Bill 315.

Summary.

The bill establishes a framework for designating the upper part of the Río Zaratí sub-basin as a hydrological reserve. Its scope is that portion of the sub-basin. It directs the Ministry of Environment (Ministerio de Ambiente) to incorporate the reserve into the National System of Protected Areas (Sistema Nacional de Áreas Protegidas) and fund its protection, management plan and community training. The ministry would also define the reserve’s boundaries through a technical and scientific study coordinated with local communities, government bodies, the private sector and other participants. It would prepare, implement and update the management plan, issue permits and authorizations, coordinate management, and promote research, environmental monitoring and education.

The bill creates an Interinstitutional Commission (Comisión Interinstitucional) chaired by the Ministry of Environment. For activities under the Environmental Territorial Planning Plan and the Management Plan, it requires coordination with the Ministry of Agricultural Development (Ministerio de Desarrollo Agropecuario), Ministry of Health (Ministerio de Salud), Ministry of Housing (Ministerio de Vivienda), Ministry of Commerce and Industry (Ministerio de Comercio e Industria), Ministry of Public Works (Ministerio de Obras Públicas), Municipality of Penonomé (Municipio de Penonomé), Chamber of Commerce, Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers (Instituto de Acueductos y Alcantarillados), Tourism Authority (Autoridad de Turismo), Rural Aqueduct Administrative Boards, environmental and community organizations, and the Watershed Committee (Comité de Cuenca). The Ministry of Agricultural Development would prepare a plan to bring existing activities into line with those instruments. The Tourism Authority would support compatible ecotourism and agricultural tourism. The Ministry of Housing and Territorial Planning (Ministerio de Vivienda y Ordenamiento Territorial) and the Planning Board of the Municipality of Penonomé (Junta de Planificación del Municipio de Penonomé) would coordinate land-use assignments and changes with the Ministry of Environment.

A Management Committee (Comité de Gestión), comprising public, community and private representatives, would advise the Interinstitutional Commission on the management plan, encourage local participation, monitor compliance, and promote research, monitoring and ecotourism. The Ministry of Environment and the committee would prepare and periodically update a plan covering the area’s characteristics, threats, conservation and restoration strategies, monitoring, evaluation and financing. In demarcated areas, the bill would prohibit tree felling, extraction of minerals and construction materials, infrastructure affecting the ecosystem, invasive alien species, pollution, and other activities that endanger the ecosystem. A restoration program would address degraded areas, erosion, sedimentation, pollution, habitats and native species.

Funding would come from institutional budgets, international contributions, resources linked to taxes or fees on water and mining concessions in watershed 134 of the Río Grande, and other allocations. Approval of projects with significant and permanent adverse impacts would be suspended until the Environmental Territorial Planning Plan is approved. New mining concessions in the sub-basin would be prohibited, and extensions suspended until the specified territorial planning instruments are approved. The bill allows 6 months to prepare the Territorial Planning Plan and provides for regulations by the Executive Branch through the Ministry of Environment within no more than 10 months after promulgation. Its provisions would affect environmental, agricultural, health, land-use, tourism and municipal authorities, as well as communities, aqueduct operators, and the mining, water, construction and tourism sectors.