The Salvadoran government announced that it will accelerate the delivery of permits for several construction projects pending from previous administrations, valued at more than $1.4 billion.
Directors of the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (MARN), who are part of the new administration of President Nayib Bukele, specified that the aim is to deliver as soon as possible the files that were retained by old authorities and that the mission is to streamline the procedures but not to make them flexible.
In the departments of La Paz and San Vicente procedures will be made through a local office, without having to go to the headquarters of the authority for the environment.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN):
The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) in coordination with the Association of Municipalities Los Nonualcos, has set up a one-stop shop that will streamline procedures related to the environmental assessment process.
With a new system, the authorities promise to reduce the time for granting environmental permits from 70 to 49 days for high-impact projects, and 20-16 for mild impact ones.
According to a statement issued by the Salvadoran authorities, the new System of Environmental Impact Assessment (SEIA) "... will speed up and reduce waiting times for the issuance of Environmental Permits by up to 30%.
Developers claim that the law streamlining procedures adopted in 2013 is not being enforced by state institutions, which continue to impede investment in the sector.
According to representatives of the builder's guild, there are some private and public projects, all medium-term in the area of homes and businesses, which could not be executed because of the amount of bureaucratic processes that are still pending.