BOLIVIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Ramiro Guevara, Jorge Inchauste and Rosario Echeverría, Dentons Guevara & Gutiérrez S.C.
certain regions it is required prior to obtaining the environmental permit. In Bolivia, many rural communities (where vir - tually all mining projects are structured) are considered indigenous communities, so most regulations regarding the requirement to have an agreement with and authorisation from local communities fall within the regulations set forth below. 2.4 Prior and Informed Consultation on Mining Projects Previous consultation, as a formal requirement, is based on the Bolivian Constitution, the Indig - enous and Tribal Peoples Convention of 1989 (“ILO Convention 169”), dated 27 June 1989, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, dated 13 September 2007. As a result, prior consultation as a right is guar - anteed, must be respected, and must be per - formed by the state in good faith, including if the consultation is related to the exploitation of non-renewable natural resources in the territory of indigenous communities. Following the same principles, Article 352 of the Bolivian Constitution is even more specific and establishes that the exploitation of natural resources will be subject to a procedure of pub - lic consultation before the affected community. Public consultation is understood as a free, informed and previous consultation process, conducted by the state, regarding the exploita - tion of natural resources in the territory of an indigenous community. 2.5 Impact of Specially Protected Communities on Mining Projects In addition to their right to prior and informed consultation, indigenous communities that have
formed an Autonomous Indigenous organisation recognised by the state ( Autonomía Indígena Originaria Campesina ) have the power to gov - ern their territory according to their own norms, institutions and procedures. These powers are exercised within the frame - work of the Bolivian Constitution and the Law of Autonomies and Decentralisation (Law No 031 of 2010), among other domestic rules. As a result, the Autonomous Indigenous organisations are entitled to request additional requirements from potential mining projects. Typically, they require the mining operator to enter into a Community Development Agreement (see 2.6 Community Development Agreement for Mining Projects ). 2.6 Community Development Agreement for Mining Projects It is a requirement to have a Community Devel - opment Agreement with the local communities, prior to initiating any substantial work on a min - ing property. The AJAM will require evidence of the executed Community Development Agree - ment with the local communities. In addition, certain departmental/regional environmental authorities require the presentation of the agree - ments to the communities prior to issuing the requisite environmental licence. 2.7 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Guidelines and Regulations Several environmental and social regulations and requirements are imposed on the mineral sector in Bolivia. An environmental licence, as approved by the regional environmental author - ity, a Community Development Agreement and authorisation from the communities are all required.
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