Reader’s Question:
My company operates in the production of medical supplies and has been granted an environmental permit in accordance with the Environmental Protection Law 2020, issued by the provincial People's Committee. Currently, the company plans to add a new product code, increase production capacity by 21% compared to the previous level, and the project falls under environmental criteria and classification group B. The project does not involve environmentally sensitive factors according to Decree 05/2025/ND-CP, which amends and supplements some articles of Decree 08/2022/ND-CP detailing several provisions of the Environmental Protection Law. The project is located within a wastewater connection cluster and plans to increase the capacity of the exhaust gas treatment system. The project has not yet undergone trial operation. Therefore, I would like a lawyer to advise me on the legal procedures required and the competent state agency to handle this matter in accordance with the current legal regulations.
ATA’s answer:
Hello, thank you for choosing us. ATA Global Law Firm Co., Ltd. ("ATA") is a leading legal consulting firm with highly experienced, professional, and dedicated lawyers and legal experts who are always ready to assist organizations and individuals in resolving legal issues during production and business activities.
Regarding your situation and question, the lawyers and legal experts of ATA would like to provide the following answers:
1. Analysis of the Project's legal status:
According to the information you provided, your company has been granted an Environmental Permit (EP) by the provincial People's Committee under the Environmental Protection Law 2020. The project belongs to Group II (according to the classification of investment projects in the Environmental Protection Law 2020 and Decree 08/2022/ND-CP, since you mentioned "Group B" – equivalent to Group II, which poses a risk of negative environmental impact but does not belong to Group I with high risk) and does not involve environmentally sensitive factors as specified in Decree 05/2025/ND-CP. The project is located within a wastewater connection cluster, meaning wastewater is connected to the central treatment system of the industrial cluster.
Your company plans to add a new product code, increase production capacity by 21% compared to the previous level, and plans to upgrade the exhaust gas treatment system capacity. The project has not undergone trial operation, indicating that this plan is made prior to the trial operation of the new waste treatment facilities. These project adjustments can be considered as not significantly increasing the negative environmental impact (specifically, the project remains connected to the centralized wastewater treatment system of the industrial park, and the company proactively increases the exhaust gas treatment capacity, demonstrating the intention to control emissions and minimize environmental impact).
2. The project requires adjustment of the environmental permit
According to Decree 05/2025/ND-CP, if a project increases production capacity by 30% or more or changes in a way that significantly increases negative environmental impacts (e.g., increasing wastewater or exhaust gas flow rates beyond technical standards or generating new pollution parameters), it is required to reissue the environmental permit. In this case, your company’s project only plans to increase capacity by 21%, and as analyzed above, the capacity increase does not significantly increase negative environmental impacts. Therefore, your company does not need to reapply for the environmental permit.
Instead, due to the change in environmental licensing content (specifically, the increase in production capacity will change the maximum wastewater and exhaust gas discharge flow rates), according to Clause 2, Article 30 of Decree 08/2022/ND-CP as amended by Decree 05/2025/ND-CP, your company’s project falls under the category requiring adjustment of the environmental permit.
The competent authority to adjust the environmental permit in this case is the provincial People's Committee – the agency that issued the environmental permit for your company.
The adjustment of the environmental permit must be carried out within 25 days from the date the licensing authority receives the written request for permit adjustment from the project owner, and it can be processed electronically through the full online public service system of the licensing authority or the authorized licensing agency as per regulations.
If the full online public service system has not been implemented at the licensing authority or the authorized licensing agency, the application for permit adjustment can be submitted directly or by mail.
3. The Project Requires Trial Operation of the waste treatment facility
If the upgrade of the exhaust gas treatment system does not involve the construction of new facilities or changes in exhaust gas treatment technology, then after completing the environmental permit adjustment, the company is responsible for trial operation of the waste treatment facility concurrently with the trial operation of the entire project or for the independent waste treatment facility of the project (including the upgraded exhaust gas treatment system) after completing the following:
a) Constructing waste treatment facilities as specified in the environmental permit, preparing a completion dossier for the waste treatment facility in accordance with construction law, and establishing an operation process to meet environmental protection requirements.
b) Installing automatic, continuous monitoring equipment for wastewater, dust, and exhaust gas (if required) to monitor wastewater and exhaust gas quality as prescribed in the Decree.
The trial operation period is specified in the environmental permit and must not exceed 6 months from the start date.
The company must notify the provincial People's Committee and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of the trial operation plan at least 10 days before the start date and report the trial operation results of the waste treatment facilities to the provincial People's Committee at least 20 days before the end of the trial operation.
Above is the preliminary answer and advice from Lawyer Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Anh – Managing Lawyer of ATA Global Law Firm Co., Ltd. – ATA Legal Services regarding the situation based on the information provided by the reader. We hope this article is useful for your company's activities!
You can directly contact ATA Global Law Firm Co., Ltd. – ATA Legal Services for more detailed advice on environmental legal issues and/or assistance in implementing procedures related to the environmental field.
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