Bill 571.

Summary.

The bill amends Article 12 of Law 304 of May 31, 2022, concerning the comprehensive protection of coral reef systems and associated ecosystems and species. The proposed article addresses the protection of marine ecosystems and devotes its provisions to seagrass ecosystems and their associated ecosystems. It places activities carried out in the waters and on the substrate of those ecosystems within the scope of that protection. The amendment identifies both where those activities take place and the public authority that would be responsible for regulating them. It connects that regulatory responsibility with the conservation, sustainability and ecological functioning of seagrass ecosystems and their associated ecosystems.

Under that Article 12, the bill assigns the Ministry of Environment (Ministerio de Ambiente) responsibility for regulating construction, modification and any other activity carried out in the waters or on the substrate of seagrass ecosystems and their associated ecosystems. As framed, the rule covers construction and modification as well as other activities taking place in those areas. Alongside that assignment of responsibility, the article prohibits all activities that may cause irreversible harm to the ecological health of seagrass ecosystems and their associated ecosystems. The Ministry of Environment’s regulatory responsibility and the prohibition concerning irreversible harm appear together in the amended article.

The bill adds Article 12 A to Law 304 of May 31, 2022, with a provision devoted to coral reefs. The new article prohibits construction, modification or any type of activity involving direct harm to coral reef ecosystems, whether in the waters or on the substrate. It also prohibits activities that may cause irreversible harm to their ecological health. The provision therefore addresses activities by reference to the direct harm they involve and activities that may produce irreversible harm. For coral reef ecosystems, the places expressly covered are their waters and substrate. The added article sets out these prohibitions separately from the provisions on seagrass ecosystems in the amended Article 12.

Article 3 states that the bill amends Article 12 and adds Article 12 A to Law 304 of May 31, 2022. Article 4 provides that the proposed law would take effect on the day following its promulgation. The public authority concerned is the Ministry of Environment. The sectors that may have an interest in or be affected by the bill include those engaged in construction, modification or other activities in the waters or on the substrate of seagrass ecosystems, associated ecosystems and coral reefs.