BajaNomad

More on Mexican Environmental laws for property owners

oladulce - 7-19-2006 at 10:55 AM

This is related to another current thread but thought I'd move it to this category so it doesn't clutter the Baja travel section. http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=18334

The Federal designation of agrarian, or former ejido land in our area is ?Forestal? (raw, or natural land) and it must be converted to a form of ?residential or urban? before any building, improvements, or even a single cholla is touched. Some Ejido land is zoned ?Agricultural? but still requires this change once it's privatized. The ?Cambio de Uso de Suelo? permit changes the property?s Federal designation.

Environmental protection is currently the hot ticket with the Gov. and PROFEPA (the Mexican EPA and enforcers of their environmental laws) considers this Change of Use to be a really big deal. This change is required even if the ejido member wants to build on the property himself or another Mexicano buys it, and so it's not a gringo or foreigner-property owner thing.

SEMARNAT won't process an Environmental study until you have the Cambio de Uso, and you can?t build adjacent to the Federal Zone without an Impact study.

On the East Cape, I?m thinking PROFEPA went right for Impact study and other building violations because most properties were already "zoned" correctly. In the case of Russ' Pta Chivato group (other thread) it sounds like they're starting with the lack of "Cambio de Uso" permits since this is the primary infraction. I'm sure they'll be looking for any infractions that are within their jurisdictiction though.

Here?s the link to the SEMARNAT website and an English exerpt:

SEMARNAT

ARTICLE 418.
An imprisonment penalty ranging from three months to six years and a fine from one hundred to twenty thousand days of minimum wage shall be imposed upon any person who, without the authorization required pursuant to the Forest Law (Ley Forestal), dismantles or destroys natural vegetation; cuts, pulls up, brings down or cuts down trees; exploits forest resources or carries out changes in the use of soil.


[Edited on 7-20-2006 by oladulce]

ME - 7-19-2006 at 05:21 PM

ARTICLE 418.
An imprisonment penalty ranging from three months to six years and a fine from one hundred to twenty thousand days of minimum wage shall be imposed upon any person who, without the authorization required pursuant to the Forest Law (Ley Forestal), dismantles or destroys natural vegetation; cuts, pulls up, brings down or cuts down trees; exploits forest resources or carries out changes in the use of soil.


T. sounds like a lot of pesos..:fire:

tim40 - 7-19-2006 at 06:47 PM

Be interesting to see how this plays out.

Bajalero - 7-19-2006 at 07:02 PM

Doesn't sound good for the folks at Punta Chivato (and elsewhere)

I'm not positive, but I think just about EVERYTHING at Chivato is on ejido land and that is no small matter

When it comes to money and Mexicans, it's not what will they come up with next , it's when.

Start doing your stretching exercises

Lero