Bill 482.

Summary.

The bill aims to strengthen the management, protection, and restoration of the hydraulic sections of rivers and streams within watersheds. It amends Law 44 of 2002 and Law 1 of 1994 and introduces measures for institutional coordination, community participation, flood prevention, and channel restoration. In Law 44 of 2002, it revises the definitions of watershed, watershed management plans, territorial environmental planning, and watershed committees. It also defines hydraulic section, riparian strip, and restoration action. Administrative delineation of watersheds is assigned to the National Environmental Authority (Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente).

The Ministry of Environment, together with the competent sectoral public institutions and Watershed Committees, would assess watersheds to establish criteria and indicators for their plans. The Management, Development, Protection, and Conservation Plan must be updated every 5 years and following disasters or significant changes; its progress would be reviewed annually through public reports. The bill assigns the Ministry of Environment responsibility for coordination mechanisms to prevent damage, restore and maintain hydraulic sections, and protect riparian strips. It provides for coordination with the Ministry of Public Works (Ministerio de Obras Públicas) on hydraulic works, support from mayoral offices and community boards in monitoring and early reporting, and community participation in cleanup, reforestation, and environmental education.

The amendment also assigns the Ministry of Environment responsibility for organizing Watershed Committees, with reference to Article 83 of Law 41 of 1998. Participants would include regional offices of institutions responsible for the environment, agriculture, health, commerce, maritime affairs, water, housing, and public works, as well as mayors, environmental organizations, water users, and representatives of corregimientos. The chair, secretariat, and corregimiento representation would be subject to rotation rules. The committees would coordinate plans, institutional cooperation, and the resolution of disputes among users; they could promote technical subcommittees, raise funds, encourage community participation, reforestation, and waste management, consult advisory commissions, and approve their internal rules. The Executive Branch could assign them other functions by regulation.

In Law 1 of 1994, the bill amends the list of forestry violations and adds conduct involving channels: depositing waste or wastewater, carrying out filling or works that reduce the hydraulic section, and building, filling, or establishing settlements in designated flood-prone areas, subject to the specified exceptions and authorizations. Violations would carry fines of up to 100,000 balboas (B/.100,000.00), under the established criteria, without prejudice to criminal and civil laws. Illegal works would be ordered demolished immediately, and the affected area restored. Officials who authorize illegal projects in channels would be jointly liable for the damage. The Ministry of Environment would impose the penalties, while its Board of Directors would issue the implementing regulations.

The bill includes unauthorized construction of dikes or walls, unauthorized diversion of channels, and removal of vegetation from riparian strips among environmental offenses, alongside the other listed conduct. An Ad Hoc Technical Investigative Commission would investigate, assess, and classify those offenses through a reasoned resolution that would serve as a complaint before the courts. Its members would include representatives of the Ministry of Agricultural Development (Ministerio de Desarrollo Agropecuario), the Ministry of Public Works, and the University of Panama (Universidad de Panamá), among others; it could consult the National Civil Protection System (Sistema Nacional de Protección Civil), the Panama Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (Instituto de Meteorología e Hidrología de Panamá), and CATHALAC. The Ministry of Environment would oversee compliance. The Executive Branch would issue implementing regulations within 6 months of promulgation, and the law would take effect upon publication in the Official Gazette. Its provisions concern public entities involved in environmental matters, public works, water, and risk management, as well as municipalities, riparian communities, water users, and the forestry, agricultural, and construction sectors.