Vietnam revises EIA regulations 
On January 10, 2022, the Vietnamese government established the Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP Detailing a Number of Articles of Law on Environmental Protection 2020 (hereinafter “the Decree”), which came into effect on the same day. Chapter 3 (Articles 22–32) of the Decree details the environmental impact assessment scheme, environmental licensing, and environmental registration as stipulated in Articles 28 to 49 of the Environmental Protection Law 2020. Furthermore, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) on the same day issued the Circular No. 02/2022/TT-BTNMT on Implementation Rules for a Number of Articles of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 (hereinafter “the Circular”). The Circular sets forth various application and reporting forms to be used for environmental impact assessment, environmental licensing, and environmental registration.
The Decree and Circular can be downloaded from:
Decree 08/2022/ND-CP:
https://monre.gov.vn/VanBan/Pages/ChiTietVanBanPhapQuy.aspx?pID=277
Circular 02/2022/TT-BTNMT:
https://monre.gov.vn/VanBan/Pages/ChiTietVanBanPhapQuy.aspx?pID=276
Classification of regulated projects/facilities
The following annexes to this Decree should be referred to for details of projects/facilities subject to the Environmental Impact Assessment, environmental licensing and environmental registration mandated under the Environmental Protection Law 2020 (hereinafter “the Law”).
| Appendix | List Name |
| Appendix II | List of forms of manufacturing, trading, and service forms that may cause environmental pollution |
| Annex III | List of investment projects classified as “Group I: Projects with high risks of causing environmental pollution” in accordance with Article 28, Paragraphs 3 of the Law |
| Annex IV | List of investment projects classified as “Group II: Projects with medium risks of causing environmental pollution” in accordance with Article 28, Paragraphs 4 of the Law |
| Appendix V | List of investment projects classified as “Group III: Projects with minor risks of causing environmental pollution” in accordance with Article 28, Paragraphs 5 of the Law |
| Annex XVI | List of investment projects, manufacturing and trading facilities exempt from the mandated environmental registration |
Annex II specifies the following 17 types of manufacturing, trading, and service forms:
-
- Concentration and processing of toxic or metallic minerals, mineral processing using hazardous chemicals, glass production (excluding the use of gas fuels and diesel oil)
- Fabrication of iron, steel and metallurgy products (excluding rolling, extension and casting from raw materials)
- Pulp production, paper production from recycled materials or biomass
- Manufacture of inorganic chemicals (excluding industrial gases), manufacture of chemical fertilizers (excluding mixing, extraction and packaging), and manufacture of agricultural chemicals (excluding mixing and extraction)
- Manufacture of fabrics, yarns, and textiles (if involving dyeing, washing, or yarn treatment)
- Leather production (including tanning process), leather tanning
- Crude oil and natural gas development and petroleum refining
- Coal-fired power generation, coke production, coal gasification
- Recycling and treatment of general domestic waste, general industrial waste, and hazardous waste; dismantling of end-of-life vessels; and use of imported scrap as raw material for production
- Plating process (including processes of cleaning metal surfaces with chemicals)
- Manufacture of cells and batteries
- Manufacture of cement
- Processing of latex
- Production of tapioca starch and seasonings, production of beer and carbonated beverages, production of alcohol for industrial use
- Sugar production from sugarcane
- Fish processing and slaughtering and breeding of livestock and poultry at an industrial scale
- Manufacture of electrical and electronic equipment and components
Furthermore, for each of the 17 industries listed above, they are classified into three groups based on the production volume. Such classification also serves as criteria for determining whether a company falls into Groups I, II, or III as defined in Annexes III, IV, and V above.
The specific regulatory targets, timing of implementation, and various formats for various applications, permits, and licenses can be summarized as follows:
| Permits and licenses | Targets | Implementation period | Application forms |
| Initial Environmental Impact Assessment |
|
|
|
| Environmental Impact Assessment |
|
|
Forms 03 to 10 as set forth in Annex II of Circular 02/2022/TT-BTNMT |
| Environmental License |
|
|
Forms 22 to 42 as set forth in Annex II of Circular 02/2022/TT-BTNMT |
| Test operation of waste treatment facilities |
|
|
Forms 43 to 46 as set forth in Annex II of Circular 02/2022/TT-BTNMT |
| Environmental Registration |
|
|
Form 47 as set forth in Annex II of Circular 02/2022/TT-BTNMT |
Projects/facilities exempt from the environmental registration
The following projects and facilities are exempt from the mandatory environmental registration:
- Investment projects and facilities related to national security and defense;
- Investment projects and facilities that do not generate any waste or generate waste of less than 300 kg/day and are governed by local government regulations;
- Investment projects and facilities that generate wastewater of less than 5 m3/day and/or exhaust gas of less than 50 m3/hour; and treat such wastewater/exhaust gas with onsite equipment or are controlled by local government regulations
- Investment projects and facilities as set forth in Annex XVI to the Decree
* EnviX offers “Environmental Procedures Service” in Vietnam, including EIA and Environmental licenses. Environmental procedures are requirements binding responsibility for a business to fulfill its obligations of documents and files for environmental protection in accordance with the law. Please feel free to contact us:
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