Law No. 19,300 of General Bases of the Environment establishes in its article 10 which are the investment projects that must be submitted to the preventive Environmental Impact Assessment System (SEIA) and for this there are two modalities, a simplistic one “to comply with the law” which this columnist considers to be a salute to the flag and the other more serious and rigorous. The first is known as the “Declaration” and the second is the so-called “Study.”
Article 11 of this law says which projects are subject to a Studythis if they generate at least one of the effects, characteristics or circumstances described there and obviously, for reasons that are easy to understand, more than 95% of the productive activities carried out in Chile choose the Statements and sometimes, when project owners have doubts about whether they should enter the SEIA, they ask the Environmental Evaluation Service (SEA) if this is “pertinent.”
Speaking of “relevance”, some time ago we denounced in the press a son of Eleodoro Matte Larraín, because he had convinced the regional director of SEA, Arturo Farías, via a play on words, that it was possible to build their refined and spacious 2 houses to be located in a rural sector, placed under official protection of the State, in the commune of Lo Barnechea, where this type of activities is not allowed. We do not know if the publication in question had any effect, because the situation, due to lack of time, was not reported to either the municipality or the Comptroller General of the Republic, therefore possibly those properties have already been built.
In the Studies Citizen participation is admitted, which substantially improves the evaluation of the projects, but in the Statements is limited only if certain requirements are met, namely,
It must be requested by at least 2 citizen organizations with current legal personality, through their representatives; or ten natural persons directly affected by the project.
It must be formulated in writing.
It must be presented within a period of 30 days, counted from the publication of the list of DIAs entered into the SEIA in the Official Gazette, in which the name of the project or activity appears with respect to which it is intended to request Citizen Participation. The publication of the DIA list in the Official Gazette is carried out on the first business day of each month.
According to article 8 of the law in question, for the start of works of the projects that are evaluated, either as Declaration o Studyits owners must have a favorable environmental qualification resolution issued by the competent authority and as a consequence of interpretative errors by the different sector officials, for a long time it was considered that this requirement was to receive the tasks of the projects, which was a major brand stupidity, endorsed by many, because with that ridiculous criterion the environmental evaluation was no longer preventive.
To evade this legal obligation, some lively businessmen, especially those who operate in the real estate sector, divide their activities, for example their projects of 500 homes, they treat them as if they were two, one with 299 homes and the other with 201 homes, since the legislation mandates that only construction projects of more than 300 homes enter the SEIA. This is what is called the “Chilean mischief” and in recent times, because it is so crude and obvious, it is more difficult to carry out.
What is the good news for the country?
Through Supreme Decree No. 30/2023, published in the Official Gazette on 02/01/2024, after approval by the Comptroller General of the Republic, the SEIA was modified, in terms that now the Statements will have Monitoring Plans for Environmental Variables, which were contemplated for the Studies. This necessary and timely decree expresses that the Environmental Qualification Resolution of a Declaration or Environmental Impact Study may be reviewed by the Service, exceptionally, ex officio or at the request of the owner, the person directly affected or the same Superintendency of the Environment (SMA). ).
The above is a consequence of climate change, since sometimes the variables evaluated could be different and the impacts initially considered insignificant have become significant and therefore the measures to be adopted to correct these negative situations have to be different. Therefore, the guiding hand of Minister Maisa Rojas, an expert on the subject, is evident.
We have no doubt that the influential and loquacious business associations, those that claim to promote sustainable development in their advertising, such as the Confederation of Production and Commerce (CPC), the Chilean Chamber of Construction (CChC) and others are already dealing with the matter, via their connoted lobbyists, with Minister Grau of Economy, to repeal this momentous advance in environmental regulation. Let us remember that some of these business leaders maintain that climate change is nonsense propagated by extreme environmentalists and therefore it is highly recommended that they know the Escazú Agreement, to which our country adhered in 2022.
Finally, the press that cares for the commercial interests of the above, has already opposed the content of this Supreme Decree, with the futile argument that this regulatory change must be made through a law approved by parliamentarians, thereby demonstrates his lack of knowledge on the subject.
