Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for Industrial Park Projects 2026
Without the decision approving the appraisal of the environmental impact assessment report, an industrial park project cannot proceed; without an environmental license, a factory cannot operate. For industrial park infrastructure investors and secondary investors, EIA is not a "box-ticking" procedure but a threshold legal condition, and an environmental risk management tool for the project's entire lifecycle. In 2026, the EIA legal framework has important changes in authority decentralization that every project owner must update.
1. Why EIA is the "passport" of every industrial park project
An industrial park concentrates dozens or hundreds of factories of all production types — from textile dyeing, electronics and mechanics to food processing — with shared technical infrastructure: water supply, centralized wastewater treatment, waste collection, internal roads. A park's environmental impact is aggregated and cumulative: each factory's wastewater flows to the centralized treatment plant, air emissions come from many sources, hazardous waste from many stages. The law therefore requires environmental assessment at two levels: the park infrastructure level (the infrastructure investor) and the secondary project level (each factory in the park).
For foreign investors, EIA is also a mandatory item in international financial institutions' appraisal dossiers and a criterion in global brands' supply chain assessments. An industrial park project with complete, transparent environmental records attracts secondary investors far better.
2. What EIA is: the one-project, one-report principle
The 2020 Law on Environmental Protection defines environmental impact assessment as the process of analyzing, assessing, identifying and forecasting a project's environmental impacts and proposing measures to mitigate adverse impacts. An important new point of the 2020 law: each investment project prepares only one EIA report, instead of multiple reports for different phases as before. The EIA report comprises 10 main contents, from project origin, planning conformity, technology choice assessment, environmental baseline, impact forecasting, waste treatment measures, mitigation measures, environmental management and monitoring programs, consultation results, to the project owner's conclusions and commitments.
This principle helps regulators inspect and supervise, but also demands higher report quality from the start — because there is only one report as the legal basis for the whole process.
3. Projects subject to EIA: Group I and Group II projects
Article 30 of the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection provides that projects subject to EIA include: Group I projects under Article 28(3) and Group II projects under Article 28(4)(c), (d), (dd) and (e). Detailed lists of Group I projects with high environmental risk and Group II projects with environmental risk are in Appendices III and IV of Decree 08/2022/ND-CP.
Projects building and operating industrial park or industrial cluster infrastructure fall in the EIA group. For secondary projects in a park — factories — whether a full EIA report or a simpler environmental procedure (environmental registration, environmental license) is needed depends on each project's type, scale, capacity and waste characteristics against the appendix lists. For example, an electronic components manufacturing project needs an EIA only if one of its stages poses environmental pollution risks under the detailed rules — a rule that has significantly reduced the number of projects requiring EIA.
4. The 2026 EIA legal framework: three layers to master
The first layer is the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection (72/2020/QH14) — the root instrument on project classification (Article 28), EIA subjects (Article 30), appraisal authority (Article 35), duties upon project changes (Article 37), and the environmental license regime.
The second layer is Decree 08/2022/ND-CP detailing implementation, with project list appendices, report content rules, appraisal procedures, and environmental license procedures.
The third layer is the two amending decrees: Decree 05/2025/ND-CP (issued 6 January 2025) and Decree 48/2026/ND-CP (effective 29 January 2026). Both move toward strong decentralization of environmental authority to localities — consistent with the general decentralization policy of the administrative system. Park project owners in 2026 complete EIA procedures in a legal environment freshly "renewed" on authority, so identifying the right competent authority from the start saves much time.
5. The key update: Decree 48/2026/ND-CP
Decree 48/2026/ND-CP amends Decree 08/2022/ND-CP (as amended by Decree 05/2025/ND-CP), effective 29 January 2026. The most notable new points:
First, decentralizing EIA report appraisal and environmental licensing: provincial People's Committee chairpersons appraise EIA reports and issue environmental licenses for investment projects under the authority of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (the agency inheriting environmental management functions from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment after the apparatus reorganization), except special cases such as projects spanning two or more provincial-level administrative units or in sea areas without determined administrative responsibility. This means most industrial park projects will complete procedures at the province — closer and faster.
Second, revised rules on adjusting, reissuing and revoking environmental licenses (Article 30 of Decree 08/2022/ND-CP): clarifying when project owners must adjust licenses upon changes — such as changes under Article 44(2)(a) of the Law on Environmental Protection, increased scale or capacity, or production technology changes affecting licensed content — and cases requiring only reporting in periodic environmental reports.
Third, new rules on EIA appraisal and environmental licensing for projects spanning two or more provincial-level administrative units, resolving a long-standing authority puzzle for inter-provincial infrastructure projects.
6. The EIA process for an industrial park project
The standard process: prepare the EIA report (the project owner hires a qualified consulting firm); organize community, agency and organization consultations during report preparation — consultation results are one of the 10 mandatory report contents; submit the dossier and appraise the report through an appraisal council established by the competent authority; revise and supplement the report per council requirements (in practice usually 1–2 rounds); approve the appraisal results by decision of the competent authority.
After the approval decision, the project owner builds environmental protection works and measures exactly per the approved report; conducts trial operation of waste treatment works (if applicable); and obtains the environmental license before official operation. The whole process demands close coordination among the project owner, the environmental consultant and the regulator — experience shows first-submission report quality largely determines the timeline.
7. Park infrastructure vs. secondary projects: who does the EIA
Responsibilities must be clearly separated at two levels. The industrial park infrastructure investor prepares the EIA report for the entire infrastructure project: land levelling, roads, water supply and drainage, the centralized wastewater treatment plant, waste treatment areas, landscaping. This report assesses the park's overall impact when filled with secondary factories per the approved functional zoning plan.
