Strategy for the application of manuals of good environmental practices as an alternative procedure for the evaluation of projects cathegory "C" in Guatemala

Abstract

Environmental management at the gov­ernmental level in Guatemala is carried out through the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, the main line of action being the presentation of the environmental impact assessment, and later obtaining an environmental license. Because environmental licensing is a prerequisite for other formalities and li­censes required for the various projects or activities that are carried out in the country, there is a strong pressure on this Ministry to respond to requests ef­ficiently and effectively. The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources has limited human resources and, year after year, the number of records for evalua­tion has increased considerably, making it necessary to assess the situation and propose a technical and legal alterna­tive that can help reduce the pressure on the Ministry in terms of evaluation and to subsequently devote efforts to environmental monitoring and control. When analyzing the flow of files within the Ministry, it was found that 70% corre­spond to activities of low and minimum environmental impact. A technical and legal alternative was proposed so that, with the help of existing environmental guides, the Ministry could register these projects or activities and commit them to compliance with the guidelines, with­out undergoing a common evaluation process, thus reducing the current bur­den the Ministry has.