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Food Safety: Regulation in Guatemala

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Cases of people contracting diseases due to the consumption of food or water that are contaminated by microorganisms, dangerous germs and/or toxic chemicals that can even cause death are regularly recorded. It is estimated that each year around 600 million people worldwide – almost 1 in 10 inhabitants – get sick from eating contaminated food.

Water and food are safe when they are free of dangerous microbes (bacteria, viruses, parasites, or fungi), chemicals (allergens, veterinary drug residues, agrochemicals, or toxins), or external physical agents (soil, hair, insects, etc.) that They are a risk to our health.

A safe food is also called innocuous.

Food safety is defined as “ the assurance that food will not cause harm to the consumer when it is prepared and/or consumed according to its intended use”.

The World Health Organization, for its part, establishes that access to safe and nutritious food in sufficient quantity is essential to sustain life and promote good health. Furthermore, the provision of safe food strengthens national economies, trade and tourism, contributes to food and nutrition security, and serves as a foundation for sustainable development.

Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance

In accordance with the Guatemalan legal order, the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance is the governing body of the office of the State Executive Organism, to comply with the constitutional mandate of ensuring the health and social assistance of the inhabitants. In this sense, the aforementioned Ministry, through the Department of Regulation and Surveillance of Food and Beverages, will control:

The quality and safety of products for human consumption, monitoring good manufacturing practices; through the granting of health licenses and/or reference health records.

Sanitary license

Through the sanitary license, the General Directorate of Regulation, Surveillance and Control of Health, seeks to measure a minimum of hygiene standards and manufacturing practices that guarantee the safety and quality of products for human consumption and is mandatory for each establishment. where activities of food industrialization, preparation and sale of food are carried out.

All owners of food establishments, prior to their operation or opening to the public, must obtain the sanitary license issued by the Department of Food Regulation and Control. It is important to take into account that the operation of food establishments without a valid sanitary license is prohibited.

Food handling

One of the necessary requirements of a food establishment or production unit is to ask food handlers for valid health documents that are legally appropriate, to check their good condition and maintain their health history. These documents consist of the lungs card and the food handling card.

It is a duty of the food industry and food vendors, the health training of food handlers. This training is received at the Health Center closest to where the food establishment or production unit is located.

Therefore, it is necessary to consider these legal aspects for food-related industries in order to guarantee that they will not cause harm to the consumer.

New Regulation for the drilling of wells and use of groundwater in Costa Rica

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On Friday, September 10, the new Regulation for the drilling of wells and use of groundwater was published , which is already in force. Below, we share the most important aspects of the regulation.

Regulation for the authorization of a well

  1. The WATER DIRECTORATE assumes the role of single window for drilling procedures and will give a hearing to SENARA and the AYA. This means that it will no longer be necessary to go to SENARA for the registration of wells, but rather that everything will be done under the procedure instructed by the WATER DIRECTORATE.
  2. The regulation defines the powers of each of the institutions involved:
  • The AYA is only responsible for ruling on the impact of an eventual drilling towards the water sources operated by the AYA or the ASADAS under its control.
  • The WATER DIRECTORATE is responsible for resolving the drilling permit for exploratory purposes. In addition, it is responsible for analyzing and defining the interference between wells and bodies of water and issuing a recommendation to MINAE on the granting of the concession.
  • SENARA, once the well has been drilled, is responsible for deciding on its final conditions (depth, diameter, casing, sanitary seals) in relation to the characterization of the aquifer.
  1. It is established that, for wells in the condominium self-supply modality, drilling must be carried out within the condominium and in a common area.
  2. The drilling procedure will be carried out in conjunction with the concession request, so from that moment on, the amount of water to be requested and its uses must be clear.
  3. The drilling request can only be made by the owner or possessor of the land.
  4. The term for granting the drilling permit is 7 business days.
  5. The drilling site may be located within a maximum margin of +20 meters from the authorized point.
  6. The drilling must be carried out within a month after the permit is granted, the extension of this period must be requested 10 days in advance.
  7. Both the drilling report and the pumping test must be submitted within 10 days of drilling:
  • If the concession is for population use or condominium self-supply, the pumping test must last 72 hours.
  • For any other use, the test will be up to 24 hours. The wording implies that the period may be shorter. 
  1. It is established that the protection radius of 40 meters of the wells must not go beyond the boundaries of the property. Therefore, no well may be drilled within 40 meters of the property limits.
  2. Saline Intrusion: The WATER DIRECTORATE will no longer request saline intrusion studies for any well that is less than 1 km from the sea. But if, based on various technical criteria, it concludes that there is a risk of saline intrusion, it will request the concessionaire to submit quarterly water quality reports. Said duty would be notified in the resolution granting the concession.
  3. After all the studies are presented and the edicts are published, the WATER DIRECTORATE has one month to resolve the authorization of the well.

