RESOLUTION 1552 OF 2005
                                          (October 20)
 By which the manuals for the evaluation of Environmental Studies and environmental
      monitoring of the Project are adopted and other determinations are made"
   THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, HOUSING AND TERRITORIAL DEVELOPMENT,
 in use of its legal powers and especially those conferred by article 5 of Law 99 of 1993,
     numeral 12 of article 6 of Decree 216 of 2003, Decree 1220 of April 21, 2005, and
                                        CONSIDERING:
That in accordance with article 5 numeral 15 of Law 99 of 1993, article 31 numerals 9, 11 and
12, it is up to the Ministry of Environment, Housing and Territorial Development and the
Regional Autonomous Corporations to evaluate the environmental studies and issue , deny or
suspend the environmental license, in the cases indicated in Title VIII of the aforementioned
law;
That according to article 6, numeral 12 of Decree 216 of 2003, it corresponds to the Minister of
Environment, Housing and Territorial Development to grant or deny environmental licenses
and ensure the collection and administration of evaluation and monitoring services of the
environmental license and other authorizations. environmental matters under the jurisdiction of
the Ministry;
That according to article 3 of Decree 3266 of October 8, 2004, the Directorate of Environmental
Licenses, Permits and Procedures was created, attached to the Office of the Vice Minister of
Environment of the Ministry of Environment, Housing and Territorial Development;
That in accordance with Decree 3266 of 2004, article 4, numerals 4 and 7, it corresponds to
the Directorate of Environmental Licenses, Permits and Procedures to propose and apply the
methodologies and technical criteria for the evaluation of environmental studies and for the
issuance, follow-up and monitoring of environmental licenses and issue the respective
technical concepts in accordance with the law, and generate mechanisms with a view to
optimizing and making more efficient the procedure for granting or denying environmental
licenses, and other environmental management and control instruments under the jurisdiction
of the Ministry of Environment , Housing and Territorial Development in coordination with the
competent dependencies;
That according to the fifth clause, numerals 3 and 4 of the Technical-Administrative Assistance
Agreement number 02 F-2000 whose initiation date was December 19, 2000, added as of April
24, 2001, signed between the Ministry of Environment , Housing and Territorial Development
(formerly the Ministry of the Environment)-National Environmental Fund, Fonam, and the
Executive Secretariat of the Andrés Bello Agreement, Secab, are Secab's obligations to adopt
the necessary financial, technical and administrative measures for the execution of the projects
, in accordance with the methodology agreed upon between Fonam and Secab, and provide
logistical, operational and/or administrative and technological support for the fulfillment of the
contractual object to the parties and the beneficiaries for the successful performance of the
agreement;
That the Executive Secretariat of the Andrés Bello Agreement, Secab, delivered the Manual for
the Evaluation of Environmental Studies on July 8, 2002, and the environmental monitoring of
projects on May 16, 2002, which were reviewed and analyzed by the Directorate of Licenses,
Permits and Environmental Procedures of this Ministry;
That in accordance with the provisions of articles 15 and 34 of Decree 1220 of April 21, 2005,
the Ministry of Environment, Housing and Territorial Development will adopt the general criteria
defined in the evaluation manuals for environmental studies and environmental monitoring of
projects, within a period of six (6) months counted from the publication of the aforementioned
decree, which took effect on April 25, 2005 in the Official Gazette number 45,890;
That taking into account the foregoing, the Ministry of Environment, Housing and Territorial
Development will proceed to adopt the manuals for the evaluation of environmental studies
and environmental monitoring of projects, as well as establish their characteristics and their
form of application by the competent environmental authorities ;
That in merit of the foregoing,
                                           RESOLVES:
Article 1. Adopt the evaluation manuals for environmental studies and environmental
monitoring of projects, which are annexed to this resolution and form an integral part of it.
Article 2. The manuals that are adopted by this administrative act are an instrument for
mandatory consultation and guidance of a conceptual, methodological and procedural nature,
by the competent environmental authorities, for the evaluation and monitoring of projects that
require an environmental license and/or establishment of environmental management plans.
Paragraph. The evaluation manuals for environmental studies and environmental monitoring
of projects, which are adopted by this resolution, may be consulted on the website of this
Ministry: www.minambiente.gov.co.
Article 3. The procedure to apply by the environmental authorities to the evaluation manuals
for environmental studies and environmental monitoring of projects, which are adopted by
means of this resolution, is as follows:
I. EVALUATION PROCESS
The Evaluation Manual aims to establish and define technical and procedural criteria for the
evaluation of environmental studies presented to the different environmental authorities within
the environmental licensing procedure.
For this purpose, the following work instructions contained in the Environmental Studies
Evaluation Manual must be taken into account:
Instruction A: Definition of the required environmental study.
These instructions must be applied by the evaluator to attend to a request for environmental
processing, in order to specify whether for the project, work or specific activity an
Environmental Diagnosis of Alternatives (DAA), an Environmental Impact Study ( EIA), or an
Environmental Management Plan (PMA).
Instruction B. Evaluation of environmental studies.
The objective of these instructions is to establish the steps to follow and the criteria that must
be considered during the evaluation of environmental studies presented.
Instruction C. Field visit for environmental assessments.
The objective of these instructions is to establish the steps to follow and the aspects that must
be considered during the field visit carried out by the evaluators, as well as its planning,
execution and documentation.
Instruction D. Elaboration of Technical Concepts of Environmental Evaluations.
The objective of this instruction manual is to establish the steps to follow and the aspects that
must be considered during the elaboration of the technical concepts as support for any
decision.
II. MONITORING PROCESS
The Monitoring Manual aims to establish and define technical criteria and the procedure for
monitoring licensed projects or with established environmental management plans. For this
purpose, the following work instructions contained in the Project Environmental Monitoring
Manual must be taken into account:
Instruction E. Environmental monitoring of projects.
The objective of these instructions is to establish the steps to follow and the criteria that must
be considered to carry out environmental monitoring of licensed projects and/or established
environmental management plans.
Instructions F. Project environmental monitoring visit.
The objective of these instructions is to establish the steps to follow and the aspects that must
be considered during the planning and execution of the environmental monitoring visit to the
licensed projects and/or established environmental management plans.
If a public hearing is required, compliance with the formal requirements will be evaluated and
the public hearing will be ordered by order.
Instruction G. Preparation of technical concepts for environmental monitoring.
The objective of these instructions is to establish the steps to follow and the aspects that must
be considered during the elaboration of the technical concepts of environmental monitoring.
Article 4. The environmental authorities must request the users of environmental licenses or
environmental management plans, the presentation of the Environmental Compliance Reports,
ICA, in accordance with the requirements of the Project Environmental Monitoring Manual.
Article 5. The manuals for the evaluation of environmental studies and environmental
monitoring of projects may be updated by the Ministry of the Environment, Housing and
Territorial Development when deemed pertinent.
Article 6. This resolution is effective from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette .
                                       Publish and comply.
            The Minister of Environment, Housing and Territorial Development,
                                      Sandra Suarez Perez.
                                                (CF)
NOTE: Published in the Official Gazette 46092 of November 14, 2005.
The manuals can be consulted in the printed media of the aforementioned Official
Gazette.