Since then, the scale of the facility's operations has not changed. It generates domestic wastewater from 60 workers, has no emissions, and generates hazardous waste of less than 100 kg per month and 1,200 kg per year. Solid domestic waste is less than 300 kg per day.

Since the facility is located outside an industrial zone, wastewater is treated in a self-contained tank and discharged into an internal drainage canal. The water source is not used for domestic water supply purposes.

Mrs. Thuy inquires about the environmental procedures her facility needs to follow according to the Environmental Protection Law of 2020.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment responds to this issue as follows:

Article 39 of the Environmental Protection Law specifies the entities that require an environmental permit, including:

"1. Investment projects of Group I, Group II, and Group III that discharge wastewater, dust, emissions into the environment must be treated or manage hazardous waste in accordance with waste management regulations when officially put into operation.

2. Investment projects, facilities, production areas, businesses, concentrated service areas, and industrial clusters that were in operation before the effective date of this Law and meet the environmental criteria as prescribed for the entities defined in Clause 1 of this Article.

3. Entities specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall be exempt from an environmental permit in the case of urgent public investment projects as stipulated by the laws on public investment."

Clause 1 of Article 3 of Decree No. 45/2022/NĐ-CP on administrative sanctions in the field of environmental protection states:

"1. Discharging wastewater into the environment is the act of individuals or organizations discharging various types of wastewater into the environment, including soil, underground water, surface water, and sea water inside and outside facilities, production areas, businesses, and concentrated service areas."

The facility that discharges wastewater into an internal drainage canal through a self-contained tank falls under the category of "discharging wastewater into the environment that must be treated," so it falls within the category that requires an environmental permit.

Please note that discharging domestic wastewater into the environment must meet the standards stipulated in QCVN 14:2008/BTNMT - National technical regulation on domestic wastewater.

According to Chinhphu.vn (Government News).