Regulation for the Underground Water Concession.

  1. The concession process for the use of water will begin only when the WATER DIRECTORATE considers the well enabled.
  2. A concession request for a property other than the one where the drilling is located is allowed: in the event that the property where the drilling is located does not correspond to that of the exploitation, authorization from the owner of the land where the water will be collected must be provided. . This does not apply when the request is for the supply of water for human consumption by the population.
  3. It is established that the Water Directorate must issue the project granting the concession for the signature of MINAE, within a period of one month after the technical recommendation is issued. However, no deadline is set for the issuance of this technical recommendation.
  4. MINAE has a legal term to approve the concession of one month after receiving the draft resolution from the WATER DIRECTORATE.

Trends in energy production and consumption

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Energy production is responsible for around 80% of CO 2 emissions and two thirds of all greenhouse gases, the main cause of global warming. Reducing these emissions is essential to ensure the subsistence of life on the planet, therefore, the Paris Agreement has proposed that each country determine its own objectives in order to keep the increase in average global temperature below 2 degrees with relative to pre-industrial levels and to continue efforts to reduce the increase to 1.5 degrees.

Notwithstanding the obvious need to reduce emissions caused by the energy industry, we face the contradiction of having to increase energy production. To understand the challenges we face, we must consider the following:

  1. That the constant supply of energy is necessary for the enjoyment of human rights such as health, food, access to information, communication and transportation, which are essential to guarantee a dignified life for every person.
  2. That both the International Energy Agency and the largest companies in the energy sector agree that the demand for energy will tend to increase throughout the 21st century. By 2040 it is estimated that 30% more energy will have to be produced than is currently produced, this is equivalent to adding a new China and India to the current electricity demand.
  3. It is estimated that by 2030 there will still be 675 million people without a constant supply of energy, so there are still many homes to which the energy distribution network must be extended.

To face these challenges and at the same time conserve the environment, the following are of vital importance: i) the production of energy from renewable sources due to the low pollution they cause and ii) the efficient consumption of energy, so that more and more have to resort less to polluting energy sources to meet global energy demand.

The production of energy through renewable sources is growing at a fast pace, it is estimated that it will increase by 40% by the year 2020 and that by the year 2040 two thirds of the investment destined for energy production will be captured by renewable means.

Despite the rapid increase in renewable energy, we cannot just wait for energy transfer to renewable sources, as the challenge presented by global warming persists as always, with 2017 being the hottest year on record.

Apparently, global warming is progressing faster than the transfer to renewable energy. Therefore, to win the race for terrestrial survival, it is also necessary to rely on efficiency in energy consumption, that is, that the existing energy yields more and reduce waste.

The rational use of energy can be promoted on a large scale in different ways:

  • Electricity consumption bands : Minimum and maximum consumption limits are imposed, in this way, whoever exceeds the maximum limit of electricity consumption will suffer a penalty in the price to pay, while customers whose consumption is less than the minimum limit, will enjoy a reduction on your monthly bill.

