Industrial parks without a centralized wastewater treatment system will be punished for administrative violations like what? Does the Director of the Provincial Police have the right to sanction administrative violations in this case?

What are the regulations on sanctioning administrative violations for individuals and organizations?

Pursuant to Article 5 of Decree 155/2016/ND-CP stipulating penalties for administrative violations as follows:

– The fine level for administrative violations specified in Chapter II of this Decree is the fine level prescribed for administrative violations by individuals, the fine level for administrative violations by organizations is 02 times the fine level for the same administrative violation by individuals.

– The authority to sanction administrative violations of the people specified in Articles 48 to 51 of this Decree is the authority applicable to an individual’s administrative violation; In case of fine, the authority to sanction an organization is twice the authority to sanction an individual for that title.

In case of increased fines for environmental parameters exceeding technical regulations for the same waste sample, the sanctioning authority is calculated according to the violation with the highest fine for that waste sample.

What are the administrative penalties for industrial parks that do not have a centralized wastewater treatment system?

Pursuant to Clause 4, Article 12 of Decree 155/2016/ND-CP on sanctioning administrative violations of environmental protection violations at establishments, industrial parks, export processing zones, high-tech zones, industrial clusters, concentrated business and service zones, craft villages and aquaculture zones as follows:

– Violations of regulations on environmental protection in infrastructure business activities of industrial parks, export processing zones, and high-tech zones are punished as follows:

+ Fine from 5,000,000 VND to 10,000,000 VND for failure to report the results of environmental protection work according to regulations;

+ Fine from 10,000,000 VND to 20,000,000 VND for acts of not having a specialized environmental protection department that meets the prescribed conditions; There is no manager to operate the centralized wastewater treatment plant according to regulations;

+ Fines from 20,000,000 VND to 30,000,000 VND for acts of not ensuring the minimum green area within industrial parks, export processing zones, and high-tech zones; Improper implementation of planning for functional areas in industrial parks, export processing zones, and high-tech zones according to regulations;

+ Fine from 40,000,000 VND to 50,000,000 VND for incomplete operation log recording of one of the following contents: Amount of wastewater, amount of electricity consumed, chemicals used, amount of sludge;

+ Fine from 50,000,000 VND to 60,000,000 VND for not having a centralized wastewater treatment plant operation logbook; there is no plan to prevent and respond to environmental incidents according to regulations;

+ Fine from 60,000,000 VND to 80,000,000 VND for not having equipment to measure input wastewater flow at the centralized wastewater treatment plant according to regulations; Do not arrange independent electricity meters at centralized wastewater treatment plants of industrial parks, export processing zones, or high-tech zones;

+ Fine from 80,000,000 VND to 100,000,000 VND for failure to connect or not thoroughly connect wastewater from production, business, and service establishments to the centralized wastewater treatment system of industrial parks, export processing zones, and high-tech zones according to regulations; Uncontrolled production, business, and service establishments discharge wastewater into the stormwater drainage system of industrial parks, export processing zones, and high-tech zones;

+ Fine from 100,000,000 VND to 150,000,000 VND for not having a separate rainwater and wastewater collection system as prescribed;

+ Fine from 200,000,000 VND to 250,000,000 VND for the act of constructing and installing a centralized wastewater treatment system that does not comply with regulations or does not meet environmental protection requirements as prescribed;

+ Fine from 400,000,000 VND to 500,000,000 VND for not having a centralized wastewater treatment system according to regulations.

Thus, based on Clause 1, Article 5 of Decree 155/2016/ND-CP and Point k, Clause 4, Article 12 of Decree 155/2016/ND-CP, if an organization doing business in the infrastructure of industrial parks, export processing zones, or high-tech zones does not have a centralized wastewater treatment system as prescribed, it may be fined from 800 million VND to 01 billion VND.

Does the Director of Provincial Police have the right to sanction administrative violations in this case?

Pursuant to Clause 34, Article 1 of Decree 55/2021/ND-CP stipulating the authority to sanction administrative violations as follows:

– The Director of Provincial Police has the right to:

+ Warning fine;

+ Fine up to 50,000,000 VND;

+ Deprivation of the right to use the Environmental Permit for a period of time or suspension of operations for a period of time;

+ Confiscation of evidence and means of administrative violations worth up to 50,000,000 VND;

+ Apply remedial measures for violations specified in Points a, c, d, h, i, k, l, m, o, p, q, r, s and t, Clause 3, Article 4 of this Decree.

– The Director of the Environmental Police Department and the Director of the Immigration Department who are on duty have the right to:

+ Warning fine;

+ Fine up to 1,000,000,000 VND;

+ Deprivation of the right to use the Environmental Permit for a period of time or suspension of operations for a period of time;

+ Confiscation of evidence and means of violating the act main;

+ Apply remedial measures for violations specified in Points a, c, dd, h, i, k, l, m, o, p, q, r, s and t, Clause 3, Article 4 of this Decree.

Thus, in case an organization trading in infrastructure of industrial parks, export processing zones, or high-tech zones does not have a centralized wastewater treatment system according to regulations and is fined from 800 million VND to 01 billion VND, the Director of the Provincial Police will not have the right to impose penalties, but the authority to sanction administrative violations belongs to the Director of the Environmental Police Department and the Director of the Immigration Department who are on duty.