Promulgation of Law Amending 15 Laws in the Fields of Agriculture and Environment

On 11 December 2025, the National Assembly promulgated Law No. 146/2025/QH15, which amends 15 laws in the fields of agriculture and environment.

Within the scope of this article, we focus only on the amendments to:

• The Law on Environmental Protection No. 72/2020/QH14;
• The Law on Water Resources No. 28/2023/QH15.

Law No. 146/2025/QH15 takes effect from 01 January 2026. Key highlights of the Amended Law:

1. Transitional Provisions

• Administrative documents, permits, and certificates issued by competent authorities before 01 January 2026 and still valid shall continue to be applied and used until their stated expiry dates.
• For administrative procedures where dossiers were received before 01 January 2026 but have not yet been resolved, the handling shall continue in accordance with the legal provisions in force at the time of dossier receipt, unless the enterprise requests to apply the new Law.

2.Amendments to the Law on Environmental Protection No. 72/2020/QH14

a) Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)

Projects subject to appraisal of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment include:

• Group I investment projects as prescribed in Clause 3, Article 28 of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020;
• Group II investment projects specified in Points c, d, dd, and e, Clause 4, Article 28 that are implemented in two or more provinces and fall into one of the following projects:

b) Environmental Permits

Key Amendments to Environmental Permits:

 c) Waste Transportation

The new Law removes the requirement for:

     • Industrial solid waste transport vehicles carrying waste requiring treatment; and

     • Hazardous waste transport vehicles

to be equipped with positioning devices.

Transport vehicles are now only required to operate along routes and within timeframes specified by the provincial People’s Committee.

2. Amendments to the Law on Water Resources No. 28/2023/QH15

Declaration, Registration, and Licensing for Water Resource Exploration and Exploitation

The amended Law abolishes several provisions detailing declaration, registration, and licensing procedures for water resource exploration and exploitation, including:

• Article 54: Validity period of water exploitation and groundwater exploration licenses
• Article 55: Principles for registration and licensing
• Article 56: Bases for granting water exploitation and groundwater exploration licenses
• Article 57: Conditions for granting such licenses

These matters will now be further regulated by the Government through subordinate legislation.

 Conclusion

We hope this article has helped you gain a clearer understanding of Law No. 146/2025/QH15, which amends 15 laws in the fields of agriculture and environment.

 If you have any further questions or encounter any difficulties, please feel free to contact us here.

To see details of the Law, please see văn bản pháp luật

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