The regulations subject to the conservation, protection, management, use and exploitation of hydrocarbon resources, mining, infrastructure, energy and special projects of agrochemicals and production plants, are attached to the National Authority for Environmental Licenses (Anla), who is in charge of the follow-up, control, permission and paperwork of the environmental licenses granted to these activities.
(Hidroituango: Anla imposed a new fine of $5,133 million).
According to OELA, Anla’s evaluation request reporting platform, so far in 2022, 60 applications for environmental licenses have been resolved, 14 more, out of the 46 approved in the same period of time in 2021.
In addition to the licenses issued by the entity, the Anla has 45 procedures other than the environmental license that promote sustainable development. According to Carlos Rodríguez, deputy director of environmental instruments, permits and procedures at Anla, “These procedures are more than 22,000 decisions that are made a year, which have to do with research on biodiversity, post-consumption, tax benefits, emission certificates for the dynamics of importing vehicles and foreign trade window”.
In terms of energy, the entity is in charge of monitoring the Ituango projects in the department of Antioquia; The Virginia in Risaralda; Chivor Norte located in Boyacá and Cundinamarca; El Quimbo in the department of Huila; Alto Anchicayá and Bajo Anchicayá, located in Valle del Cauca. Regarding mining monitoring, the entity is in charge of projects such as Payandé, Quimbaya, Cerrejón, Resettlement and La Jagua. In terms of infrastructure, it has the C1-C2 Connecting Construction, which aims to connect the C1 road corridor (Bogotá – Bucaramanga) with the C2 road corridor (Bucaramanga – Pamplona); Cocoa Route, El Dorado Airport, Doña Juana and PTAR El Paraíso.
(Anla gives environmental feasibility to solar project in Tolima).
Regarding the cost of licenses, each sector has a different complexity, for which the entity has standardized tables in which, the license, the permits and the procedure are established based on the number of professionals of the project, the profile and the dedication.
“It is an automated calculation, which through the system says the value to pay for the evaluation process. An environmental license under evaluation can be over $100 million (…) for monitoring, there is space documentation, without the need to go to the field, which can cost close to $20 million. There are documentary follow-ups, which is to review the entire file in detail without going to the field, and it can be between $60 million. And the most visited documentary follow-ups cost between $80 and $100 million, but it all depends on the complexity of the project”, assured the deputy director of instruments, permits and environmental procedures of the Anla.
HYDROITUANGO CASE
Given the renowned case of the Hidroituango dam, one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in Colombia, and which is currently being monitored by Anla, the entity’s general director, Rodrigo Suárez, assures that, “The Ituango Hydroelectric company, presented in December 2021, the technical opinion required in compliance with Resolution 820 of 2018, which was analyzed and as a result of this exercise it was established that the Anla could not make a substantive statement on the compliance with the conditions for lifting the preventive measure, which is why it issued a document requesting additional information from the company Hidroeléctrica Ituango. But to date no response has been received from it..
Similarly, in the monitoring and contingency control of the Hidroituango project, “Another document was issued, in which additional environmental measures and obligations are imposed and adjustments are made via follow-up” assured the head of the entity.
DIANA K. RODRIGUEZ T.
