GENERAL LAW ON ENVIRONMENT AND NA TURAL RESOURCES - …faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/dom44863E.pdf · GENERAL LAW ON ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES Layout : Omar Matos Printed in: Amigo

GENERAL LAWON ENVIRONMENT

AND NATURAL RESOURCES(No. 64-00)

DOMINICAN REPUBLICSTATE SECRETARIAT OF ENVIRONMENT

AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic2001

GENERAL LAW ON ENVIRONMENTAND NATURAL RESOURCESLayout : Omar MatosPrinted in: Amigo del HogarSanto Domingo, Dominican Republic

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Av. John F. Kennedy No.10Santo Domingo, República Dominicana

Apartado Postal 20682Tel. (809) 541-5200Fax (809) 567-0773

-----------Calle Paseo Oeste

La Rosaleda, Edif. Bionuclear1er. Piso, Santiago

República DominicanaTel.: (809) 580-1725

Fax : (809) 582-2170

-----------International Mailing Address:

A-303P.O. Box 52-4121

Miami, FL 33152-4121United States of America

------------CPS-1340

P.O. Box 149020Coral Gables, FL 33114-9020

United States of America

[email protected]

ATTORNEYS AT LAW

FOREWORD

The State Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources andthe law firm of Pellerano & Herrera are pleased to provide individualsand companies interested in investing in the Dominican Republicwith this information regarding the protection and preservation ofthe ecosystems in our country.

STATE SECRETARIAT OF ENVIRONMENTAND NATURAL RESOURCES

Santo Domingo, D.N.Tel.: (809) 567-4300Fax : (809) 540-7561

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CONTENTS

LAW NO. 64-00, WHICH CREATES THE DEPARTMENTOF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES

TITLE I ON BASIC RINCIPLES, OBJECTIVES,AND BASIC DEFINITIONS .................................. 21

Chapter I ON BASIC PRINCIPLES ........................................................................ 21

Chapter II OBJECTIVES ......................................................................................... 23

Chapter III BASIC DEFINITIONS ........................................................................... 25

Chapter IV DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENTAND NATURAL RESOURCES ............................................................... 34

Section I Creation, purpose, and functions of the department .......................... 34

Section II Basic structure of the department of environment and naturalresources ................................................................................................ 41

Section III Reordering of the public entities belongingto the environmental and natural resources sector ............................. 42

Section IV National system of environmentaland natural resources management ..................................................... 44

TITLE II INSTRUMENTS FOR THE MANAGEMENTOF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURALRESOURCES ..................................................... 47

Chapter I INCORPORATION OF THE ENVIRONMENTALDIMENSION IN PLANNING ................................................................ 48

Chapter II ORDERING OF THE TERRITORY ........................................................ 49

ChapterIII NATIONAL SYSTEM OF PROTECTED AREAS .................................... 50

Chapter IV ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL EVALUATION ......................................... 59

Chapter V NATIONAL SYSTEM OF INFORMATION ON THEENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES .................................. 67

Chapter VI ENVIRONMENTAL SUPERVISION AND INSPECTION ...................... 68

Chapter VII ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND PUBLICATION ...................... 70

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Chapter VIII SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL RESEARCH .............................71

Chapter IX INCENTIVES .........................................................................................72

Chapter X FUNDS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAND NATURAL RESOURCES ...............................................................74

Chapter XI ENVIRONMENTAL EMERGENCIES AND DECLARATIONOF AREAS UNDER ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ......................................76

TITLE III PROTECTION AND QUALITYOF THE ENVIRONMENT..................................... 77

Chapter I GENERAL STANDARDS .......................................................................77

Chapter II CONTAMINATION OF WATERS ..........................................................80

Chapter III SOIL CONTAMINATION ......................................................................81

Chapter IV ATMOSPHERIC CONTAMINATION ....................................................82

Chapter V DANGEROUS ELEMENTS, SUBSTANCES, AND PRODUCTS ............83

Chapter VI DOMESTIC AND MUNICIPAL GARBAGE AND RESIDUES ...............86

Chapter VII HUMAN SETTLEMENTS AND NOISE CONTAMINATION ................87

TITLE IV NATURAL RESOURCES...................................... 91

Chapter I COMMON STANDARDS ......................................................................91

Chapter II SOILS .....................................................................................................92

Chapter III WATERS .................................................................................................94

Chapter IV BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY ....................................................................96

Chapter V COASTAL AND MARINE RESOURCES ..............................................100

Chapter VI FORESTS .............................................................................................104

Chapter VII CAVES, CAVERNS, AND THE SUBTERRANEANENVIRONMENT ..................................................................................107

Chapter VIII MINING RESOURCES ........................................................................107

TITLE V COMPETENCIES, RESPONSIBILITY,AND SANCTIONS IN ADMINISTRATIVEAND JUDICIAL MATTERS ................................. 109

Chapter I OFFICE OF PROCURATOR FOR DEFENSE OFTHE ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES ........................109

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Chapter II ADMINISTRATIVE COMPETENCIESAND SANCTIONS ...............................................................................110

Chapter III CIVIL LIABILITY .................................................................................111

Chapter IV CRIMES AGAINST THE ENVIRONMENTAND NATURAL RESOURCES .............................................................113

Chapter VI CRIMINAL SANCTIONS ....................................................................117

TITLE VI GENERAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS .................. 122

Chapter I GENERAL PROVISIONS .....................................................................122

Chapter II FINAL PROVISIONS ...........................................................................125

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LAW NO. 64-00,WHICH CREATESTHE DEPARTMENTOF ENVIRONMENTAND NATURALRESOURCES

THE NATIONAL CONGRESSIN THE NAME OF THE REPUBLIC

Law No. 64-00

WHEREAS: As the environment and naturalresources together represent common goods essentialfor society, it is the duty and responsibility of the Stateand of its institutions, including the municipalgovernments, as well as of each citizen, to ensure thatthey not be exhausted, deteriorated, or degraded, so thatthey may be taken advantage of nationally and enjoyedby present and future generations;

WHEREAS: It is necessary to maintain harmonybetween human beings and their environment, and toprevent, remedy, correct, or eliminate the situationswhich harm natural resources and the biosphere;

WHEREAS: It is of vital importance to protect,preserve, and sustainably use the various ecosystemswhich make up the Natural and Cultural Legacy of the

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Dominican Republic, as well as the native and migratoryspecies of flora and fauna, which are a fundamental partof them;

WHEREAS: Natural resources and biologicaldiversity are the basis for the sustenance of present andfuture generations, so that it is essential that theDominican State apply a policy for the environment andnatural resources which will guarantee sustainabledevelopment;

WHEREAS: Our territory, due to its conditionas an island and to its geomorphological characteristicsand biological diversity, presents unique ecosystems,some of which show signs of fragility, deterioration, andthreats which endanger their integrity;

WHEREAS: The rational use of natural resourcesthrough the carrying out of a General Plan of TerritorialOrganization is a guarantee of harmonious developmentand preservation of the environment;

WHEREAS: The intense and constantdeforestation to which the national forests have beensubjected, the resulting desertification, the depletion ofthe aquifer sources, and the altering of their quality,threaten the stability and survival of the DominicanRepublic;

WHEREAS: The continual and massive emissionof contaminants into the atmosphere, the pouring ofliquid substances, the emission of toxic solid particlescoming from industrial, mining, agricultural, tourist, and

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urban activities, among others, degrade the environmentand negatively affect the health and quality of life of thehuman population and wildlife;

WHEREAS: It is the mission of the governmentto promote and regulate research about the conditionsof the environment, natural resources, and biologicaldiversity;

WHEREAS: There can be no postponement ofthe preparation, adoption, and putting into practice oflimits of emission and standards of quality control, as wellas measures for foreseeing, controlling, and correctingthe degradation of the environment which will guaranteefor the populace the enjoyment of healthy surroundings;

WHEREAS: In order to be able to enjoy theirinalienable right to life, health, and well being, humanbeings also have the right to the availability of fertile soils,to breath clean air, to consume potable water, and tohave access to adequate food, free of contamination;

WHEREAS: It is of vital importance to integratethe official, autonomous and semiautonomous institutionsinvolved in the planning, management, use, handling,administration, regulation, and promotion of naturalresources, and the preservation and protection of theenvironment, which institutions are now dispersed,making difficult the application of an integral policy bythe government, which will result in an effectiveconservation and protection policy;

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WHEREAS: It is a patriotic duty of allDominicans to support and to participate in as manyactions as may be necessary in order to guarantee thepermanence of our natural resources for the use andenjoyment of present and future generations;

WHEREAS: The areas under special protectionconstitute the guarantee of conservation of valuablespecies, production of water, productivity of the soils,interior waters, and marine ecosystems;

WHEREAS: The reduction and deterioration ofprotected areas constitutes one of the most clearlyidentified threats, placing at risk the sustainability of theDominican Republic and its goal of harmonious,independent, and equitable development:

SEEN: Clause 17 of article 8, and articles 10 and61 of the Constitution of the Republic;

SEEN: Article 317 paragraph 2nd of theDominican Criminal Code;

SEEN: Articles 1382, 1383, and 1384 of theDominican Civil Code;

SEEN: The Laws:

• No. 85, dated February 4, 1931, on Hunting;

• No. 3003, dated July 12, 1951, on Port and CoastalPolice;

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• Organic Law No. 4378 on Departments of State,dated February 10, 1956;

• No. 4471, dated June 3, 1956, especially articles 75through 88 and 102, which institute the TrujilloPublic Health Code;

• No. 4990, dated August 29, 1958, on VegetableHealth;

• No. 5852, dated March 29, 1962, on Domain ofTerrestrial Waters and Distribution of Public Waters,and laws which modify and complement it;

• No. 5856 dated April 2, 1962, on Forest Conservationand Fruit Trees;

• No. 5914 dated May 22, 1962, on Fishing;

• No. 8, dated September 8, 1965, which establishesthe functions of the Department of Agriculture;

• No. 6, dated September 5, 1965, which creates theNational Institute of Hydraulic Resources;

• No. 55, dated November 22, 1965, which institutesthe National System of Social, Economic, andAdministrative Planning;

• No. 257, dated June 17, 1966, which creates theOffice of Civil Defense;

• No. 602 dated May 20, 1967, on Quality Systemsand Standards;

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• No. 627, dated May 28, 1967, which declares ofnational interest the use and protection of themountain range areas, and their acquisition, ifnecessary, by the State of all or part of the landscomprising the mountain range areas;

• No. 186 dated September 13, 1967, concerning thezone of Territorial Sea of the Dominican Republic;

• No. 305 dated May 23, 1968, which modifies article49 of Law No. 1474 on Communications Ways,dated February 22, 1938, to establish a maritimezone of 60 meters wide on coasts, beaches, rivers,lakes, and lagoons of the national territory;

SEEN: Law No. 311 dated May 24, 1968, whichregulates the manufacture, preparation, placing incontainers, warehousing or storage, importation,expenditure, and marketing in any form of pesticides,zoocides, phytocides, insecticides, herbicides, andsimilar products;

• No. 531 dated December 11, 1969, the Organic Lawon the Budget of the Public Sector;

• No. 487 dated October 15, 1969, on the Control ofExploitation and Conservation of UndergroundWaters;

• No. 123 dated May 10, 1971, which prohibits theextraction of components of the Earth’s Crust calledsand, gravel, and stones;

• No. 146 dated June 4, 1971, the Mining Law of theDominican Republic;

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• No. 67 dated October 29, 1974, which creates theNational Directorate of Parks;

• No. 114 dated January 3, 1975, which creates theNational Zoological Park, as a center intended toencourage the education, investigation, and cultureconcerning biological sciences in general, as wellas the preservation of the national wildlife;

• No. 456 dated October 28, 1976, which institutesthe Dr. Rafael M. Moscoso National BotanicalGarden, with legal incorporation, as a centerdestined for the promotion of education andculture;

• No. 632 dated May 28, 1977, which prohibits thecutting of trees or bushes at the heads of rivers andarroyos which nourish the hydrographic basins ofthe entire country;

• No. 573 dated April 1, 1977, which modifies the titleof Law No. 186 dated September 13, 1967, andarticles 3,4,5,6, 7, and 8 of said Law on theTerritorial Sea, the Contiguous Zone, the ExclusiveZone, the Economic Zone, and the ContinentalShelf;

• No. 380, dated December 11, 1981, on re-refinedlubricant oils;

• No. 705 dated August 2, 1982, which creates theNational Technical Forestry Commission and itsRegulations;

• No. 218 dated May 28, 1984, which prohibits theintroduction into this country, through any means,

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of human or animal excrement, residential ormunicipal garbage and wastes and their derivatives,and sewage, whether treated or not, as well as toxicwaste coming from industrial processes.

• No. 284 dated June 11, 1985, which provides thatfences in rural premises must be of living plants;

• No. 290 dated August 28, 1985, on Incentives forForest Development;

• No. 291 dated August 28, 1985, which modifiesLaws Nos. 211 and 705 of 1967 and 1982respectively, on management of forests andsawmills;

• No. 295 dated August 28, 1985, which declares inthe national interest the inclusion in programs ofnational education, of the need to preserve thecountry’s natural resources;

• No. 112-87 dated December 10, 1987, whichestablishes the Obligatory Forestry Service;

• No. 55-88 dated June 15, 1988, which modifiesArticles 6, 8, and 10 of Law 290 of August 28, 1985,on Incentives for Forestry Development;

• No. 83-89 dated October 12, 1989, which prohibitsthe placing of wastes from construction, rubble andother waste in streets, sidewalks, avenues, highways,and green areas, empty lots, beaches, and publicgardens within urban and suburban zones in theDominican Republic;

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• No. 14-91 dated May 20, 1991, which creates theCivil Service System and Administrative Career;

• No. 300 of July 31, 1998, which makes obligatorythe teaching of the subject of “Environment andNatural Resources” in all the schools in the country;

• No. 118-99 dated December 23, 1999, which createsthe Forestry Code;

SEEN: Laws Nos. 3455, 675, 387, 4848, 3456,317, 6231, 1728, and 104-67;

SEEN: The following Resolutions of the NationalCongress:

• No. 550 dated June 17, 1982, by means of whichthe Convention on International Trade ofThreatened Species of Flora and Fauna is ratified;

• No. 59-92 dated December 8, 1992, by means ofwhich the Vienna Convention for the Protection ofthe Ozone Layer and the Montreal Protocolconcerning Substances which Deplete the OzoneLayer is ratified;

• No. 25-96 dated October 2, 1996, which approvesthe Convention on Biological Diversity signed by theDominican State and the United Nations Conferenceon the Environment and Development “EarthSummit,” held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on June 5,1992;

• No. 99-97, dated June 10, 1997, which approvescompliance by the Dominican Republic with the

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Convention of the United Nations of the Struggleagainst Desertification of Countries Affected bySerious Drought or Desertification, particularlyAfrica, dated June 17, 1994;

• No. 182-98, dated June 18, 1998, by means of whichthe International Convention for Prevention ofDischarges of Wastes by Ships (MARPOL 73/78) isratified;

• No. 359-98 dated July 15, 1998, which approvesthe Convention for the Protection and Developmentof the Marine Environment in the GreaterCaribbean (Cartagena Convention);

SEEN: The following resolutions of the City Hallof the National District:

• No. 28-66, 88-90, 188-99, 292;

• No. 35, dated May 3, 1989, which establishes thelimits of the sources of noise in residential zones;

• No. 1680, dated October 31, 1964, which createsthe National Commission of Nuclear Affairs,previously called the national Atomic ResearchCommission;

• No. 2596 dated September 4, 1972, which createsand incorporates a Commission which will be incharge of studying the problems which are causedby environmental contamination;

• No. 301 of October 11, 1978, which provides thatthe General Directorate of Forestry and the National

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Parks Directorate must coordinate their activitiesby common agreement with the Department ofAgriculture and dictates other provisions;

• No. 32 dated January 27, 1978, which creates andincorporates the National Council on Wildlife;

• No. 1489 on the functions charged to the variousgovernment departments;

• No. 752-83 dated February 11, 1983, which modifiesarticles 1 and 2 of decree No. 318 dated October 6,1982, which created the National Technical ForestryCommission;

• No. 1838-84 dated February 24, 1984, whichprovides that the National Weather Service shallhereinafter be called the National MeteorologyOffice or National Weather Office, and will functionunder the dependency of the Technical Departmentof the Presidency;

