On May 13, 2019, the Government issued Decree No.40/2019/NĐ-CP amending and supplementing several articles of regulations of Vietnam law in field of environment (“Decree 40”). The Decree amends and supplements following Decree:

  • Decree No.18/2015/ND-CP on executing, verifying strategic environment assessment report, environment impact assessment report and environment protection plan.
  • Decree No. 19/2015/ND-CP on executing, verifying environment recovery methods in field of mineral exploitation, liability for environment protection of production, business and service facilities.
  • Decree No. 38/2015/ND-CP on managing waste and scrap.
  • Decree No. 127/2014/ND-CP on conditions of environment surveying service operation

Clarifying, supplementing mandatory executors of strategic environment assessment in regulation on list of Executors of strategic environment assessment report, including:

1 Strategy

1.1 Strategy for exploitation and utilization of national nature sources

1.2 Strategy for development of sectors and fields at level scale, region scale causing great impact on environment, including: electricity (hydro electrics, thermoelectrics, atom energy and nuclear electrics); petrol exploitation, oil filtration; paper, chemistry, fertilizer, plant protection substance industries; rubber, textile and garment; cement, steel, mineral survey, exploitation and production industries.

2 Planning
2.1 National overall planning; national sea space planning; national land use planning.
2.2 National sector planning, urban planning, urban planning that cause great impact on environment, including:
2.2.1 Planning for road system
2.2.2 Planning for railway system
2.2.3 Overall planning for harbor development;
2.2.4 Overall planning for development of airway system and airport
2.2.5 Planning for inland waterway infrastructure
2.2.6 Overall planning for energy
22.7 Planning for development of electricity
2.2.8 Planning for systems of urban and rural area
2.2.9 Overall planning for sustainable exploitation and utilization of coastal area
2.2.10 Planning for water sources
2.2.11 Planning for survey, exploitation, process and use of radioactive ore.
2.2.12 Planning for survey, exploitation, process and use of minerals
2.2.13 Planning for survey, exploitation, process and use of minerals to make construction material.
2.3 Technical and professional planning that causes great impact on environment, including:
2.3.1 Comprehensive planning for trans-province basin and water source.
2.3.2 Planning on protection, exploitation and utilization of trans-nations water sources.
2.3.3 Irrigation planning
2.3.4 Dyke planning
2.3.5 Planning for road traffic infrastructure
2.3.6 Detailed planning for group of harbor, port, dock, floating wharf, water area.
2.3.7 Planning and developling system of dry ports
2.3.8 Planning for railway route and station
2.3.9 General planning for urban of type I and above
2.4 Planning for regions
2.5 Planning for provinces
2.6 Planning for administration unit- special economic regions

3 Adjustment for strategy, planning of objects in Section 1 and 2 of this Appendix who change target of the strategy and planning

Supplementing List of Industrial production types with risk of environment pollution. List of industrial production types with risk of environment pollution is divided into 03 groups as follows:

Group I
1. Exploitation, enrichment of toxic mineral ore;
2. Metallurgy; processing toxic mineral; demolishing ship;
3. Production of paper, paper powder, fibre (MDF, HDF);
4. Production of chemical, chemical fertilizer (excluding mixed type); chemical plant production substances;
5. Dying (cloth, fibre), laundry;
6. Leather processing;
7. Oil filtration;
8. Coal thermoelectrics, production of coal, coal gasification and nuclear electrics;

Group II
9. Treating, recycling waste, using imported scrap to make material for production;
10. Plating, cleaning metal surface with chemical;
11. Battery production;
12. Clinker production;

Group III
13. Production of rubber latex;
14. Production of tapioca starch; seasoning powder; beer, alcohol, industrial alcohol;
15. Processing sugar cane;
16. Processing seafood, slaughtering cattle and poultry;
17. Production of electric spare components and parts.

Supplementation, replacement of List of projects must be made with environment impact assessment report or environment protection plan registration.

List of projects with mandatory requirement to make environment impact report or projects having production, business and service method in type of compulsory registration on environment protection contains 107 projects. The list is divided into special groups basing on scale and environment policy as projects under decision authorization power of National Assembly, Prime Minister or construction investment projects using wood land. 18 groups of projects are named below:
1. Group of construction projects;
2. Group of construction material production projects
3. Group of transportation projects
4. Group of energy, radioactive and electronic projects
5. Group of irrigation, forest exploitation and farming projects.
6. Group of mineral exploitation and processing; water source exploitation projects
7. Group of oil and gas projects
8. Group of waste treatment and recycling projects
9. Group of machinery and metallurgy projects
10. Group of wood, glassware and pottery production projects
11. Group of food production and processing projects
12. Group of agriculture product processing projects
13.Group of livestock breeding and feeding production projects
14. Group of fertilizer, plant protection chemical production projects
15. Group of chemical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, plastic projects
16.Group of paper and stationery production projects.
17. Group of coloring agent, garment and textile projects
18. Other project groups.

