Through Resolution 448 of May 20, 2020 (the “Resolution”), the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (“MADS”) published the terms of reference (“TdR 028”) for the preparation of the Environmental Impact Assessment (“EIA”) for obtaining the temporary environmental licenses for mining formalization contemplated in Article 22 of Law 1955 of 2019.
The Resolution establishes, among others, the following provisions:
- The TdR 028, will apply to the environmental authorities and to the individuals that carry out mining activities, who intend to obtain the respective mining title, under the regulations applicable to traditional mining.
- The area considered for the licensing process corresponds to the area intervened according to the technical concept issued by an administrative act of the National Mining Agency (hereinafter “ANM”) regarding the applications for formalization.
- The formalization applications that have previously submitted an environmental management plan will not require an EIA and the license will be granted according to the terms of the submitted plan.
- The mining formalization applications that until May 25, 2019 have not submitted the environmental management plan will have a term of three (3) months to present the EIA and the application for the environmental license. This term expires on August 21st, 2020.
Finally, the TdR 028 states that the EIA should contain, among others, the following:
- General and specific objective of the EIA.
- Geographical and political-administrative location of the area.
- Description of minerals or soil or subsoil components that can be released by the activity.
- Flora and fauna present in the area of direct influence of the activity
- Natural resources exploited.
- Environmental follow-up and monitoring plans as well as the dismantling and abandonment plan.