Vietnam: The environmental license for group I investment projects shall be valid for 07 years

Specifically, according to the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 of Vietnam, obliged applicants for environmental license include 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; investment projects, dedicated areas for production, business operation and service provision and industrial clusters operating before January 01, 2022 and applying environmental criteria; if the projects are urgent public investment projects as prescribed by the Law on Public Investment, they are exempt from the environmental license. 

Thus, 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). The environmental license shall be valid for:

- 07 years, regarding group I investment projects;

- 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;

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

- 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”).

View more details at the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 of Vietnam, effective from January 01, 2022.

Ty Na

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