• No. 2948 dated May 6, 1985, which creates theForestry Medal;

• No. 502-86 of the year 1986 which modifies Article2 of Decree 1838-84 by means of which the NationalWeather Office is placed as a dependency of theDepartment of Agriculture;

• No. 1184-86-407 dated November 14, 1986, whichcreates the Governing Foundation of the NationalMuseum of Natural History;

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• No. 297-87 dated June 3, 1987, which declares asnatural legacy of the nation all caves, caverns, andother underground cavities located within thenational territory;

• No. 245-90 dated July 22, 1990, which creates theNational Aquarium;

• No. 221-90 dated June 1, 1990, which instructs theGeneral Directorate of Forestry to take whatevermeasures may be necessary for the application ofarticle 49, clauses b), c) and d), of Law No. 5856dated April 2, 1962, and Law No. 632, dated May28, 1977, on Conservation of Forests and Fruit Trees;

• No. 217-91 dated June 4, 1991, which prohibits themanufacture, importation, preparation, andmarketing and use of various agrochemicalproducts which have been determined to be highlydangerous to human health and environmentalhealth;

• No. 413-91 dated November 8, 1991, which createsthe National Council on Radiological Protection,attached to the Department of Public Health andSocial Assistance, and to the National NuclearAffairs Commission;

• No. 414-91 dated November 8, 1991, which placesat the charge of the Technical Department of thePresidency, the Commission on Nuclear Affairs, andmodifies Decrees Nos. 1680 and 1842, datedOctober 31, and December 11, 1964, respectively;

• No. 340 dated November 18, 1992, which createsthe National Commission to Provide Follow-Up to

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the Agreements of the United Nations Conferenceon the Environment and Development “EarthSummit”;

• No. 183-93 dated June 24, 1993, which orders thecreation of a green belt which surrounds the urbanarea of the city of Santo Domingo de Guzmán;

• No. 421-96, dated September 9, 1996, whichdeclares September 16th of each year as anInternational Day for Conservation of the OzoneLayer;

• No. 138-97 dated March 21, 1997, which puts intoexecution the National Quisqueya Verde (GreenQuisqueya) Plan, as the initiation of a process whichwill encourage governmental and non-governmental will and initiatives to achievesustainable development;

• No. 203-98 dated June 2, 1998, which creates theGoverning Office of Reform and Modernization ofthe Potable Water and Sanitation Sector;

• No. 216-98 dated June 5, 1998, which creates theNational Institute of Environmental Protection asa dependency of the Presidency of the Republic;

• No. 152-98 dated April 29, 1998, which creates theCoordinator Commission of the Natural Resourcesand Environmental Sector;

SEEN: Decree No. 207 dated June 3, 1998,which creates the Regulation for the application of Law146-71 on Mining;

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• No. 136-99 dated March 30, 1999, whichreestablishes the limits of the Marine MammalsSanctuary, created by Article 22 of Decree No. 233-96, and creates a National Commission for theProtection of Marine Mammals;

SEEN: Regulation No. 207, dated June 3, 1998,for the application of the Mining Law No. 146, datedJune 4, 1971;

SEEN: Resolution No. 391 of 1991, which makesofficial the Dominican Standard of Emergency(NORDOM) No. 436.

HAS GIVEN THE FOLLOWING LAW:GENERAL LAW ON ENVIRONMENTAND NATURAL RESOURCES

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Title I ON BASIC RINCIPLES,OBJECTIVES, ANDBASIC DEFINITIONS

Chapter I ON BASIC PRINCIPLES

Article 1.- The present Law is intended to establish thestandards for the conservation, protection, improvement,and restoration of the environment and naturalresources, ensuring their sustainable use.

Article 2.- The provisions contained in the present laware of a public order.

Article 3.- The natural resources and environment arecommon legacy of the nation, and an essential elementfor the sustainable development of the country.

Article 4.- It declares to be of national interest theconservation, protection, restoration, and sustainable useof natural resources, the environment, and the goodswhich make up the natural and cultural legacy.

Article 5.- It is the responsibility of the State, of society,and of each inhabitant of the country, to protect,conserve, improve, restore, and make sustainable useof the natural resources and the environment, and toeliminate the patterns of production and consumptionwhich are not sustainable.

Article 6.- The liberty of the citizens in the use of naturalresources is based on the right of every person to enjoya healthy environment. The State shall guarantee theparticipation of the communities and inhabitants of the

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country in the conservation, management, andsustainable use of the natural resources and theenvironment, as well as access to truthful and opportuneinformation on the situation and status of same.

Article 7 .- The programs of protection of theenvironment and natural resources must be composedof general plans and programs of social and economicdevelopment, so that the corresponding problems aregiven a common focus and sustainable solutions aresought, subject to a regime of priorities in the applicationof applicable policies and in the use and conservationof the resources.

Article 8.- The criteria of prevention shall prevail overany other in the public and private management of theenvironment and natural resources. One may not allegelack of absolute scientific certainty as a reason not toadopt preventative and efficacious measures in allactivities that have a negative impact on the environment,according to the principle of precaution.

Article 9 .- The Studies of Environmental ImpactEvaluation and Environmental Reports shall be the basicinstruments for environmental management.

Article 10.- The State shall order the incorporation ofenvironmental costs and the use of economic instrumentsfor the prevention, correction, and restoration ofdamages to the environment and for the conservationof natural resources.

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Article 11.-The policies for human settlement will haveto take into account the right of human beings to ahealthy and productive life in harmony with nature.

Article 12.- The formulation of policies on naturalresources and the environment shall have to take intoaccount the result of the process of scientificinvestigation. Nevertheless, environmental authoritiesand particular parties shall apply the principle ofprecaution.

Article 13 .- In the use of water resources, humanconsumption shall have priority over any other use.

Article 14.- The national policy on the environment andnatural resources must be based on and respect theprinciples established in the present Law, and be inaccordance with the international commitmentscontracted by the Dominican Republic.

Chapter II OBJECTIVES

Article 15.- The particular objectives of the presentLaw:

1. The prevention, regulation, and control of anyof the causes or activities which cause deterioration ofthe environment or contamination of the ecosystems, aswell as the degradation, alteration, and destruction ofthe natural and cultural legacy;

2. To establish the means, forms, andopportunities for the conservation and sustainable use

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of natural resources, acknowledging their true value,which includes the environmental services which theyrender, within a national planning based on sustainabledevelopment, with equity and social justice;

3. The correct use of the physical space throughterritorial organization which considers the natural andcultural resources as a basis for the existence anddevelopment of human activities;

4. To strengthen the National System of ProtectedAreas in order to guarantee biological and landscapediversity;

5. To guarantee the rational management of thewater systems and basins, ensuring in this way thesustainability of same;

6. To encourage and promote environmentaleducation as a means to promote a society in harmonywith nature;

7. To encourage a healthy environment whichwill contribute to the sustaining of health and preventionof disease;

8. To encourage and motivate actions which willtend toward the development of and compliance withthe present Law.

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Chapter III BASIC DEFINITIONS

Article 16.- For purposes of the present law, thefollowing definitions apply:

1) SUSTAINABLE USE: The use of natural resourcesin such a way as to respect the functional integrity andload capacity of the ecosystems of which they form part.

2) PROTECTED AREAS: A portion of land and/or seaespecially dedicated to the protection and maintenanceof significant elements of biodiversity and of relatednatural and cultural resources, managed by legalmandate and other elective means;

3) DESERTIFIC ATION : Progressive loss of theavailability of water in ecosystems altered by humanaction. Desertification is expressed in a decrease ofbiodiversity and biological productivity, andreorientation of the ecological dynamics and thepredominant presence of species adapted to the lack ofwater.

4) HUMAN SETTLEMENT: The place where a groupof persons resides and habitually perform their socialactivities.

5) ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT: A systematic, documented,periodic and objective evaluation which is performedin order to determine whether the management systemand environmental behavior satisfy the previouslyestablished provisions, whether the system has beenimplanted in an effective manner and whether it is

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adequate to achieve environmental policies andobjectives.

6) BIODIVERSITY: The totality of each and every oneof the species of living beings, of genes, landscapes, andhabitats in all their varieties.

7) ENVIRONMENT AL QUALITY : Capacity of theecosystems to guarantee the basic functions of speciesand populations which make them up. It is a directfunction of biodiversity and vegetable coverage.

8) QUALITY OF LIFE: The degree to which membersof a human society satisfy their material and spiritualneeds. Its qualification is based on indicators of basicsatisfaction and through value judgments.

9) LOAD CAPACITY: Property of the environment toabsorb or support external agents without sufferingdeterioration that affects its own regeneration, or preventsits natural renewal in normal time periods andconditions, or which reduces significantly its ecologicalfunctions.

10) CONSERVATION: The application of the measuresnecessary to preserve, improve, maintain, rehabilitate,and restore the populations and ecosystems withoutaffecting their use.

11) CONTAMINATION : The introduction into theenvironment of elements harmful to life, flora, and fauna,which degrade or decrease the quality of the atmosphere,water, soil, or properties and natural resources ingeneral.

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12) SONIC CONTAMINATION: Sounds which due to theirlevel, prolongation, or frequency affect human health,quality of life of the populace and the functioning ofecosystems, exceeding legally established permissiblelevels.

13) CONTAMINANT : Any material, element,composition, substance, chemical or biologicalderivative, energy, radiation, vibration, noise, orcombination of same in any of their physical states, whichby being incorporated or acting on the atmosphere,water, soil, flora, fauna, or any other element of theenvironment, alters or modifies its natural compositionand degrades its quality, putting at risk the health ofpersons and the preservation and conservation of theenvironment and wildlife.

14) ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL: Vigilance, inspection,monitoring, and application of measures for theprotection of the environment.

15) ECOLOGICAL CRITERIA: The obligatory guidelinescontained in the present law to orient the actions ofpreservation and restoration of the ecologicalequilibrium, sustainable use of natural resources, andthe protection of the environment, which will have thenature of instruments of environmental policy.

16) ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE: Any loss, decrease,deterioration, or harm caused to the environment or oneor more of its components.

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17) DECLARATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: A processwhich analyzes a proposal from the point of view of itseffect on the environment and natural resources, andwhich consists in the enunciation of the substantial effect,positive or negative, of the proposal action on one orseveral elements.

18) SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: The process that canbe evaluated by means of criteria and indicators of anenvironmental, economic, and social nature which tendsto improve the quality of life and productivity of persons,which is based on appropriate measures for thepreservation of ecological equilibrium, protection of theenvironment, and use of natural resources, such that thesatisfaction of the needs of future generations is notcompromised.

19) ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER: The alteration of thesurroundings caused by natural global, atmospheric,climatic, or infectious forces, induced or producedintentionally or accidentally by human, immediate, oreventual action, which gives rise to catastrophic situationsin which, suddenly or not, human tragedies areproduced, daily patterns of life are disorganized,economic and cultural properties are destroyed, or vitalnatural resources are significantly affected.

20) TOXIC WASTES AND DANGEROUS RESIDUES: Thosewhich in any physical state contain significant quantitiesof substances which present or can present a danger forthe life or health of living entities when freed into theenvironment, or if manipulated incorrectly due to theirmagnitude or manner of their corrosive, toxic,poisonous, reactive, explosive, inflammable, biologically

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harmful, infectious, or irritating characteristics, representa danger for human health, the quality of life, naturalresources, or ecological equilibrium.

21) DESERTIFICATION: A progressive and irreversiblemodification of ecosystems which assume the ecologicalcharacteristics of deserts: scarcity of water (lack ofrainfall, runoff, and immediate evaporation), heavilyseasonal ecodynamics, short periods of intensive growthof opportunistic species (“ruderales”), progressivedecrease of the organic matter in soils, predominanceof third and fourth level predators, among others.

22) HYDROLOGICAL DISTRICTS : Conjunction orassociation of small hydrographical basins which arelocated in the same region.

23) DOCUMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: Documentprepared by a multidisciplinary team under theresponsibility of the proponent, by means of which ismade known to the competent authority and otherinterested parties, the results and conclusions of theenvironmental impact study, and the information andtechnical data are translated into clear and easilycomprehensible language.

24) ECOSYSTEM: Universe of functional relationshipsamong the components of a habitat.

25) ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION: Permanent processof civic, formal, and informal training, for familiarity withand development of values, concepts, attitudes, and skillsvis-à-vis the protection and sustainable use of naturalresources and the environment.

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26) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STUDY: Totality of technicaland scientific activities directed towards theidentification, prediction, and control of environmentalimpacts of a project and its alternatives, presented in theform of a technical report and performed according tothe criteria established by the standards in effect.

27) STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL EVALUATION : Aninstrument of environmental evaluation of the publicpolicies, activities, and projects, to guarantee theincorporation of the environmental variable in differentsectors of public administration.

28) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT EVALUATION: The instrumentof environmental policy and management made up ofthe totality of technical procedures, studies, and systemswhich permit the estimation of the effects which theexecution of a particular work, activity, or project cancause on the environment.

29) WETLAND: Extension of salt marshes, swamps,and “turberas” or surfaces covered with water, be theyof natural or artificial regime, permanent or temporary,stagnant or running, sweet, salty, including the extensionsof sea water whose depth at low tide does not exceed sixmeters, including artificial wetlands, such as rice paddiesand basins.

30) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: Any significant alteration,positive or negative, of one or more of the componentsof the environment and natural resources, caused byhuman action and/or events of nature.

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31) COLLECTIVE INTEREST: Interest corresponding togroups of persons.

32) DIFFUSE INTEREST: That which is found to bedisseminated in a group, corresponding to each one ofits members, and which does not emanate from propertydeeds, rights or concrete actions.

33) ENVIRONMENTAL LICENSE: Document in which isrecorded the fact that the corresponding environmentalimpact study has been delivered, and that the activity,work, or project can be carried out, under the conditionof applying the program of environmental adjustmentand management indicated in same.

34) PERMISSIBLE LIMITS . Technical standards,parameters, and values, established for the purpose ofprotecting human health, quality of the environment, orintegrity of its components.

35) ENVIRONMENT: The system of biotic, abiotic,socioeconomic, cultural, and aesthetic elements whichinteract among themselves, with individuals, and withthe community in which they live, and which determinetheir relationship and survival.

36) LEVELS OF EMISSION : Measured quantity ofemission of substances into the environment.

37) ENVIRONMENTAL EMISSION STANDARDS: Values thatestablish the amount of maximum emission permitted ofa substance, measured in the source of emission.

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38) TERRITORIAL ORDERING: Process of planning,evaluation, and control, directed to identify and programhuman activities compatible with conservation, use, andmanagement of natural resources in the national territory,respecting the load capacity of the natural surroundings,to preserve and restore ecological balance and to protectthe environment, as well as to guarantee the welfare ofthe population.

39) ORDERING OF SOIL: Process of planning, intendedto evaluate and program the use of soil in nationalterritory, according to its characteristics and potential,taking into account natural and environmentalresources, economic and social activities, and thedistribution of the population, in the framework of apolicy of conservation and sustainable use of naturalresources and the environment.

40) ENVIRONMENTAL PERMIT: Document granted by thecompetent authority at the request of the interested party,in which it certifies that from the point of view ofenvironmental protection, the activity may be carried outunder the condition of complying with the measuresindicated.

41) PRESERVATION : Totality of provisions andmeasures to maintain the present state of the ecosystem.

42) PROTECTION: All of the policies and measures toprevent deterioration, threats, and to restore theenvironment and altered ecosystems.

43) COASTAL AND MARINE RESOURCES: Those made upby the water of the territorial sea, estuaries, underwater

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continental shelf, littorals, bays, islands, keys, capes,mangrove swamps, coral reefs, submarine vegetation,places for observation of scenic beauties, and the bioticand abiotic resources inside said associated waters andecosystems.

44) GENETIC RESOURCES: Totality of genes present inthe wild populations and/or managed populations whichmake up the basis of biodiversity.

45) HYDROLOGICAL RESOURCES: Every source of water,running or confined, surface or underground, coastalor inland, sweet, salty, or salt, as well as aquaticecosystems and species which inhabit it temporarily orpermanently, in areas where the Dominican Republicexercises jurisdiction.

46) NATURAL RESOURCES: Natural elements availableto people to satisfy their economic, social, and culturalneeds.

47) ENVIRONMENTAL RISK: Potential for an action of anynature which, due to its location, characteristics, andeffects, can generate damage to the surroundings or tothe ecosystems.

