Environmental licensing was first regulated in the Law on Environmental Protection No. 72/2020/QH14. An environmental license is a type of license issued by an environmental management agency to individuals, organizations or businesses to allow them to legally carry out activities that have the potential to affect the environment. The purpose of an environmental license is to ensure that production, business, construction or natural resource exploitation activities do not cause significant harm to the environment and human health.

1. Subjects must carry out environmental license

Pursuant to Article 39, Law on Environmental Protection 2020, subjects who must apply for an Environmental license include:

• Group I, group II and group III investment projects generate wastewater, dust, and exhaust gases discharged into the environment that must be treated or generate hazardous waste that must be managed according to regulations on management. waste management when officially put into operation.
• Investment projects, facilities, concentrated production, business, service zones, industrial clusters operating before the effective date of this Law have environmental criteria as specified in Clause 1 of this Article.
• The subjects specified in Clause 1 of this Article belong to the case of emergency public investment projects according to the provisions of law on public investment that are exempt from environmental licenses.

2. Time to implement environmental license

Pursuant to Clause 2, Article 42 of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 and Clause 2, Article 29 of Decree 08/2022/ND-CP, the time for granting environmental licenses is prescribed as follows:

- For businesses that do not have a component environmental license: must implement the environmental license within 36 months from January 1, 2022.

- For businesses that already have a component environmental license

+ Component environmental license has a TIMELINE: the environmental license must be obtained before the component environmental license expires

+ Component environmental license has NO EXPIRATION: can continue to be used for a period of 5 years from January 1, 2022.

(Environmental license components include: certificate of completion of environmental protection works, certificate of environmental standards, certificate of eligibility for environmental protection in importing scrap from abroad used as production materials, license to treat hazardous waste, license to discharge wastewater into water sources, license to discharge wastewater into irrigation works).

3. Validity period of environmental license

Pursuant to Clause 4, Article 40, Law on Environmental Protection 2020, the term of the environmental license is prescribed as follows:

- 07 years for group I investment projects;

- 07 years for projects operating before the effective date of this Law with environmental criteria such as group I investment projects;

- 10 years for subjects not specified in points a and b

- The term of the environmental license may be shorter at the request of the investment project owner, 4.

4. What does the application for an environmental license include?

The environmental license includes the following contents:

- General information about investment projects, facilities, production and business zones, concentrated services, and industrial clusters.

- Contents of environmental licensing, including:

+ Sources of wastewater include; maximum amount of wastewater discharged; type of wastewater; types of pollutants along with their allowable limits in wastewater; location and method of discharging wastewater as well as wastewater receiving place.

+ Sources of emissions include; maximum exhaust emissions; type of exhaust gas; types of pollutants along with their allowable limits in exhaust gases; location and method of exhaust gas discharge.

+ Sources and allowable limits for noise and vibration.

+ Hazardous waste treatment facilities and equipment systems; Hazardous waste code and amount of waste allowed to be processed, number of hazardous waste transfer stations, and operating areas related to investment projects as well as waste treatment service providers dengoures.

- Environmental protection requirements.

- Term of environmental license.

- Other content (if any).

5. Procedures for applying for environmental licenses according to regulations

5.1 Application for environmental license

- According to Clause 1, Article 43 of the Law on Environmental Protection and Clause 1, Article 29 of Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP, the application dossier for an environmental license is stipulated as follows:

- Document requesting issuance of MTMT (Appendix XIII of Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP)

- Report proposing issuance of license

- Copies of feasibility study reports or other legal and technical documents of investment projects, facilities, concentrated production, business and service zones, and grassroots industrial clusters.

5.2 Authority to issue environmental license

Pursuant to Article 41 of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020, the authority to grant environmental license is prescribed as follows:

- Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment:

+ The project was approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment as a result of EIA report appraisal

+ The subject of the environmental license is located in the area of 02 or more provincial-level administrative units or located in a sea area that has not yet determined the administrative management responsibility of the Provincial People's Committee; establishments that import scrap from abroad as raw materials for production, establishments that provide hazardous waste treatment services.

- Ministry of National Defense and Ministry of Public Security

Investment projects and facilities are state secrets regarding national defense and security

- Provincial People's Committee

+ Group II investment projects

+ Group III investment projects are located in 02 or more district-level administrative units

+ Investment projects, establishments, concentrated production, business, service areas, industrial clusters operating before the effective date of this Law with environmental criteria as regulated subjects in group I, Group II and Group III have had their results of appraisal of environmental impact assessment reports approved by the Provincial People's Committee or Ministry or ministerial-level agency.

- District People's Committee

Except for the above cases