Environmental criteria for investment project classification in Vietnam

Environmental criteria for investment project classification in Vietnam

Pursuant to Article 28 of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020, the environmental criteria for investment project classification in Vietnam include:

-  Environmental criteria for investment project classification include:

- Scale, capacity and type of production, business and service;

- Area of land, land with water surface, and sea used; scale of extraction of natural resources;

- Environmentally sensitive factors including high density residential areas; water source used for supply of domestic water; wildlife sanctuaries prescribed by the law on biodiversity and fisheries; types of forests prescribed by the law on forestry; other tangible cultural heritage and natural heritage sites; land meant for growing wet rice during 02 or more cropping seasons; important wetlands; migration and relocation requirements and other environmental sensitive factors.

Environmental criteria for investment project classification in Vietnam (Internet image)

What are the groups of investment projects in Vietnam? 

According to the environmental criteria set out in above, investment projects shall be classified into Group I, II, III and IV.

(1) Group I investment projects are those that pose a high risk of adverse environmental impacts, including:

- Large-scale and capacity projects involved in types of production, business and services that are likely to cause environmental pollution; projects providing hazardous waste treatment service; projects involving import of scrap from foreign countries as production materials;

- Medium-scale and capacity projects involved in types of production, business and services with environmentally sensitive factors that are likely to cause; large-scale and capacity projects not involved in types of production, business and services with environmentally sensitive factors that are likely to cause environmental pollution;

- Large- or medium-scale projects using land, land with water surface and marine area with environmentally sensitive factors;

- Large- or medium-scale and capacity projects on extraction of minerals and water resources with environmentally sensitive factors;

- Projects requiring repurposing of land on at least medium scale with environmentally sensitive factors;

- Large-scale projects requiring migration and relocation.

(2) Group II investment projects are those that pose a risk of adverse environmental impacts, except for those specified in (1), including:

- Medium-scale and capacity projects involved in types of production, business and services that are likely to cause environmental pollution;

- Small-scale and capacity projects involved in types of production, business and services with environmentally sensitive factors that are likely to cause environmental pollution; medium-scale and capacity projects not involved in types of production, business and services with environmentally sensitive factors that are likely to cause environmental pollution;

- Large- or medium-scale projects using land, land with water surface and marine area with environmentally sensitive factors;

- Small-scale and capacity projects on extraction of minerals and water resources with environmentally sensitive factors;

- Small-scale projects requiring repurposing of land with environmentally sensitive factors;

- Medium-scale projects requiring migration and relocation.

(3) Group III investment projects are those that pose a risk of adverse environmental impacts, except for those specified in (1) (2), including:

- Small-scale and capacity projects involved in types of production, business and services that are likely to cause environmental pollution;

- Projects not involved in types of production, business and services that are likely to cause environmental pollution and generating wastewater, dusts and exhaust gases that must be treated or generating hazardous waste that must be managed in accordance with regulations on waste management.

(4) Group IV investment projects are those that do not pose a risk of adverse environmental impacts, except for those specified in (1), (2), (3).

Mai Thanh Loi

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