48) C IVIL SOCIETY : Totality of persons andcompanies, owners of a diffuse collective interestpursuant to the law, which expresses its public and socialparticipation in local and/or national life.

49) UNIT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: Natural unitwith clearly defined physical limits where the effects ofthe activities of development can be planned, evaluated,

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and managed systematically, harmoniously, andintegrally.

50) WILDLIFE: The totality of species of flora andfauna that are found in a natural state, and which arenot cultivated or domesticated.

Chapter IV DEPARTMENT FORENVIRONMENT ANDNATURAL RESOURCES

Section I CREATION, PURPOSE, ANDFUNCTIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT

Article 17.- The State Secretariat of Environmentand Natural Resources is created as the governing bodyfor the environment, ecosystems, and natural resources,in order that it comply with the powers which pursuantto environmental legislation in general correspond tothe State, in order to achieve sustainable development.

Article 18 .- The following functions corres-ponding to the State Secretariat of Environment andNatural Resources:

1. To draft the National Environmental andNatural Resources Policy;

2. To carry out and supervise the National Policyon Environment and Natural Resources;

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3. To administer the natural resources of theState’s domain which have been assigned to it;

4. To watch over the preservation, protection,and sustainable use of the environment and naturalresources;

5. To seek the progressive improvement of themanagement, administration, and regulation concerningcontamination of soil, air, and water, for the conservationand improvement of environmental quality;

6. To watch out that the exploration andexploitation of mining resources be performed withoutcausing irreparable damage to the environment and tohuman health; to halt the execution of any mining activitywhenever it may deem, based on scientific studies, thatthe same may endanger human health and causeirreparable harm to the environment and ecosystemsunique or indispensable for the normal development ofhuman life; and to guarantee the restoration of ecologicaldamage and compensation for the economic damagecaused by mining activity;

7. To control and watch over the conservation,use, and investigation of coastal and marine ecosystemsand their resources and of wetlands, and the correctapplication of the norms relating to same;

8. To promote and guarantee the conservationand sustainable use of forest resources, and to watchover the application of the forestry policy of the State,and the norms which regulate their use;

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9. To formulate standards, to review existingstandards, and to supervise the efficacious applicationof the legislation, in order to guarantee the conservationand sustainable use of the natural resources, and toimprove the quality of the environment;

10. To orient, promote, and encourage privateinstitutions, community organizations, and non-governmental organizations in activities of preservation,restoration, conservation, and sustainable use of theenvironment, as well as for the protection of the naturalresources, adjusting their activities to the policies,objectives, and goals on the environment and naturalresources;

11. To encourage the integration of the civilsociety and community organizations into the plans,programs, and projects destined for the preservation andimprovement of the environment;

12. To draft and to guarantee the correctapplication of the norms for the conservation,preservation, and management of the protected areasand wildlife;

13. To collaborate with the Department ofEducation and Culture in the drafting of the plans andteaching programs which will be applied in the differentlevels of national education in regard to the environmentand the natural resources, as well as to promote withsaid Department programs of publication and informaleducation;

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14. To establish mechanisms which will guaranteethat the private sector adjust its activities to the policiesand goals indicated;

15. To encourage processes of IndustrialReconversion, linked to the incorporation of cleantechnologies and to the performance of activities ofdecontamination, recycling, and re-utilization ofresidues;

16. To study and to evaluate the economic costof the deterioration of the environment and naturalresources, for the purpose of their being included in theoperating costs and considered in the national accounts;

17. To establish the National System ofEnvironmental and Natural Resources Information; toperform, organize, and update the inventory ofbiodiversity and national genetic resources, as well asto design and execute the National Strategy of BiodiversityConservation;

18. To control and prevent environmentalcontamination in the emission sources. To establishenvironmental standards and regulations of generalnature concerning the environment, to which the humansettlements, mining, industrial, transportation, and touristactivities must subject themselves, as well as any serviceor activity which may generate environmental damagedirectly or indirectly;

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19. To promote the incorporation of theenvironmental dimension and sustainable use of naturalresources into the National Planning System;

20. To evaluate, give follow-up to, and supervisethe control of the factors of environmental risk and ofthose which can influence the occurrence of naturaldisasters and to execute directly, or in coordination withother pertinent institutions, the actions which tendtowards the prevention of the emergency or to preventthe expansion of its effects;

21. To propose to the Executive Branch thenational positions regarding international negotiationson environmental subjects, and on the country’sparticipation in the conferences of the parties tointernational environmental conventions; to propose thesigning and ratification; to be the focal point of same;and to represent the country in the internationalenvironmental forums and entities in coordination withthe Department of Foreign Relations;

22. To collaborate with the Department of PublicHealth and Social Assistance in the drafting of thenational population policy and in the performing ofstudies and evaluations of common interest;

23. To promote, in coordination with thecompetent entities, the performing of programs andprojects for the prevention of disasters which can affectthe environment and natural resources, as well as themitigation of the damages caused;

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24. To coordinate with the Department of ArmedForces and the National Police the actions to be executedin order to ensure the protection and defense of thecountry’s natural resources;

25. Any other function assigned to it pursuant tothe law.

The functions mentioned in the above clauses willbe performed using the mechanisms of collaborationand consultation established by the National PlanningOffice, which will include the joint work with the sectorialplanning offices of the various Departments of State andother provincial and municipal instances.

Article 19.- The National Council of Environmentand Natural Resources is created as liaison between theNational System of Economic, Social, and AdministrativePlanning, the national productive sector, civil society, andthe entities of the centralized and decentralized publicadministration belonging to the environmental andnatural resources sector, and as the entity responsiblefor programming and evaluating the policies, as well asestablishing the national strategy for conservation ofbiodiversity. The National Council on the Environmentand Natural Resources will be made up of the:

1).- Secretary of State for the Environment andNatural Resources, who will preside over it;

2).- Technical Secretary of State of the Presidency;

3).- Secretary of State of Agriculture and AnimalHusbandry;

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4).- Secretary of State of Public Health and SocialAssistance;

5).- Secretary of State of Education;

6).- Secretary of State of Public Works andCommunications;

7).- Secretary of State of the Armed Forces;

8).- Secretary of State of Tourism;

9).- Secretary of State of Industry and Commerce;

10).- Secretary of State of Foreign Relations;

11).- Secretary of State of Labor;

12).- Secretary General of the Municipal League;

13).- National Institute of Hydraulic Resources

There will also be chosen one representative ofthe Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Regions,of the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), of theenvironmental and natural resources area and of apeasant farmer organization; two representatives ofuniversities (public and private); and one representativeof the business sector, from slates presented by theirrespective organizations to the Secretary of State forEnvironment and Natural Resources and designated bydecree of the Executive Branch.

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The resolutions of the National Council on theEnvironment and Natural Resources are of obligatorycompliance, and their execution corresponds to the StateSecretariat of Environment and Natural Resources.

A special regulation shall govern the functioningof the National Council on the Environment and NaturalResources.

Section II BASIC STRUCTUREOF THE DEPARTMENTOF ENVIRONMENTAND NATURAL RESOURCES

Article 20.- The State Secretariat of Environmentand Natural Resources shall be structured according toits areas of competence and functions, in five Under-Secretaries of State:

1.- Environmental Management;

2.- Soils and Waters;

3.- Forestry Resources;

4.- Protected Areas and Biodiversity; and

5.- Coastal and Marine Resources;

The Organic and Functional Regulation of theDepartment of Environment and Natural Resources shalldetermine the specific functions and the internalstructure of the Under Secretaries and other organicunits necessary for its efficient functioning;

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Article 21 .- The Office of Planning andProgramming is created as an advisory entity of the StateSecretariat of Environment and Natural Resources inmatters of economic, social, and administrativeplanning, which besides the functions established byLaw No. 55, dated November 22, 1965, on the NationalPlanning System, shall be the Department’s support unitin the process of creation of same.

Section III REORDERING OF THE PUBLICENTITIES BELONGINGTO THE ENVIRONMENTAL ANDNATURAL RESOURCES SECTOR

Article 22.- The Under Secretary of State forNatural Resources of the Department of Agriculture, theNational Directorate of Parks, the EnvironmentalDepartment of the National Planning Office, the NationalInstitute of Forestry Resources, the National Institute ofEnvironmental Protection, and the Office for theProtection of the Earth’s Crust of the Department of PublicWorks are transferred to, and consequently shall bedependencies of, the Department of Environment andNatural Resources, under its new structure.

Repeal of Decree No. 216 dated June 5, 1998,which creates the Institute of Environmental Protection(INPRA) and law 118-99 and its regulations of theNational Institute of Forestry Resources (INAREF) andits powers pass to the Department of Environment andNatural Resources.

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The State Secretariat of Environment and NaturalResources shall be in charge of all edifications, furniture,equipment, materials, and physical resources ofwhatever kind, in the power of the entities which aretransferred to it, and of those which are eliminated bythe present Law.

The General Directorate of Mining of theDepartment of Industry and Commerce must coordinatewith the Department of Environment and NaturalResources on the drafting of the national mining policy,as well as its application, which must be subject to theNational Policy on Environment and Natural Resourcesadopted by the Executive Branch.

Article 23 .- The “Dr. Rafael M. Moscoso”National Botanical Garden, the “Architect ManuelValverde Podestá” National Zoological Park, the NationalAquarium, the National Museum of Natural History, andthe National Institute of Hydraulic Resources shall bedependencies of the State Secretariat of Environmentand Natural Resources.

Creation of the Boards of Directors of the NationalZoological Park, the National Botanical Garden, theNational Aquarium, and the National Museum of NaturalHistory, the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources, asadministrative and financial control entities, which willbe presided over by the Secretary of State forEnvironment and Natural Resources, and made up byand regulated through decree of the Executive Branch.

The institutions mentioned in the present Articleconserve their functional, jurisdictional, and financial

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autonomy, as well as their own legal (corporate) legacyand incorporation.

The National Institute of Hydraulic Resourcesmust submit for the approval of the State Secretariat ofEnvironment and Natural Resources the plans, programs,projects, and activities which this institution is going tocarry out in the hydrographic basins, within thecompetencies assigned by the present law to the StateSecretariat of Environment and Natural Resources. TheNational Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INDRHI) willcoordinate with the State Secretariat of Environment andNatural Resources everything concerning the use andexploitation of the country’s water resources.

Section IV NATIONAL SYSTEMOF ENVIRONMENTALAND NATURAL RESOURCESMANAGEMENT

Article 24.- In order to guarantee the design andefficient execution of the policies, plans, programs, andprojects related to the environment and naturalresources, there will be a system with functions of drafting,orientation, and coordination, called the NationalSystem of Environmental and Natural ResourcesManagement.

The National System of Environmental andNatural Resources Management constitutes the totalityof the orientations, standards, activities, resources,projects, programs, and institutions which make possiblethe application, execution, implementation, and carrying

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out of the principles, policies, strategies, and dispositionsadopted by the public powers related to the environmentand natural resources.

Article 25.- The National System of Environmentand Natural Resources will be made up by:

1. The State Secretariat of Environment andNatural Resources;

2. The Institutional Offices of Programming of thedecentralized and autonomous entities which make upthe Sector;

3. Two representatives from universities (publicand private);

4. The Environment and Natural ResourcesCommissions of the City Hall of the National District, theMunicipal Town Halls, and the Municipal League;

5. The Non-Governmental Organizations fromthe Sector which are recorded in the State Secretariatof Environment and Natural Resources.

It corresponds to the State Secretariat ofEnvironment and Natural Resources to coordinate theNational System of Environmental and Natural ResourcesManagement, and to draft the regulation correspondingto its functioning.

Article 26.- The institutions which form part ofthe National System of Environmental and Natural

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Resources Management, must have Units ofEnvironmental Management and must be organized withtheir own personnel and be financed with the budget ofeach entity. The Units of Environmental Managementare specialized structures, with functions of supervising,coordinating, and providing follow-up to the policies,plans, programs, projects, and environmental actionswithin their institutions, and watching over compliancewith the environmental standards by the same, ensuringthe necessary interinstitutional coordination of theenvironmental management, according to theinstructions issued by the State Secretariat ofEnvironment and Natural Resources.

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Title II INSTRUMENTS FORTHE MANAGEMENTOF ENVIRONMENTAND NATURALRESOURCES

Article 27.- The instruments for the managementof the environment and natural resources are thefollowing:

1. Environmental Planning;

2. The present Law, the special and sectorial laws,the international conventions and treaties, and other legalprovisions destined for the protection of the environmentand natural resources, including the technical standardsin matters of environmental protection;

3. Territorial Organization;

4. The National System of Protected Areas;

5. Environmental Permits and Licenses;

6. Strategic Evaluation of Environmental Impact;

7. National System of Environmental and NaturalResources Information;

8. Environmental Inspection;

9. Environmental Education and Publication;

10. Scientific and Technological Development;

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11. Incentives;

12. National Fund for the Environment andNatural Resources;

Chapter I INCORPORATION OFTHE ENVIRONMENTALDIMENSION INPLANNING

Article 28.- The planning of national, regional,and provisional development of the country mustincorporate the environmental dimension through adynamic, permanent, participatory, and concertedprocess between the different entities involved inenvironmental management.

The centralized, decentralized, autonomous, andsemi-autonomous public institutions of the State, as wellas the City Hall of the National District, of the town halls,and the Municipal League, shall include in theirrespective budgets the items corresponding to theapplication of the present Article. It corresponds to theTechnical Department of the Presidency, through theNational Offices of Planning and the National BudgetOffice, and to the Dominican Municipal League, incoordination with the State Secretariat of Environmentand Natural Resources, to guarantee compliance withthe present Article.

Article 29.- All plans, programs, and projects ofdevelopment of a national, regional, provincial, ormunicipal nature, must be drafted or adjusted, as maybe the case, oriented by the guiding principles of the

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present Law, the environmental policies, strategies, andprograms established by the competent authorities.

Chapter II ORDERINGOF THE TERRITORY

Article 30.- Declares of the highest nationalinterest the design, drafting, and execution of the NationalPlan for Organization of the Territory which incorporatesenvironmental variables.

The Technical Department of the Presidency, incoordination with the State Secretariat of Environmentand Natural Resources, and the rest of the appropriateState entities, shall develop actions intended to complywith the present Article, in a term no greater than three(3) years, and the following items must be assigned inthe Law of Budget and Public Expenditures.

The Organization of the Territory must take as aguide the objectives and principles contained in thepresent Law.

Article 31.- The organization of the territory,national, provincial, or municipal, as may be the case,shall have as principle objectives, the protection of theirresources, the decrease of their vulnerability, the reversalof recurrent losses due to inadequate or improper useof the environment and natural resources, and achievingthe maximum possible harmony in the interrelations ofthe society with nature, taking into account:

1) The nature and the characteristics of thedifferent ecosystems:

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2) The potential of each region in terms of itsnatural resources;

3) The indispensable equilibrium betweenhuman activities and their environmental conditions;

4) Existing ecological imbalances due to humancauses; and

5) The environmental impact of new humansettlements, infrastructure works, and related activities.

Article 32.- In order to guarantee an adequateenvironmental management, the State Secretariat ofEnvironment and Natural Resources will divide thenational territory into Units of EnvironmentalManagement, and so long as possible, the limits of thehydrographic basins must be respected.

The small basins may be united in order to makeup the Hydrological Districts.

ChapterIII NATIONAL SYSTEMOF PROTECTED AREAS

Article 33.- There is created the National Systemof Protected Areas, which comprises all of the areas ofthat nature, both those already existing and those whichshall be created in the future, either public or private.The responsibilities of the National Directorate of Parksare transferred to the State Secretariat of Environmentand Natural Resources.

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For the establishing of the Protected Areas, thefollowing mandates must be taken into account:

1. Preserving the natural ecosystemsrepresentative of the diverse biogeographical andecological regions of the country;

2. Protecting the hydrographic basins,hydrological cycles, aquifer zones, samples of bioticcommunities, particular genetic resources and thegenetic diversity of the natural ecosystems and theirelements;

3. Favoring the development of ecotechniquesand improving the rational and sustainable use of thenatural ecosystems and of their elements;

4. Protecting natural scenarios and landscapes;

5. Promoting recreational and tourist activitiesin harmony with nature;

6. Favoring environmental education, scientificresearch, and the study of the ecosystems;

7. Protecting the natural surroundings ofhistorical and artistic monuments, and archeologicalremains.

The management and supervision of all of theProtected Areas must be done obligatorily under theManagement Plans.

