19/05/2021
Foreword
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) is in the process of drafting a decree to implement the Law on Environmental Protection (LEP) 2020, which contains the contents related to Article 105, applying Best Available Techniques (BAT). There are 3 major issues being considered: (1) Sector/field selection and application roadmap; (2) BAT integration and decision-making procedures and (3) business support policies.
In order to pave the way for public opinion and to receive the opinions of scholars, researchers and businesses, this article will present and analyze each issue, Việt Nam’s approach, international experience, problems that need more comments to complete.
PART 1: PRODUCTION SECTOR/FIELD SELECTION & APPLICATION ROADMAP
In Việt Nam, the concept of BAT has been included in the LEP 2020 and is defined as: “The best available technique is the best technical solution selected to ensure compliance with reality and effectiveness in pollution prevention and control, minimizing negative impacts on the environment” (Article 3: Interpretation of terms, amended LEP 2020). To implement BAT, identifying / clarifying the subject of BAT application is an urgent first step. The LEP 2020, Article 105, Clause 1 stipulates that: “The owner of an investment project, an establishment in the form of production, business or service that poses a risk of environmental pollution is responsible for researching and applying the best available techniques according to the roadmap set by the Government”. Also, in the LEP 2020, Article 28 stipulates environmental criteria to classify investment projects into 4 groups corresponding to groups I, II, III, IV. In which, Group I is project with high risk of adverse impacts on the environment. However, the Law of Việt Nam does not stipulate that any of the 4 groups above must apply BAT, it is not clear about the relationship between groups and subjects applying BAT.
While in Russia, the Environmental Law 2015 clearly stipulates that industrial establishments in Group I must apply “Best technology-based standards”. The Russian Decree 2015 also stipulates that the operators of factories in Group I must apply BAT. It is conceivable that BAT is developed for sectors with factories belonging to Group I. Russias’ sectors of Group I are essentially similar to those listed in Annex I of the EU Industrial Emission Directive (2010). However, the list of these sectors also reflects the unique characteristics of the Russian economy and includes specific sectors such as oil, gas, coal and ore mining... Based on this classification, factories in Group I are required to apply for an integrated environmental license, in addition to being equipped with devices to automatically measure the volume and concentration of wastes as well as the technical means to transfer that information to a centralized environmental monitoring system. Up to now, the Federal Natural Resources and Environment Management Service is acting on behalf of businesses in collecting and analyzing data of the Federal Register System on factories in Group I.
It is necessary to identify who must apply BAT right from the Law, that helps people and businesses clearly define responsibilities and avoid disputes. In the United States, although their Environmental Law is not designed based on technology, many of the programs that implement the Law are based on technology. These two regulations are closely related, such as the Clean Air Act explicitly states the pollutants and the sectors/fields that are likely to generate pollutants. Based on this, the new source program makes more detailed the level of discharge of sources as a basis for application of BAT.
In the EU, the list of sectors and pollutants is specified in Annex I, the Industrial Emission Directive (IED) 2010. To identify BAT applicants, industrial activities are grouped for information exchange. These groups must be approved by IED’s Article 13 Forum. The thresholds to be considered vary in form, such as production capacity/time unit, level of operation... It should be noted that the IED does not define a threshold for the chemical sector, which means that all industrial-scale chemical plants must comply with the IED and key BREF References.
Table 1: EU BREFs, BAT Conclusions and REFs
|
Industrial sector/Activity |
Types of document |
Date of publication/Status |
|
Ceramic manufacturing industry |
BREF |
August 2007 |
|
Common wastewater and waste gas treatment/ Management systems in the chemical sector |
BATC, BREF |
June 2016 |
|
Common waste gas treatment in the chemical sector |
|
Drafting of BREF in progress |
|
Emissions from storage |
BREF |
July 2006 |
|
Energy efficiency |
BREF |
February 2009 |
|
Ferrous metals processing industry |
BREF |
December 2001 |
|
Food, drink and milk industry |
BREF |
August 2006, January 2017 |
|
Industrial cooling system |
BREF |
December 2001 |
|
Intensive rearing of poultry or pigs |
BATC, BREF |
July 2017 |
|
Iron and steel production |
BATC, BREF |
March 2012 |
|
Large combustion plants |
BATC, BREF |
July 2017 |
|
Large volume inorganic chemicals - Ammonia, acids and fertilisers |
BREF |
August 2007 |
|
Large volume inorganic chemicals - Solids and other industries |
BREF |
August 2007 |
|
Large volume organic chemical industry |
BATC, BREF |
December 2017 |
|
Manufacture of glass |
|
March 2012 |
|
Manufacture of organic fine chemicals |
|
August 2006 |
|
Non-ferrous metals industries |
BATC, BREF |
June 2016 |
|
Production of cement, lime and magnesium oxide |
|
April 2013 |
|
Production of Chlor-Alkali |
|
December 2013 |
|
Production of polymers |
BREF |
August 2007 |
|
Production of pulp, paper and board |
BATC, BREF |
BATC September 2014, BREF 2015 |
|
Production of special inorganic chemicals |
BREF |
August 2007 |
|
Refining of mineral oil and gas |
BATC, BREF |
October 2014 |
|
Slaughterhouses and animal by-products industries |
BREF |
May 2005 |
|
Smitheries and foundries industry |
BREF |
May 2005 |
|
Surface treatment of metals and plastics |
BREF |
May 2005 |
|
Surface treatment using organic solvents |
BREF |
August 2007, October 2017 |
|
Tanning of hides and skins |
BATC, BREF |
February 2013 |
|
Textiles industry |
BREF |
July 2003, review started |
|
Waste incineration |
BREF |
August 2006, May 2017 |
|
Waste treatment |
BREF |
August 2006, October 2017 |
|
Wood-based panels production |
BATC, BREF |
November 2015 |
|
Economics and cross-media effects |
REF |
July 2006 |
|
Monitoring of emissions from IED-installations
|
REF |
July 2003, revised June 2017 |
Source: BAT for Preventing and Controlling Industrial Pollution, EU 2017
In South Korea, the selection of sectors for BAT development using statistical methodology and based on an environmental performance scoring system allows to identify the sectors with the greatest environmental impact. During the 2016 - 2021 period, South Korea selected 17 fields for the BREF drafting, listed in Table 2, along with publication dates and 3 target sectors.
