Environmental impact assessment permit application services

1. Why is an environmental impact assessment necessary?

Environmental impact assessment (EIA; abbreviated in Vietnamese as ĐTM) is the analysis, assessment and forecasting of the environmental impacts of an investment project or plan, together with measures to mitigate the negative impacts.

This is an important point because the competent authorities and organisations rely on this report to assess and decide whether or not the project is allowed to proceed.

2. Legal basis & authorities appraising environmental impact assessments

The preparation and appraisal of EIA reports must comply with the legal documents currently in force. As of 10/2026, the main documents include:

• • Law on Environmental Protection No. 72/2020/QH14 issued on 17 November 2020, as amended and supplemented by Law No. 146/2025/QH15 (effective from 1 January 2026); consolidated document No. 98/VBHN-VPQH of 10 April 2026.
  • Government Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP of 10 January 2022 detailing a number of articles of the Law on Environmental Protection, as amended and supplemented by Decree No. 05/2025/ND-CP and Decree No. 48/2026/ND-CP of 29 January 2026 (consolidated document No. 49/VBHN-BNNMT of 17 April 2026).
  • Circular No. 02/2022/TT-BTNMT of 10 January 2022 of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Environmental Protection, as amended and supplemented by Circular No. 07/2025/TT-BTNMT and Circular No. 09/2026/TT-BNNMT of 29 January 2026 of the Minister of Agriculture and Environment.
  • Resolution No. 66.19/2026/NQ-CP of 18 May 2026 of the Government on reducing, decentralising and simplifying administrative procedures and business conditions within the management scope of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (temporary provisions, effective from 18 May 2026 to the end of 28 February 2027; the decentralisation of EIA appraisal alone applies from 1 July 2026).

The authorities competent to appraise EIA reports are clearly specified in Article 35 of the Law on Environmental Protection (as amended and supplemented by Law No. 146/2025/QH15), including:

• • Ministry of Agriculture and Environment: appraises Group I investment projects (with a high risk of adverse environmental impact), or Group II projects located in 02 or more provincial-level administrative units that also fall under one of the cases specified by law (projects for which the National Assembly or the Prime Minister decides or approves the investment policy; projects under the Ministry’s authority to license mineral or water resource exploitation; infrastructure of concentrated production, business and service zones; large-scale land-use projects; certain projects within industrial parks and clusters; large-capacity projects located outside industrial parks and clusters).
  • Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee: appraises investment projects in its province that do not fall under the authority of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the Ministry of National Defence or the Ministry of Public Security.
  • Ministry of National Defence and Ministry of Public Security: appraise investment projects classified as state secrets in national defence and security.
  • Temporary provisions under Resolution 66.19/2026/NQ-CP (from 1 July 2026 to the end of 28 February 2027): the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment appraises only nuclear power plant projects; projects for which the National Assembly or the Prime Minister decides or approves the investment policy that use land in sensitive areas (special-use forests, nature reserves, core zones of biosphere reserves, important wetlands, natural forests, protective forests, etc.); projects with a land-use scale of 300 ha or more or a sea area of 60 ha or more (except for certain excluded cases); and Group I mineral exploitation projects under the Ministry’s licensing authority. All remaining projects are appraised by the Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee.
  • Time limits for organising the appraisal (counted from the date of receipt of a complete and valid dossier) under Resolution 66.19/2026/NQ-CP: no more than 30 days for the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the Ministry of National Defence and the Ministry of Public Security; no more than 20 days for the Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee; no more than 10 days for special public investment projects.

3. Projects required to prepare an environmental impact assessment (EIA) report

Under Article 30 of the Law on Environmental Protection (No. 72/2020/QH14, as amended and supplemented), the projects required to carry out an environmental impact assessment (EIA) fall into the 2 groups of projects below. In particular, from 18 May 2026 to the end of 28 February 2027, the projects required to carry out EIA are temporarily narrowed under Resolution 66.19/2026/NQ-CP (see the end of this section).

Group I investment projects: Projects with a high risk of adverse environmental impact, as specified in Clause 3, Article 28 of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020. These include:

• • Projects in production, business or service types with a risk of causing environmental pollution at a large scale or capacity; projects providing hazardous waste treatment services; projects importing scrap from abroad as production materials;
  • Projects in production, business or service types with a risk of causing environmental pollution at a medium scale or capacity but with environmentally sensitive factors; projects not in production, business or service types with a risk of causing environmental pollution, at a large scale or capacity but with environmentally sensitive factors;
  • Projects using land, land with water surface or sea areas at a large scale, or at a medium scale but with environmentally sensitive factors;
  • Projects exploiting minerals or water resources at a large scale or capacity, or at a medium scale or capacity but with environmentally sensitive factors;
  • Projects requiring land-use conversion at a medium scale or above but with environmentally sensitive factors;
  • Projects requiring large-scale relocation and resettlement.