In Costa Rica, this system is used only halfway, since the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity penalizes those users whose consumption exceeds 200 kWh per month, applying a higher rate for each kilowatt consumed in excess.

Likewise, article 9 of the Sales Tax Law exempts from said tax electricity consumption of less than 250 kw/h, if the electricity demand exceeds this amount, the sales tax will be applied to the total energy consumed.

Thus, in Costa Rica only excess consumption is penalized, but savings are not rewarded.

  • Promotion for the consumption of low-consumption products : This promotion can be via tax exemption, such as the one applied by the Law for the Regulation of the Rational Use of Energy on a whole series of products such as fluorescent light bulbs or solar panels.

Also, at the beginning of this year, the Law on Incentives and Promotion of Electric Transport was approved, which creates tax exemptions that considerably reduce the prices of vehicles, facilities for financing the acquisition of means of electric transport and other benefits such as preferential parking for zero emission vehicles.

  • Prohibition of non-efficient electrical products : Such as Directive 011 of the Ministry of Environment and Energy that prohibits public institutions from purchasing incandescent light bulbs and any other equipment with low energy efficiency. Or the general prohibition that exists on these products in other countries.
  • Establish maximum limits on consumption : Like the Law for the Regulation of the Rational Use of Energy, which establishes a maximum limit for electricity consumption by industry and whoever exceeds it, must present a plan for the gradual reduction of consumption.

As for individual initiatives for energy efficiency, joint construction and conditioning measures are usually taken, adoption of adequate equipment and the conscious use of electrical equipment. For example:

  1. Construction and conditioning:
  • With the use of climate control means such as adhesive solar filters on windows, the thermal impact of solar radiation on the interior of the building can be reduced and dependence on air conditioners can be reduced.
  • In terms of lighting, the interior arrangement of buildings in such a way that natural light is properly used reduces dependence on artificial light for up to 12 hours.
  1. Adoption of suitable equipment:
  • When it is not possible to completely avoid the use of air conditioners, it should be taken into account that centralized systems tend to use less energy than individual units.
  • Incandescent light bulbs waste 90% of the energy in heat, while only 10% is used to produce light. Switching to fluorescent bulbs uses up to 4 times more energy and reduces the heat generated by the bulbs, which also reduces the need for air conditioning systems.
  1. Conscientious use of electrical equipment:
  • The use of air conditioners in automatic mode to maintain a suitable temperature and at certain times, reduces the intensity of use
  • The use of natural light can save up to 22% of the energy used in buildings.
  • Regarding the use of electronic equipment, simple measures such as the adoption of black screen savers, sleep times and even automatic shutdown of equipment in disuse, generate a significant reduction in energy consumption.

There are many other measures that can be applied in terms of energy efficiency, which in addition to playing a fundamental role in the challenges that humanity currently faces, represent economic savings in the short and medium term, so being a win-win scenario, there is no real compelling reason not to adopt them.

  

Soil degradation in Nicaragua

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To continue with terrestrial life as we know it, proper soil management must be promoted, in order to avoid its degradation. The term “Soil Degradation”, in accordance with the provisions of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), is defined as: ” a change in the health of the soil resulting in a diminished capacity of the ecosystem to produce goods or provide services for its beneficiaries ”.

The most common causes and consequences in Nicaragua of soil degradation are the following:

  • Chemical degradation:  The extensive use of pesticides causes soil poisoning, which adversely affects its ability to reintegrate its own physical and chemical elements.
  • Expansive grazing: Product of the absence of a plantation system established for this purpose. Herds graze freely without any restrictions, so much of the existing vegetation cover is affected.
  • Physical erosion:  The absence of vegetation cover produced by the burning of pastures, cutting of all the stubble and felling of trees, causes sediments or fractures to be generated in the land.

