Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation, Ly Thi Lan: Shortcomings in regulations regarding environmental permits must be addressed promptly.

Continuing the discussion in the assembly hall on the monitoring report and draft Resolution of the National Assembly on the results of the thematic monitoring of "the implementation of policies and laws on environmental protection since the Law of 2020 came into effect," Representative Ly Thi Lan, Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation, participated in the discussion on the limitations and shortcomings in the regulations on granting environmental permits, and proposed some solutions to address these shortcomings.

Ly Thi Lan, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation, delivered a speech during the discussion.

According to delegates, the process of issuing environmental permits is a stage with many obstacles in the implementation of sub-legal documents, directly affecting the effectiveness of state management. Specifically, legal regulations are overlapping, inconsistent, and difficult to apply. The 2020 Environmental Protection Law has made a major reform by integrating many types of environmental permits into a single unified permit. However, practical implementation shows that some regulations in Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP and Decree No. 05/2025/ND-CP (amended and supplemented) still fail to resolve the difficulties in application procedures, documentation, and licensing authority.

Regarding the "Environmental Permit Proposal Report" form, it overlaps with the environmental impact assessment report, increasing the procedural burden for businesses. As for the licensing time, the law stipulates 30-45 days from the date of receipt of a complete and valid application, but in reality, it often takes longer. The main reasons are the complexity of the application, the requirement for extensive technical information, and the attachment of environmental protection project reports; furthermore, according to Decree 05/2025/ND-CP, three different report forms still exist for each type of project, causing businesses to spend a lot of time completing their applications.

For renovation, expansion, or existing facility projects, cross-referencing original documents is difficult, leading to delays in the assessment process. Compliance costs may remain high because most facilities have to hire consultants to prepare documentation, conduct three rounds of environmental monitoring, and invest in additional wastewater treatment facilities before being granted a permit. Furthermore, there is a lack of uniformity among localities in determining which facilities require an environmental permit.

According to Article 39 of the 2020 Environmental Protection Law, only facilities generating waste exceeding the permitted limits are required to obtain permits; however, the guidelines in the decrees are still general and do not clearly define the criteria for project scale, leading to a situation where some places require permits while others do not, causing confusion in implementation. In addition, the assessment process still has many intermediate steps, requiring repeated revisions and additions. Many facilities already have environmental impact reports or periodic monitoring results, but when applying for permits, they still have to reassess their waste sources and prepare new documents, causing duplication, increased costs, and delays in the permitting process.

Regarding the capacity for implementation and licensing assessment at the local level, many localities lack specialized personnel and technical assessment experts; monitoring facilities are limited. Businesses' applications require multiple revisions, prolonging the process. The reality necessitates allowing localities to hire independent experts, consulting organizations, or inter-regional assessment councils, thus requiring a clear financial mechanism; simultaneously, in-depth training and professional development for provincial and commune-level environmental officials is needed to meet professional requirements.

Regarding the decentralization and delegation of licensing authority: For Group B and C projects, projects within industrial zones and clusters, and medium-scale production, processing, and livestock facilities, delegating the authority to the Provincial People's Committee or the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee for approval is unreasonable. The Department of Agriculture and Environment – ​​the specialized agency directly responsible for appraisal – has sufficient capacity and is accountable for the content.

The current decentralization system prolongs the licensing process and increases administrative layers, while projects in this locality account for a large proportion and are highly repetitive. Therefore, strong decentralization to specialized provincial agencies is needed to shorten the time, increase proactiveness, and enhance local management responsibility.

Regarding administrative procedures and digital transformation, progress remains slow. According to delegates, the majority of environmental permit applications are still processed manually, requiring businesses to submit paper copies and make multiple trips. The licensing data system is not yet connected to the Vietnam Environmental Information System (VEMIS) and automated monitoring, limiting the effectiveness of monitoring and warning of violations. Digital transformation needs to be accelerated throughout the entire licensing, monitoring, and post-inspection process to create a modern, transparent, and business-friendly management platform.

Delegates proposed that the Government should review, amend, and improve the legal framework for granting environmental permits, ensuring consistency between the 2020 Environmental Protection Law and government decrees. They also suggested shifting from pre-approval to post-approval, based on voluntary registration and commitment to meeting environmental discharge standards by project investors, in order to expedite the issuance of permits for investment projects and strengthen inspection and supervision of compliance by the licensing authorities.

Furthermore, review and identify the projects that truly need to be controlled using the Environmental Permit tool. Environmental permits should only be granted to investment projects included in the list of projects with a high risk of environmental pollution from large-scale or medium-scale wastewater discharge as stipulated by the Government. Develop an automated environmental permit assessment tool based on electronic data, and decentralize the authority to issue permits to specialized agencies under the Provincial People's Committee for Group B and C projects and medium-scale production facilities to expedite the process. Promote digital transformation and build a national electronic database on environmental permits, connecting with the automated monitoring system to monitor and provide early warnings of violations.

The delegates emphasized that promptly resolving these obstacles will help the Environmental Protection Law truly come into effect, create a favorable investment environment, and ensure economic development is linked to environmental protection, aiming for green and sustainable growth.

PV

Source: https://baotuyenquang.com.vn/thoi-su-chinh-polit/tin-tuc/202510/truong-doan-dbqh-tinh-ly-thi-lan-phai-som-thao-go-bat-cap-trong-quy-dinh-ve-cap-giay-phep-moi-truong-d8e0011/