Group II investment projects: Projects with a risk of adverse environmental impact (not in Group I), as specified in Points c, d, dd and e, Clause 4, Article 28 of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020, comprising:

• • Projects using land, land with water surface or sea areas at a medium scale, or at a small scale but with environmentally sensitive factors;
  • Projects exploiting minerals or water resources at a medium scale or capacity, or at a small scale or capacity but with environmentally sensitive factors;
  • Projects requiring land-use conversion at a small scale but with environmentally sensitive factors; projects requiring medium-scale relocation and resettlement.

(The detailed lists of projects in Groups I and II are set out in Appendices III and IV; production, business and service types with a risk of causing environmental pollution are classified in Appendix II issued with Decree 08/2022/ND-CP. Group III projects in Appendix V are not required to carry out EIA). Temporary provisions under Resolution 66.19/2026/NQ-CP (from 18 May 2026 to the end of 28 February 2027): During this period, only the following investment projects (except for certain excluded cases specified in the Resolution) are required to carry out environmental impact assessment:

• • Nuclear power plant projects; nuclear research reactor projects;
  • Projects with a construction component that use land or land with water surface, or convert the land-use purpose, in sensitive areas: special-use forests and aquatic resource protection areas; 0.5 ha or more in nature reserves, core zones of biosphere reserves and core zones of world natural heritage sites; 0.2 ha or more in important wetlands, natural forests and protective forests;
  • Projects involving sea reclamation;
  • Projects with a construction component using land or land with water surface of 50 ha or more, or sea areas of 10 ha or more;
  • Mineral exploitation projects;
  • Projects investing in the construction and operation of infrastructure of concentrated production, business and service zones and industrial clusters that share the centralised wastewater treatment system of another zone or cluster;
  • Projects in production, business or service types with a risk of causing environmental pollution at a large capacity that are not required to obtain an environmental permit.

Projects not falling under the above cases are not required to carry out EIA but must hold an environmental permit or environmental registration, depending on the type and scale. Projects whose EIA appraisal results were approved before 18 May 2026 but which are now not required to carry out EIA and must instead hold an environmental permit must obtain the environmental permit before the trial operation of waste treatment works. When the Resolution expires, the provisions of the Law apply again; businesses should check the documents in force at the time of filing.

4. What does the appraisal dossier include?

Under Clause 7, Article 13a of Circular 02/2022/TT-BTNMT (as supplemented by Circular 09/2026/TT-BNNMT), the dossier requesting appraisal of the EIA report, submitted directly, by postal service or online to the competent state authority, includes:

• • Written request for appraisal of the EIA report, following Form No. 02, Appendix II issued with Circular 02/2022/TT-BTNMT;
  • EIA report of the project. Under Resolution 66.19/2026/NQ-CP, the dossier does not include draft drawings of the basic design or the construction design of waste treatment works.

5. Main contents of an environmental impact assessment report

The main contents of an EIA report must fully present the information required by regulations, including:

• • Origin of the investment project, the project owner and the competent approving authority; legal and technical bases; environmental impact assessment methods applied.
  • Assessment of the project’s conformity with the national environmental protection master plan, regional planning, provincial planning and other legal provisions on environmental protection.
  • Assessment of the technology, works items and activities of the project that may adversely affect the environment.
  • Natural, socio-economic and biodiversity conditions; assessment of the current environmental status in the project area.
  • Assessment and forecasting of the main environmental impacts and the waste generated in each phase of the project; scale and characteristics of the waste; impacts on natural heritage and historical-cultural relics; impacts of site clearance, relocation and resettlement.
  • Works and measures for collecting, storing and treating waste.
  • Other measures to mitigate the project’s negative impacts on the environment; the environmental remediation and restoration plan and the environmental incident prevention and response plan.
  • Environmental management and monitoring programme; results of community consultation; conclusions, recommendations and commitments of the investor.

(The structure and detailed contents of the EIA report must follow Form No. 04 in Appendix II issued with Circular 02/2022/TT-BTNMT).

6. CONSULTING AND SUPPORT SERVICE FOR PROJECT OWNERS CARRYING OUT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (EIA)

NGO International Co., Ltd provides consulting and support services to help project owners carry out environmental impact assessment (under Article 31 of the Law on Environmental Protection, the project owner is the party responsible for organising the EIA). We help determine whether a project requires an EIA, an environmental permit or environmental registration under current regulations, prepare the dossier and accompany the project owner throughout the appraisal process, ensuring on-schedule delivery.

If your business needs to carry out or learn more about an environmental impact assessment (EIA) report, please contact us by phone: +84 24 7300 0890 or email office@8ngo.com.