El Ciudadano
Original article: Retroceso brutal: Gobierno retira en masa decretos clave para la protección ambiental
A significant setback marked the beginning of José Antonio Kast’s administration, as he requested the General Comptroller of the Republic to withdraw a substantial number of crucial decrees related to environmental protection in the areas of decontamination plans, climate change, biodiversity, air quality, and ecosystem protection, among others.
This measure was formalized in an official letter dated March 12, addressed to Comptroller Dorothy Pérez and signed by the Undersecretary of the Environment, José Ignacio Vial.
With this move, the newly assumed administration of the Republican party applied a «chainsaw» approach to various initiatives promoted during President Gabriel Boric’s term.
«Along with extending my cordial greetings, I hereby withdraw from the process of acknowledgment the supreme decrees of the Ministry of the Environment as indicated,» the document states.
The action affects 43 acknowledgment processes related to supreme decrees linked to various initiatives recorded during Boric’s presidency, significantly altering the environmental policy landscape of the country.
It is important to note that the acknowledgment and subsequent publication in the Official Journal are the final acts that turn a decree into a valid norm. Without both, the texts remain indefinitely suspended.
Specifically, one process pertains to 2023, three to 2024, twenty-eight to 2025, and eleven processes to the present year 2026.
Among the decrees withdrawn by Kast are those related to the regulations of the National Council for Sustainability and Climate Change and the Regional Environmental Advisory Councils; the regulations for strategic environmental assessment; the sectoral Plan for Climate Change Adaptation concerning biodiversity; the approval of the regulations for the Emission Compensation System; and the updating of the Long-Term Climate Strategy regarding the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan, in addition to the regulations governing Recovery, Conservation, and Species Management Plans.
The decree related to Biodiversity Compensation regulations was also indefinitely suspended; along with the regulations for the Registry of Emissions and Transfers of Pollutants; as well as the governance of the National Strategy for a Just Socio-Ecological Transition, and the regulations for the Classification of Ecosystems by Conservation Status and the development of Management Plans for Threatened Ecosystems.
Emission Standards and Air Quality
In the letter sent to the Comptroller, the new government withdrew Emission Standards for Thermo-Electric Plants and Copper and Arsenic Smelters, as well as Primary Air Quality Standards for Lead and Fine Particulate Matter PM 2.5. Additionally, this includes the decrees related to the Atmospheric Decontamination Plan for Puerto Aysén and the decree establishing Emission Standards for the Regulation of Pollutants Associated with Liquid Waste Discharges, Marine and Surface Continental Waters.
The Supreme Decree establishing Collection Goals, Valuation and other obligations associated with Batteries and Electric and Electronic Devices and the regulations for the Registry of Emissions and Transfers of Pollutants were also indefinitely suspended.
National Parks and Species Protection
Among the withdrawn processes are those related to the creation of five national parks: «Salar de Gorbea,» «Mar de Juan Fernández,» «Nazca Desventuradas II,» «Lagunas Bravas,» and «Las Parinas,» located in the Atacama and Valparaíso regions.
These also include the National Reserve «Salar de Pedernales,» the virgin region reserves «Lagunas Collas» and «Pisacas,» and the Multiple Use Conservation Area Olivares-Colorado in the Metropolitan Region.
Furthermore, more than ten regulations under the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Law (Law N° 21.600) were suspended, including biodiversity compensation mechanisms. This also includes the declaration of the Humboldt Penguin as a Natural Monument, and recovery plans for threatened species like the Darwin’s Frog.
Below, you can access the letter sent by the Ministry of the Environment to the General Comptroller of the Republic ordering the withdrawal of the 43 decrees.
Retrieved Decrees by leonard0.bu1tr6g0
Suspension or Review of Environmental Decrees?
In response to the controversy generated, the administration of José Antonio Kast issued a public statement justifying the withdrawal of the 43 acknowledgment processes for decrees, stating that «it is a common practice at the beginning of a new administration, consistent with actions taken in previous administrations.»
According to the text released by the Ministry of the Environment, this is a «review process of the decrees still pending before the General Comptroller of the Republic.»
«This work is carried out as part of President Kast’s internal audit plan, which requires a thorough and exhaustive review of all pending decrees and regulations,» they argued.
«The Ministry is working as a priority on the meticulous review of the supreme decrees; in order to submit them to the General Comptroller of the Republic as soon as possible,» the ministry stated in the text, although it did not clarify whether they would be resubmitted in full, modified, or definitively abandoned.
