This project belongs to Group A projects, classified based on criteria defined by laws on public investment, construction, and not involving production, business, or service activities that pose environmental pollution risks.

Ms. Kieu Trang (from Hanoi) asks which group the aforementioned project falls into according to environmental criteria and which authority approves the project's environmental impact assessment report.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment responded to this issue as follows:

According to the information provided by Ms. Trang, the project belongs to Group A projects, classified based on criteria defined by laws on public investment, construction, and not involving production, business, or service activities that pose environmental pollution risks. Additionally, it requires the conversion of paddy fields for at least two crops, as authorized by land laws. Therefore, it falls under the category specified in item 4 of Appendix III issued with the Government's Decree No. 08/2022/NĐ-CP dated January 10, 2022, which provides detailed regulations on certain provisions of the Environmental Protection Law (Group A projects with construction components classified based on criteria defined by laws on public investment, construction, and not involving production, business, or service activities that pose environmental pollution risks with environmental sensitivity factors stipulated in Article 4, Section 25 of this Decree).

In this case, the project must conduct an environmental impact assessment in accordance with Article 30, Section 1 of the Environmental Protection Law, and the assessment report must be reviewed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, as stipulated in Article 35, Section 1 of the Environmental Protection Law.