According to studies by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), soil degradation in Nicaragua is alarming and threatens not only production, but also the health and nutrition of the inhabitants of the Pacific and Central zones, due to the soil recovery is forty times slower than the rest of the countries in the region.

In order to mitigate the impact on the soil, public and private policies are necessary, for which CIAT together with the National Agrarian University (UNA), with the support of the Nicaraguan Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA), have developed maps updated on land use in Nicaragua.

Additionally, it is essential to make farmers aware so that they modify their production practices, and immediately carry out at least the following environmentally friendly practices.

      • Promote the use of organic fertilizers, instead of chemical components.
      • Develop silvopastoral systems, that is, cattle graze on extensions of wooded land.
      • Do not carry out agricultural burning, develop forest plantations, and avoid indiscriminate felling of trees

Water Resource Preservation

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The water resource in Guatemala is abundant, it has a large number of rivers and lakes throughout the territory.

Among the most important bodies of water, Lake Atitlán, located in the department of Sololá, can be mentioned. It is a protected area under the category of multiple use reserve. Derived from this category, it has a technical and scientific authority called the Authority for the Sustainable Management of the Lake Atitlán Basin and its Surroundings –AMSCLAE-.

This lake is surrounded by a series of municipalities and indigenous communities that live from tourism, this being one of the main sources of economic income. Likewise, there are a large number of hotels that provide tourism and accommodation services. Both the communities and the hotels have generated pollution towards the lake, due to the discharge of residual waters, solid residues, erosion and currents causing considerable damage to it.

From this account, in October 2016, the Municipality of San Pedro La Laguna issued a municipal agreement prohibiting the sale and distribution of plastic bags, duroport (Stereophone) and straws, sanctioning their use with a monetary fine.

In 2017, the indigenous communities that are around the lake, organized themselves in order to support the initiative proposed by the Municipality of San Pedro La Laguna, since natural resources are important from their ancestral traditions and Mayan worldview, for both also rejected the use of straws, plastic bags and duroport.

Part of the activities that the communities are carrying out is the sale of indigenous cloth bags for use in the markets, or selling cloth napkins to be able to deliver tortillas to the residents. They also carry out recycling activities to avoid the discharge of wastewater or solid waste.

Let’s implement preventive measures to conserve water resources, guaranteeing the enjoyment of this vital liquid for future generations.

Climate Change and forest preservation in El Salvador

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Pollution and the deterioration of El Salvador’s natural resources, to date, have not taken relevance on the list of national priorities, both for legislators, politicians and Salvadoran citizens in general. The execution of the plans and projects do not currently occupy the arena of the most relevant issues or national interest.

El Salvador is one of the four most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change. Its small area – 20 thousand km2 – and its more than 6.3 million inhabitants, expose it to extreme impacts between hurricanes, tropical storms and droughts. In addition to these, the cause of the high vulnerability is the accumulated effects of highly degrading agricultural practices in more than 70% of the territory, causing the loss of biodiversity, soil and water.

El Salvador is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, since the latter affects a wide range of areas of life, among which we can mention: health, the quality of life of each citizen, agricultural production, construction, road connectivity, among others. Adapting to these events is urgent for El Salvador, if it intends, not only to seek to reduce the risks associated with climate change, but also to reverse the environmental degradation suffered by most of the territory and the ecosystems that comprise it.

The current global goal is to prevent the global temperature from increasing by 2 degrees. But El Salvador and the rest of the Central American countries have little to contribute to this objective. Yes, the country is one of the most impacted by the consequences of Climate Change, it needs to adapt, but this cannot and should not be its only environmental priority.

At the national level we have several goals that could be considered priorities. One of them is the care of forest resources. In El Salvador there is only about 26% of forest resources left and that includes coffee plantations. This means that there is 70% deforestation, which is a critical environmental condition compared to other countries. After Haiti, El Salvador is the country with the highest level of environmental damage.