Press MMA _Public Statement March 2026 by leonard0.bu1tr6g0
Although the withdrawal mechanism is not technically irreversible, regulatory process experts have warned that this is an unprecedented decision considering the work that went into formulating the 43 decrees.
Experts consulted by El Desconcierto indicated that the new government’s decision to withdraw them en masse from the Comptroller’s Office, just 24 hours after the change of administration, represents a measure that «erases years of technical processing in one letter.»
According to technical sources, if Kast’s administration opts to substantially modify any of these decrees, it would have to restart part of that process with public participation or return to the Council of Ministers, leaving the decision regarding the future of key decrees for environmental development and preservation in Chile to the Republican party’s state secretaries.
«Political Backhoes or Graders Become Minuscule»
The decision to withdraw a series of key acknowledgment processes from the General Comptroller of the Republic that regulated pollution, biodiversity, and ecosystem protection triggered a wave of criticism from political actors and environmental organizations across the board.
This includes former Minister of Social Development and Family, Giorgio Jackson, who took to his social media to denounce the measure.
«All analogies about backhoes or political graders fall minuscule against this letter,» he stated.
He noted that the decision to withdraw «ALL the supreme decrees from the Ministry of the Environment pending acknowledgment» constitutes a «horrible precedent that leaves total legal uncertainty.»
Similarly, Deputy Alejandro Bernales warned that this is a «bad signal» and criticized the halt in the protection of species like the Humboldt Penguin.
«The Ministry of the Environment is pending acknowledgment. Horrible precedent that leaves total legal uncertainty,» he added on X.
In turn, Deputy Alejandro Bernales expressed that this is a «bad signal: the recovery plan for the Darwin’s Frog is also halted.»
Mala señal: el plan de recuperación de la Ranita de Darwin también se frena. El Subsecretario de Medio Ambiente retiró la toma de razón del plan de conservación de esta especie endémica de Chile. El medio ambiente no puede ser visto como un obstáculo. pic.twitter.com/uqthVdSqRe
— Alejandro Bernales
(@abernales) March 17, 2026
«The Undersecretary of the Environment withdrew the acknowledgment of his declaration as a Natural Monument and of 40 other declarations,» he added.
He also stated that «the environment cannot be seen as an obstacle» for the Republican administration.
Senator Alfonso De Urresti (PS) indicated that in light of such decisions, the opposition will remain vigilant and announced that he will summon Minister Francisca Toledo Echegaray to the Environmental Commission «to explain in detail the reasons for each of these withdrawals since clearly there is no relation among them.»
He indicated that in his opinion, there may be a need for a review in some cases, «but there are others that have taken a long time, and with the magnitude we observe today, we can presume that there is an environmental regression,» reported El Desconcierto.
«Chainsaw Against Nature and the Future of Chile»
From the socio-environmental group and media «Defendamos Patagonia», the decision of the new government to order the withdrawal of 43 environmental decrees and regulations from the Comptroller, which were «set to come into effect after years of technical work and citizen participation,» was described as «a brutal blow to the Chilean environment.»
«Key standards on pollutant emissions, protection of salt flats, decontamination plans, safeguarding national parks, protected fauna, waste management, and environmental impact assessment have been brutally removed from the process,» they lamented.
They warned that this measure leaves historic advances aimed at «halting the destruction of ecosystems, reducing pollution, and protecting what biodiversity we have left» in limbo.
Critics noted that while the Republican administration dismantles regulations, it accelerates the development of 51 projects costing US$16 billion, «without regard for the environmental cost.»
«It is a chainsaw against nature and the future of Chile!» they asserted, urging citizens not to remain idle in the face of this threat.
«Get up, Chile! Go to the streets, demand on social media, pressure local authorities and organizations. Let us defend the little we have left of clean water, pure air, and living territories,» they stated loudly and clearly.
They also referred to President Kast, urging him to reflect and consider that «growth cannot be built on environmental ruin.»
«Listen to science, communities, and the outcry of millions who want a sustainable Chile, not a devastated country,» they emphasized.
«Silence condemns us! Action saves us!» they stressed in a post on their social media.
¡LEVANTEMOS CHILE
El gobierno de José Antonio Kast acaba de dar un golpe brutal al medio ambiente chileno: ha ordenado retirar 43 decretos y reglamentos ambientales que estaban en Contraloría, listos para entrar en vigencia tras años de trabajo técnico y participación… pic.twitter.com/9OnxsR0sSK
—
Defendamos Patagonia
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