Environmental Management Instruments: Title II Analysis

Posted on Sep 12, 2024 in Economy

TITLE II: Environmental Management Instruments

Paragraph 1: Education and Research

Section 6.

The educational process at various levels must incorporate the integration of values and develop habits and behaviors that tend to prevent and resolve environmental problems. This will be achieved through the transmission of knowledge and teaching modern concepts of environmental protection, aimed at understanding and awareness of these issues.

Art 7.

The funding of scientific research, technological development, and social resources allocated in the Budget Law of the Nation will finance projects related to the environment, without prejudice to their specific purposes.

Paragraph 2: System of Environmental Impact Assessment

Section 8.

The projects or activities listed in Article 10 may be implemented or amended based on an environmental impact assessment in accordance with the provisions of this Act. All environmental permits or statements that, under existing law, should or may be issued by state agencies concerning projects and activities subject to the evaluation system, will be awarded through this system, according to the rules of this paragraph and its regulations. It is the responsibility of the Regional and National Environment Commission to manage the system for environmental impact assessment and coordinate with state agencies involved in it, for the purpose of obtaining the permits or statements referred to in the preceding paragraph.

Art 9.

The holder of any project or activity covered by Article 10 must submit an Environmental Impact Statement or develop an Environmental Impact Study, as appropriate. Those not covered by that Article may voluntarily opt into the system under this paragraph. Environmental Impact Statements or Environmental Impact Studies will be presented to the Regional Environmental Commission of the Region where the project or activity will be carried out, prior to its implementation, in order to obtain the appropriate permits. In cases where the activity or project may cause environmental impacts in areas located in different regions, the Environmental Impact Statements or Studies must be submitted to the Executive Director of the National Environment Commission. In case of doubt, it is the responsibility of this address to determine if the project or activity is affecting areas in different regions, either ex officio or at the request of one or more regional environmental committees or the holder of a project or activity. The review process of Environmental Impact Statements and the qualification of environmental impact studies will consider the reasoned opinion of the bodies with environmental competence in matters relating to the respective project or activity. The Regional and National Environment Commission may, where necessary, require reporting for this purpose.

Art 10.

The following projects or activities, which are likely to cause environmental impact in all their phases, must undergo an environmental impact assessment:

  1. Aqueducts, reservoirs or dams, and traps to be subject to clearance under Article 294 of the Water Code; dams, drainage, drying, dredging, or alteration of defense systems related to significant natural bodies of water or water courses.
  2. Electrical transmission lines and high voltage substations.
  3. Power generating stations larger than 3 MW.
  4. Nuclear reactors and facilities and related facilities.
  5. Airports, bus terminals, truck and train terminals, railroads, stations, highways, and public roads that may affect protected areas.
  6. Ports, waterways, shipyards, and marine terminals.
  7. Urban development or tourism projects in areas not covered by any of the plans referred to in the next point.
  8. Regional urban development plans, intercommunal plans, community master plans, sectional plans, industrial projects, or housing projects to modify or to run in areas declared dormant or saturated.
  9. Mining development projects, including coal, oil, and gas, comprising exploration, exploitation, processing plants, and waste and sterile disposal, and the industrial extraction of aggregates, peat, or clay.
  10. Pipelines for gas, mining, or similar purposes.
  11. Manufacturing facilities, such as metallurgical, chemical, textile, production of construction materials, equipment and metal products, and tanneries, of industrial size.
  12. Agro-industries, slaughterhouses, seedlings and breeding stables, dairy and animal feeding facilities, of industrial size.
  13. Development or logging projects in fragile soils, land covered in native forest, pulp industries, pulp and paper plants, chippers, wood-processing plants, and sawmills, all of industrial dimensions.
  14. Projects related to intensive farming, cultivation, and processing plants for aquatic resources.
  15. Production, storage, transportation, disposal, or reuse of toxic, explosive, radioactive, flammable, corrosive, or reactive materials.
  16. Environmental sanitation projects, such as sewer and water systems, drinking water treatment plants, and solid waste management from the point of origin, landfills, outfalls, and treatment systems and disposal of liquid or solid industrial waste.
  17. Execution of works, programs, or activities in national parks, national reserves, natural monuments, wilderness areas, wildlife sanctuaries, marine parks, marine reserves, or in any other areas placed under official protection, in cases where the relevant legislation permits.
  18. Application of chemical substances en masse in urban or rural areas near population centers or water courses or bodies that may be affected.

Art 11.

The projects or activities listed in the preceding article shall require the development of an Environmental Impact Study if they generate or have at least one of the following effects, characteristics, or circumstances:

  1. Risk to the health of the population due to the quantity and quality of effluents, emissions, or waste.
  2. Significant adverse effects on the quantity and quality of renewable natural resources, including soil, water, and air.
  3. Resettlement of human communities, or significant changes in living systems and habits of human groups.
  4. Location close to population centers, resources, and protected areas that may be affected, and the environmental value of the land where the project is to be deployed.
  5. Significant impairment, in terms of magnitude or duration, of the value of a scenic or tourist area.
  6. Alteration of monuments, sites of anthropological, archaeological, historical, and, in general, cultural heritage value.

For the purposes of risk assessment described in point (a) and adverse effects identified in point (b), the established environmental quality and emission standards in force shall be considered. In the absence of such standards, the standards established in the Regulations of the respective States will be used as a reference.

Art 12.

The Environmental Impact Study will consider the following matters:

  1. A description of the project or activity.
  2. The baseline environmental conditions.
  3. A detailed description of those effects, characteristics, or circumstances of Article 11 that give rise to the need to conduct an environmental impact study.
  4. A prediction and environmental impact assessment of the project or activity, including any risks.
  5. Measures to be taken to eliminate or minimize the adverse effects of the project or activity and restorative actions to be undertaken, wherever applicable.
  6. A plan for monitoring relevant environmental variables that give rise to the Environmental Impact Study.
  7. A plan for compliance with applicable environmental legislation.

Art 13.

For the purposes of compiling and classifying an Environmental Impact Study, the proposer and the Regional and National Environment Commission, where appropriate, will be subject to the rules prescribed by the regulations. This regulation will be issued as a supreme decree, through the Ministry General Secretariat of the Presidency, and will contain at least the following:

  1. A list of sectoral environmental permits, the requirements for granting them, and the formal and technical content needed to confirm compliance.
  2. Detailed minimum contents for the preparation of Environmental Impact Assessments, in accordance with the provisions of Articles 11 and 12.
  3. Administrative procedures for the processing of Environmental Impact Assessments, in accordance with the following article.

Art 14.

The administrative procedure referred to in point (c) of the previous article will consider the following aspects:

  1. Form of consultation and coordination with state agencies that have sectoral environmental responsibilities regarding the issuance of permits for the project or activity being assessed.
  2. Time frames for the various internal stages of the evaluation process of an Environmental Impact Study, in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
  3. Defining mechanisms for clarification, correction, and expansion of environmental impact studies in the event that it is necessary, in accordance with the provisions of Article 16.
  4. Form of participation of citizen organizations, in accordance with the provisions in the next paragraph.
  5. Form of notice to interested parties regarding the decision on the Environmental Impact Study.

Art 15.

The Regional and National Environment Commission, if applicable, shall have one hundred twenty days to rule on the Environmental Impact Study. A favorable rating on an environmental impact study will be accompanied by any permits or environmental statements that may be granted at that time by the relevant authorities.