With the view of minimizing the burden of administrative procedures on investors, and creating favorable conditions for projects while still ensuring strict and effective management, the draft law clearly defines the role of EIA and other environmental management tools in the stages of investment consideration and project implementation.

The law compilers classify investment projects into four categories. First, projects needing an EIA, but not an environment license. Second, projects which have to have both an EIA and an environment license. Third, projects which don’t have to have an EIA, but have to have an environment license. Fourth, projects which don’t have to follow the procedures on environment.

The new feature in the draft law is that projects with little impact on the environment (Categories 3 and 4) will not have to have an EIA. The General Directorate of Environment, the compiler of the amended law, said this would help ease investment costs and create favorable conditions for the implementation of projects.

Changing the view that EIA is an ‘almighty tool’ which helps monitor all projects, the draft law re-defines the role of EIA as just a forecasting tool which only has significance in the period of project building.

Changing the view that EIA is an ‘almighty tool’ which helps monitor all projects, the draft law re-defines the role of EIA as just a forecasting tool which only has significance in the period of project building.

EIA is essentially a tool to analyze and predict environmental impacts to help serve the decision-making process of authorities.

Therefore, EIA needs to be implemented when the ideas about the project implementation form. However, what happens in reality showed that EIA in Vietnam still cannot fulfill its task of forecasting.

The benefits of EIA are immense. If investors do not spend certain amounts of money on EIA when designing projects to anticipate the negative impact of the projects on the environment, it will be very costly to fix the problems that arise.

Therefore, the provisions related to EIA and the procedures to implement an EIA need to be designed in a very careful way.

The draft of the amended law also sets strict regulations on mandatory consultations with the community, information exposure and project implementation monitoring.

Nguyen Xuan Hai, director of the Department of EIA Examination, said the amended law will show clearly the content and the way to expose information about EIAs.

Regarding the EIA approval, Hai said, if investment projects are not in the national top secret group, EIA will be approved by MONRE or provincial authorities. 

Mai Nguyen

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