Since June, President Armando Calderon Sol's administration has made substantial progress in forging new legislation and an institutional framework to enforce environmental protection in El Salvador. The government has created a new ministry--Ministerio del Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (MARN)--to oversee environmental programs. The ministry, in turn, has carried out extensive consultations to rework the proposed Ley del Medio Ambiente, which will be sent to the legislature in January.
Discussion of a new environmental law and the creation of state enforcement agencies have been underway for more than three years in El Salvador (see EcoCentral, 10/24/96). In late 1996, despite progress in moving the environmental bill to a vote on the Assembly floor, the administration initiated an "executive review" of the proposed legislation, thus freezing congressional action indefinitely (see EcoCentral, 12/12/96 and 05/01/97). Government creates new Environment Ministry Nevertheless, the creation of the environment ministry in June has led to progress in drawing up the proposed law and in dealing with environmental affairs in general. MARN's establishment was an important issue during legislative discussion of environmental policy last year. The original Ley del Medio Ambiente proposal called for forming an autonomous Comision Ejecutiva del Medio Ambiente (CEMA) to oversee all government polices and programs. CEMA was to be run by an executive board that would include equal representation from the government, private sector, and nongovernmental organizations. However, the governing Alianza Republicana Nacionalista, (ARENA) and the influential Fundacion Salvadorena para el Desarrollo Empresarial (FUSADES) argued that a ministerial- level office was necessary to give officials adequate access to the Cabinet on issues of environmental policy. Despite criticism from opposition leaders that CEMA's substitution by a government ministry would co-opt independent input, President Calderon decided to create MARN by executive decree. Both the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) have assisted in setting up the ministry. The former provided US$200,000 to establish offices, contract ministry personnel, and create a subdivision of MARN in charge of negotiating foreign assistance for environmental programs. The IDB provided about US$2 million in donations for environmental programs to be managed by MARN. Since its creation, MARN has absorbed three other government offices: the Secretaria Ejecutiva del Medio Ambiente (SEMA); the Direccion General de Recursos Naturales Renovables (DGRNR); and the Centro de Desarrollo Pesquero (CENDEPESCA). The latter two were previously run by the Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganaderia (MAG). All three offices now function as subdivisions of MARN. The president named Miguel Araujo--the head of FUSADES's sustainable development commission and a former director of SEMA--as the first environment minister. After taking office, Araujo promised to consult with all groups on environmental affairs to provide independent input in government decisions. "MARN is responsible for coordinating the efforts of state and nongovernmental organizations that work on ecological issues," said Araujo. "The ministry will play an administrative role, providing aid and technical assistance so that civic organizations are the ones that carry out environmental programs. MARN will enforce the law and environmental policies, but the ministry will encourage openness, providing space for the opinions of all sectors." Legislature will debate updated environmental protection bill So far, MARN has made a concerted effort to incorporate broad sectors in debate on environmental policies. In July, the ministry created a permanent "consulting group" to advise it on environmental affairs. The 35-member group includes representatives from the state, the private sector, and nongovernmental organizations. Also in July, a new, 29-member Consejo Nacional para el Desarrollo Sostenible (CNDS) was created. Establishment of the CNDS was mandated by the Alianza para el Desarrollo Sostenible (ALIDES), a treaty signed in 1994 by all the Central American presidents (see EcoCentral, 06/13/96). Since the formation of the consulting group and the CNDS, MARN has coordinated a series of conferences with members of both bodies to get input into the executive review of the proposed Ley del Medio Ambiente. According to Araujo, the executive's final version of the bill, based on the consultations since July, will be submitted to the Legislative Assembly by January, at the latest. So far, however, little is known publicly about changes to the original bill, other than designating MARN as the permanent entity charged with overseeing government policy. Issues that created heated debate in the past--such as mandatory consultation with local communities regarding business exploitation of natural resources and demands that the law clearly stipulate fines for environmental crimes rather than leave it to government discretion--may still delay the bill once it reaches the Assembly. In November, given that MARN had still not submitted the executive review of the original bill to the Assembly, the legislative Comision del Ambiente began its own review of the bill. The commission's conclusions will be considered alongside the executive version of the bill. [Sources: Prensa Grafica (El Salvador), 05/17/97, 05/20/97, 05/21/97, 05/23/97, 06/02/97, 06/25/97, 07/02/97, 07/06/97, 07/15/97, 07/24/97, 07/26/97, 09/04/97, 09/22/97, 09/25/97, 10/15/97, 11/09/97, 11/22/97, 11/29/97, 12/02/97, 12/08/97, 12/11/97]
This article was featured in EcoCentral, a publication from the Latin America Data Base. For subscription information, email info@ladb.unm.edu or call 1-800-472-0888. The LADB website has searchable on-line archives for subscribers at http://ladb.unm.edu/
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