Determine the type of project group I, II and III for the enterprise

Date public: 07-06-2024||View: 21266
Obtaining an Environmental Permit is mandatory for Group I, Group II, and Group III investment projects. How can you accurately determine which group your project belongs to? Let's explore this with Đại Nam Environmental Solutions in the following article!

1. Why is an Environmental Permit Required?

An environmental permit is a document issued by the competent state management authority to organizations or individuals with production, business, or service activities that are allowed to discharge waste into the environment, manage waste, or import scrap from abroad for production purposes, along with requirements and conditions for environmental protection as regulated by law.
This document can be seen as confirmation that the organization or individual has implemented environmental protection measures and reflects the social responsibility of the business.

2. Entities Required to Obtain an Environmental Permit

According to the Environmental Protection Law No. 72/2020/QH14, Section 4: Environmental Permits, Article 39: Entities required to have an environmental permit, it is specified:
  1. Investment projects of Group I, Group II, and Group III that generate wastewater, dust, exhaust gases that need to be treated or hazardous waste that must be managed according to waste management regulations when officially operational.

  2. Investment projects, facilities, concentrated production, business, service areas, industrial clusters operating before the Environmental Protection Law No. 72/2020/QH14 takes effect that have environmental criteria similar to those specified in item 1 of this Article.

  3. Entities specified in item 1 of this Article in cases of emergency public investment projects according to the public investment law are exempt from environmental permits.”

3. Basis for Determining Project Groups I, II, and III

Based on the Environmental Protection Law No. 72/2020/QH14, Article 28, Appendices of Decree 08/2022/ND-CP, and the Public Investment Law No. 39/2019/QH14, projects are classified into three groups I, II, and III. According to:
* Article 28 of the Environmental Protection Law No. 72/2020/QH14, Paragraphs 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 specify:
“...
2. Based on environmental criteria stipulated in Paragraph 1 of this Article, investment projects are classified into Groups I, II, III, and IV.
3. Group I investment projects are those with a high risk of adverse environmental impact, including:
a) Projects involving large-scale or medium-scale production, business, or service activities with a risk of environmental pollution; projects that handle hazardous waste; projects importing scrap from abroad for production;
b) Projects involving medium-scale or small-scale production, business, or service activities with sensitive environmental factors;
c) Projects using land, land with water bodies, or marine areas on a large scale or medium scale with sensitive environmental factors;
d) Projects exploiting minerals or water resources on a large scale or medium scale with sensitive environmental factors;
e) Projects requiring land use change on a medium scale or larger with sensitive environmental factors;
f) Projects requiring large-scale resettlement.
4. Group II investment projects are those with a risk of adverse environmental impact, excluding those specified in Paragraph 3 of this Article, including:
a) Projects involving medium-scale production, business, or service activities with a risk of environmental pollution;
b) Projects involving small-scale production, business, or service activities with sensitive environmental factors; projects not falling into large or medium-scale categories but with sensitive environmental factors;
c) Projects using land, land with water bodies, or marine areas on a medium scale or small scale with sensitive environmental factors;
d) Projects exploiting minerals or water resources on a medium scale or small scale with sensitive environmental factors;
e) Projects requiring land use change on a small scale with sensitive environmental factors;
f) Projects requiring medium-scale resettlement.
5. Group III investment projects are those with minimal risk of adverse environmental impact, excluding those specified in Paragraphs 3 and 4 of this Article, including:
a) Projects involving small-scale production, business, or service activities with a risk of environmental pollution;
b) Projects not involving production, business, or service activities with a risk of environmental pollution but generating wastewater, dust, exhaust gases that must be treated or hazardous waste that must be managed according to waste management regulations.
6. Group IV investment projects are those with no risk of adverse environmental impact, including projects not falling under the provisions of Paragraphs 3, 4, and 5 of this Article.
...” Appendix of Decree 08/2022/ND-CP, in Appendices II, III, IV, V

4. How to Determine Project Groups I, II, and III

Accurately determining the group of a project will help in preparing environmental permit documents quickly and accurately. Based on the Environmental Protection Law No. 72/2020/QH14, Article 28, the Appendices of Decree 08/2022/ND-CP, and the Public Investment Law No. 39/2019/QH14 as listed above, the classification can be illustrated through examples:
Example 1: Project X with an investment capital of 2,400 billion VND is identified as Group A project under the Public Investment Law No. 39/2019/QH14, Article 8, as it involves “the production of hazardous substances and explosives” which is classified as Group I. According to the Appendix of Decree 08/2022/ND-CP, in Appendix III, “Group A projects with construction components are classified according to the legal criteria for public investment, construction, and are categorized as production, business, or service activities with a risk of environmental pollution.” Therefore, Project X falls under Group I.
Example 2: Project Y, based on Appendix of Decree 08/2022/ND-CP, Column 5 of Appendix II, is “Metal plating with chemical cleaning processes” classified as Group II. With a production output of less than 1,000 tons/year. In Appendix IV, this project is classified as “a production, business, or service activity with a risk of environmental pollution with small capacity as stipulated in Column 5 of Appendix II of this Decree.” Thus, Project Y is categorized as Group II.
Based on the above listings, Đại Nam Environmental Solutions hopes to assist businesses in understanding how to determine the correct group for their projects for easier and more accurate preparation of environmental permits.
For further guidance on obtaining environmental permits for businesses,** Đại Nam Environmental Solutions, with years of experience in environmental documentation, is one of the leading companies providing optimal solutions for businesses in Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces. Đại Nam Environmental Solutions has completed numerous documents submitted to authorities and received approvals for environmental permits within the set deadlines. Contact us for the most dedicated and professional environmental permit consulting services.

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