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Article 34 (temporary).- The National System ofProtected Areas is made up of the units and categoriesof conservation established in the following laws anddecrees, whose limits are ratified by the present law, aswell as other legal and/or administrative documentswhich compliment them:

1. Law No. 4389 dated February 19, 1956, whichcreates a Forest Reserve for scientific purposes andProtection of Nature, called the “Armando Bermúdez”National Park;

2. Law No. 5056 dated December 19, 1958, onissuance of fishing permits, provided by the Fishing LawNo. 1518 dated June 18, 1938;

3. Law No. 654 dated April 24, 1974, whichdeclares as a Reserved Zone or National Park the CaboFrancés Viejo and its adjacent beach of El Bretón, onthe north coast of the national territory;

4. Law No. 664 dated May 14, 1974, whichdeclares as a Reserved Zone or National Park the IslaCabritos in Lake Enriquillo, Independencia Province;

5. Law No. 409 dated April 8, 1976, whichmodifies articles 1, 4, and 5 of Law No. 244 dated January10, 1968;

Decrees Nos.:

6. Decree No. 1311 dated September 16, 1975,which declares as the National Park of the East a zona of

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around four hundred thirty square kilometers in theprovince of La Altagracia and pronounces otherprovisions;

7. Decree No. 1863 dated April 6, 1976, whichdeclares as a Natural Scientific Reserve a portion of landin the township of Guayubín;

8. Decree No. 2924 dated June 17, 1977, whichdeclares as the La Vega Vieja National Historical Parkthe area where archaeological excavations areperformed in the old city of la Concepción de La Vega;

9. Decree No. 157-86 dated February 26, 1986,which declares as areas of public utility and social interestfor purposes of conservation of the natural ecosystemsand historical and archaeological places, and places forresearch, education, and recreation, with the categoryof “Jaragua National Park,” the territories and maritimezones adjacent to said Park;

10. Decree No. 159-86 dated February 26, 1986,which declares as a “Panoramic Highway” for purposesof recreation, environmental education, and protectionof nature, the highway of Aceitillar-Cabo Rojo, formerlythe highway of the Alcoa Explotation Company;

11. Decree No. 1026-86-249 dated September 25,1986, which declares as a National Park an area of the ofCaribbean Sea with the name of “La Caleta UnderwaterPark”;

12. Decree No. 417-89 dated October 26, 1989,which declares as the Scientific Reserve of Green Ebony

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(Magnolia Pallescens) several areas in the township ofConstanza;

13. Decree No. 82-92 dated March 6, 1992, whichdeclares the Scientific Reserve of Loma Quita Espuela,located in San Francisco de Macorís, and puts it underthe administration of the Fundación Loma Quita Espuela,Inc., and the General Directorate of Parks;

14. Decree No. 16-93 dated January 22, 1993,which modifies article 1 of Decree No. 156-86, datedFebruary 26, 1986, on the Montecristi National Park;

15. Decree No. 183-93 dated June 24, 1993, whichorders the creation of a green belt surrounding the urbanarea of the city of Santo Domingo de Guzmán;

16. Decree No. 356-93 dated December 31, 1993,which declares as a tourist highway the old Luperónhighway, which joins the cities of Santiago de losCaballeros and Puerto Plata;

17. Decree No. 221-95, dated September 30, 1995,which creates the National Parks of “Nalga de Maco” and“Sierra de Neyba” and the “Las Caobas NaturalMonument”;

18. Decree No. 309-95 dated December 31, 1995,which adopts as a guide for the organization of thenational system of protected areas, the generic categoriesgranted by the World Union for Nature;

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19. Decree No. 233-96 dated July 30, 1996, whichapplies the categories established to the norms of theWorld Union for Nature (UICN), to the scientific reserves,national parks, natural monuments, wildlife refuges andpanoramic highways, as well as architecturalmonuments, archaeological beds, submarine zones ofhistorical and cultural interest and recreational,educational, and cultural areas, reserved previouslythroughout the national territory by different laws,decrees, and administrative provisions. It creates thenational parks of: “Lago Enriquillo,” “Juan Bautista PérezRancier,” “Cabo Cabrón,” “Sierra Martín García,” “JuanUlises García Bonelly,” and “La Humeadora.” Itestablishes the definitive limits of the “Los Haitises”National Park. It expands the limits of the “Sierra deBahoruco” National Park. It founds the scientific reservesof: “Erick Leonard Eckman” and “Dr. Miguel CanelaLázaro,” the biological reserves of: “Padre MiguelDomingo Fuertes” y “Las Neblinas,” “Dr. José de Js.Jiménez Almonte” y “Humedales del Bajo Yuna.” It assignsthe category of Natural Monument to the mountian of“Loma Isabel de Torres,” and to the “Bay of Luperón”and “Cascada del Limón.” It classifies as anthropologicalreserve “Cueva de las Maravillas” and expands the limitsof the anthropological reserve of “Cuevas de Borbón.” Itcreates the wildlife refuges of “Río Higuamo” and assignsthe same category to the “Laguna de Cabral.” It expandsthe limits of the “Marine Mammals Sanctuary of theDominican Republic.” It creates the panoramic highwaysof the “Mirador del Atlántico,” “Comate and ComatilloRivers,” “Mirador del Paraíso,” “Mao River,” “Costa Azul,”the “Bao River,” and the “Mirador del Valle de la VegaReal.” It creates the national recreational areas of “ElPuerto-Guaigüí,” “Cayo Levantado,” and the “Andrés-

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Boca Chica Beach.” It creates the ecological corredorsof the “Duarte Highway,” “Tenares-Gaspar HernándezHighway,” “El Seybo-Miches,” “El Abanico-Constanza,”and “Cabral-Polo” highways. It horizes the NationalCommittee “an and the Biosphere” (Dominican MAB) topresent to UNESCO the proposals for the creation of thebiosphere reserves of: “Hoya del Lago Enriquillo withits bordering mountain systems,” and the “Bay of Samanáand its surroundings,” and pronounces other provisionsfor the protection of natural, historical, and culturalpatrimony of the Dominican Republic.

The La Isabela Historical National Park isincorporated into the National System of Protected Areasby administrative disposition of the National Directorateof Parks.

A term of ninety (90) days is granted to theExecutive Branch for it to present a Bill of Law onProtected Areas and Biodiversity.

The National System of Protected Areas will beof a temporary nature until the presentation, approval,and initiation of a bill which will update the NationalSystem of Protected Areas, as well as the categoriesaccording to international standards which govern inthis regard their limits and other pertinent considerations.Until the Law on Protected Areas and Biodiversity ispromulgated, no modification of same shall be permitted.

Article 35 .- The objectives of establishingprotected areas are:

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1. To save, become familiar with, conserve, anduse, according to their category of management, thebiodiversity and ecosystems under a regime of protectionwhich will make up the Republic’s Natural Patrimony;

2. To maintain in their natural state therepresentative samples of biotic communities, zones oflife, physiographic regions, biogeographic units, geneticresources and species of threatened wildlife or those indanger or in process of extinction, in order to facilitatescientific research, the maintenance of biologicaldiversity, to ensure ecological stability, to promoterecreational activities and sustainable tourism, and tofavor environmental education, scientific research, andthe study of ecosystems.

3. To promote and encourage conservation,recuperation, and sustainable use of natural resources;

4. To guarantee the environmental serviceswhich are derived from the protected areas, such ascarbon setting, decrease of the greenhouse effect,contribution to the stabilization of climate (weather) andsustainable use of energy;

5. To conserve and recuperate the sources ofproduction of water, and to execute actions which willpermit their effective control, in order to avoid erosionand sedimentation.

Article 36.- The protected areas are a legacy ofthe State, and must be administered according to theircategories, zoning, and regulation, based on plans of

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management approved by the State Secretariat ofEnvironment and Natural Resources, with theparticipation of the community and its organizations, inthe management and handling of same.

The Dominican Republic may establishagreements for the co-management and/or themanagement of protected areas with interested entities,so long as the interests of conservation prevail over anyother.

When due to the national interest or the categoryof management which so requires, an area belonging toa person or private entity is declared to be under thenational system of protected areas, the DominicanRepublic may declare it of public utility and acquire itthrough purchase or exchange, and the price andconditions are to be established by the laws governingthis subject or by mutual agreement.

Article 37 .- When all of the environmentalconditions of a particular area or zone have been orcould be seriously affected, the State Secretariat ofEnvironment and Natural Resources, after the pertinenttechnical studies, may subject said space to a provisionalregime of environmental protection, without thismeasure’s necessarily meaning that said zone enter intothe System of Protected Natural Areas.

When a space is subjected to the regime ofprovisional protection indicated in the present article, aManagement Plan or program of control andrecuperation shall be established which will indicate the

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preventative or correctional measures which must becarried out in said zone, as well as those responsible forexecuting those measures and the terms within whichthey must be carried out.

An area of provisional environmental protectionmay cease to be such, or may be assigned to anotherspecific and stable category, when the environmentalconditions have been reestablished, and the equilibriumof the ecological system which characterizes it havebeen guaranteed.

Chapter IV ON THEENVIRONMENTALEVALUATION

Article 38 .- For purposes of preventing,controlling, and mitigating the possible impacts on theenvironment and natural resources caused by works,projects, and activities, the process of environmentalevaluation is established with the following instruments:

1) Environmental impact statement;

2) Strategic environmental evaluation;

3) Environmental impact study;

4) Environmental report;

5) Environmental license;

6) Environmental permit;

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7) Environmental audits; and

8) Public consultation.

Article 39.- The policies, plans, and programsof public administration must be evaluated in terms oftheir environmental effects, selecting the alternative ofleast negative impact. An analysis must be performed ofconsistency with the national policy on the environmentand natural resources. Each institution will make its ownstrategic environmental evaluations. The State Secretariatof Environment and Natural Resources will issue thedirectives for the evaluations and will approve andsupervise compliance with its recommendations.

Article 40.- Every project, work of infrastructure,industry, or any other activity which due to itscharacteristics could affect the environment and naturalresources in one way or another, must obtain from theState Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources,prior to its execution, the environmental permit orenvironmental license, according to the magnitude ofthe effects which it could cause.

Article 41 .- The projects or activities whichrequire the presentation of an environmental impactevaluation are the following:

1) Ports, docks, navigation ways, breakwaters,piers, canals, shipyards, drains, maritime terminals,reservoirs, dams, dikes, irrigation canals, and aqueducts;

2) High voltage electrical transmission lines andtheir substations;

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3) Hydro and thermo-electrical central stationsand nuclear generating plans;

4) Airports, bus and railroad terminals, railroadlines, highways, roads, and public roadways;

5) Urban development and human settlementprojects; plans for urban regulation;

6) Industrial plants, including sugar mills, cementplants, liquor distilleries, beer factories, paper factories,chemical factories, textile factories, producers ofconstruction materials, equipment, and metallicproducts, tanneries, and gas, halogen, hydracid and acidproduction;

7) Agribusinesses and slaughterhouses, breedingstables, milking establishments and animal feedlots ofindustrial dimensions;

8) Plans for agrarian transformation, agriculturalplantations, and cattle breeding, rural settlements,including those carried out according to the AgrarianReform laws;

9) Mining projects, including petroleum andturbine; explorations or prospecting, removal of theearth’s crust, exploitations, construction, and operationof wells, dams, processing plants, refineries and disposalof residues;

10) Extraction of dry materials (rocks, gravel, andsand);

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11) Installation of pipelines, gaslines, miningducts, and other analogous installations;

12) Projects of commercial plantations of trees,sawmills, wood processing factories;

13) Projects for exploitation of cultivation ofhydrobiological resources and processing plants ofsame;

14) Importation, production, preparation,transformation, use, marketing, storing, transportation,disposal, recycling, or reuse of toxic, noxious, explosive,radioactive, inflammable, corrosive, or reactivesubstances or others of evident dangerousness;

15) Systems of environmental sanitation, such assewage systems and potable water systems, sewagetreatment plans, and plants to treat toxic residues ofindustrial, residential, and municipal origin, sanitary fills,underwater outlets, treatment and disposal systems forsolid, liquid, or gaseous effluvients;

16) The execution of works, programs, andactivities in national parks and other protected areas;

17) The massive application of chemicalcombinations or products in urban zones or surfacesgreater than one hundred hectares in rural zones;

18) Engineering works of any kind which areprojected to be performed in protected forests or waterproduction and other fragile ecosystems, in rain or cloudforests, in upper basins, in wetlands, or in coastal areas;

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19) Hotel or tourism development installations;and

20) Polygons or industrial parks, industrial freezones, or industries of transformation, and assemblyparks.

The abovegoing list may be expanded byresolution of the State Secretariat of Environment andNatural Resources.

The projects, installations, or works, both privateand of the State, shall be submitted to the system ofenvironmental and social impact evaluation.

The State Secretariat of Environment and NaturalResources shall prepare a document explaining theactivities, works, and projects contained in the presentlist, which will require an environmental impactstatement, an environmental impact evaluation, orenvironmental report, according to the magnitude andmeaning of environmental impact which they mayproduce.

The activities, works, or projects which do notrequire an environmental permit or license must complywith the environmental regulations established by theDepartment of State of Environment and NaturalResources.

The Department of State of Environment andNatural Resources shall establish the criteria to determinewhether the project requires an environmental permit,

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and therefore must present an environmental impactstatement, or whether on the other hand it needs anenvironmental license, in which case it must present anenvironmental impact study. It must also establish criteriaof exclusion, which will permit the identification of thoseprojects or activities which do not require entering theprocess of environmental evaluation.

When the State is the promoter, executor, or formsan active part in any of the plans for developmentprojects, it must contract the services of privateconsultants or companies for purposes of performing thecorresponding environmental studies, and it must complywith the requirements established in the present law.

Article 42 .- The environmental impactstatement, the environmental impact study, and theenvironmental report will be paid for by the partyinterested in developing the activity, work, or project,and shall be performed by a multidisciplinary technicalteam if necessary, and may be represented by one of thesame. It will be a public document subject to discussion,and those who prepare it must be registered for statisticalpurposes and purposes of information in the StateSecretariat of Environment and Natural Resources,which shall establish the procedure of certification forthose rendering services of environmental statement,report, studies, diagnosis, evaluations, and audits.

The State Secretariat of Environment and NaturalResources, based on the nomenclature of the activity,work, or project, shall issue the technical standards,structure, content, provisions, and methodologicalguidelines necessary for the drafting of the environmental

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impact studies, the program for environmentalmanagement and adjustment, and the environmentalreports; as well as the time of duration of the effectivenessof the environmental permits and licenses, which shallbe established according to the magnitude of theenvironmental impacts produced.

The procedural standards for the presentation,categorization, evaluation, publication, approval orrejection, control, follow-up and supervision of theenvironmental permits and licenses, shall be establishedin the corresponding regulation.

Article 43 .- The process of environmentalpermits and licenses shall be administered by the StateSecretariat of Environment and Natural Resources, incoordination with the corresponding institutions, whichshall be obligated to review the environmental impactstudies with the competent sectorial entities, as well aswith the municipal town halls, guaranteeing theparticipation of the citizenry and the correspondingpublication.

Article 44.- In the environmental license andpermit there will be included the program ofenvironmental management and education, which theparty responsible for the activity, work, or project mustexecute, establishing the form of follow-up andcompliance with same.

The program of environmental management andadjustment, established in the present article, must becarried out based on the environmental parameters andindicators referred to in articles 78 and following of

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Chapter I, of title IV of the present law. Until these saidparameters are definitively established, provisionalparameters shall be used, and the State Secretariat ofEnvironment and Natural Resources must define aminimum percentage of reduction of the potentialcontaminant, which must be established in allenvironmental permits and licenses issued.

Article 45 .- The environmental permit andlicense obligates anyone to whom it is granted to:

1) Assume the administrative, civil, and criminalliabilities for damages caused to the environment andnatural resources. If said damages are the result of theviolation of the terms established in the environmentallicense and environmental permit, it must assume thepertinent legal and economic consequences;

2) Observe the provisions established in thespecial standards and regulations in effect;

3) Carry out the program of environmentalmanagement and adjustment;

4) Permit the environmental inspection by thecompetent authorities.

Article 46.- In order to ensure that the partyresponsible for the activity comply with the conditionsset in the environmental license and environmentalpermit, the State Secretariat of Environment and NaturalResources shall perform an environmental evaluationwhen it deems it so convenient, through its own meansor using those of third parties.

