Subjects subject to consultation in environmental impact assessment in Vietnam from January 6, 2025

Subjects subject to consultation in environmental impact assessment in Vietnam from January 6, 2025​ (Image from the Internet)

On January 6, 2025, the Government of Vietnam promulgated Decree 05/2025/ND-CP amending Decree 08/2022/ND-CP on the Law on Environmental Protection.

Subjects subject to consultation in environmental impact assessment in Vietnam from January 6, 2025

From January 6, 2025, entities to be consulted in the environmental impact assessment in Vietnam include:

- Residential communities, individuals directly affected by the investment project, including: The community of individuals permanently residing in accordance with the law on residence at the locality of hamlets, villages, hamlets, villages, hamlets, bons, phums, hamlets, or similar residential areas where the investment project is implemented; owners of production, business, service establishments, household heads possessing production, business activities on land, water surface, land with water surface, marine areas where the investment project is implemented.

The consultation with residential communities and individuals directly affected is conducted through forms of consultation meetings to gather opinions or written consultation. The project investor has the responsibility to cooperate with the commune-level People's Committee to send invitations to the entire community and individuals directly affected to attend the consultation meeting.

In case the community and individuals do not attend the consultation meeting, there must be written consultation through sending opinion collection forms as stipulated at Point c, Clause 3, Article 26 of Decree 08/2022/ND-CP (amended in Decree 05/2025/ND-CP).

The number of people attending the opinion collection meeting and consulted through sending forms must ensure at least two-thirds of the total number of directly affected people.

Individuals within a household may be consulted through the household representative; in case an individual receives an opinion form but does not provide their opinion within five days from the date of receiving the form, it is considered as having been consulted;

- Agencies and organizations directly related to the investment project, including: commune-level People's Committees, Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees at the commune level where the project is implemented and directly affected areas determined through the environmental impact assessment process; Management Board of economic zones, industrial zones, export processing zones, high-tech zones of provinces, central-affiliated cities, investors constructing and trading infrastructure of concentrated production, business, service zones, and industrial clusters where the project is within the management boundaries; state agencies managing irrigation works for projects discharging wastewater into or occupying irrigation works; agencies and organizations assigned by the state to manage areas with environmentally sensitive factors as stipulated at Points b, c, d, and dd, Clause 4, Article 25 of Decree 08/2022/ND-CP (if any); Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Public Security, or provincial military command, provincial police for projects related to security-defense factors (if any); other directly related agencies and organizations identified through the environmental impact assessment process.

The consultation with agencies and organizations directly related to the investment project is conducted through written consultation.

Regarding the content of consultation: The content of consultation during the process of implementing the environmental impact assessment follows the template stipulated in Appendix VIa issued with Decree 08/2022/ND-CP.

Other consultation content specified at Point dd, Clause 3, Article 33 of the Law on Environmental Protection includes: Environmental restoration and rehabilitation plan for mining projects or waste disposal; biodiversity compensation plan for projects with a biodiversity compensation plan according to the provisions of the law.

(Clause 1, 2 Article 26 of Decree 08/2022/ND-CP, amended by Decree 05/2025/ND-CP)

Refer to more details at the Decree 05/2025/ND-CP effective from January 6, 2025.

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