Entrepreneurs, environmentalists and authorities have formed a committee to review the legislation on processes for obtaining environmental permits.

The commission, which includes members of the Panamanian Association of Business Executives (APEDE) aims to have a draft ready by October of a new proposal to be submitted for public consultation. Among the rules to be reviewed, is the categorization of the studies, which should “… be established after evaluation or review by the authorities and the population.”

“… Category I refers to projects that do not involve significant environmental risks, while category II refers to works that could cause negative environmental impacts of a significant nature, but which can be mitigated with established and easily implemented measures. In Category III, the impacts merit further analysis. ”

Natalia Young, representative of the APEDE in the commission discussing this issue, told Prensa.com that “… after so many years of applying the assessment instrument for environmental impact studies, improvements must be made in the efficiency of the evaluation process, quality of the content of the studies and supervision of approvals in order to actually comply with the objetive of preventing, reducing and offseting the impacts. ‘The important thing is that everyone (private sector, government and civil society) agree that the process should be improved’. ”