CHILE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Pablo Méndez, Christian Rojas, Pablo Neupert and Vicente Huidobro, TM Abogados
TM Abogados Av. Manquehue Norte 141 Of. 406 Las Condes Santiago Chile Tel: +569 8156 0547 Email: tm@tmabogados.cl Web: www.tmabogados.cl
A New Phase in Chile’s Regulatory Modernisation Chile is undergoing a profound transformation of its regulatory framework, driven by a dual objective: increasing administrative efficiency and strengthen- ing environmental governance. In recent years, sev- eral statutes and reforms have been advanced to enhance coherence, predictability and transparency within environmental permitting, oversight and com- pliance systems. Between 2024 and 2025 this process has gained particular momentum with the publication of Law No 21,770 (Framework Law on Sectoral Authorisations, or LMAS), the progressive implementation of the Bio- diversity and Protected Areas Service (SBAP) under Law No 21,600, and the proposed amendments to the Environmental Impact Assessment System (SEIA) and the Superintendence of the Environment (SMA) currently under parliamentary review. Together, these initiatives reflect a transversal trend: the movement towards a modern, coherent and inte- grated regulatory regime that reconciles environmen- tal protection objectives with the imperative to foster investment, productivity and legal certainty. It has been observed observed that clients in strategic sec- tors closely monitor these changes, aware that they will redefine how investment projects are planned, implemented and regulated in Chile. Yet this reform impetus does not emerge out of nowhere. As early as 1992, the Presidential Message that introduced the Bill for the General Environmental Framework Law (today Law No 19,300) identified –
based on a study by the then National Environment Commission (CONAMA) – 718 environmental legal instruments of varying rank and origin, characterised by marked dispersion, incoherence and lack of struc- ture. That fragmentation generated profound igno- rance of normative reach, uncertainty about the valid- ity of original texts, and widespread non-compliance. Thirty years later, the diagnosis retains relevance. Therefore, beyond the enactment of new statutes, the focus must lie in their effective implementation and coherent application: without that, legislative gains risk remaining mere theory. Framework Law on Sectoral Authorisations: co-ordination, new tools and legal certainty On 29 September 2025, Law No 21,770 was pub- lished in the Official Gazette, ushering in a long-await- ed structural reform of Chile’s administrative authori- sation regime. According to its Article 1, LMAS has several objec- tives. • To establish a general framework that standardises, co-ordinates and ensures the valid performance of state administrative bodies in the processing of authorisations. • To provide greater legal certainty to project holders and citizens with respect to administrative proce- dures and decisions. • To promote productivity, growth and investment through the modernisation and progressive simpli- fication of authorisation procedures.
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