Environmental Assessment Service
Chile's Environmental Assessment Service (Spanish: Servicio de Evaluación Ambiental or SEA) is a public agency that regulates issues related to the environment. With regards of natural resources it seeks that these are used in a rational, sustainable, responsible and ethical manner. Its predecessor agency is Comisión Nacional de Medio Ambiente (CONAMA). The origins of the agency can be traced to 2005 when OECD suggested a series of improvements to the environmental legislation of Chile. In 2018 442 persons were employed by the Environmental Assessment Service, including 25 geographers. As of September 2025, a total 452 projects worth US$108 billion were being reviewed by the service.
The Environmental Assessment Service has been criticized for the lengthiness of its processes, the uncertainty in them, and as lacking full independence as it depends ultimately on the authority of President of Chile.
References
- ↑ "Servicio de Evaluación Ambiental". Chile Atiende (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-09-07.
- ↑ Vial Barros 2025, p. 4.
- ↑ Carter Gamberini, Henríquez Ruiz & Bruna Morales 2019, p. 12.
- ↑ Nacional, Biblioteca del Congreso. "Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional | Ley Chile". www.bcn.cl/leychile (in Spanish).
- ↑ Carter Gamberini, Henríquez Ruiz & Bruna Morales 2019, p. 23.
- ↑ "Chile moves forward with overhaul of environmental review system". Bnamericas. 2025-09-02. Retrieved 2025-09-07.
- 1 2 Carrasco, Edesio; García, José Francisco; García-Huidobro, Luis Eugenio (2024-05-01). Evaluación ambiental ante el Congreso: Diagnóstico parcial y propuestas de reforma insuficientes (PDF) (Report). Puntos de Referencia (in Spanish). Vol. 696. Centro de Estudios Públicos.
- ↑ Vial Barros 2025, p. 7.
- Bibliography
- Vial Barros, José Ignacio (2025). ¿ Un servicio de evaluación ambiental autónomo?: razones a la luz de la jurisprudencia, doctrina y experiencia (M.Sc. thesis). Universidad de Alicante.
- Carter Gamberini, Virginia; Henríquez Ruiz, Cristián; Bruna Morales, Claudia (2019). "Aportes y desafíos del Sistema de Evaluación de Impacto Ambiental (SEIA) a la conservación de la biodiversidad en Chile" [Contributions and challenges of Environmental Impact Evaluation System (SEIA) for the conservation of biodiversity in Chile]. Investigaciones Geográficas (in Spanish). 72: 9–29.