In order to reverse environmental degradation and reduce the country’s vulnerability to climate change, a restoration proposal has been proposed at the national level with initial actions that involve not only the Ministry of the Environment but also other actors of the State and society in In general, taking as action criteria, water management, wildlife conservation, soil management, adaptation to extreme weather events and regulation of the microclimate.

 The activities to be carried out have been divided into four major components:

  1. Restoration and reforestation of critical ecosystems; in order to recover the capacity to provide services, mainly recreation; water supply; microclimate regulation; erosion control; and decreased vulnerability to disasters associated with natural events. In addition to also recovering natural and gallery forests.
  2. Restoration of degraded soils; which is intended to be implemented through the adoption of climate-resilient Agroforestry Systems. This is a series of activities that allow the productive capacity of our soils to be recovered, restoring its lost functionality, its capacity to infiltrate water, its natural fertility and its value as a support for biological diversity.
  3. Synergistic development of physical infrastructure and natural infrastructure; It refers to a series of activities that allow the combination of physical infrastructure (grey) with natural infrastructure (green) in order to improve resilience capacity; above all, against the effects of extreme hydrometeorological events, such as storms and hurricanes.
  4. A new act;  joint implementation of the Institutions and local actors to promote the Governance of Natural Resources. This is a special component that seeks the definition of agreements between all the relevant actors of the landscapes to be restored. It supposes, therefore, a social process that considers culture, education and communication processes as key elements of the work, which allows the creation of a social monitoring platform.

El Salvador has the basic institutions to implement the plan developed by the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources, however it is important to consider that in order to have the desired effects, the intervention of all existing local institutions and actors in a territory is necessary. and specific landscape, and achieve the institutional arrangements that allow the coordination of activities, since it is one thing for the institutions to exist and another thing is for them to function for what they exist.

Taken from the Study “Towards the restoration and reforestation of ecosystems” 2017 Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of El Salvador.

Greenhouse gases, climate change and Honduras

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One of the main components of the atmosphere are greenhouse gases that accumulate spontaneously and due to human activities are capable of absorbing infrared radiation (heat release) from the earth’s surface, increasing and retaining heat in the earth. That is, they are those gases present on the surface of the atmosphere that give rise to the greenhouse effect.

Most GHGs are of natural origin. The abnormal increase in the concentration of GHG in the atmosphere twenty years ago according to the Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change with acronym in English IPCC is the product of the activities that man has been carrying out since the pre-industrial era. These have caused global warming which results in increased temperatures on land, air and oceans. Every year it can be seen that the climate is deteriorating rapidly, due to inappropriate human activities, causing the main problems in the environment and in people’s health. Among the main repercussions are the impacts to; health, agriculture, forests, water resources, coastal zones, wetlands, infrastructure, which affect all aspects of human life.

Human activities cause the production of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) to increase, according to the United Nations Organization. Fossil fuels are used to generate electricity, which represent a greater consumption of carbon dioxide (CO2) and for industrial processes, deforestation, decomposition of solid and liquid waste, poor practices in agriculture and livestock, inefficient industrial processes and refrigerant gases.

Climate change is currently registered as one of the greatest global challenges for humanity. To deal with it, mitigation activities must be implemented to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and it is also important to establish adaptation measures to climate change to reduce its negative impacts and make the most of the opportunities it generates.

According to the Scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in their V and latest report (known as AR5, 2013), they report with 95% certainty that human activities with an intensive use of fossil fuels (carbon, natural gas and petroleum-derived fuels) are causing additional global warming to that of natural cycles, and show that on land, in the air and in the oceans global warming is unequivocal. In addition, they conclude that “even if there were the possibility of immediately stopping all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, there would in any case be unavoidable damages of considerable magnitude that have already begun to be caused or will occur in the future, being in many irreversible cases.

