Environmental guide for construction issued

Aug 19, 2008

SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA (Infocom – The Guanacaste Journal)

Beginning last Aug. 11, a new Environmental Guide for Construction became effective in Costa Rica. Builders must now abide by the new rules during the process of Environmental Impact Evaluation (EIA) of their projects as part of the construction phase and permits stage.

The guide’s goal is to serve as a reference tool for orderly, systematic planning and execution of environmental measures for prevention, correction, mitigation, minimization or compensation of construction-related activities that could cause significant effects to the environment. The document will also become a way of standardizing the implementation of environmental actions as part of government efforts to achieve consensus and improvement of the EIA process. Furthermore, the guide will be applicable to any construction project in its early stages. 

The guide consists of two parts: 1) environmental measures for specific actions, and 2) environmental management divided by topics, including aspects such as selection of land for development of urban infrastructure as well as the planning and design phases of a project, plus construction planning. Included in this guide are also rules regarding forest coverage and protected areas, storage of construction materials, construction equipment and machinery, quality of construction materials used in the project, and storm-water management. 

Other topics addressed in the guide are worker security and occupation hygiene; installation of urban services; landscaping; social aspects of the project; waste water and air quality; preservation of cultural heritage; natural risks management; and integral environmental management and shared responsibilities. 

The new guide is of great importance for regions such as Guanacaste, which currently has one of the highest rates of construction in the country. In the particular case of hotel development, a study by the Costa Rican Chamber of Hotels — entitled “Impact of the Hotel and Real Estate Growth in some Coastal Areas of Guanacaste” — found that in the case of large projects, it’s expected that more and more of these developments will combine both lodging and real estate construction (two examples being Peninsula Papagayo and Reserva Conchal, among others). 

According to the Federated Association of Engineers and Architects (CFIA), Guanacaste is fourth in the country in construction permits issued, with 347,590 square meters of construction — or 15 percent of the country’s total. 

In addition to the environmental guide, on April 9 an executive decree was signed that regulates construction on Guanacaste’s coastal areas. The measure was issued to establish clear guidelines regarding construction in this region and to mitigate environmental damage — such as the recent cases of wastewater being dumped into the ocean by hotels and other businesses.