More than 90% of projects expected to be exempt from EIA requirements

The amendments adhere to the principle that the law should only stipulate overarching frameworks and fundamental principles, while detailed and technical matters under the authority of the Government, the Prime Minister, Ministries, sectors, and local authorities will be prescribed by the competent authorities.

Halving compliance time and costs

The new provisions are designed to align with the Government’s Resolution No. 66/19/2026/NQ-CP and the Politburo’s directive to "shift from a pre-inspection mindset requiring absolute safety to a proactive approach that accepts risks under controlled conditions."

According to Mr. Tang The Cuong, Director General of the Viet Nam Environment Administration under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, one of the most notable new features of the draft law is the reduction and simplification of administrative procedures, along with stronger decentralization of authority to local governments.

Accordingly, the draft law would abolish nine administrative procedures, including seven at the ministerial level and two at the provincial level. It would also streamline application requirements and documentation, reducing administrative processing time by more than 52% and cutting compliance costs by over 52%.

Many procedures and regulations would be eliminated entirely, including the reissuance of environmental permits, the renewal of the Viet Nam Eco-label, the issuance of certificates of eligibility for environmental monitoring service providers, and regulations related to the trial operation of waste treatment facilities. These changes aim to reduce both compliance time and costs while enhancing the autonomy and accountability of businesses.

The criteria for classifying investment projects will be simplified into three groups (Groups I, II, and III), instead of the current four-group classification system. As a result, more than 90% of projects will no longer be subject to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) requirements or environmental permitting procedures. At the same time, 96% of the authority to appraise EIA reports and 95% of the authority to issue environmental permits will be decentralized to local governments compared with the pre-2025 period. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment will retain responsibility only for a limited number of specific cases with significant environmental risks, inter-provincial impacts, or obligations arising under international treaties to which Viet Nam is a party.

The draft law also introduces provisions empowering competent authorities to decide on the implementation of an integrated one-stop mechanism, enabling environmental administrative procedures to be processed simultaneously with other related administrative procedures. This is expected to shorten the overall timeline for investment project implementation.

"These above-mentioned amendments will mark an important step forward in reforming environmental administrative procedures, significantly reducing compliance costs for businesses and shortening investment preparation timelines while ensuring effective management of projects with high environmental risk. This is also one of the key measures to help improve the investment and business environment and promote economic growth in the coming years," Mr. Tang The Cuong emphasized.

Waste management tailored to local conditions

The draft law’s new provisions on waste management create opportunities for the development of new economic sectors based on recycling and resource reuse, contributing to establishing a secondary materials market, promoting the growth of the environmental industry, and realizing a circular economy in Viet Nam.

Regarding domestic solid waste, the draft law adopts a more flexible approach to waste classification principles. Provincial People's Committees will be authorized to determine waste classification methods based on local conditions and infrastructure capacity. The selection of service providers for the collection, transportation, and treatment of domestic solid waste will be carried out in accordance with the laws on public procurement and the state budget in order to ensure legal consistency.

Regarding industrial solid waste, the draft law introduces additional provisions to promote recycling and reuse activities based on the principle that waste should be treated as a resource and utilized as an input material for production. It also adds Article 72a on the management of materials and products recycled or recovered from waste while assigning the Government to establish a roadmap for mandatory recycled-content requirements in products and goods.

Regarding emissions, the draft law supplements provisions encouraging the circulation or reuse of emissions as raw materials or fuel for other production processes, thereby promoting the circular use and reuse of emissions.

The responsibilities of producers and importers will also be adjusted to become more flexible and substantive. Rather than making passive financial contributions to the Environmental Protection Fund, producers and importers of non-recyclable products and packaging will be subject to environmental protection taxes according to an established roadmap. Direct recycling methods will be diversified to encourage the formation and development of professional waste collection and recycling networks in Viet Nam.

All waste management activities will be fully digitalized. Waste-generating facilities will be required to update electronic data in the national information system to support traceability. A real-time digital data management platform will be interconnected from the central to local levels, accompanied by a modern emissions registration system.

These policies provide significant incentives for projects that meet circular criteria, opening up new opportunities for the development of Viet Nam’s environmental industry and secondary materials market.

Strictly prohibiting the falsification of monitoring results

The draft law further strengthens environmental quality management tools in a modern direction based on data, forecasting, and risk governance. It also introduces provisions assigning responsibility to provincial-level People's Committees in cases where environmental pollution occurs within their jurisdictions, in line with the policy of strong decentralization of authority under the principle that "localities decide, localities implement, and localities take responsibility."

Regarding surface water protection, the provisions on environmental carrying capacity have been revised to allow greater flexibility. Under the draft law, the Government will be empowered to issue detailed regulations permitting the direct discharge of wastewater where water sources retain sufficient assimilative capacity for one or more mandatory parameters. The change is aimed at facilitating investment projects, supporting Viet Nam’s double-digit growth goal, and aligning with the Politburo’s direction.

Regarding air quality protection, environmental management is shifting from passive response to proactive prevention through the addition of regulations on pollution forecasting and inventories of emissions and dust. In particular, emissions from transport activities will be strictly controlled through the use of vehicle emission monitoring devices. Local authorities will also be empowered to regulate or restrict the use of fossil fuel-powered vehicles in areas and during periods that are particularly vulnerable to pollution.

For soil protection, the new provisions clearly distinguish between soil investigations conducted for state management purposes and the assessment of pollution hotspots. This approach aims to avoid overlaps in implementation while further strengthening decentralization to local authorities.

To ensure the effective operation of these management tools, the environmental monitoring system has been upgraded. The draft law removes standards on lighting and radiation that are no longer considered appropriate while encouraging the adoption of new technologies. Responsibility for ensuring the accuracy and integrity of environmental monitoring data is clearly assigned to enterprises, while any act of interference with or falsification of monitoring results is strictly prohibited. Management methods will be based on big data and artificial intelligence (AI), enabling early forecasting and helping minimize environmental incidents.

The completion of modern environmental quality management tools based on data, forecasting, and risk governance will enhance pollution prevention capacity, reduce environmental incidents, protect public health, and improve the quality of the living environment.