ECUADOR Law and Practice Contributed by: Roque Bernardo Bustamante and Claudia Bustamante, Flor Bustamante Pizarro & Hurtado
the intersection of the mining rights in relation to the National System of Protected Areas, Protected For - ests and Vegetation, State Forest Heritage or other conservation areas declared by the National Environ - mental Authority is detached. If the mining right intersects with the National System of Protected Areas, as far as extractive activities are concerned, it will proceed according to the provisions of Article 407 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador and the competent environmental regula - tions. In the event that the mining right intersects with Protective Forests and Vegetation or the State Forest Heritage, the mining title holder, prior to the start of the environmental licensing process, must apply to the National Forestry Directorate of the Ministry of the Environment for certification of environmental viability qualified with the report on the feasibility of the mining right. This certification will be issued by the National Forestry Director. The Intersection Certificate will be issued for the min - ing rights, among others authorised by the Ministry of the Environment and Energy, or for those cases in which the title holder requires only the environmental licence of the operating area. Environmental Impact Study and Management Plan It is the responsibility of the mining title holder to con - tract an external consultant qualified by the Ministry of the Environment and Energy, who will be in charge of carrying out the Environmental Impact Study within which a technical file of the project must be includ - ed, a description of the study area and a complete description of the project prior to the beginning of any stage of exploration, exploitation or others. Likewise, in conjunction with the Environmental Impact Study, it is necessary to carry out the Environmental Manage - ment Plan, which includes methods of evaluation and monitoring of the project, as well as a general sched - ule containing a budget within which the environmen - tal policy requested by the same ministry is included. The Environmental Impact Study must identify, describe, quantify and evaluate, in a precise manner and according to the characteristics of each case, the foreseeable effects that the execution of the mining
project will produce on the different environmental and socio-economic aspects. The Environmental Man - agement Plan will also include aspects of monitoring, evaluation, monitoring and contingency, partial clo - sures of operations and closure and abandonment of mining operations, with their respective programmes, schedules and budgets. 2.2 Impact of Environmentally Protected Areas on Mining There are different types of environmentally protected areas throughout Ecuador. In most of them, mining is not possible; however, in certain buffer zones it may be possible with prior consent of the Ministry of the Environment and Energy. The Ministry of the Environment and Energy manages the National System of Protected Areas, which guaran - tees the conservation, management and sustainable use of biodiversity, as well as the functional connec - tivity of terrestrial, insular, marine and marine-coastal ecosystems, as well as the rights of nature. Protected areas are priority spaces for conservation and sus - tainable development. Regional autonomous govern - ments should incorporate protected areas into their land-use planning tools. The National Environmental Authority will carry out periodic technical evaluations in order to verify that the protected areas comply with the objectives recognised for them. If necessary and considering the results of such technical evaluations, the National Environmental Authority may delimit them or change their status, as appropriate. In all cases, the mine owner must obtain from the National Environmental Authority the Certificate of Intersection indicating the intersection of mining rights in relation to the National System of Protected Areas, Protected Forests and Vegetation, State Forest Heritage or other conservation areas declared by the National Environmental Authority. Article 407 of the Constitution prohibits the extrac - tion of non-renewable resources in protected areas and in areas declared as intangible, including logging. Exceptionally, such resources may be exploited at the justified request of the Presidency of the Repub - lic and following a declaration of national interest by the National Assembly, which, if it deems it appropri -
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