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In the program of environmental managementand adjustment, a program of self-monitoring shall beestablished which the party responsible for the activity,work, or project must comply with and report onperiodically to the State Secretariat of Environment andNatural Resources. The results of same shall be matchedwith the external reports of environmental audit.

Article 47.- In order to ensure compliance withthe environmental license and environmental permitregarding the execution of the program of environmentalmanagement and adjustment, the party responsible forthe activity, work, or project must render a performancebond for an amount equivalent to ten percent (10%) ofthe total costs of the physical works or investments whichare required in order to comply with the program ofenvironmental management and adjustment.

Article 48.- The State Secretariat of Environmentand Natural Resources shall make public theenvironmental permits and licenses which it may grant,as well as the persons or companies which aresanctioned administratively or legally.

Chapter V NATIONAL SYSTEM OFINFORMATION ON THEENVIRONMENT ANDNATURAL RESOURCES

Article 49.- The National System of Informationon the Environment and Natural Resources is establishedunder the auspices of the Department of Environmentand Natural Resources. This system will be made up of

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the public and private entities and institutions dedicatedto generating technical and scientific informationconcerning the state of the environment and naturalresources.

Article 50.- The data from the National Systemof Environmental Information will be freely accessible,and their periodic publication shall be sought, exceptfor that which is restricted by specific laws and thecorresponding regulations.

Article 51.- Without prejudice to intellectualproperty rights, anyone who performs research or workon the environment and natural resources shall delivera copy of the research or study to the Department ofEnvironment and Natural Resources.

Article 52.- The Department of Environment andNatural Resources will draft and publish every two yearsa report on the state of the environment and naturalresources, in accordance with the format and contentto be established, taking as a model the EnvironmentalManagement Units.

Chapter VI ENVIRONMENTALSUPERVISION ANDINSPECTION

Article 53.- The Department of Environment andNatural Resources, in coordination with the competentauthorities, shall watch over the monitoring andinspection which it may deem necessary for compliance

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with the present Law, sectorial laws, their regulations,and other administrative provisions.

To comply with this article, authorized personnelshall have access to the places or establishments that arethey are to monitor and inspect, and the owners,administrators, or parties responsible for same mustrender the information and facilities necessary for theperformance of said tasks.

The Department of Environment and NaturalResources may require of the persons or companies itdeems necessary any information that leads to theverification of compliance with the standards prescribedby this Law and its regulations. In turn, the latter shallbe obligated to respond to such demands.

Article 54.- The Department of Environment andNatural Resources, based on the results of theinspections, shall pronounce the measures necessary tocorrect the irregularities found, notifying the interestedparties and granting them a reasonable time for theircorrection.

Article 55 .- In situations of environmentalemergency, the Department of Environment and NaturalResources and the corresponding local government, incoordination with the Department of Public Health andSocial Assistance and related entities, shall immediatelyestablish the appropriate security measures in benefit ofthe common good.

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Chapter VII ENVIRONMENTALEDUCATION ANDPUBLICATION

Article 56.- The Department of Environment andNatural Resources, in coordination with the Departmentof Education, shall carry out programs of environmentaleducation - formal and informal - with the participationof public and private institutions which performeducational activities.

Article 57.- The Department of Education shallincorporate mandatory environmental education withan inter-disciplinary focus into the plans and programsof all grades, levels, cycles, and modes of teaching ofthe educational system, as well as the technical institutes,training and teacher updating institutes, according to thepolicy established by the government.

Article 58.- The National Higher EducationCouncil, in coordination with the Department ofEnvironment and Natural Resources, shall guarantee theincorporation of the environmental dimension into theplans of under- and post-graduate study, both curricularand extra-curricular, directed towards the formation andperfecting of professionals in all branches, from theperspective of contributing to the sustainable use ofnatural resources and the protection and improvementof the environment.

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Chapter VIII SCIENTIFIC ANDTECHNOLOGICALRESEARCH

Article 59.- The Dominican government shallpromote and encourage applied scientific andtechnological research in the area of the environmentand natural resources for sustainable development.

Article 60 .- Within a year following thepromulgation of the present Law, the Department ofEnvironment and Natural Resources, in coordinationwith the pertinent entities and institutions, shall proceedto draft and execute the Permanent Program of Scientificand Technological Environmental Research forSustainable Development.

Article 61.- The Department of Environment andNatural Resources shall promote a policy of researchconcerning the general status and the potential of theenvironment and natural resources; it also shallencourage institutions of higher education and researchcenters to carry out programs to train specialists and itshall encourage scientific and technological research inthis area.

Article 62.- The persons or companies dedicatedto research activities on the environment and naturalresources, whose results serve as a basis for improvementof environmental quality and the sustainable use ofnatural resources, may receive incentives according tothe regulation which will be drafted for such purpose.

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Chapter IX INCENTIVES

Article 63 .- The Dominican governmentacknowledges the environmental benefits offered by thecountry's natural resources, and shall establish aprocedure to include in the national financial statementstheir value.

In the case of natural resources belonging to thenation, the value of the environmental benefits whichthey offer shall be based on their quality and quantityand shall reflect conservation and sustainable use.

Article 64.- The Department of Environment andNatural Resources shall create the necessarymechanisms and shall issue the standards for therecognition of environmental benefits. When thesebenefits come from resources belonging to the nation,the benefits generated must be reinvested in improvingthe quality of the environment and in reducing thevulnerability of the area from which they come.

Article 65 .- The investments to protect orimprove the environment, and to make a sustainable useof natural resources shall be the object of incentiveswhich shall consist of partial or total relief from taxesand import duties, added value taxes, and shorter periodsof depreciation, according to the regulations.

The Department of Environment and NaturalResources shall qualify and certify the investmentsreferred to by this article, according to the corresponding

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regulations drafted by the Department of Finance andapproved by the Executive Branch.

Article 66.- The National Environmental Prize isestablished, which shall be granted periodically by theExecutive Branch as recognition of persons orcompanies and to institutions outstanding in theprotection of the environment and sustainablemanagement of natural resources, or in the execution ofenvironmentally healthy processes in the country.

Article 67.- The companies that incorporate theEnvironmental Management System within the principlesof Standards ISO-14000 or any other extra system ofenvironmental protection and guarantee shall benefitaccording to the regulation drafted for such purposes.

Article 68.- The members of the media that freelygrant time or space to the publication of duly authorizedenvironmental education campaigns may be grantedfinancial incentives according to the regulations.

Article 69.- The government shall encourageinvestments for the recycling of domestic andcommercial wastes according to the technical andsanitary procedures approved by the Department ofEnvironment and Natural Resources.

Article 70.- The Department of Environment andNatural Resources, in coordination with the Departmentof Finance, shall prepare a methodology and thepertinent procedures for payment of fees for the use andplacement of contaminants in receptacles, within the

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parameters and levels established in the environmentalquality standards, based on the principles of "user-payer"and "he who contaminates pays."

Chapter X FUNDS OF THEDEPARTMENT OFENVIRONMENTAND NATURALRESOURCES

Article 71 .- The National Fund for theEnvironment and Natural Resources is hereby createdto develop and finance programs and projects ofprotection, conservation, research, education,restoration, and sustainable use, with an independentcorporate identity and its own administration, and withjurisdiction throughout the entire nation.

Article 72 .- The operating resources of theDepartment of Environment and Natural Resources andthose of the National Fund for the Environment andNatural Resources shall be made up with the resourcescoming from the granting of environmental licenses andpermits, by 25% of the income from concessions orcontracts for exploration and exploitation of naturalresources, payment of fines for environmentalinfractions, payment of rates for environmental services,income from auction or public sale of goods andproducts confiscated because they were used inenvironmentally illegal acts, from national andinternational donations granted for this purpose, fromgoods and legacies which are granted, and frombudgetary items so designated in the national budget.

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The National Fund for the Environment andNatural Resources will be entitled to no less than 33% ofthe resources obtained which are not otherwise assignedto the Department of Environment and NaturalResources.

Article 73 .- The resources coming from thepayment of fines shall be used for the financing of projectsof education, recuperation, and improvement ofenvironmental quality, in that order.

Article 74.- The direction and administration ofthe National Fund for the Environment and NaturalResources shall be under the charge of a councilcomposed of the Department of Environment and NaturalResources, or its representative, who shall preside overit; the Department of Finance, or its representative; theDirector of the National Planning Office, or itsrepresentative; the Secretary General of the DominicanMunicipal League, or its representative; one ExecutiveDirector, who shall act as Secretary, named by Decreeof the Executive Branch, with the right to speak butwithout the right to vote; two representatives ofuniversities (public and private); one representative ofthe business sector; four representatives of communityorganizations that work in the area of environment andnatural resources, representing the northern, southern,eastern, and western regions, from slates presented bytheir respective organizations to the Department ofEnvironment and Natural Resources, and named bydecree of the Executive Branch.

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Article 75 .- The Office of the ComptrollerGeneral of the Republic must inspect the managementof the resources of the National Fund for Environmentand Natural Resources.

Chapter XI ENVIRONMENTALEMERGENCIES ANDDECLARATIONOF AREAS UNDERENVIRONMENTAL RISK

Article 76.- The consequences of environmentaldisasters originated by negligence shall be the exclusiveresponsibility of the persons or entities causing same, andsaid parties must replace or restore the areas orresources destroyed or affected, if possible, and respondcriminally and civilly for damages caused.

Article 77.- All entities of the government andprivate institutions shall develop actions of training fortheir personnel in contingency plans to be adopted incase of environmental disaster, for which dueinstitutional coordination shall be established, especiallywith civil defense.

Article 78 .- The Executive Branch, at theproposal of the Department of Environment and NaturalResources, may declare as areas of environmental riskin their various levels, the zones whose index ofcontamination surpasses permissible limits and whichconstitute a real and identified threat to health and theenvironment. In such cases there shall be applied thecontrol measures which may be necessary.

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TITLE III PROTECTION ANDQUALITY OF THEENVIRONMENT

Chapter I GENERAL STANDARDS

Article 79.- The Department of Environment andNatural Resources, after technical ruling shall issue:

1. standards and parameters of environmentalquality, and shall watch over and control the fixed andmobile sources of contamination and contaminants;

2. standards and norms of quality of theecosystems, which shall serve as guidelines forenvironmental management;

3. standards and parameters for the pouring ofliquid and solid wastes, emissions into the atmosphere,sound, and visual contamination;

4. standards on the location of contaminating ordangerous activities, and on the zones of influence ofsame.

Local governments may issue standards of thetypes mentioned in this article with exclusive applicationin the territorial scope of their competency, and in orderto resolve special situations, so long as said standardsguarantee a level of protection to the environment,human health, and natural resources, greater than thatprovided by the national standards. The monitoring and

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control of compliance with municipal environmentalstandards shall be the exclusive responsibility of thecorresponding city hall, without prejudice to thecompetency of the Department of Environment andNatural Resources as provided by the present Law andits regulations.

Article 80.- The object of standards and controlsby the Department of Environment and NaturalResources shall be all those processes, machinery andequipment, raw materials, products, and wastes, whosemanufacture, importation, exportation, use or handlingmay deteriorate the environment or natural resources,or affect human health.

Article 81.- The legal provisions which establishthe standards of environmental quality must set thetimetables of compliance, which will include pertinentterms set by specific regulations in order to characterizethe environmental effluvients, emissions, or impacts, andto perform the actions or introduce the changes in theprocesses or technologies in order fit the standards.

Article 82 .- It is forbidden to dischargecontaminating substances or waste into soils, rivers, lakes,lagoons, arroyos, basins, the ocean, and any other body,type, or course of water.

The Department of Environment and NaturalResources, in consultation with the Department of PublicHealth and Social Assistance and any other official entityinvolved, shall issue and apply the instructions for thedefinitive elimination, storage, or deposit of toxic or

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dangerous wastes. For that purpose it shall issue the listof the same, which will be updated according to scientificknowledge, the information available, and theinternational agreements on the subject ratified by theDominican government.

Article 83 .- The persons or companiesresponsible for an activity which due to their own orfortuitous actions causes environmental deteriorationshall immediately take the measures necessary to controlits effect, and shall notify the Departments of Environmentand Natural Resources and Public Health and SocialAssistance or other related official entities.

Article 84 .- The importation of equipment,processes, or systems and materials which use atomicenergy or any radioactive material shall be regulated bythe Department of Environment and Natural Resourcesin coordination with the competent authority.

Article 85 .- The industrial, commercial, orservice activities, and dangerous processes and productsas established in this law and in the lists which theDepartment of Environment and Natural Resources mayissue, shall be handled according to the directions andprocedures which the latter may issue. Said directionsshall include standards on the location, construction,functioning, and plans for rescue, to decrease the riskand impact of a possible accident.

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Chapter II CONTAMINATIONOF WATERS

Article 86.- It is forbidden to locate any type ofinstallations in zones of influence of sources of watersupply for the population and for industries, whoseresidues, although treated, present potential risks ofcontamination of a physical, chemical, organic, thermal,radioactive or any other nature, or which presentpotential risks of contamination.

Article 87.- There is ordered the obligatorydelimitation of zones of protection around the bodies ofwater, works of hydraulic installations, and natural andartificial water courses for purposes of avoiding thedangers of contamination, absorption, or other forms ofdegradation. The requirements for the said zones ofprotection will depend on the use for which the watersare destined, and on the nature of the installations.

The companies or institutions which performservices of handling of residual waters in a locality shallbe responsible for compliance with the standards andparameters in effect regarding the discharge of residualdomestic waters, or of other types of discharges throughthe municipal water/sewage system.

Article 88.- The Department of Environment andNatural Resources, as the governing authority, shalldetermine, in consultation with the sectors involved, thedestination of the residual waters, the characteristics ofthe receptacles, and the prior treatment required, as wellas the permissible contaminating loads.

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The companies or institutions which performservices of handling of residual waters in a locality shallbe responsible for compliance with the standards andparameters in effect regarding the discharges of residualdomestic waters or other types of discharges through themunicipal sewage system.

Article 89.- Residual or waste waters may beused only after having been submitted to treatmentprocesses which guarantee compliance with thestandards in effect regarding the use for which they maybe destined, in consultation with the Department ofPublic Health and Social Assistance.

Chapter III SOIL CONTAMINATION

Article 90 .- For the purpose of avoidingcontamination of soils, it is forbidden:

1. To deposit, infiltrate, or bury contaminatingsubstances, without prior compliance with the standardsestablished;

2. To use for irrigation waters contaminated withorganic residues, chemicals, mineral pesticides andfertilizers, as well as residual waters from agricultural andbricklaying companies lacking appropriate quality;

3. To use mineralized waters for irrigation, exceptin the form provided for by the competent state entity;

4. To use chemical products for agricultural orother purposes, without the prior authorization of thecompetent state entities;

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5. To use any product prohibited in its countryof origin.

Article 91.- It is forbidden to perform any activitywhich will produce salinization, laterization,desertification, or any other degradation of the soil,beyond the parameters established.

Chapter IV ATMOSPHERICCONTAMINATION

Article 92.- The Department of Environment andNatural Resources, in coordination with the Departmentof Public Health and Social Assistance, the nationalpolice, and the local governments, shall regulate theactions, activities, or factors which can causedeterioration and/or degradation of the quality of the airor atmosphere, with respect to what is established in thepresent Law, and in the other laws and the regulationsthat may be drafted on the protection of the atmosphere.

Article 93.- The Department of Environment andNatural Resources, in coordination with the Departmentof Public Works and the local governments, shall regulatethe control of emissions of gasses and harmful andcontaminating noises caused by motor vehicles,electrical generators, other internal combustion engines,boilers, and industrial activities.

Article 94.- It is prohibited to smoke in enclosedpublic places, with the exception of those areasestablished for such purpose.

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Article 95.- It is declared to be in the nationalinterest to protect the ozone layer and the gradualdecrease, up to total elimination, of the use of substancesand products which cause deterioration, decrease,contamination, or other harmful effects to theatmosphere and stratosphere. The Department ofEnvironment and Natural Resources shall draft and applya national program for substitution of the use ofsubstances which deplete the ozone layer.

Article 96 .- The government shall take allmeasures necessary to prevent the preparation,importation, sale, and use of gasoline containing leadtetraethyl.

