What are the projects subject to EIA in Vietnam?

What are the projects subject to EIA in Vietnam? (Source: internet)

1. 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.

2. Projects subject to EIA in Vietnam?

Subjects that must perform an environmental impact assessment include:

- Group 1: Group I investment projects mentioned in Clause 3 Article 28 of Law on Environmental Protection 2020 included;

+ 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.

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

- Group 2: Group II investment projects specified at Points c, d, dd and e, Clause 4, Article 28 of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020, includes:

+ 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.

(Article 30 of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020)

3. Carrying out environmental impact assessment in Vietnam

The implementation of environmental impact assessment is specified in Article 31 of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 as follows:

- The EIA shall be conducted by the investment project owner or a qualified consultancy. The EIA shall be conducted together with preparing the feasibility study report or equivalent document.

- The EIA result shall be presented in an environmental impact assessment report.

- An environmental impact assessment report is prepared for each investment project.

4. Consultees in environmental impact assessment in Vietnam

According to Clause 1, Article 33 of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020, the consultees in environmental impact assessment in Vietnam include:

- Residential communities and individuals under direct impact of the investment project;

- Agencies and organizations directly related to the investment project.

Diem My

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