An environmental impact assessment must be performed prior to the operation
According to the provisions of Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP detailing a number of articles of the Law on Environmental Protection, during the preparation and implementation of an investment project before operation, the project owner The investor is responsible for carrying out the environmental impact assessment when there is one or more changes compared to the decision approving the appraisal results of the previous environmental impact assessment report.
These changes include: Increasing the scale and capacity of the project to the point where it is necessary to carry out the procedures for approving the adjustment of investment policies or the procedures for adjusting the investment registration certificate in accordance with the law on investment. private; Changing the production technology of the project generates waste that exceeds the waste treatment capacity of environmental protection works compared to the plan in the decision approving the appraisal results of the environmental impact assessment report. school; Changing the project’s waste treatment technology that is likely to have adverse effects on the environment compared to the plan in the decision approving the appraisal results of the environmental impact assessment report;
Or change the location of the project implementation, except for the case where the investment project is located in the concentrated production, business, and service zones or industrial clusters where the project’s location is changed per the zoning planning. The capacity of concentrated production, business and service zones, and industrial clusters approved by competent authorities; Changing the location of direct discharge of treated wastewater into water sources has higher requirements on discharge standards or changing receiving sources, leading to increased pollution, landslides, and subsidence.
So, is the process of preparing and implementing investment projects before the operation is official or a trial operation? In this regard, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said that the above provisions are applied to the project during the preparation and implementation before the official operation, not the trial operation. Pursuant to Clause 26, Article 3 of the Law on Environmental Protection in 2020, the trial operation of a waste treatment facility is an operation to test and evaluate the effectiveness and conformity with environmental protection requirements for a waste treatment facility. with waste treatment works of investment project owners, establishments, concentrated production, business and service zones, and industrial clusters.