For what the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Climate Change establishes in the report of the Working Group II of the AR5: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, presented in March 2014 the following:

  • Forecast for the Central American region: Increase in temperature and sea level, water scarcity, urban flooding, threat to food production, increase in tropical diseases, loss of biodiversity, among others.
  • Reaffirmation: Climate change is an indisputable phenomenon that has significant adverse effects and in many cases irreversible consequences, giving prominence to the urban environment as a key sector in terms of adaptation.

For Honduras, the impact of climate change for several years has been a reality that affects all species and ecosystems without distinction, and will continue to be one of the greatest challenges in the years and decades to come. The experiences that Honduras suffers each year in the face of extreme climate change phenomena, such as increased temperatures and heat waves, droughts, short-term torrential rains and floods, and an increase in tropical diseases, have generated great damage, economic and human losses. .

For more than seven years (since 2006) we have been classified as the third most vulnerable country and for the sixth consecutive year (since 2012), as the first country in the world most vulnerable to being hit by the extreme effects of climate change between 1997 -2016.

The report prepared by Germanwatch, according to the Global Climate Risk Index 2018, points out “in relative terms, the poorest developing countries are hit much more severely. The results show that less developed and poor countries are much more vulnerable to climate risks, although monetary losses are substantially higher in richer countries. Loss of life, human emergency and existential threat are also much more widespread in low-income countries.

The effects of climate change and vulnerability that are also evidenced in several national and regional studies and research of great importance, such as those of the Economics of Climate Change in Central America, where it is highlighted that Honduras and the rest of the Central American countries require an annual investment of 1.5 to 8% of their annual GDP to adapt to climate change.

Therefore, climate change is also a reality for the Capital of Honduras, the Municipality of the Central District (DC: Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela), an aspect that has become more acute after the ravages that Hurricane Mitch in 1998 left on the economy, health , infrastructure of the Central District among others, which shows the urgency of having a capital prepared to adapt to the effects of climate change.

Cities have gained prominence in climate action due to their direct intervention in the territory and their proximity to neighbors and institutions. A large part of the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are generated in them and, on the other hand, they are evident in greater The National Adaptation Plan is currently in its final draft version, in the “public hearing” phase in an Open Government Platform, to receive comments or observations. Once this stage is completed (until March or April 2018), it will be updated and the impacts of climate change will be considered as the final version.

It should be noted that the Government of Honduras already has a National Adaptation Plan (PNA), through the National Climate Change Directorate (DNCC) of MiAmbiente.

The way to face and combat climate change is through adaptation and mitigation; Mitigation consists of reducing greenhouse gases (GHG) through:

  • Renewable energy projects.
  • Energy efficiency projects.
  • Capture of methane from wastewater and municipal dumps.
  • Recovery of degraded areas.
  • Avoid deforestation.
  • Use of Biomass to generate electricity.
  • Biodigesters (Use of the gas and organic fertilizer that is produced.
  • Efficient kitchens.
  • Avoid the use of urea.
  • Activities that help to stabilize GHG in the atmosphere, control the increase in the earth’s temperature and reduce the vulnerability of Honduras and the Global Climate System.

Adaptation is the answer to survive the extreme effects of climate change by implementing;

  • Improve early warning and monitoring systems.
  • Relocation from stable areas to populations living in high-risk areas.
  • New ways of building (Bridges, Roads, Houses, ETC.).
  • New forms of land use without fertilizers (Urea fertilizers heat the earth 380 times more than CO2).
  • New forms of livestock activities.
  • Disaster risk preparedness.

This seeks to learn to live with the extreme effects of climate change, to reduce human and material losses; But it does not diminish the country’s vulnerability to the extreme effects of climate change. 

Promotion of renewable energies in El Salvador

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El Salvador promotes the creation of projects that promote the use of renewable energy through tax incentives. Investments that enable the sustainable development of projects that use this type of energy resources will benefit. All this in order to improve the quality of life of the population and comply with the commitments established in the “Kyoto Protocol” and the “United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change”, whose main purpose is to promote actions leading to a reduction in the effect of greenhouse gases.

