Environmental Standards: Types, Content, and Compliance

Environmental Standards Defined

Environmental standards are laws that, through agreement among different societal sectors, define acceptable and safe pollutant levels for human health and the environment. These regulations serve as environmental management tools, designed to address and resolve environmental issues.

There are three main types of standards: primary environmental quality standards, secondary environmental quality standards, and emission standards.

Primary Environmental Quality Standards

These standards aim to protect public health and are applied uniformly nationwide, ensuring all citizens are entitled to the same environmental quality. They establish the maximum permissible amounts of pollutants whose presence in the environment could pose a risk to human life or health. They also specify measurement methodologies and criteria for determining when a standard has been exceeded.

Secondary Environmental Quality Standards

Unlike primary standards, secondary standards focus on protecting natural resources and other assets, which can be diverse, such as crops, ecosystems, flora, fauna, national monuments, or archaeological sites.

Secondary standards define maximum permissible amounts of substances whose presence in the environment could compromise environmental protection, conservation, or nature preservation. Their application can be at a national or local level, depending on the resource being protected.

Emission Standards Explained

These standards set limits on the amount of pollutants that industrial installations and other sources can emit into the air or water. Their purpose includes preventing pollution or its adverse effects, and serving as a means to restore air or water quality levels once they have been exceeded. Their application can be at a national or local level, depending on the specific protection objective of the standard.

Components of Environmental Standards

Every environmental quality standard (primary, secondary, and emission) specifies the permissible maximum and minimum values and periods for concentrations of elements, compounds, substances, biological or chemical derivatives, energy, radiation, vibration, noise, or combinations thereof.

They must also include, at a minimum, critical values determined by environmental emergencies, the timeframe for their entry into force, and the public bodies responsible for monitoring compliance.

Furthermore, they must specify the methodology for measuring and controlling the standard. This methodology should correspond, if applicable, to those developed by the National Institute of Standards and formalized by the relevant Ministry through a Presidential Decree. If no reference standard exists in Chile, the methodology must be explicitly detailed.

When Environmental Standards Are Exceeded

Compliance with primary environmental quality standards is verified through measurements in human settlements and areas that directly or indirectly affect public health. Secondary environmental quality standards are verified in locations where the protected target is situated.

The State is responsible for ensuring compliance with these standards. This involves commissioning measurements and monitoring environmental quality and emissions to detect whether established limit values are exceeded.

If contamination levels surpass established standards, the affected area must be declared saturated. When an area is declared saturated, a decontamination plan must be implemented. This plan comprises a set of actions and arrangements, executed over a specific period, aimed at restoring environmental quality to the levels set by the standards.

If contaminant levels in an area are between 80% and 100% of the standard's value, the area is designated as a latent zone. In such cases, a prevention plan must be developed to anticipate and prevent the standard from being exceeded.

Emission standards must be met by the emitters themselves. If these standards are exceeded, the regulatory body must require immediate compliance.