Chile toughens its air and water standards

Chile

Moving to update and strengthen enforcement, Chile’s lead environmental agency has issued new air- and water-quality standards. The standards, released by the National Environmental Commission (Conama) in May, have met with a cautious reaction in both environmental and business circles—albeit for different reasons. Guillermo Donoso, an environmental economist and president of the environment commission for the Confederation of Production and Commerce (CPC), Chile’s largest business association, calls the two regulatory efforts “a step in the right direction.” But he questions whether sufficient study preceded the water standards and wonders about Conama’s overall approach. “Clearly, we have problems in [water quality] and need better legislation, but I’m not sure command-and-control policies are the answer for enforcement,” Donoso says. “I think instead we... [Log in to read more]

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