Environmental impact assessment follow-up institutional and regulatory frameworks: lights and shadows of the Chilean experience

ABSTRACT During the past 40 years, Chile’s EIA system evolved from a fragmented procedural exercise, with limited technical input into decision-making, to an essential public policy tool. This article presents an overview of the EIA system evolution in Chile, its main characteristics, and procedures, and highlights new advances and practical results in the follow-up stage. The analysis revealed evidence that despite positive improvements in Chile’s EIA process, there remain significant weaknesses in almost all stages. In the follow-up specifically, some pivotal improvements were made in connection with inspection, enforcement, and monitoring practices. In this context, evidence indicates that those changes have impacted positively on the evaluation of obligations contained at the environmental licenses as well as the governance of the process. However, some challenges to be addressed remain mostly related to monitoring, communication, and citizens’ engagement.