Background
The Ministry of Environment administers Cambodia’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) system and issues prakas to establish technical and procedural requirements for environmental assessment activities.
A prakas is a ministerial regulation used in Cambodia to set implementing rules and administrative procedures within a ministry’s legal mandate. On 9 July 2026, General Director Danh Serey of the General Department of Environmental Protection led a meeting with General Director Chea Channara of the General Department of Petroleum (Ministry of Mines and Energy) and 19 technical officers from the EIA department to review two draft prakas; the drafts address (1) project classification for EIA and (2) consultant service fees for preparing EIA studies and reports.
Scope of Application
The two draft prakas under review concern the procedural framework for determining which development and investment projects require environmental assessment and the formalization of consultant fee schedules for conducting EIA studies and preparing EIA reports. The drafts appear intended to apply to projects subject to the Ministry of Environment’s EIA mandate, including upstream and midstream petroleum-sector investments that require environmental assessment under existing EIA procedures.
Key Provisions or Decisions
The meeting convened to examine and provide technical comments on the text of both draft prakas; no final adoption was recorded in the source notice. The first draft prakas addresses classification criteria for development and investment projects that trigger different levels of EIA review. The second draft prakas proposes a framework for setting service fees charged by consultant firms engaged to perform EIA studies and to prepare the required reports.
Implications for Investors, Businesses, or Compliance
If adopted, the prakas would standardize how projects are categorized for environmental review and create defined fee structures for consultant services, which could affect budgeting and procurement for project developers in the petroleum sector. Project proponents and environmental consultants should monitor the drafting process to understand potential procedural changes in submission requirements, consultant qualifications, and cost estimations for EIA studies.
Official Source
Source: Ministry of Environment Facebook post, 9 July 2026 — https://www.facebook.com/MinistryOfEnvironmentCambodia/posts/pfbid0VYfEHVLNqGGD4UbAn4LLfs13iZCz7tSSJzwKKcKicXbLsdvxXcCE59xJbd2tvGpYl
