Council of Ministers for Sustainability
Consejo de Ministros para la Sustentabilidad
Address: MMA,
Teatinos 254/258,
Website: http://www.mma.gob.cl/1304/w3-article-49186.html
The Council will 'will answer inquiries made by the Minister of the Environment and the Council of Ministers for Sustainability, and issue opinions on draft laws and executive decrees that set environmental quality standards, plans for prevention and decontamination, and special regulations on emissions and emission standards. It may also make decisions on environmental issues of general interest and perform all other duties assigned by the Ministry and the Law'.
Role and Functions
The most important functions and powers of the Council of Ministers fo Sustainability comprise
making propositions to the President of the Republic regarding policies for the sustainable management and exploitation of natural resources;
making propositions to the President with respect to sustainability criteria that should be incorporated into policy-making and the planning processes of ministries, as well as their dependents and related services;
making propositions to the President regarding the creation of protected areas of the state, including parks and marine reserves and nature sanctuaries and protected multipurpose coastal marine areas;
making propositions to the President with respect to sectoral policies, which should be part of strategic environmental evaluation;
making decisions on the criteria and mechanisms by which citizen participation is to be incorporated into the Environmental Impact Statements, referred to in Article 26 of Law No. 19,300, on a General Environmental Framework;
making decisions on bills and administrative actions proposed to the President that contain rules of environmental nature as indicated in Article 70.
Composition and Membership
The Council of Ministers for Sustainability, is chaired by the Minister of Environment and composed of the Ministers of Agriculture, Finance, Health, Economy, Development and Reconstruction, Energy, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development, of Transport and Telecommunications, Mining and Planning. In the absence or disability of the President, it will be replaced by the appropriate Minister in the order set forth above.
Directors shall be appointed by the President of the Republic for a period of two years, which may be extended only once. A regulation will establish the Council's functioning. The Council will sit alongside the subsecretary to the Ministry.
A Regional Advisory Council is also proposed. An interministerial advisory group on sustainability (Consejo de Ministros para la Sustentabilidad) also currently exists.
The Council of Minsters for Sustainability proposed a reform of the System for Assessment of Environmental Impact, which the Cabinet approved in May 2012. The re-regulation implemented clearer rules for environmental assessment of projects, enhanced opportunities for public participation, decreased investment periods, and raised the required standards for projects at the time of submission.
Confirmation of the designation of the budget for environmental matters (2012 - in Spanish only)
Regulation for strategic evaluation in environmental matters (2013 - in Spanish only)