INCREASING THE CAPACITY OF POULTRY FARMING PROJECTS: WHICH AUTHORITY SHOULD ISSUE THE ENVIRONMENTAL PERMITS?

Reader’s question:
My company is running a poultry farming project with a scale of approximately 2,000 animals. The project does not involve environmentally sensitive factors but previously had its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Currently, we intend to increase the project’s capacity by over 30%, bringing the total to more than 3,000 poultry units. The project is not located across two or more provinces, is not in a maritime area with undetermined administrative responsibility by any provincial People’s Committee, and does not discharge wastewater into interprovincial surface water sources.

I would like to ask: In this case, which authority is competent to issue the Environmental Permit (EP) for my company? I noticed that Decree 05/2025/ND-CP, which amends and supplements Decree 08/2022/ND-CP detailing certain provisions of the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection, only refers to livestock farming and does not mention poultry farming. Therefore, we are uncertain about the licensing authority. We look forward to receiving legal advice.

ATA's Response:

Thank you for trusting and sending your question to ATA Legal Services ("ATA"). Regarding your case, we would like to respond as follows:

1. Analysis of the legal status of the Project:

According to the information you provided, your company is implementing a poultry farming project with a scale of approximately 2,000 animals. The project does not involve environmentally sensitive factors, but its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report has been approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment ("MONRE"). At the same time, the project does not:

(i) span across two or more provincial-level administrative units;

(ii) lie within a maritime area where the administrative responsibility of the provincial People's Committee has not been determined;

(iii) discharge wastewater into interprovincial surface water sources that have been announced by MONRE in accordance with regulations on water resources.

Accordingly, your project is considered a medium-scale, medium-capacity project. Moreover, the project does not include any environmentally sensitive factors as defined in Appendix II and Clause 4, Article 25 of Decree No. 05/2025/ND-CP, but the EIA report has been approved by MONRE. Therefore, based on Clause 1, Article 30, Clause 4, Article 28 of the Law on Environmental Protection, and Appendix IV of Decree No. 05/2025/ND-CP, the project is classified as a Group II project and may fall under one of the following categories:

a. A project that uses land, water surface areas, or marine areas with medium scale (with a total project area from 50 ha to under 100 ha);

b. A project that requires resettlement of a medium scale (resettlement of 1,000 to under 10,000 people in mountainous areas; 2,000 to under 20,000 people in other regions).

Regarding your question about which authority is competent to issue the Environmental Permit, we understand that at this point, the project may still be in the construction phase and has not yet conducted trial operation of the waste treatment facility [1].

2. The increase in capacity has caused your Company’s Project to fall under Group I projects with a high risk of adverse environmental impact, specifically:

According to the information you provided, your company plans to increase the project's capacity by over 30%, with a total of more than 3,000 poultry units.

According to Decree No. 05/2025/ND-CP, the business activity type "livestock farming" is classified under code 014 of the Vietnam Standard Industrial Classification system (issued together with Decision No. 27/2018/QD-TTg). This industry code includes both livestock and poultry farming.

In comparison with Appendix II and Appendix III of this Decree, your company’s project—with a scale of over 3,000 poultry units—is categorized as a large-scale, high-capacity livestock farming project. Therefore, it falls under the Group I investment projects that pose a high risk of adverse environmental impact (as prescribed in Point a, Clause 3, Article 28 of the Law on Environmental Protection). Specifically:

3. Procedures your company needs to implement before officially operating the project

3.1. Environmental Impact Assessment Procedure:

Clause 4, Article 37 of the Law on Environmental Protection provides:
"4. During the preparation and implementation of the investment project before operation, if there are any changes compared to the approved environmental impact assessment report, the project owner is responsible for the following:"

a) "Conducting an environmental impact assessment for the investment project if there is any change in scale, capacity, production technology, or any other change that increases adverse environmental impacts;"

Clause 2, Article 27 of Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP amended and supplemented in Clause 9, Article 1 of Decree No. 05/2025/ND-CP stipulates:
"2. Except for the cases specified in Clause 10 of this Article, during the preparation and implementation of the investment project before operation, the project owner must conduct an environmental impact assessment if there are any changes compared to the approved environmental impact assessment report as prescribed in Point a, Clause 4, Article 37 of the Law on Environmental Protection, and it is specifically regulated as follows:"

d) "Increasing the scale or capacity as prescribed in Clause 3 of this Article leads to a change in the classification of the investment project according to environmental criteria (except for cases where the investment project changes the authority to decide or approve investment policies by the National Assembly or the Prime Minister due to adding activities such as passenger transportation by air, casino operations, telecommunications services with network infrastructure, forest planting, publishing, press according to investment law)."

Therefore, your company will need to repeat this procedure for the project after increasing its capacity.

3.2. Implementing the Environmental Permit Application Procedure:

According to Article 39 of the Law on Environmental Protection, your company’s project, being a Group I investment project, generates wastewater, dust, and exhaust gases that must be treated, or produces hazardous waste that must be managed according to waste management regulations when it begins official operation. Therefore, it is required to apply for an environmental permit.

The information in the environmental permit application for the project will be determined based on the new information regarding the project’s capacity and corresponding legal and technical parameters after the Environmental Impact Assessment report is officially appraised and approved.

3.3. Conducting a Trial Operation of the Waste Treatment Facility after Receiving the Environmental Permit:

Since this is an investment project with a high risk of environmental pollution and a large capacity, your company’s project will need a trial operation period for the waste treatment facility, ranging from 3 to 6 months from the time the trial operation begins.

The trial operation process is implemented according to Article 31 of Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP, as amended by Clause 13, Article 1 of Decree No. 05/2025/ND-CP, which takes effect on January 6, 2025.

4. Competence for Appraising the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Issuing the Environmental Permit for the Project:

According to Clause 11, Article 27 of Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP, amended by Clause 9, Article 1 of Decree No. 05/2025/ND-CP, which comes into effect on January 6, 2025:

"11. The authority to appraise the environmental impact assessment report and issue the environmental permit for the cases specified in Clauses 2 and 10 of this Article shall be determined according to the investment project with adjustments or changes."

According to Article 41 of the Law on Environmental Protection, the authority to issue the environmental permit for Group I projects will belong to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, except for projects involving state secrets related to national defense and security. However, on January 6, 2025, the Government issued Decree No. 05/2025/ND-CP, which added provisions delegating the provincial People's Committees to appraise the environmental impact assessment report and issue environmental permits that previously fell under the authority of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

As your poultry farming project does not fall into the category of projects located in two or more administrative units at the provincial level, on marine areas with undefined administrative management responsibilities by the provincial People's Committee, or involving wastewater discharges into inter-provincial surface water sources, it will fall under the authority of the provincial People's Committee for both the EIA appraisal and environmental permit issuance [2].

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[1] According to Point a, Clause 2, Article 42 of the Law on Environmental Protection:
"Investment projects subject to environmental impact assessment must obtain an environmental permit before the trial operation of the wastewater treatment facilities, except in the cases specified in Point c of this Clause."

[2] Article 26a. Delegating the Provincial People's Committees to Appraise the Environmental Impact Assessment and Issue the Environmental Permit:

1. The Provincial People's Committees are delegated the authority to appraise the environmental impact assessment report and issue the environmental permit (if applicable) for investment projects that fall under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment's jurisdiction for appraising the environmental impact assessment report (except for projects in the following cases: located in two or more administrative units at the provincial level; located in marine areas with undefined administrative management responsibilities by the provincial People's Committee; discharging wastewater into inter-provincial surface water sources as published by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment according to the law on water resources), as follows:

b) Livestock farming project;