Circular 02/2022/TT-BTNMT is a mandatory legal basis for businesses, production facilities, industrial parks, investment projects, etc., in the process of preparing environmental dossiers, operating waste treatment systems, monitoring, reporting, and fulfilling related obligations.

1. The Circular was issued with the following objectives:

- To unify the regulations for implementing the 2020 Environmental Protection Law: The Law has set out many new principles and requirements, but detailed guidance documents are needed for practical implementation. Circular 02/2022/TT-BTNMT plays a connecting role between the Law and practice.

- To simplify procedures and create favorable conditions for businesses: Compared to the previous period, Circular 02/2022/TT-BTNMT simplifies, clarifies, and makes environmental impact assessment procedures, environmental permits, and environmental registration more appropriate to the nature of each type of project.

- Towards risk-based environmental management: Following the Law's direction, projects with high levels of impact will be subject to stricter monitoring, while small-scale or low-impact projects will have simplified procedures.

- Enhancing the responsibility of project owners: The Circular clearly stipulates the methods for monitoring, reporting, and certifying the completion of environmental protection works, helping to tighten the operational process.

2. Important new points of Circular 02/2022/TT-BTNMT

- Clearly defining the list of industries with high environmental pollution risks

The Circular promulgates Appendix II, which details the industries and fields with potential pollution risks. This list serves as the basis for determining the subjects required to conduct Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs); determining environmental permit requirements; and developing environmental risk management plans. Classification based on the level of impact instead of scale has led to more precise management.

- Technical regulations in environmental zoning and environmental investigation include: Natural environmental zoning; building current status data; and establishing an environmental information system. As a result, environmental data is more consistent and easier to manage.

- Guidance on the process of preparing environmental impact assessment (EIA) reports, including: EIA report structure; Assessment methods; Community consultation process.

- Documents submitted for appraisal. This helps eliminate the situation of superficial or copied EIAs between businesses.

- Detailed regulations on environmental permits under the 2020 Environmental Protection Law, where the "environmental permit" replaces a series of other documents, specifically: Regulations on dossiers, forms, and appendices; Guidance on how to determine the scale of wastewater discharge; Clarification of the project owner's responsibilities before and after permitting; Guidance on the conditions for obtaining a permit. This makes it easier for businesses to prepare the correct dossiers and reduces the likelihood of rejection.

- Simplification of environmental registration procedures: Environmental registration for small-scale businesses is guided very specifically, including: Application forms; Required information; Regulations on archiving and submission to state agencies; Instructions for online submission via the public service portal.

- Regulations on environmental monitoring and automated observation, including: Technical standards for monitoring; Frequency and parameters of monitoring; Requirements for installing automated monitoring systems (wastewater, exhaust gases); Data transmission connection to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

Full text of Circular 02/2022/TT-BTNMT