The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is currently leading the drafting of a bill to amend the Law on Environmental Protection. This initiative follows the mandate of the National Assembly and the Prime Minister, aiming to streamline administrative procedures while delivering a more modern and flexible environmental management framework for businesses.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment, Le Cong Thanh, explained that this bill introduces a new paradigm focusing on five strategic pillars: substantive administrative reform, decentralization of authority to local governments, and innovation in viewing waste as potential resources. Furthermore, the government is committed to encouraging digital transformation and shifting from a passive remediation model to more proactive prevention of environmental impacts.
In the oil and gas sector, the Ministry plans to exempt offshore exploration projects from burdensome Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) requirements. This step is being taken to address regulatory synchronization challenges between the Oil and Gas Law and the Environmental Protection Law, which have often led to conflicting interpretations for industry players, such as PVN.
PVN welcomed these efforts by proposing to reclassify exploration projects from high risk to a lower risk category, given the operational characteristics of offshore activities that feature high environmental carrying capacity. In line with this, the Ministry also reaffirmed its commitment to reviewing emission standards, including those for power plants, to ensure regulations remain relevant to recent technological advancements without compromising environmental quality.
The survey team from the Committee on Science, Technology, and Environment commended this strategic move. It is hoped that through these data- and risk-based rule revisions, investment barriers can be significantly eliminated without lowering national environmental protection standards. The regulatory synchronization process will continue to be finalized before being submitted to the Ministry of Justice for further evaluation.
