projects that are specified in Point a Clause 1 of this Article and subject to EIA and environmental registration before being put into official operation;

b) The investment projects that are specified in Point a Clause 1 of this Article but not subject to EIA and environmental registration before the competent authority issue the construction permit if a construction permit is required in accordance with regulations of law on construction or before waste is discharged into the environment if a construction permit is not required in accordance with regulations of law on construction;

c) The businesses that are specified in Point b Clause 1 of this Article and subject to environmental registration within 24 months from the effective date of this Law.

7. Communal People’s Committees shall:

a) receive environmental registration forms;

b) carry out inspections and impose penalties for violations against the law on environmental protection committed by entities carrying out environmental registration;

c) provide guidance and handle propositions about environmental protection regarding the contents registered by the entities carrying out environmental registration;

d) update data on environmental protection to the national environmental information system and database.

8. The Government shall elaborate Points b and c Clause 2 of this Article.

9. The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment shall promulgate environmental registration forms and provide guidelines for receipt of environmental registration forms.

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