By virtue of the foregoing, with the Law on Fiscal Incentives for the Promotion of Renewable Energies in Electricity Generation in force, it is intended that natural and legal persons who invest in plants for the generation of electrical energy or in expansion projects already existing, that use hydraulic, geothermal, wind, solar, marine, biogas or biomass resources; as well as any other source that in the future is identified as renewable for the generation of electrical energy, enjoy the following tax benefits, exclusively in relation to the costs and expenses of the investment corresponding to said projects:

  1. a) During the first ten years they will enjoy total exemption from the payment of Import Tariff Rights for machinery, equipment and supplies destined exclusively for the construction and expansion of the works of the electric power generation plants, including the construction of the network. necessary to distribute the energy from the generation plant.
  2. b) The income derived directly from the generation of renewable energy, will enjoy total exemption from the payment of Income Tax for a period of five (5) years in the case of projects greater than 10 megawatts (MW); and ten (10) years in the case of projects of 10 or less megawatts (MW); in both cases, counted from the fiscal year in which they obtain income derived from the generation of energy.
  3. c) Total exemption from the payment of all types of taxes on income derived directly from the sale of “Certificates of Reduced Emissions” (CER), within the framework of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol, or markets of similar carbon, obtained by the projects qualified and benefited according to this law.

In the case of geothermal power plants, the costs and expenses related to the activities related to the total reinjection process of the geothermal resource may be deducted from income tax for a maximum period of ten years. This deduction may not exceed twenty percent of the gross income generated in the previous year.

The management to obtain these benefits must be requested before the General Superintendency of Electricity and Communications (SIGET), which will issue a certification of the projects that meet the requirements to benefit from the tax incentives prescribed by law. Once the previous certification has been obtained, the respective processes must be initiated before the General Directorate of Internal Taxes and the General Directorate of Customs, both dependencies of the Ministry of Finance, to make the aforementioned benefits effective. 

Use of water in Protected Wild Areas

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Recently, the draft Law to Authorize the Use of Water for Human Consumption and Construction of Works in Heritage and Construction of Works in Natural Heritage of the State was approved in second debate, which, if not vetoed by the president for reasons of opportunity or constitutionality, will soon be incorporated into the Costa Rican regulatory body.

The project approved by the Legislative Assembly only has two articles, so its text leaves the door open to doubts about its application. However, in this case, the text of previous considerations that the legislators had at the time of approving the project, can give us a better understanding of the text of what will soon be law. Therefore, we present below a brief analysis of its implications:

  1. The operators of the public drinking water service may take water directly from the protected wild areas or the Natural Heritage of the State, as long as they are going to be used for human consumption. This conclusion is reached from a joint reading of the articles that make up the draft standard, in addition to the previous considerations of the same, where it is highlighted that the impact that the water intakes would generate on the environment is justified because access to the Drinking water is also a human right, and is of particular importance since other rights such as life and health depend on it.
  1. It is not an automatic authorization, so that the operators of the drinking water service can make use of the waters coming from the natural reserves, it is necessary that:
  • The AYA issues technical criteria on the possibility of taking advantage of water from a given source, and establishes the permitted limit.
  • The water collection project is declared of public interest.
  • The permit issued by MINAE for this purpose is obtained.
  1. Although precision is not made within the two articles, within the previous considerations, it is explained that the civil works that must be done for the water intake, must always be of low environmental impact, only to take advantage of water that runs superficially. , excluding the exploitation of underground water wells.

If larger works are necessary, they must be done outside the protected area.

  1. The use of water in protected wild areas and other places that make up the Natural Heritage of the State must always guarantee the environmental flow, understanding this as the amount of water that the environment needs for the proper development of ecosystems.