Chapter V DANGEROUS ELEMENTS,SUBSTANCES, ANDPRODUCTS

Article 97.- The Dominican government shalladopt regulatory standards to identify, minimize, andration the use of chemical, synthetic, or biologicalelements, combinations, and substances which endangerthe life or health of those who handle them, as well asthe occurrence of accidents related to their handling.

Anyone handling dangerous residues must beinstructed in the knowledge of the physical, chemical,and biological properties of these substances and therisks which they imply.

Article 98.- The regulation of the present Lawshall include the list of dangerous substances andproducts and their characteristics, and said list may be

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updated by justified resolution of the Department ofEnvironment and Natural Resources, after consultationwith the Department of Public Health and SocialAssistance. In order to ensure handling of thesesubstances, the Department of Environment and NaturalResources shall issue the pertinent standards anddirections, which shall include the procedures forlabeling them according to international standards.

Article 99.- Whoever imports, manufactures,stores, or distributes dangerous substances or productsmust have basic knowledge of the physical, chemical,and biological properties of these substances or products;they must also make sure that they contain the labelcorresponding to their classification, in a clear placeand in letters legible in the Spanish language, with thespecifications for their handling.

Article 100.- It is prohibited to import toxicresidues according to the classification contained in theinternational conventions on the subject approved bythe Dominican Republic, or that which may beestablished by the Department of Environment andNatural Resources, in consultation with the Departmentof Public Health and Social Assistance; it is alsoprohibited to move these items through the nationalterritory or to deposit same here.

Article 101.- The importation, manufacture,preparation, handling, use, accumulation, evacuation,and final disposal of radioactive substances or chemicalor synthetic, biological combinations, wastes and othersubjects which due to their high-risk nature can causeharm to the health of human beings, to the environment

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and to natural resources, shall be regulated by theDepartment of Environment and Natural Resources.

The Department of Environment and NaturalResources shall regulate the handling of dangeroussubstances, garbage, and waste, based on the principlethat he who established the risk must be responsible forthe cost of the entire process of its disposal or definitivedeposit in the place authorized by the Department ofEnvironment and Natural Resources.

Article 102 .- Every real or probableenvironmental accident or extraordinary occurrence,loss of lives or injuries, or the imminent risk of theiroccurrence, which takes place or is likely to occur, inhuman settlements, industries, installations or in placeswhere there exist deposits of dangerous substances, mustbe brought to the attention immediately of the localoffices of the Civil Defense Office, the Fire Department,the Department of Environment and Natural Resources,and the Department of Public Health and SocialAssistance, through the owners, directors orrepresentatives of the community, company orinstallation generating the fact, or by any citizen whobecomes aware of it.

Article 103.- When for understandable reasonsestablished by the competent authority it is not possibleto return to their country of origin the noxious elementsmentioned in Articles 104 and 105 of the this law, andafter seizure by the Department of Environment andNatural Resources, they shall proceed to theirneutralization, definitive disposal under conditions ofenvironmental safety, for the account of those who have

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introduced them into this country, and they shall beobligated to the payment of a fine equivalent to at leastfive times the market cost of the product plus the costsof its elimination.

Article 104.- Radioactive or dangerous metals,articles and substances and their wastes, as well as theequipment which use such materials, shall be processed,handled, possessed, imported, exported, transported,deposited, utilized, disposed of, or discarded inaccordance with the standards and regulations whichthe Department of Environment and Natural Resourcesmay draft.

Article 105.- The Department of Environmentand Natural Resources may authorize the exportation oftoxic residues when there exists no adequate procedurein this country for the deactivation or elimination of thesame; for that the prior express consent of the receivingcountry shall be required to eliminate them in its territory,according to international conventions ratified by thegovernment.

Chapter VI DOMESTIC ANDMUNICIPAL GARBAGEAND RESIDUES

Article 106.- Municipal town halls shall operatesystems of collection, treatment, transportation, and finaldisposal of non-dangerous solid wastes within thetownship, observing the official standards issued by theDepartment of Natural Resources and Environment,together with the Department of Public Health and SocialAssistance, for the protection of the environment andhealth.

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Article 107.- The placement, throwing, and finaldisposal of solid or liquid wastes, whether toxic or not, isprohibited in places not established for that by thecompetent authority.

Under no circumstance shall it be permitted tooperate municipal garbage dumps near beds, sources,or bodies of waters, nor in those places where the runoffand filtration may contaminate them.

It will be indispensable, to be able to establishand make function a municipal garbage dump, that thepertinent Environmental Evaluation Study be performed,according to what is established in article 38 andfollowing of this Law.

Article 108.- Systems of classification of solidwastes shall be instituted in all public institutions afterforwarding the wastes to the sites of final disposal, solong as circumstances so permit.

Chapter VII HUMAN SETTLEMENTSAND NOISECONTAMINATION

Article 109 .- It is the responsibility of thegovernment to guarantee that human settlements be theobject of adequate planning, to ensure a balancedrelationship with the natural resources which serve themas support and surroundings.

It will be the responsibility of the localgovernments to demand the correspondingenvironmental studies of the plans for development and

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urban expansion, in their areas of influence, incoordination with the Department of Environment andNatural Resources, without which no authorizations orpermits may be granted to new development works, norto modifications of existing ones.

Article 110.- Human settlements may not beauthorized:

1. In beds, courses of rivers or zones of debris, azone exposed to marine variations, lands subject toflooding, swampy lands or land fills, or near industrialzones, military bases, garbage dumps, municipal dumps,deposits or installations of dangerous substances; or

2. In places where there exist certainprobabilities of the occurrence of overflowing of bodiesof water, land slides, and any condition which constitutesa danger for the life and property of persons.

The government shall draft a relocation plan forthe transfer and relocation of those human settlementswhich, at the moment that this law takes effect, are locatedin the places indicated by the present article, identifyingand consigning in the national budget the amountscorresponding to its execution within a prudent andreasonable term given the possibilities.

Article 111.- The Department of Environmentand Natural Resources, in coordination with the localgovernments and other corresponding authorities, shallensure that the programs and regulations of urbandevelopment place special care in the zoning of humansettlements and the establishment of industrial, service,

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residential, urban-rural transition areas, green spaces,and spaces for contact with nature.

Article 112.- The civil engineering and structuralworks, mainly housing and other edifices which lodgehuman beings, shall be designed and constructedaccording to anti-seismic standards and preventativemeasures against possible fires and with materials whichcan resist earthquakes and hurricanes, besides thenecessary precautions necessary to minimize theirdamage.

The Department of Public Works andCommunications, in coordination with the Departmentof Environment and Natural Resources, will beresponsible for making parties comply with the presentarticle, for which it will submit for the approval of theExecutive Branch the corresponding regulations.

Article 113.- The industries, deposits, and otherinstallations which due to their nature can causeenvironmental deterioration must be located in zonesseparated from human settlements.

It will be the responsibility of the Department ofEnvironment and Natural Resources, the localgovernment of the National District, and other localgovernments, to prohibit and control the fact that aroundindustrial sectors homes and housing projects or similarbe constructed, for which no type of authorization shallbe granted.

It will be the responsibility of the Department ofEnvironment and Natural Resources, the local

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government of the National District, and other localgovernments, to prohibit and control so that aroundresidential sectors industries or similar companies notbe established, for which no type of authorization shallbe granted.

In the case of conflicts which arise and for thepurpose of seeking viable solutions, in the cases ofconflicts already established when the present Law takeseffect, the corresponding environmental studies shall beperformed and the Department of Environment andNatural Resources shall serve as arbitrator in the processof mitigation.

Article 114.- The Department of Environmentand Natural Resources, in coordination with localgovernments and local police, shall regulate the emissionof sounds and noises bothersome or harmful to theenvironment and health, in the air and in the residentialzones of urban and rural areas, as well as the fixed orambulatory use of loud speakers.

Article 115 .- It is prohibited to emit noisesproduced by lack of escape silencer or due to theirdefective functioning, of electrical generators, motorvehicles, as well as to use in private vehicles sirens orhorns which due to the nature of their use correspondto police services, ambulances, fire department trucks,or oceangoing ships.

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TITLE IV NATURAL RESOURCES

Chapter I COMMON STANDARDS

Article 116 .- The conservation, use, andenjoyment of natural resources shall be regulated by thepresent Law, local and/or special laws, and theirrespective regulations, and by the provisions andstandards issued by the competent governmentalauthorities pursuant to this Law. The government maygrant rights for the use of natural resources byconcession, permits, licenses, and quotas.

Article 117.- To achieve the conservation, use,and sustainable enjoyment of natural resources, bothland-based and marine, the following criteria, amongothers, must be taken into account:

1. The ecological function of the resource;

2. The uniqueness of the same;

3. Fragility;

4. The sustainability of the handling proposed; and

5. The plans and priorities of the country, region,and province where the resources are found.

Prior to the granting of permits, concessions, andthe signing of contracts for rational exploitation of naturalresources, the government shall request and take intoaccount the opinion of the municipal governments and

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the representative social organizations of the respectivetownships.

When dealing with non-renewable naturalresources, the townships where said exploitation islocated shall receive five percent (5%) of the net benefitsgenerated.

Article 118.- The government, for reasons ofpublic interest, may limit totally or partially, permanentlyor temporarily, the use and right to use the naturalresources. This matter shall be regulated through locallaws, regulations, or administrative or special provisionsfor each resource.

Article 119.- The local and/or special laws whichregulate the domain, conservation, use, and right to usethe natural resources must be framed within what isestablished in the present Law.

Chapter II SOILS

Article 120.- The Department of Environmentand Natural Resources is ordered to draft and apply rulesand parameters of zoning and organization of the territorywhich will determine and delimit clearly the potentialand the uses which must or can be given to the soils,according to their capacity, their particular potential, andtheir specific environmental conditions.

Article 121.- Those who perform agricultural,fishing, or forestry activities must rehabilitate, conserve,

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or increase the productive capacity of the soils, usingtechniques and appropriate methods of exploitation orconservation, preventing their degradation orsterilization.

Article 122.- It is forbidden to use mountainoussoils with slopes equal to or greater than 60% ofinclination for intensive labor in: plowing, removal, orany other labor which will increase the erosion andsterilization of same, permitting only the establishing ofpermanent plantings of bushes, fruit and wood trees.

Preference will be given to the maintenance ofthe native forest coverage, the development ofcombinations which will include crops and coverage,and agro-forestry techniques which will guarantee theirprotection, production, and natural storage of water.

To soils with a pronounced inclination referredto in the present article, the provisions of the law onAgrarian Reform will not be applied, nor may they bethe object, as of the promulgation of the present Law, ofhuman settlements, nor of agricultural activities or of anyother kind of activity which will endanger the soil stabilityand works of national infrastructure.

Article 123.- Preferably soils with classes I, II,and III productive agricultural capacity will be given ause for the production of foods. Any other use must beapproved by the Department of Environment and NaturalResources.

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Article 124.- Every person or company, publicor private, who performs geological exploitations, soilexploitations, extraction of minerals or aggregates, as wellas the construction of highways, embankments, dams,or reservoirs, or who performs any other activity or workwhich can affect the soil, is obligated to adopt themeasures necessary in order to avoid its degradation,and to achieve its rehabilitation immediately afterconcluding every stage of intervention.

Article 125.- The cost of rehabilitation of thesoil will be for the charge of those executing theintervention which causes its degradation ordegeneration.

Chapter III WATERS

Article 126.- All waters in the country, withoutany exception, are property of the Dominican Republic,and their dominion is inalienable, unlimited, and cannotbe restricted. There does not exist any private ownershipof waters nor acquired rights over them.

Article 127.- Every person has a right to usewater to satisfy his vital needs of feeding and hygiene ofhis family and his animals, so long as he does not therebycause harm to other users, perform any activities whichwill deteriorate and/or degenerate in any way the courseof the water and its banks, or alter or contaminate themor make their use impossible by third parties.

Article 128.- The use of water may be grantedonly in harmony with social interest and the developmentof the country.

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Article 129.- The National Plan of TerritorialOrganization shall establish the hydrological zoning,prioritizing the areas for production of water,conservation and use of forests, among other things, andguaranteeing an obligatory strip of protection of 30meters on both banks of the currents of flowing water,as well as around lakes, lagoons, and reservoirs.

Article 130.- In the construction of reservoirs,independently of their purposes, it is required, prior toproceeding to close the dam, to eliminate from the bodyof the dam the vegetation and everything which couldaffect the quality of the water and possible fishingexploitation.

Article 131.- The use of surface waters and theextraction of subterranean waters shall be performedaccording to the capacity of the basin and the qualitativestate of its waters, according to the evaluations andrulings issued by the Department of Environment andNatural Resources.

Article 132.- In the hydrographic basins, whosewaters are used for public supply, the Department ofEnvironment and Natural Resources shall establishrestrictions of use to guarantee, maintain, and increasequality and quantity of the waters.

Article 133.- It is prohibited to pour rubble orgarbage into the riverbeds, arroyos, caves, and drainageareas.

Article 134.- The effluents of liquid residues orwaters coming from human activities or activities of an

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economic nature must be treated pursuant to thestandards in effect before their final discharge.

Article 135.- The Department of Environmentand Natural Resources, after evaluation, shall resolve therequests for authorization, concession, or permit for theexploitation, use or possible use of residual waters, byimposing in each case the necessary conditions so thatcontamination of the environment does not occur andthe health of human beings is not affected.

Chapter IV BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

Article 136.- Declares of high national interestthe following:

1. the conservation of the native and endemicspecies of flora and fauna, the encouragement of theirreproduction and multiplication, as well as thepreservation of the natural ecosystems which serve as ahabitat for those native and endemic species of flora andfauna whose survival depends on same, which shall bethe object of rigorous mechanisms of protection in situ;

2. the identification, classification, inventory, andscientific study of the components and habitats of thespecies which comprise national biological diversity;

3. to guarantee the maintenance of theappropriate balance of the ecosystems representative ofthe various biogeographical regions of the Republic;

4. to facility the continuity of evolutionaryprocesses;

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5. to promote the collective defense ofecological components, and

6. to seek community participation in theconservation and rational use of the genetic resources,as well as to ensure a fair and equitable distribution ofthe benefits derived from their proper handling and use.

Article 137.- It is the duty of the governmentand of all of its inhabitants to watch over the conservationand sustainable use of the biological diversity and ofthe national genetic resources, according to theprinciples and standards consigned in nationallegislation and in the international treaties andconventions approved by the Dominican Republic.

Article 138 .- It forbids the destruction,degradation, disregard for or decrease of the naturalecosystems and of the species of wild flora and fauna,as well as the collection of specimens of flora and faunawithout the due authorization of the Department ofEnvironment and Natural Resources.

Article 139.- The competent departments of theDepartment of Environment and Natural Resources shalldraft the list of species in danger of extinction, threatenedor protected, which shall be the object of rigorouscontrol and of mechanisms of protection in situ and exsitu, which will guarantee their recuperation andconservation according to the special laws andinternational conventions approved by the DominicanRepublic.

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Article 140.- In relation to the species of floraand fauna declared to be threatened, endangered, or inprocess of extinction, by the Dominican Republic or byany other country according to the international treatiessigned by the Dominican Republic, the hunting, fishing,capture, harassment, mistreatment, death, trafficking,importation, exportation, trade, manufacture, or creationof crafts as well as illegal exhibition and possession areprohibited.

Article 141.- For purposes of standardizing thecare and preservation of the country's biologicaldiversity, a maximum term of one year is established,as of the taking effect of the present Law, in order thatthe Department of Environment and Natural Resourcesmay present a bill of Law on Biodiversity, which mustreflect, among other aspects, everything referring to:

1) Protected Natural Areas;

2) Genetic resources;

3) Animal and vegetable species;

4) Conservation of species in situ and ex situ;

5) Sustainable use and enjoyment of theresources of biodiversity.

Article 142 .- For purposes of preservingbiological diversity, the Department of Environment andNatural Resources may:

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1. Establish systems of prohibition;

2. Set quotas for hunting and capture of speciesof fauna;

3. Retain shipments of products of wildlife, boththose originating in this country and those in transit, inany phase of their delivery or transfer, when it presumesthat it is a matter of illegal trade or infringes the provisionsof the present Law and its Regulations and theinternational conventions approved by the DominicanState, in this regard, it will be exempt from any type ofliability;

Article 143.- The capture or hunting of wildlifefor economic, sporting or any other type of purpose maybe performed only under strict compliance with theprovisions established in the present laws in effect.