Each secondary investor (factory) in the park completes its own environmental procedure per its type and scale: a separate EIA report, an environmental license, or environmental registration. A convenience: secondary projects in a park with an approved EIA report and a compliant centralized wastewater treatment system are considered at a simpler level in many cases — but that does not mean full exemption.
Coordination duties: the park infrastructure investor must invest in and operate the centralized wastewater treatment system to standards and conduct periodic environmental monitoring for the whole park; secondary investors must pre-treat wastewater to connection standards, manage their own waste and comply with park rules.
8. When an EIA report must be redone
This is what many project owners take lightly. Under Article 37(4)(a) of the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection and Article 27(2) of Decree 08/2022/ND-CP, during project preparation and implementation before operation, the project owner must conduct an EIA when changes against the approval decision include: increasing project scale or capacity to the point requiring adjusted investment approval or an amended investment registration certificate; changing production technology so waste exceeds the treatment capacity of approved environmental works; changing waste treatment technology with potential adverse environmental impacts; changing the project location (except changes conforming to the functional zoning plan within the park or cluster); or changing the treated wastewater discharge location to a water source with stricter standards or changing the receiving source in ways increasing pollution, erosion or subsidence.
Park practice shows that expanding workshops, increasing capacity and adding new production lines are regular needs of secondary investors. Each time, assess immediately whether it falls in the redo cases — implementing first and seeking approval later is the shortest path to a penalty and suspension decision.
9. The relationship between EIA and the environmental license
Many project owners confuse these two procedures. EIA is the ex-ante assessment — forecasting impacts and committing to measures; the environmental license is the operation permit — confirming the project or facility meets environmental requirements to discharge waste with specific parameters. The logical sequence: prepare and approve the EIA before implementing the project; build environmental protection works per the approved report; trial operation; obtain the environmental license, then officially operate.
Decree 05/2025/ND-CP allows environmental licensing to proceed concurrently with EIA report appraisal in some cases, shortening time and procedures. But this does not change the nature of two independent procedures with different purposes — project owners must still fully meet both.
10. Common investor mistakes
First mistake: breaking ground without the EIA approval decision, thinking "build first, complete the dossier later." Second: hiring a low-quality consultant whose sketchy report needs many revisions, delaying progress by months. Third: not implementing the committed environmental measures — during inspections, regulators compare reality against the approved report, and discrepancies are violations. Fourth: expanding or changing technology without reassessing EIA duties. Fifth: neglecting periodic environmental monitoring and the annual environmental protection report — a continuing obligation that does not end with the license.
11. Frequently asked questions
Must an industrial park infrastructure project conduct an EIA? As a rule, yes. Projects building and operating industrial park infrastructure fall in the group with environmental risks and are subject to EIA under Article 30 of the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection, detailed in Appendices III and IV of Decree 08/2022/ND-CP. The park infrastructure investor must prepare an EIA report for the whole infrastructure project before implementation, and each secondary project (factory) in the park must complete its own environmental procedure according to its scale and nature.
When did Decree 48/2026/ND-CP take effect and what changed? Decree 48/2026/ND-CP, amending Decree 08/2022/ND-CP (as amended by Decree 05/2025/ND-CP), took effect on 29 January 2026. The key change is strong decentralization: provincial People's Committee chairpersons appraise EIA reports and issue environmental licenses for investment projects under the authority of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (except special cases), alongside revised rules on adjusting, reissuing and revoking environmental licenses.
Do capacity or technology changes require a new EIA? It depends on the change's scale. Under Article 37(4)(a) of the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection and Article 27(2) of Decree 08/2022/ND-CP, the project owner must conduct an EIA when changes increase adverse environmental impacts, such as: increasing scale or capacity to the point requiring adjusted investment approval or an amended investment registration certificate; changing production technology so that waste exceeds treatment capacity; changing waste treatment technology; changing the project location; or changing the wastewater discharge point or receiving source.
How do EIA and the environmental license differ? EIA is the process of analyzing, assessing and forecasting a project's environmental impacts and proposing mitigation measures, done before project implementation; its result is the decision approving the EIA report appraisal. The environmental license is the document permitting the project or facility to discharge waste into the environment under specific requirements and conditions — a condition for the project's official operation. In short: EIA comes first; the environmental license is the condition for operation.
How long does EIA report appraisal take? Appraisal time limits are specified in Decree 08/2022/ND-CP and its amendments, varying by authority (ministry or provincial People's Committee) and project nature. In practice, total time from report preparation to approval decision often spans several months, heavily dependent on report quality and the number of revision rounds required by the appraisal council. Investors should start the EIA procedure in parallel from the investment preparation stage.
What happens if a project proceeds without an EIA? This is a serious environmental violation. The project may be suspended, forced to complete a supplementary EIA, and the investor faces very high administrative fines, possibly with additional sanctions such as time-limited suspension. Where serious pollution is caused, related organizations and individuals may face criminal liability for environmental pollution.
12. When to work with a lawyer
Industrial park project owners should work with a lawyer when: determining EIA subjects and authority for a new project; selecting and controlling the quality of environmental consultants; handling project changes at risk of redoing the EIA; applying for or adjusting environmental licenses; working with environmental inspection teams; and when environmental incidents require legal crisis management. For foreign investors, the lawyer also bridges explanations of Vietnam's environmental law system and coordinates with international environmental consultants.
FLAT Law Firm advises on environmental law for industrial park projects and secondary investors: determining EIA duties, reviewing environmental dossiers, supporting licensing procedures, and handling issues arising during operation. Contact our hotline at 0988424851 from the investment preparation stage so environmental procedures never become your project's bottleneck.
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