The decision to develop works within Protected Wilderness Areas and other properties that make up the Natural Heritage of the State is not easy, and should be avoided whenever possible. However, those who support the project find strong support in the importance of supplying drinking and clean water to all people, since the latter is also a fundamental right, which is also basic for other equally important rights.

Instrumentos Ambientales

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Derived from the rise of the environmental issue worldwide, an awareness is being generated in the preservation of natural resources and the conservation of the environment, which is accompanied by a series of regulations to that effect.

According to Guatemalan regulations, companies whose activities may cause damage to natural resources or the environment must have the respective licenses and must also meet minimum health requirements, which are described below.

ENVIRONMENTAL INSTRUMENTS

The environmental instrument is the generic name given to the authorization granted by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources for the development of works, projects or industries that have an impact on the environment. The impact on the environment or natural resources is evaluated by an environmental instrument, in which the mitigation measures that must be carried out are determined.

According to the Environmental Assessment, Control and Monitoring Regulation, the environmental instrument is divided into three classes: i) predictive, ii) corrective and iii) complementary.

The predictive  ones include all the environmental instruments that are carried out before the start of the work, project and industry, which according to their impact category can be:

  1. a) initial environmental assessment
  2. b) environmental impact assessment study
  3. c) strategic environmental assessment
  4. d) activity form for registration in the listings

The correctives  include all the environmental instruments that are carried out after the start of the work:

  1. a) environmental diagnosis
  2. b) low-impact environmental diagnosis
  3. c) corrective activities form for registration

The complementary  ones cover all the environmental instruments that support the predictive and corrective environmental instruments and these can be:

  1. a) environmental risk assessment
  2. b) social impact assessment
  3. c) evaluation of cumulative effects
  4. d) environmental management plan

The administrative procedure for the approval of an environmental instrument is as follows:

  • The proponent submits the file of the environmental instrument, whatever its nature, before the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.
  • The General Directorate of the Environment and Natural Resources issues an approving resolution specifying all the mitigation measures that the proponent must comply with in the project, work or industry. This resolution establishes the amount for which the project, work or industry must be guaranteed.
  • The proponent pays the bond corresponding to the amount indicated in the approving resolution issued by the General Directorate of Environment and Natural Resources.
  • The proponent requests the issuance of the corresponding Environmental License and this is issued by the General Directorate of Environment and Natural Resources, for a period of 3 to 5 years, at the request of the proponent.

It is necessary for the proponent to comply with all the steps of the related administrative procedure in order to operate or otherwise it would be subject to the imposition of fines that may consist of between Q. 5,000.00 and Q. 100,000.00 (approximately US$700.00 up to US$14,000.00) for each breach.

According to the Law for the Protection and Improvement of the Environment, any work, project, industry or activity that, due to its characteristics, may cause damage to renewable or non-renewable natural resources, or to the environment, must have an Environmental Impact Study approved by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources prior to its development.

In other words, any person, whether individual or legal, must carry out an Environmental Impact Study prior to carrying out any activity that generates a detriment to natural resources. If the person fails to comply, he will be subject to sanctions consisting of fines established in the Regulation of Evaluation, Control and Environmental Monitoring.

The Environmental Evaluation, Control and Monitoring Regulation was approved in July 2016 and granted a period of two years for people who do not have the Environmental Instrument to regularize their situation. Consequently, in July 2018, all persons who carry out a work, project, industry or activity that may damage renewable or non-renewable natural resources, or the environment, must have the respective Environmental Instrument. Said regulation establishes the requirements that the Environmental Impact Study must meet.

Given the period granted for people to regularize compliance with environmental obligations, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources is not imposing fines for not having the approved environmental instrument or for submitting the corrective environmental impact study after the start of the project. operations. The fines will be imposed upon expiration of the term granted to regularize the fulfillment of such duties, and will range between Q. 5,000.00 and Q. 100,000.001, depending on the category of the environmental instrument that should have been managed according to the activity that is developed and the environmental impact. to occur.

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