Article 144.- It is forbidden to introduce intothis country species or members of exotic fauna and florawhich can:

1.- harm the natural ecosystems or the endemicand native fauna and flora;

2.- constitute a pest;

3.- endanger the life or health of human beingsor other live species; and,

4.- serve as an object or active participants inactivities of hunting, violent competitions, gambling of

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any type, tournaments or races, which involve or tendtoward the elimination, sacrifice, mistreatment,harassment, or torture of the unique or single animalsor their offspring.

The Department of Environment and NaturalResources, regarding clause 4, when it deems pertinentfor special reasons, may authorize it.

Chapter V COASTAL AND MARINERESOURCES

Article 145.- The maritime-terrestrial or coastalproperties of public domain belong to the DominicanState and therefore are inalienable, unlimited, and maynot be embargoed. Every citizen has the right to theirfull enjoyment, except for the limitations imposed bynational security, which shall be the object of regulation.

Article 146.- The Dominican State will ensurethe protection of the spaces which comprise the goodsof maritime, terrestrial, or coastal domain, and shallguarantee that the aquatic, geological, and biologicalresources, including flora and fauna comprised in themshall not be the object of destruction, degradation,reduction, disturbance, contamination, impropermodification, decrease, or drainage.

Article 147 .- The properties of maritime-terrestrial public domain are:

1. the shores of the ocean and banks of rivers,which include:

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• the maritime-terrestrial zone or space comprisedbetween the low tide line, shoreline, or maximumlive equinox line, and the limit to which the wavesat greatest known tides reach, or when it exceedssuch, that of the maximum live equinox hightideline. This zone is extended also along the banks ofthe rivers up to the point where the effect of thetides is felt;

• the maritime strip 60 meters wide from the hightide line, as prescribed by Law 305 dated April 30,1968;

• the salt marshes, tidal lagoons, marshes, estuaries;

• lowlands which flood as a consequence of the ebband flow of the tides, waves, or filtration of seawater;

• beaches or zones of deposit of loose materials suchas sand, gravel, and pebbles, includingescarpments, shoulders, and dunes, whether or notthey have vegetation, formed by the action of thesea or ocean winds, or other natural or artificialcauses;

2. territorial ocean and interior waters, with theirbeds and subsoils;

3. the natural resources of the economic zoneand the continental shelf;

4. the accesses to the edge of the sea throughthe deposit of materials or withdrawal of the ocean, fromwhatever causes;

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5. the lands gained from the sea as a direct orindirect consequence of works, and the drying up of theirbanks;

6. the lands invaded by the ocean which cometo form part of its bed for whatever cause;

7. the perceptibly vertical cliffs which are incontact with the ocean or with spaces of maritime-terrestrial domain up to their crown;

8. lands delimited as being of the public domainwhich for whatever cause have lost their naturalcharacteristics of beach, cliff, or maritime-terrestrial zone;

9. the islets and keys in interior waters andterritorial ocean, or those which are formed or may beformed by natural causes;

10. the lands incorporated by concessionaires tocomplete the surface of a concession of maritime-terrestrial public domain;

11. the lands bordering the edge of the sea whichare acquired for their incorporation into the maritime-terrestrial public domain;

12. the works and installations constructed by theDominican State in the public domain;

13. the works and installations of coasts andmaritime signage; and

14. the ports and port installations.

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Article 148.- The granting to private parties ofpermits and concessions for the use and exploitation ofthe coastal-marine space and its resources shall be doneso long as the environmental evaluation determines itscompliance with the conservation and protection ofsame.

Article 149.- The Dominican State shall regulateby means of a special law the activity of fishing forsubsistence, and commercial and industrial fishing; itshall determine the methods and practices of fishing, theintroduction, transplanting, cultivation and breeding,places and dates, species which can be captured, theirsize, sex, and number of them which may be allowed tobe captured.

Article 150.- The owners of the lands threatenedby invasion of the sea or sands of beaches, due to naturalor artificial causes, may construct defense works underauthorization granted by the competent authority, afterperforming an Environmental Impact Study.

Article 151. The residual substances caused byeconomic and social activity, even those of ships of anytype and nationality, must receive the proper treatmentbefore being poured into jurisdictional waters or intothe economic zone of waters immediately underlying thecoasts outside of territorial waters, in the extent set bylaw, according to national standards and those containedin international agreements related to the protection ofthe marine environment, approved by the State. Thesepourings will be performed after approval of theDepartment of Environment and Natural Resources.

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Article 151.- (misnumbered) For purposes ofpreventing the contamination of the marine and coastalenvironment by hydrocarbons and other noxious anddangerous substances, it is forbidden to pour:

1.- waters from bilges, ballasts, or washing oftanks, at a distance less than that established in theprovisions in effect;

2.- residues produced by the prospecting andexploitation of oil wells located in places where they canaffect the coastal zone;

3.- industrial residues, whose content inhydrocarbons and other noxious and dangeroussubstances exceeds the standard established.

Article 153.- It is forbidden to pour or dumpgarbage or waste of any type on the coasts, keys, sandsof beaches, or in the waters which surround same.

Chapter VI FORESTS

Article 154.- The management and use of theforests and forest soils must be sustainable. A speciallaw shall regulate integral forest management and thesustainable use of the forest resources for purposes oftheir preservation, conservation, exploitation,production, industrialization, and commercialization, aswell as the preservation of other natural resources whichform part of their ecosystem and the environment ingeneral.

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Article 155.- The Department of Environmentand Natural Resources shall classify the forests accordingto their uses, considering the aspects of conservation,protection, and production.

Article 156. It is forbidden to destroy the nativeforests.

Article 157.- The use of forestry plantationsmade for commercial purposes in the middle and lowerbasins as well as on the flatlands which are dedicated tothe commercial production of leafy and lumber specieswill be permitted.

The forestry standards shall be governed by locallaw, and until the national forestry inventory of the nativeforests is conducted, the cutting, use, sawing, andindustrialization of native trees are prohibited.

For purposes of updating the inventory of theNational Forestry Reserve of native forests, and of artificialplantations with commercial purposes, a maximum termof one year is established, as of the taking effect of thepresent Law, so that the Department of Environment andNatural Resources may plan and execute a nationalinventory, which must reflect, among other things,everything referring to:

1. Native Forests of Protected Native Areas.

2. Native Forests corresponding to the categoryof Protection.

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3. Native Forests corresponding to the categoryof Protection and Production.

4. Native Forests corresponding to the categoryof Production.

5. Artificial Forests corresponding to thecategory of Protection and Production.

6. Artificial Forests corresponding to thecategory of Production.

Article 158.- All owners of the rural zone mustmaintain or recuperate a minimum percentage of theforest cover, which will be defined by the Department ofEnvironment and Natural Resources for each one of theUnits of Environmental Management.

Article 159.- The establishing of commercialforest plantations shall be encouraged and favored forpurposes of wood, energy, industrial, food, andornamental use.

Every project of forest use must be carried out inaccordance with the corresponding Management Plan,which must be drafted by persons rendering forestryservices, similar to those stipulated by the present Lawin article 42.

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Chapter VII CAVES, CAVERNS, ANDTHE SUBTERRANEANENVIRONMENT

Article 160.- The caves, caverns, and othernatural subterranean cavities within the national territoryare declared to be natural resources of the nation. Anyphysical alteration of their natural and culturalcharacteristics, as well as the extraction of theirsecondary formations, paleontological, archeological orany kind of materials, natural or cultural, from theirinterior and the introduction of wastes and objects ofany type which can alter the conditions of the existingecological balance is forbidden.

Article 161.- Special emphasis shall be placedon the protection of the subterranean aquifers, avoidingany kind of contamination or use contrary to the interestof the present Law.

In the case of cavities which for justified reasonsmust be modified, said fact must be related to theDepartment of Environment and Natural Resources,which may issue a certification after a survey that shalldetermine whether the cavity is or is not of suchimportance to be preserved and kept from anymodification.

Chapter VIII MINING RESOURCES

Article 162.- In the use of the mining resources,including their extraction, concentration, benefit, andrefining, the concessionaires shall be obligated to:

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1. The proper disposal or elimination of wastematerials, whether or not they are toxic, according tothe plan for operation and closing of the project;

2. Rehabilitate the areas degraded by theiractivity, as well as the areas and ecosystems linked to thelatter which can become damaged, or in their stead, toperform other activities destined for the protection of theenvironment, in the terms and conditions established bythe Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

To guarantee the provisions of the present article,the Department of Environment and Natural Resourcesshall require the concessionaire mining companies toprovide an insurance or bond in favor of the DominicanState.

Article 163.- The concessionaires, once thelabors are begun, must report periodically to theDepartment of Environment and Natural Resources onthe progress of the works and the effect of same on theenvironment and natural resources, and the Departmentof Environment and Natural Resources must match suchreports with the results of the monitoring, supervision,and taking as a basis for the correspondingEnvironmental License or Permit.

Article 164 .- The extraction of rocks, sand,gravel and pebbles, the industrialization of salt and chalk,and the manufacture of cement shall be subject to thetechnical standards which the specific law and itsregulations may establish, to avoid the negative impactwhich said activities may produce on the environmentand human health.

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TITLE V COMPETENCIES,RESPONSIBILITY, ANDSANCTIONS INADMINISTRATIVE ANDJUDICIAL MATTERS

Chapter I OFFICE OFPROCURATOR FORDEFENSE OF THEENVIRONMENT ANDNATURAL RESOURCES

Article 165.- The Office of the Procurator forthe Defense of the Environment and Natural Resourcesis created, as a specialized branch of the Office of theAttorney General of the Republic. The latter shall exercisethe representation and defense of the interests of theDominican Republic and society in this matter.

Article 166.- The Office of the Procurator forthe Defense of the Environment and Natural Resourceswill have the following powers:

1. To perform the actions and representation ofthe public interest, with character of procedural party,in all those suits which are due to infraction or violationof the present Law, and the rest of the complementarylegal provisions;

2. To perform the actions in representation ofthe Dominican State which are derived from harm ordamage to the environment, independently of thosewhich are promoted by the individuals who may havesuffered damage to their person or patrimony, as well as

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the rest of the actions provided for in the present Law, inthe Law of Judicial Organization of the Republic and inthe rest of the pertinent laws.

Chapter II ADMINISTRATIVECOMPETENCIESAND SANCTIONS

Article 167.- The Department of Environmentand Natural Resources is empowered to dispose thefollowing measures:

1. Fine from one-half (1/2) of the minimum salaryup to three thousand (3,000) minimum salaries in effecton the date on which the violation is committed, inrelationship to the economic size of the person orcompany which caused the damage and the magnitudeof the damages caused;

2. Limitation or restriction of the activities whichcause the damage or risk to the environment, or if suchis the case, subjecting of same to the procedures whichwill make said harm or risk disappear;

3. Confiscation and/or seizure of the objects,instruments, artifacts, vehicles, raw materials, products,or articles, finished or unfinished, which were employedto cause the damage; and

4. Prohibition or suspension, temporary orprovisional, of the activities which generate theenvironmental damage or risk one attempts to avoid, andin extreme cases, partial or total closure of the locale orestablishment where the activity is carried out which has

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generated the violation of the present Law and otherrelated laws.

The persons or companies which do not complywith the orders, instructions, and recommendationsoriginated by the Department of Environment andNatural Resources shall be subject to the temporary ordefinitive withdrawal of the authorization to exercise orperform the activities which caused them, withoutprejudice to other sanctions which the competent courtmay pronounce.

The measures referred to in the present articleshall be adopted and applied in conformance to thecorresponding administrative process by means ofmotivated resolution made in writing, which must benotified by means of bailiff's act, and may be appealedpursuant to the administrative procedure.

Article 168.- The administrative resolutionspronounced by the Department of Environment andNatural Resources are independent of the civil orcriminal liability which may be derived from the violationsof the present Law.

Chapter III CIVIL LIABILITY

Article 169.- Without prejudice to the sanctionsindicated by the law, everyone who causes harm to theenvironment or natural resources, shall have objectiveliability for the damages which he may cause, pursuantto the present Law and the complementary legalprovisions, as well as being obligated to repair it

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materially, at his cost, if possible, and compensating itpursuant to the law.

The reparation of the damage consists of thereestablishing of the situation prior to the fact, in the caseswhen possible, in economic compensation for thedamage and harm caused to the environment or naturalresources, to the communities or to private parties.

Article 170 .- In order to determine themagnitude or amount of damages incurred, the courtshall take into account the reports brought by techniciansand inspectors and the reports of a formal naturepronounced by the Department of Environment andNatural Resources and other environmental entities ofthe Dominican State, without prejudice to the expertopinions which the judge of the case may require, at hisown discretion or at the request of a party.

Article 171 .- The official who by action oromission authorizes the performing of actions, activitiesor installations which cause damage and prejudice toenvironmental resources, the equilibrium of theecosystem, or the health and quality of life of thepopulace, shall be jointly liable with whoever has carriedthem out.

Article 172.- When in the commission of the acttwo or more persons participate, they will be jointly liablefor the totality of the economic damages and prejudicescaused. In the case of companies, the liability providedfor in the present article shall be established when theentities in charge of same have authorized the actionswhich caused the damage.

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Article 173.- The Department of Finance, at therequest of the Department of Environment and NaturalResources, shall take the steps necessary to establishmandatory civil liability insurance to cover damages tothe environment and natural resources which are causedaccidentally.

Chapter IV CRIMES AGAINSTTHE ENVIRONMENTAND NATURALRESOURCES

Article 174.- Everyone who intentionally, by actor omission, transgresses or violates the present Law andthe rest of the provisions which complement it by sodoing commits a crime against the environment andnatural resources, and therefore will be liable pursuantto the same. Also, from every aggression or crime againstthe environment and natural resources there is createdan action against the guilty or responsible party.

Article 175.- All those commit crimes againstthe environment and natural resources who:

1. Violate the law, complementary laws,regulations, and standards, or perform activities whichharm natural resources considerably or permanently;

2. Alter, damage, or harm within the nationalsystem of protected areas, and cut or destroy trees inprotected forest areas and in fragile zones, legallydeclared as such;

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3. Hunt, capture, or cause the death of speciesdeclared as endangered or legally protected;

4. Use explosives, poisons, traps, or otherinstruments or artifices which damage or harm or causesuffering to species of terrestrial or aquatic wildlife,whether they be endemic, native, resident, or migratory;

5. Violate the standards, parameters, andpermissible limits of dumping or final disposal of legallydefined toxic and dangerous substances, discharge theminto bodies of water, free them into the air, or depositthem in places not authorized for such, or in placesauthorized but without permission or clandestinely;

6. Violate the standards, parameters, andpermissible limits of dumping untreated used waters intobodies or waters or sewage systems, disposing ofindustrial not dangerous solid wastes in places notauthorized for such, or emitting into the aircontaminating substances, escapes of gases, biological,and biochemical agents;

7. Violate the pertinent technical standards,generate or handle toxic or dangerous substances,transform toxic of dangerous waste by transferring thecontamination to another receiver medium, or operate,store, or discharge them in unauthorized places;

8. Violate the regulations contained in theenvironmental licenses or permits, or obtain them byusing false data, or who alter the environmental holdingpens for emissions and dumps, or the public official who

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grants such licenses or permits, without complying withthe requirements of the Environmental Impact EvaluationProcess, when the law so requires.

Article 176.- When any of the above describedpunishable facts have been committed by decision ofthe directive entities of a company, without the activitynormally performed by said person and with its ownfunds, in search of gain or in its own interest, independentof the sanctions to which the immediate author of thecrime may become creditor, the company shall besanctioned with a fine of five thousand (5,000) to twentythousand (20,000) minimum salaries, and according tothe seriousness of the situation the prohibition to performthe activity which initiated the illegal act, for a period ofone (1)month to three (3) years. In the cases of damagesof greater seriousness which imply intoxication of groupsof humans, destruction of habitats or irreversiblewidespread contamination, the activity shall beprohibited or the establishment shall be closeddefinitively, in the judgment of the judge.

The judicial order deriving from the crimesprovided for in the present Law, and complementarylaws, is of a public nature and is exercised ex officio, bycomplaint or by denunciation.

Article 177.- The Courts of First Instance of thecorresponding jurisdiction shall be competent to judgein the first instance the violations of the present Law.

