Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in Chile: A Comprehensive Guide
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in Chile
Environmental Quality Standards
Primary Environmental Quality Standard
This standard sets the maximum or minimum allowable concentrations and periods for elements, compounds, chemicals, derivatives, or biological, energy, radiation, vibration, noise, or a combination thereof, whose presence or absence in the environment may pose a risk to human life or health.
High Standard of Environmental Quality
This standard sets the maximum or minimum allowable concentrations and periods for substances, elements, energy, or a combination thereof, whose presence or absence in the environment may constitute a risk to environmental security, conservation, or nature preservation.
Emission Standards
These standards establish the maximum allowable amount of a pollutant measured in the effluent from the source.
CONAMA and SEIA
Law 19,300 established the National Environmental Commission (CONAMA) and the Environmental Impact Assessment System (SEIA). CONAMA is a public service entity responsible for environmental protection and regulation in Chile. The SEIA is a crucial management tool that assesses the environmental impacts of investment projects and productive activities.
Environmental Impact
Direct Environmental Impact
Involves the partial or total loss of a resource or deterioration of an environmental variable (e.g., water contamination, deforestation).
Indirect Environmental Impact
Induced and/or creates other risks to the environment (e.g., anthropogenic erosion, floods).
Impact Assessment System
Analysis of Impact on Water Quality
Water quality criteria are defined as the levels of constituent concentrations expected to ensure specific uses. Quality standards are legal regulations limiting the concentration of various constituents in water.
Indicators of Water Quality (Surface Water and Groundwater)
- Temperature
- pH
- Conductivity
- Turbidity
- Dissolved Solids
- Total Suspended Solids
- BOD5
- COD
- Dissolved Oxygen
- Alkalinity
- Nitrates
- Nitrites
- Ammonia
- Nitrogen Kjeldhl
- Phosphates
- Sulphates
- Chlorides
- Iron
- Manganese
- Calcium
- Magnesium
- Potassium
- Sodium
- Silica
- Mercury
- Cadmium
- Arsenic
- Lead
- Copper
- Fecal Coliform
- Total Pesticides
Indicators of Air Quality
- Total Suspended Particulate Matter
- Settleable Particulate Matter
- Respirable Fraction (PM10)
- Carbon Monoxide (CO)
- Sulphur Dioxide (SO2)
- Nitrogen Oxide (NO, NO2, Total)
- Volatile Hydrocarbons (CH4 and others)
- Photochemical Oxidants (Ozone)
- Total Particulate Matter
- Arsenic (As)
- Carbon (CO)
- Hydrocarbons
- Oxides of Nitrogen
Land Degradation
The processes of land degradation can be grouped into five categories: erosion, excess salts, chemical degradation, physical degradation, and biological degradation.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
The EIA is the study of the effects on the environment generated by human action. It is a powerful tool for designing processes with minimal environmental impact.
When is an EIA needed?
- When providing information relevant to development activities.
- When the environment can be significantly altered.
- When the environment is worthy of special protection.
Important Issues in the EIA Process
- Decide early if an environmental impact assessment is required.
- Scan only actions that have significant impacts on the environment.
- Incorporate criteria for deciding early significant impacts, such as:
- Affecting the quality of air and water.
- Adversely affecting natural resources and environmental protection.
- Creating undesirable impacts such as deterioration of the landscape, generating noise, and others.
- Causing the discharge of toxic or hazardous materials or generating waste.
- Causing adverse cumulative effects.
- Causing adverse socio-cultural impacts.
- Causing significant public controversy.
Income Assessment System (SEIA)
Law 19,300 requires all projects to be submitted to the SEIA, which is a cross-evaluation process performed by public services to ensure that the construction and operational phases of the project safeguard and protect the environment.
About SEIA
The objective of the EIA is to ensure that activities are sustainable from an environmental standpoint. The SEIA can be submitted as an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
When must a project be submitted to an EIA?
A project must submit an EIA when it presents some of the effects, characteristics, or circumstances set out in Article 11 of Law 19,300 and in Part II with Articles 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 of DS 95/01.
What should an Environmental Impact Study contain?
An Environmental Impact Study must contain a description of the project, a compliance plan, a baseline, a description of the effects, characteristics, or circumstances giving rise to the need for an EIA, identification, prediction, and evaluation of environmental impacts, a mitigation plan, and a monitoring plan.
What should an Environmental Impact Statement contain?
An EIS should be in the form of an affidavit, stating that it complies with existing environmental regulations and accompanying all background information to enable the authority to assess whether its environmental impact conforms to environmental standards.
Emission Standards
DS 90/00 Emission Standards
This standard establishes maximum allowable pollutant concentrations in wastewater discharged into marine and inland surface waters of Chile.
DS 46/00 Emission Standards
This standard regulates liquid discharges to groundwater through infiltration works.
DS 609/00 Emission Standards
This standard regulates liquid discharges to public sewers.
Qualification Procedure for Industrial Establishments (PC&I)
The PC&I is required when the available information does not allow the authority to determine if the waste fluids to be evacuated by economic activities exceed a certain threshold.
Dilution Rate of Effluent Discharge
The dilution rate of effluent discharge (d) is the ratio of the available flow of the receiving water body to the average monthly flow of the effluent discharged during the month of maximum production of liquid waste.
Ecological Flow
Ecological flow is defined as the minimum flow required to ensure the preservation of nature and the environment.
Sold Watershed
Sold watersheds are those basins that have all permanent consumptive rights allocated, with no available flow for dilution.