On January 6, 2025, the Government issued Decree No. 05/2025/ND-CP, amending and supplementing several articles of Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP regarding the consultation process, environmental license issuance, and wastewater management requirements.
Regarding the consultation process, under Clause 8, Article 1 of Decree No. 05/2025/ND-CP (amending Article 26 of Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP), a written consultation method has been added for residential communities and individuals directly impacted by the investment project has been added. The project owner may collect written opinions if these individuals do not attend the consultation meeting, provided that at least two-thirds of the affected individuals participate in giving feedback.
Regarding the issuance of environmental license, Clause 11, Article 1 of the Decree provides detailed guidance on the submission process and appraisal fees, allowing for the integration of licenses for projects with the same investor, location, and common treatment systems. Project owners are required to complete their application within 12 months from the receipt date of a request for additional documents; otherwise, the application procedure for the issuance of license shall be restarted from the beginning.
Pursuant to Clause 11, Article 1 of the Decree, the processing time for the environmental license application has been extended as follows: 20 days for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, 15 days for provincial authorities, and 10 days for district-level authorities. In addition, projects that are not required to conduct trial operation of waste treatment facilities can submit applications online, with similar processing time.
In the field of wastewater management, according to Clause 24, Article 1 of Decree No. 05/2025/ND-CP, further requirements for wastewater management as stipulated in Article 57 of Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP have been supplemented. Specifically, facilities with a high risk pollution shall install independent electricity meters, flow meters, and maintain an operation log in Vietnamese for at least 2 years. Facilities not included in this mentioned list are also encouraged to apply similar control measures.
