Vietnam law has regulations on renewal, adjustment, re-issuance, suspension and revocation of environmental license. Let’s find out this issue with Lawyer X through the following situation: “Dear Lawyer! I want to ask how can a person renew, adjust environmental license? How much are fees for issuance of environmental license in Vietnam? Thanks for answering my questions”
Legal grounds
- Vietnam law on environmental protection
Renewal, adjustment, re-issuance, suspension and revocation of environmental license
– 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.
– An environmental license may be adjusted within its validity period in one of the following cases:
+ 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;
+ 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.
– An environmental license may be re-issued in the following cases:
+ The license expires;
+ 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.
– 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.
– An environmental license shall be revoked in one of the following cases:
+ The license is issued ultra vires;
+ Its contents are against the law.
– The Government shall elaborate this Article.
Fees for issuance of environmental license
– The investment project/business owner shall pay fees for issuance, re-issuance and adjustment of the environmental license.
– 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.
– 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.
Environmental protection works and trial operation of waste treatment works of investment projects after obtaining environmental license
– Environmental protection works of an investment project include:
+ Waste treatment works which are works and equipment serving treatment of wastewater, dusts, emissions, solid waste and hazardous waste;
+ 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;
+ Other environmental protection works.
– 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.
– 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.
– 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.
– The Government shall elaborate this Article.
Rights and obligations of investment project/business owners issued with the environmental license
– Every investment project/business owner issued with the environmental license has the right to:
+ perform the licensed tasks specified in the environmental license;
+ apply for renewal, adjustment or re-issuance of the environmental license;
+ Other rights prescribed by law.
– Every investment project/business owner issued with the environmental license has the obligation to:
+ 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;
+ pay fees for issuance, re-issuance or adjustment of the environmental license;
+ correctly comply with regulations on trial operation of waste treatment works of investment projects as prescribed in Article 46 of this Law;
+ take responsibility for the accuracy and truthfulness of the application for issuance of the environmental license;
+ make publicly available the environmental license, except for information classified as state secrets and enterprise’s secrets as prescribed by law;
+ provide relevant information at the request of environmental protection authorities during the inspection;
+ Other obligations prescribed by law.
Responsibilities of licensing authorities
Each licensing authority has the responsibility to:
– 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.
– Publish environmental licenses on its website, except for information classified as state secrets and enterprise’s secrets as prescribed by law.
– 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.
– 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.
– 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.
Regulations on environmental registration
– Obliged registrants:
+ Waste-generating investment projects not required to obtain an environmental license;
+ Waste-generating businesses operating before the effective date of this Law not required to obtain an environmental license.
– The registrants specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall be exempt from environmental registration, including:
+ Investment projects and businesses classified as state secrets in the field of national defense and security;
+ 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;
+ Other registrants.
– 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.
– Environmental registration shall cover:
+ General information about the investment project/business;
+ Type of production, business and service; technologies, capacity, products; raw materials, fuels and chemicals used (if any);
+ Type and quantity of waste generated;
+ A scheme to collect, manage and treat waste as prescribed;
+ Commitments to environmental protection.
– 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.
– The time for environmental registration is as follows:
+ 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;
+ 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;
+ 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.
– Communal People’s Committees shall:
+ receive environmental registration forms;
+ carry out inspections and impose penalties for violations against the law on environmental protection committed by entities carrying out environmental registration;
+ provide guidance and handle propositions about environmental protection regarding the contents registered by the entities carrying out environmental registration;
+ update data on environmental protection to the national environmental information system and database.
– The Government shall elaborate Points b and c Clause 2 of this Article.
– The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment shall promulgate environmental registration forms and provide guidelines for receipt of environmental registration forms.
Please see more:
- Instructions for exclusive registration of company logos in Vietnam
- Service of changing the legal representative of Vietnamese enterprises
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Frequently asked questions
Every investment project/business owner issued with the environmental license has the right to perform the licensed tasks specified in the environmental license;
The investment project/business owner shall pay fees for issuance, re-issuance and adjustment of the environmental license.
Conclusion: So the above is Renewal, adjustment of environmental license in Vietnam. Hopefully with this article can help you in life, please always follow and read our good articles on the website: lsxlawfirm.com
