The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment stated that, in the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Environmental Protection, the drafting agency continues to propose exempting all crude oil and natural gas extraction projects from administrative procedures related to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
On May 7, a survey delegation from the National Assembly’s Committee on Science, Technology and Environment worked with Vietnam National Industry – Energy Group (PVN) to gather feedback on the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Environmental Protection.
The draft Law is being developed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and is being finalized based on feedback from ministries, sectors, and local authorities before being submitted to the Ministry of Justice for appraisal in accordance with regulations.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Le Cong Thanh said the draft Law is being developed under a new legislative approach. Accordingly, the Law will only provide the framework and principles to ensure flexibility, while technical matters will be assigned to the Government and competent authorities for regulation.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment focuses on five major orientations: substantially reforming administrative procedures and promoting decentralization to local authorities; renewing the mindset on waste by shifting from “waste treatment” to viewing waste as a “resource”; pioneering digital transformation; shifting from “passive remediation” to “proactive prevention”; and effectively operating economic instruments.
Regarding PVN’s areas of operation, in 2025, the Ministry advised the Government to submit to the National Assembly a Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of 15 laws in the agriculture and environment sectors. This included abolishing the requirement that the approval decision for appraisal results of the Environmental Impact Assessment report be used as one of the bases for approving exploration plans for oil and gas exploration projects.
In addition, Government Decree No. 48/2026/ND-CP dated January 29, 2026 decentralizes the appraisal of EIA reports for all crude oil and natural gas extraction projects to Chairpersons of provincial People’s Committees.
In this draft Law, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment continues to propose exempting all crude oil and natural gas extraction projects from administrative procedures related to EIA.
Reporting to the survey delegation, PVN representatives raised several difficulties in implementing environmental policies and laws, as well as proposals and recommendations.
During the working session, members of the survey delegation discussed and clarified a number of obstacles and difficulties faced by enterprises in implementing policies and laws on environmental protection.
Regarding the recommendation that only facilities required to obtain an Environmental Permit should be required to prepare plans for preventing and responding to environmental incidents in order to reduce the burden on small facilities, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment stated that it has proposed narrowing the scope of entities required to obtain an Environmental Permit. PVN’s comments will continue to be reviewed and incorporated by the Ministry during the process of revising the guiding Decree.
Regarding the proposal to add priority content for the development of large-scale new energy and renewable energy projects, as well as carbon capture, utilization, and storage technology (CCUS), to achieve the Net Zero target, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment acknowledged the proposal and will study and revise the draft Law to ensure consistency with the Petroleum Law and the National Energy Development Strategy.
Regarding the proposal to assign the Government to provide detailed regulations on specific requirements for Environmental Permits and EIA for offshore oil and gas exploration and extraction activities, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment stated that the scope of entities subject to Environmental Permits has already been significantly narrowed and now applies only to major emission sources. The specific characteristics of the oil and gas industry have already been regulated in guiding Decrees. Therefore, it is not necessary to assign this additional content to the Government in the Law.
At the working session, Mr. Ta Dinh Thi, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee on Science, Technology and Environment, highly appreciated PVN’s pioneering role in green transformation, the application of emission-reduction technologies in its operations, and the issuance of the Group’s development strategy to 2030 with a vision to 2050 toward new energy transition.
Based on PVN’s detailed report on the practical implementation of environmental policies and laws, the survey delegation will study and advise on proposed adjustments to legal regulations in line with the realities of the energy sector.