Supplementing details to major content of the environment impact assessment report

Substantial content of environment impact report is regulated at Article 22 of Law on Environment Protection. Details are as follows:

For method of waste treatment: It is necessary to access solution and select technical program to treat waste satisfying requirement on environment protection. For construction investment project with work to treat waste for environment appraisal, it must cover interpretation and basic design plan (for multi-phase project) or construction drawing design plan (for one-phase design project) of the work, item of waste treatment in accordance with law on construction; plans for preventing and coping with environment incidents during construction, pilot operation and actual operation;

Program of environment management and supervision is performed during project construction; estimation of environmental management and monitoring program during the trial operation and when the project comes into operation;

Organization of environment protection method performance:

– Collecting, managing and treating waste emitted from the project construction (solid waste, emission air, toxic waste, household trash and waste water during, liquid waste like waste chemical, pipeline cleaning chemicals …) are realized in accordance with laws on environment protection;
– Plan for construction and installation of environment protection work, waste treatment equipment, automatic and constant waste water and gas survey device for cases with regulated installation; plan for organization of other environment protection performance methods serving operation of the project;

For project to expand scale, capacity or change technique of working facility, industrial zone, environment impact assessment report must include assessment on operation and performance of environment protection of the facility, industrial zone; comprehensive assessment on environment impact of the current facility, industrial zone and project of expanding scale, improving capacity or changing technique of new project;

For project of industrial zone construction, investment and projects of industrial production t ype with high risk of environment pollution, environment impact assessment report must cover plans for preventing and coping with environment incidents to emission gas; plans for preventing and coping environment incidents to emission water in accordance with Decree No. 38/2015/ND-CP;

For project of mineral exploitation, environment impact assessment report must cover plans for environment renovation, restore regulated at Article 6 of Decree No.19/2015/ND-CP. For project of exploiting other mineral on river, stream, channel, reservoir and river gate, coastal, assessment on impact of the project on river bed, bank and yard must be included in compliance with legal regulation on water source.

Time for issuing license for harzadous waste treatment is adjusted from 03 years to 05 years since issue date.

License for harzadous waste treatment to replace certificate of environment protection work completion; in case harzadous waste treatment facility uses imported scrap to make material for production, then document for issuing certificate of satisfaction for environment protection in importing scrap to make production material can be made with document for issuing license for environment protection upon requirement of the facility owner. Procedure of inspection, certification of the environment protection work completion and the one for certification of satisfaction for environment protection in importing scrap to make production material shall be made in compliance with procedure of inspection and issuing license for harzadous waste treatment.

During consideration for certificating harzadous waste treatment, issuing agency organizes site inspection team at the harzadous treatment facility to make base for pilot operation approval. Approval of pilot operation is served as foundation for organization and individual to sign contract of collecting, transporting and treating harzadous waste serving pilot operation with total volume of the collected, transported and treated must not excess capacity of the project. The pilot operation is performed in accordance with Article 16b Decree 18/2015/ND-CP.

Time period for inspection, approval and pilot operation of the project of harzadous waste treatment is 10 working days since reception of duly document. Examination and certification for harzadous waste treatment are realized within 25 working days since reception of duly document. The time excludes time for organization or individual to complete document upon requirement of issuing agency.

Regulation on importing scrap to make production material

Condition on imported scrap

In compliance with new regulation, scrap imported to make production material must satisfy regulation at Clause 1, Article 76 of Environment Protection Law.

Organization, individual importing scrap can fulfill procedures at either importing border gate management custom agency or at custom agency where the plant or facility using imported scrap (production facility) is located; can select place of inspection on the imported scrap quality at either importing border gate or at custom agency where the plant or facility using imported scrap is located or at site of the production facility using imported scrap.

Imported scrap shall be discharged from ship only upon satisfying with following request:
1- Organizations, individuals receiving goods on E-manifest must obtain valid Certificate of Satisfaction for environment in field of importing scrap to make production material;
2- Organizations, individuals receiving goods on E-Manifest must obtain Certificate of Deposit to imported scrap for the scrap declared on E-Manifest as regulated at point b clause 3 Article 57 of Decree 40/2019/ND-CP.

Custom agencies are liable for inspecting the aforesaid conditions before allowing the discharge.

Conditions for import of organizations and individuals

Decree 40/2019/ND-CP indicates that organizations, individuals which have facilities using imported scrap must meet following requirements before importing scrap to make production material:
1- Satisfying requirements on liability for environment protection regulated at Clause 2 and Clause 3 Article 76 of Environment protection law;
2- Accomplishing report on environment impact approved by Ministry of Natural Sources and Environment which contains declaration of using imported scrap to make production material; being granted with certificate of environment protection work completion or toxic waste license which contains declaration of using scrap to make production material for projects having come into operation.
Newly-built projects should meet requirement regulated at Article 16b and Article 17 of Decree No. 18/2015/ND-CP
3- Obtaining Certificate of Qualification on environment protection in field of importing scrap to make production material in compliance with applicable law.

Above-mentioned is several notes on environment legal regulation in compliance with Decree 40, coming into effect from July 01, 2019. Decree 40 includes 07 Articles, 81 pages of content, 121 pages of Appendix and Form. Click here to down load the whole decree (Vietnamese version)./.