Projects subject to environmental impact assessment in Vietnam

What is environmental impact assessment?

According to Clause 7 Article 3 of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020, environmental impact assessment (hereinafter referred to as “EIA”) means the process of analyzing, assessing, identifying and predicting environmental impacts of an investment project in order to take measures to reduce adverse impacts on the environment.

Projects subject to environmental impact assessment in Vietnam

Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 30 of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020, projects subject to EIA include:

(i) 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.

(ii) Group II investment projects, including:

- 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.

Note: If the projects specified above are urgent public investment projects as prescribed by the Law on Public Investment, they shall not be subject to EIA.

Main contents of environmental impact assessment report in Vietnam

Pursuant to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 32 of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020, the main contents of an environmental impact assessment report (hereinafter referred to as “EIAR”) in Vietnam include:

- Origin of the investment project, project owner, authority approving the project; legal and technical bases; EIA methods and other methods adopted (if any);

- Conformity of the investment project with the national environmental protection planning, regional planning, provincial planning, regulations of law on environmental protection and other relevant regulations of law;

- Assessing selected technologies and work items and activities that may result in adverse environmental impacts;

- Natural, socio-economic and biodiversity conditions; assessment of state of the environment; identifying affected subjects and sensitive environmental factor at the project location; demonstration of the suitability of the project location;

- Identifying, assessing and predicting major environmental impacts and waste generated in the phases of the investment project quantity and nature of waste; impacts on biodiversity, natural heritage sites, historical-cultural sites/monuments and other sensitive factors; impacts caused by land clearance, migration and relocation (if any); identifying and assessing environmental emergencies that are likely to occur;

- Works and methods for collecting, storing and treating waste;

- Methods for reducing other adverse environmental impacts of the investment project; environmental improvement and remediation scheme (if any); biodiversity offsets scheme (if any); environmental emergency prevention and response plan;

- Environmental management and supervision program;

- Consultation result;

- Conclusions, propositions and commitments made by the investment project owner.

Mai Thanh Loi

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