New Regulations Of The National Environmental Impact Assessment System

Honduras Environment is regulated by the General Law of the Environment and its bylaws; the General Bylaws of Environmental Health; and by the National Environmental Impact Assessment System bylaws.

The National Environmental Impact Assessment System (in Spanish and hereinafter indicated as SINEIA) was created by the General Environment Law (Decree 104-93 , May 27th 1993) to submit, for a previous environmental impact assessment (in Spanish, EIA), the projects, industry facilities or any other private or public activity that could diminish or contaminate the environment.

Furthermore, the National Environmental Impact Assessment System bylaws were enacted on December 17th 1993 and published on March 5th 1994 to provide the legal framework required for the implementation of the SINEA.

Last December 31st 2009 the Secretary of Natural Resources and the Environment (SERNA) enacted new reforms to the Regulations of the SINEIA through Agreement Number 189-2009.

The Regulations of the National Environmental Impact Assessment System are based on the following principles: Prevention, Precaution, Environmental Responsibility, Proportion, and Gradual, Audit based on Credentials and Certifications and Clear rules.

Most of the Regulations' reforms are focused on the requirements for obtaining an environmental license which include: the categories; the procedure for the study of the environmental impact; and, the procedure for the control of the human activities and environmental incentives.

It is provided that the Environmental License will have a tariff that must be paid according to the total value of the project.

There are 4 categories now, depending on the different kinds of environmental impact: low environmental impact, moderate environmental impact and high...