WHAT INVESTORS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT REPORTS ON ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT?
Legal basis:
- Law on Environmental protection
- Law on Investment
- Decree No.08/2022
In the construction process, investors, construction contractors, and relevant parties must comply with all the requirements on environmental protection in construction according to the Law on Environmental protection.
Environmental impact assessment report
Specifically, for investors, it is compulsory to prepare an EIA (EIA is an environmental impact assessment report) according to regulations and submit it to a competent authority for appraisal before starting construction. In particular, environmental impact assessment is analyzing, evaluating, identifying, and forecasting the environmental impact of investment projects and providing measures to minimize noxiousness according to Article 3 of the Law on Environmental protection.
In case there are changes compared to the decision approving the report appraisal results, or within a maximum period of 12 months from the date of the written request for correction or supplementation by the authority appraising the environmental impact assessment report, the investor needs to complete the paper and send it back to the appraisal authority.
At the same time, the investor is responsible for organizing inspection and supervision of contractors’ compliance with regulations on environmental protection in construction; Coordinate with contractors to handle and overcome environmental pollution or incidents; promptly report and coordinate with competent authorities to resolve pollution, serious environmental incidents and arising problems.
The investor is also obliged to suspend construction when detecting that the contractor violates regulations on environmental protection during construction, generating waste that pollutes the environment in the project area and surroundings or environmental emergency. In this case, the investor requires the contractor to make remedial measures to ensure environmental protection requirements before allowing construction to continue as well as coordinate with the contractor to handle, overcome, and coordinate with competent authorities to deal with pollution, and serious environmental emergencies.
Preliminary environmental impact assessment
According to Clause 3, Article 75 of the Law on Investment, projects subject to environmental impact assessment reports according to Article 18 of the Law on Environmental protection must carry out a “preliminary environmental impact assessment”. For these subjects, a preliminary environmental impact assessment is mandatory and is the basis for investment policy approval. Only after the environmental impact assessment report is approved, the investor will be able to carry out the project.
Projects required to carry out a preliminary environmental impact assessment report according to the provisions of Article 28 of the Law on Environmental Protection include:
– 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 areas with environmentally sensitive factors;
– Large- or medium-scale and capacity projects on the 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 emigration, and resettlement.