Table 2: South Korean sectoral BREFs
|
Industrial secto /Activity |
Status |
Year of publication |
|
Large combustion plants (Covers 2 sectors: Electric power and steam production) |
Published |
2016 |
|
Waste incineration |
Published |
2016 |
|
Iron and steel production |
Published |
2017 |
|
Non-ferrous metals industry |
Published |
2017 |
|
Large volume organic chemical industry (Covers 2 sectors) |
Published |
2017 |
|
Refining of mineral oil and gas |
Formal draft completed |
2018 |
|
Large volume inorganic chemicals |
Formal draft completed |
2018 |
|
Organic fine chemicals and special inorganic chemicals (Covers 2 sectors) |
Formal draft completed |
2018 |
|
Fertilizer industry |
Formal draft completed |
2018 |
|
Production of pulp, paper and board (Covers 2 sectors) |
In progress |
2019 |
|
Production of electronic parts |
In progress |
2019 |
|
Semiconductor industry |
In progress |
2019 |
|
Textile industry |
In progress |
2019 |
|
Plastic industry |
In progress |
2020 |
|
Food, drink and milk industry |
In progress |
2020 |
|
Slaughterhouses and animal by-products industry |
In progress |
2020 |
|
Auto parts and equipment manufacturing industry |
In progress |
2020 |
Source: BAT for Preventing and Controlling Industrial Pollution, EU 2017
For Việt Nam, experts say that “Establishments in the form of production, business and service likely to pollute the environment” as defined in Article 105 of the current LEP 2020 can be understood as 17 types of industrial production at risk of polluting the environment specified in Appendix IIa, Government’s Decree No. 40/2019/ND-CP dated 13th May 2019. This can be confirmed in the content of the coming Decree.
However, not all businesses in the 17 production sectors mentioned above are required to apply BAT. In Russia, for businesses in the Group I, only 300 factories out of thousands of businesses have to apply for BAT integrated license. In South Korea, out of the total 40,000 industrial establishments, about 1,350 are classified as high-discharge and responsible for 70% of total industrial pollution. Separation of high-discharge groups was determined based on monitoring data and statistical analysis of South Korea.
To identify who complies with BAT regulations, experts and Law drafters need to review and develop Việt Nam’s emission indicators as a basis for source classification. Source’s potential to emit (PTEs) is the maximum capacity of a fixed source that can emit any air pollutant according to its design or physical configuration and operation. PTEs have many different thresholds, the PTEs indicator set also has to consider the regional perspective and many other specific conditions involved. The content of the indicator set will also be the content of the Decree on BAT that the drafting team is considering to include.
One of the contents set out in the Decree on BAT this time is to determine the roadmap for BAT application in Việt Nam. In a study on BAT in 2020, the research team proposed a roadmap of steps to implement BAT in Việt Nam, including: Development of a legal framework on BAT (Adopted in November 2020); Decrees under the Law; Assignment of focal points; Establishment of TWGs (Technical Working Groups); Selection of subjects; Survey to collect technology information; Assessment and selection of BAT; Development of BAT reference profile; Approval and enforcement. According to the OECD assessment, it normally takes 4 years on average to fully implement this roadmap for a sector (39 months for BAT assessment and 12 months for consultation). This means, until 2025 Việt Nam can apply the BAT.
A shortened roadmap is being proposed, whereby some sectors can immediately apply international BAT regulations, shortening the time for survey and assessment. The LEP 2020, Article 105, Clause 3 states “… consider recognizing the best available techniques applied in the Group of industrialized countries permitted to be applied in Việt Nam”. This provision gives Việt Nam immediate access to existing international regulations. In the roadmap for BAT application, according to the experience of other countries, Việt Nam also needs to identify groups of businesses that have priority in applying BAT.
In fact, BAT has been applied in a number of industrial sectors in Việt Nam due to the need of businesses to innovate technology, improve productivity and meet the requirements of international markets. However, most businesses currently do not understand BAT. Therefore, the development of specific guidance on BAT provisions in the amended LEP 2020 is very urgent, in which, priority should be given to selecting the production sector/field and the application roadmap.
Lê Minh Đức
Independent Consultant
Nguyễn Thị Hồng Lam
Environmental Science Institute, National Taiwan University Fellow
(Source: Vietnam Environment Administration Magazine, English Edition I - 2021)