Article 178.- Every person or association ofcitizens has the right to speak and complain because of

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any act, action, factor, process, or omission or obstacleof same, which has been caused, is causing, or can causedamage, degradation, diminishment, contamination,and/or deterioration of the environment and naturalresources and to demand before the Department ofEnvironment and Natural Resources and any othercompetent authority established by the present Law andthe legislation in effect, or before the Office of theProcurator of Environment and Natural Resources,compliance with the obligations established by thepresent Law and the rest of the environmental laws,standards of environmental quality, regulations, rulings,and resolutions demanding the cessation, correction, orreparation of the anomalous situation which causes orpromotes it, and the sanctions stipulated for thosecommitting the infraction.

Article 179.- The entities who may determine theenvironmental damage and obtain the restoration arethose persons or companies who have suffered thedamage or harm, the Dominican State acting throughthe Department of Environment and Natural Resources,and other entities of the Dominican State withenvironmental powers.

Article 180 .- All persons or companies whohave a legitimate interest in adopting the measures whichthe present Law requires may intervene by providingproofs which are pertinent to the case.

Article 181.- The Magistrate District Attorney forthe Defense of the Environment and Natural Resourcesof the corresponding jurisdiction, acting as Judge of

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Complaint, is obligated, if he deems the case hascharacteristics of seriousness, to expedite the case, exofficio or by means of complaints, denunciations orreferrals provided for in the present Law, in a term nogreater than three (3) working days, for the purpose thatthe environmental anomalies or damages be correctedas soon as possible and the infractions of theenvironmental laws be heard by the competent court.

Article 182.- The performance of the judicialenvironmental action does not imply the waiver of theaction for damages and prejudice.

Chapter VI CRIMINAL SANCTIONS

Article 183.- The Court of First Instance of thecorresponding jurisdiction may pronounce against thepersons or companies who have violated the presentLaw, by dictating the following sanctions or obligations:

1. Correctional imprisonment of six (6) days tothree (3) years and, if persons have died because of theviolation, there shall be applied what is established inthe Dominican Criminal Code, and/or

2. Fine of one fourth part (1/4) of the minimumsalary up to ten thousand (10,000) minimum salaries ineffect in the public sector on the date on which the rulingis pronounced; and/or

3. The confiscation of raw materials, tools,equipment, instruments, machines, transportationvehicles, as well as products or articles, if there are any,

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which result from the violation committed, or whichwere used in the perpetration of the criminal act, orcould in themselves constitute a danger for the naturalresources and environment, or the health of humanbeings; and/or

4. The obligation to compensate economically thepersons who have suffered damages and harm; and/or

5. Temporary or definitive withdrawal of theauthorization, license, or permit to exercise or performthe activities which have caused, or which could causeharm or damage; and/or

6. To destroy, neutralize, or dispose of, accordingto the procedures indicated by the present Law and thecompetent authority, the substances prepared,manufactured, processed, or offered for sale, susceptibleto causing damage or harm to human health or theenvironment; and/or

7. The obligation to modify or demolish theconstructions which violate the provisions on protection,conservation, and defense of the environment andhuman beings; and/or

8. The obligation to return to their country oforigin the substances and elements of dangerous ordamaging or harmful combinations which may havebeen imported in violation of the law; and/or

9. To install the necessary devices to detain oravoid the contamination, decrease, diminishment, ordegradation of the environment; and/or

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10. The obligation to return the elements to thenatural medium from which they were extracted; and/or

11. The obligation to repair, replace, compensate,offer restitution, restore, or rehabilitate to their originalstate, insofar as possible, the natural resource eliminated,destroyed, decreased, diminished, deteriorated, ornegatively modified.

The objects, raw materials, machines,instruments, vehicles, products, or articles confiscatedby order of the corresponding court, pursuant to thepresent article, or which have been confiscated by theDepartment of Environment and Natural Resources andwhich the court ratifies, which do not imply danger forpersons, natural resources or the environment, andwhich possess commercial value, shall be sold at publicauction, and fifty percent (50%) of the amount of theirsale must be used to repair the environmental damagesand the fifty percent (50%) remaining shall be used tocompensate the damages in favor of the persons harmedby their actions, if there are any. Otherwise, they will gointo the Operating Fund of the Department ofEnvironment and Natural Resources created in thepresent Law, after reduction for judicial and salesexpenses.

Article 184.- The officials of the Dominican Statewho have permitted expressly or by neglect orindifference the violation of the present Law, shall besusceptible to the application of the punishmentsindicated in numbers 1 and 2 of the preceding article,independently of the sanctions of an administrative nature

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which may be carried out against them, including thetemporary or permanent removal from their positions.

Article 185.- The sanctions which the presentLaw establishes shall be applied by analogy in the casesof violations of the provisions contained in the rest ofthe laws or decrees which complement the present Law,and any other sanctions existing in those matters shallbe repealed.

Article 186.- In the application of sanctions dueto violation of the present Law and other complementarylegal provisions, the judge shall take into account:

• The gravity and scope of the violation, consideringmainly the criteria of the impact on the health ofhuman beings and the damages or imbalancescaused to the environment and natural resources;

• The criminal intent of those guilty; and

• Whether those guilty are repeat offenders.

Article 187 .- There shall be recognized asaggravating circumstances in the application of thesanctions imposed:

1. Those who have intentionally causedenvironmental disasters, including generalizedcontamination and fires, where there has been a loss oflife, injuries, illnesses, epidemics, destruction,degradation of ecosystems, elimination of members ofunique, endangered or almost extinct flora and fauna;

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2. Those who have obstructed the workundertaken for the correction of environmental disasters;

3. Those who refuse to transmit with anemergency nature the news, calls, and information fromauthorities concerning environmental disasters;

4. Those who order, authorize, insinuate, orpermit their subordinates or dependents, whethersalaried or not, the commission of acts expresslyforbidden by the present Law and other related laws;

5. Those who, being officials of the DominicanState, permit, insinuate, encourage or authorize theirsubordinates or private individuals, even though it beverbally, to carry out actions or omissions which violatethe present Law and other related laws, thus harmingthe natural resources of the nation or the health of humanbeings;

6. Those who impede or prevent inspections orexaminations, or resort to means of any nature to inducethem to err, or who present to the competent authoritiesreports or data partially or totally false.

Also, aggravating circumstances shall beconsidered to be:

1. If the damages caused reach catastrophicproportions;

2. If the violations have been performed inpopulations or in their immediate vicinity, seriously

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affecting the natural resources which constitute the basisof the economic activity or development of the region.

TITLE VI GENERAL AND FINALPROVISIONS

Chapter I GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 188.- In addition to the other functionswhich are assigned to it by the law and the regulations,the Department of Environment and Natural Resourcesshall exercise, in regard to the environment and naturalresources, the functions which have not been expresslygranted by the law to another institution.

Article 189.- The Department of Environmentand Natural Resources shall hereinafter exercise the restof the functions which in matters of protection of theenvironment and natural resources had been performedby the institutions which have been transferred to it.

Article 190.- All of the programs and projectswhich the National Planning Office and any other publicentity coordinate, carry out, or are in the process ofpreparing or formulating in matters of the environmentand natural resources, both with internal resources andresources from foreign credit, or from internationalcooperation, shall be transferred to the Department ofEnvironment and Natural Resources, pursuant to thecompetencies defined in the present Law.

Article 191.- The Department of Environmentand Natural Resources shall coordinate with the

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Department of the Armed Forces, with the NationalPolice, and with the local governments, in the applicationof the Dominican State's policy on environment andnatural resources of the Dominican State.

Article 192.- The special laws, decrees, and therest of the legal provisions related to the environmentand natural resources must be framed within theprinciples and provisions of the present Law and shallbe deemed complementary of same.

The Department of Environment and NaturalResources, in coordination with the correspondinginstitution, shall present to the National Congress, via theExecutive Branch, the bills for the modification, updating,and modernization of the following laws:

Law No. 5852 dated March 29, 1962, on Domainof Terrestrial Waters and Distribution of Public Waters,and laws which modify and complement it;

Law No. 5856 dated April 2, 1962, on ForestConservation and Fruit Trees, and its modifications;

Law No. 5914, dated May 22, 1962, on Fishing,and its modifications;

Law No. 311, dated May 24, 1968, which regulatesthe manufacture, preparation, packaging, storage,importation, expenditure, and marketing in any form ofpesticides, zooicides, phytocides, pesticides, herbicides,and similar products;

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Law No. 123, dated May 10, 1971, which prohibitsthe extraction of the components of the Earth's Crustcalled sand, gravel, and stone;

Law No. 67, dated October 29, 1974, whichcreates the National Park Directorate;

Law No. 85, dated February 4, 1931, on Hunting,and its modifications;

Law 218, dated May 28, 1984, which prohibitsthe introduction into the country through any channelof human or animal excrement, residential or municipalgarbage and its derivatives, sludge or sewage, treatedor untreated, as well as toxic waste coming from industrialprocesses.

Law No. 290 dated August 28, 1985, on Incentivesfor Forestry Development, and its modifications;

Law 300 dated July 31, 1998, which establishesthe obligatory teaching in all schools and high schoolsin the country of the course "Environment and NaturalResources";

The Department of Environment and NaturalResources, together with the corresponding institutions,shall encourage the updating and modernization,pursuant to what is established in the present Law, ofthe following legal provisions:

Law No. 3003, dated July 12, 1951, on Port andCoastal Police, and its modifications;

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Law No., 4990 dated August 29, 1958, onVegetable Sanitation, and its modifications;

Law No. 146 dated June 4, 1971, on Mining inthe Dominican Republic, and its modifications;

Law No. 186 dated September 13, 1967, whichsets the limits of the territorial ocean waters of theDominican Republic.

Chapter II FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 193.- Clauses f) and o) of article I, clauseb) of article 4, and article 7 of Law No. 8, datedSeptember 8, 1965, which determines the functions ofthe Department of Agriculture, are repealed.

Article 194 .- There are transferred to theDepartment of Environment and Natural Resources thepowers conferred on the Department of Agriculture byLaw No. 5914 dated July 7, 1962, on Fishing.

Article 195.- There is hereby modified Article 4and clauses g) and h) of Article 5 of Law No. 6, datedSeptember 5, 1965, which creates the National Instituteof Hydraulic Resources, so that hereafter it read:

"Art. 4 .- The INDRHI shall be the maximumnational authority as regards the control, use, andconstruction of water works (regulation or channelingof rivers and protection against flooding); of agriculturalhydraulics (natural sanitation through open ditches,artificial evacuation, and drainage); or irrigation through

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filtration; irrigation by canals, underground irrigation,and irrigation by sprinkling, dams, and diversions; andof hydroelectrical dams;

"Art. 5.- "g) To intervene, after approval of theDepartment of Environment and Natural Resources, inthe conservation of the currents of waters, lakes, andlagoons; in the protection of feeder basins and works oftorrent correction, with the cooperation of theDepartment of Agriculture and the Dominican AgrarianInstitute.

" h) To perform, in coordination with theDepartment of Environment and Natural Resources, theinspection and evaluation of hydraulic resources of allthe national basins."

Article 196.- Article 4 of Law No. 5852 datedMarch 29, 1962, on the Domain of Terrestrial Waters andthe Distribution of Public Waters is modified, so that whereit says the Department of Agriculture, it read Departmentof Environment and Natural Resources, and Chapters I,II, III, and IV of said law, in the parts which may benecessary, so that hereafter the management and grantingof concessions and permits for the exploitation and useof subterranean waters contemplated in the same betransferred to the Department of Environment andNatural Resources.

Article 197.- Law No. 487 dated October 15,1969, and its regulation No. 2889 dated May 20, 1977, onControl of Use and Conservation of UndergroundWaters, is modified so that where it says INDRHI, it readDepartment of Environment and Natural Resources.

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Article 198.- Article 2 of Law No. 123 dated May10, 1971, which creates the Commission in charge ofreviewing the applications for concessions and permitsis modified to include the Department of Environmentand Natural Resources as a member of same, and it isestablished that the latter preside over said Commission.Also articles 3, 9, 10, 11 (paragraph I), 12, and 20 ofRegulation No. 1315 dated July 29, 1971, for theapplication of Law 123-71 are modified, so that where itsays Department of Public Works and Communications,hereafter it read Department of Environment and NaturalResources.

Article 199.- Laws No. 290 dated August 28,1985, on Incentives for Forestry Development; No. 291dated August 28, 1985, which modifies Laws Nos. 211and 705 of 1967 and 1982 respectively; No. 55 dated June15, 1988, which modifies Articles 6, 8, and 10 of Law290 of 1985, on Incentives for Forestry Development, andtheir regulations, are modified, so that where it saysNational Technical Forestry Commission (CONATEF), itread Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Article 200.- There are hereby repealed DecreesNos. 3278 dated January 26, 1978, which creates andmakes up the National Wildlife Council; No. 2596 datedSeptember 4, 1972, which incorporates a Commissionto study the problems which cause the contamination ofthe Environment; No. 301 dated October 11, 1978, whichcreates a Coordinating Commission Department of Stateof Agriculture-Forestry-Parks; No. 39 dated September7, 1965, which incorporates a Commission for the studyof the country's deforestation problem; the Decree No.

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1824 dated February 23, 1984, which creates andincorporates a Commission in charge of performing astudy intended to establish regulations which will permitthe development of aquaculture and fishing; No. 531 of1990, which obligates the performance of environmentalimpact studies in all development projects performed inthe coastal zone; Decree No. 152 dated April 29, 1998,which creates the Coordinating Commission of theEnvironmental and Natural Resources Sector; Articles 2and 3 of decree No. 136-99 which re-establishes the limitsof the Marine Mammals Sanctuary created by Article 22of Decree No. 233-96 and creates a National Commissionfor the Protection of Marine Mammals.

Article 201.- The powers conferred in Art. 18 ofRegulation 1142 dated April 28, 1996, of the Ministry ofAgriculture are transferred to the Department ofEnvironment and Natural Resources.

Article 202.- All the standards of quality, orders,rules, permits, contracts, licenses, and authorizationswhich may have been issued, effected, granted, oradopted by governmental entities remain in force, solong as they do not contradict the letter and the spirit ofthe present Law, in which case they shall be modifiedaccording to its provisions.

Art. 203.- (temporary). Until the next law ofpublic income and expenses is approved, the Departmentof Environment and Natural Resources shall functionwith the respective funds from the budgets in effect fromthe institutions which are transferred to it.

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Article 204 .- The present Law repeals andsubstitutes any other legal provision or part of it whichmay be contrary to it.

GIVEN in the Hall of Sessions of the Chamber ofDeputies, Palace of the National Congress, in SantoDomingo, National District, Capital of the DominicanRepublic, on the eighteenth day of the month of July ofthe year two thousand; year 157 of the Independenceand 137 of the Restoration.

Rafaela Alburquerque,President

Ambrosina Saviñón Cáceres Rafael Angel Franjul TroncosoSecretary Secretary

GIVEN in the Hall of Sessions of the Senate, Palaceof the National Congress, in Santo Domingo de Guzmán,National District, Capital of the Dominican Republic, onthe twenty-fifth day of the month of July of the year twothousand; year 157 of the Independence and 137 of theRestoration.

Ramón Alburquerque RamírezPresident

Ginette Bournigal de Jiménez Angel Dinocrate Pérez Pérez Secretary Secretary

HIPOLITO MEJIAPresident of the Dominican Republic

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In the exercise of the powers conferred on me byArticle 55 of the Constitution of the Republic,

I PROMULGATE the present Law and order thatit be published in the Official Gazette, for its publicationand compliance.

GIVEN in Santo Domingo de Guzmán, NationalDistrict, Capital of the Dominican Republic, on theeighteenth (18) day of the month of August of the yeartwo thousand, year 157 of the Independence and 138 ofthe Restoration.

HIPOLITO MEJIA

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Av. John F. Kennedy No.10Santo Domingo, República Dominicana

Apartado Postal 20682Tel. (809) 541-5200Fax (809) 567-0773

-----------Calle Paseo Oeste

La Rosaleda, Edif. Bionuclear1er. Piso, Santiago

República DominicanaTel.: (809) 580-1725Fax : (809) 582-2170

-----------International Mailing Address:

A-303P.O. Box 52-4121

Miami, FL 33152-4121United States of America

------------CPS-1340

P.O. Box 149020Coral Gables, FL 33114-9020

United States of America

[email protected]

ATTORNEYS AT LAW

STATE SECRETARIAT OF ENVIRONMENTAND NATURAL RESOURCES

Santo Domingo, D.N.Tel.: (809) 567-4300Fax : (809) 540-7561

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