Last March, after a four-year debate, lawmakers in El Salvador approved a landmark Law of the Environment. For the first time, the bill levies fines -- and in some cases, jail time - on companies or individuals found guilty of harming the environment. Businesses that contaminate are required to mitigate damages and any proposed development project must have an approved environmental impact assessment.
Sediment from soil erosion and polluted runoff caused by urban and agricultural development has contaminated 90 percent of the rivers in El Salvador, which has the highest population density in the region.
"The new law is very ambitious and one of the most modern in the region," says Juan Marco Alvarez, executive director of SalvaNatura, a leading conservation group. "It's not perfect - a law like this can not easily gain consensus - but it is a meaningful beginning."
According to Hector Vidal, former executive director of the National Association of Private Business and now executive director of the Salvadoran Construction Industry Counsel, the business sector agrees the law is necessary. "We need a strong, realistic, and effective law with transparent and clear regulations," he says. "El Salvador is considered the most environmentally degraded country in the region after Haiti." But one serious drawback of the new law, in Vidal's opinion, is a requirement that environmental impact statements be made public and people who believe they are affected by new development be allowed to file comments. This could seriously impede competitiveness and halt development in El Salvador, he says. "We don't object to citizens expressing their views about policies in general," he explains, "but we do not believe that specific projects should have to acquiesce to public opinion." Further, he says, the law should include market mechanisms, such as tax deductions and low-interest loans, to encourage businesses to adopt clean technologies.
Alvarez agrees that economic incentives would ease the burden on industry to clean up their act, but points out that in the end, the environmental law is an investment in the country's future. "As a society, we can not continue to absorb the high costs of contamination," he says. "The price we pay for water and air pollution is reflected by the high rates of gastrointestinal and respiratory ailments among citizens. We needed a strong law to provoke needed changes as soon as possible."
Contacts in El Salvador: Juan Marco Alvarez, Pasaje Istmania #315, entre 77
y 79, Av. Norte, Col. Escalon, San Salvador, tel 503/263-1111, fax
503/263-3616
This article is provided from the Rainforest Alliance's Conservation Media Center,
based in San Jose,Costa Rica. For more information, contact Diane Jukofsky or Chris Wille,
Rainforest Alliance, Apdo. 138-2150, Moravia, San Jose, Costa Rica; Phone: 506-240-9383;
Fax: 506-240-2543; Email: infotrop@sol.racsa.co.cr
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