Environmental Impact Study EIA MARN Guatemala 2026: Instruments, Fees and Review Times

The Environmental Impact Study (EIA) is the technical document that identifies and predicts, with greater depth of analysis, the effects that a project, work, industry or activity will have on the environment, for projects considered to have moderate or high potential environmental impact or risk under MARN’s Listado Taxativo. It is one of MARN’s predictive instruments: it is filed before the project is developed, and its approval leads to the MARN Environmental License.

Quick summary: MARN’s procedure sheets separate the EIA (categories A and B1) from the Initial Environmental Evaluation, EAI (categories B2 and C). Intake fees: Q500, Q400, Q300 and Q100. MARN review: 152, 103, 60 and 50 days. The license is a separate request and payment, due within 15 days of the approval. Categories A and B1 require an edict and a public review period.

As of 7 November 2026, based on MARN’s procedure sheets (published October 2026), Government Agreement 137-2016 as published by MARN with its reforms, and Decree 68-86.

What is an Environmental Impact Study?

Under Decree 68-86, Art. 8, every project, work, industry or other activity that by its characteristics may damage renewable or non-renewable natural resources or the environment, or introduce harmful or notable changes to the landscape and to the cultural resources of the national heritage, needs an environmental impact assessment before it is developed, carried out by technical experts and approved by the Comisión del Medio Ambiente.

Government Agreement 137-2016 (RECSA) lists the predictive instruments (Art. 13): the Initial Environmental Evaluation, the Environmental Impact Assessment Study, the Strategic Environmental Evaluation and the form of activities for registration in the lists. The EIA covers moderate and high-impact projects (Art. 3, numeral 31); the Initial Environmental Evaluation is the predictive instrument for categories B2 and C (Art. 3, numeral 33).

MARN Instruments by Category

The category of an activity is set by the Listado Taxativo (Ministerial Agreement 204-2019 and its reforms). MARN also publishes sheets for a Category C Initial Environmental Evaluation with an Environmental Management Plan. For categories A, B1 and C the review times exclude requests for corrections, extensions, clarifications and internal opinions.

Environmental license after approval (RECSA Art. 72, numeral 8)

Licenses for categories A, B1 and B2 run from one to five years, as the proponent requests (Art. 61), and the fee rises in equal steps per year (for example Q7,000 a year for Category A). Specific terms of reference prepared by MARN for predictive instruments cost Q500 (A), Q400 (B1) and Q300 (B2) under Art. 72, numeral 4.

Requirements to File an EIA (MARN sheet, Category A)

The Category A sheet lists a long set of requirements, many of which apply only to specific project types. The general ones are:

1. Form and terms of reference.
2. Prepared by an Environmental Consulting Firm (Category A); B1 and B2 may use an individual Category B consultant or a firm.
3. DPI or full passport of the proponent or its legal representative, and an updated RTU — see RTU registration.
4. Legal representation, deed of incorporation and patente de comercio — see business registration.
5. Certificate of active membership (colegiado activo) of the consultants who took part.
6. Plans (location, site layout, hydraulic installations and the others that apply), WGS84 coordinates and a Google Earth image of the area of influence 50 metres beyond the project polygon.
7. Full page of the edict publication(s), for Category A and B1 EIAs, with a size of 2 by 4 inches.
8. Flora and fauna characterization of the project area, for categories A and B1.
9. CONAP favourable opinion if the project is inside SIGAP — see CONAP procedures.

Step by Step (MARN sheet, Category A EIA)

1. Log in to MARN’s web system with your username and password.
2. File the request, meeting the requirements in the regulations in force.
3. Pay the procedure fee.
4. Publish the edicts as the regulations require. The edict goes in a national newspaper of wide circulation and in the regional newspaper of widest circulation in the area of direct influence, in Spanish and in the predominant language of the area, and the file is filed with MARN the same day it is published (RECSA Art. 22 quinquies, 43 and 44).
5. The public review period starts on the dates given in the edicts; under Art. 45 it starts 8 days after the instrument is filed.
6. Interested people submit comments, observations or opposition within the public review period (20 days under Art. 45).
7. At the request of MARN’s Directorate of Environmental Management and Natural Resources (DIGARN), a one-time meeting may be called with the multidisciplinary group of environmental advisers, the proponent and the Category A consulting firm, for a technical presentation and defence of the project.
8. Submit extensions or clarifications, if any.
9. You receive an email saying the final resolution of the environmental instrument is available to download and print.
10. The system changes the status to Closed. End of the procedure.

After approval, request the environmental license within 15 days of the notice (one justified 15-day extension). The license sheet lists a form and the payment, and the license is issued three business days after the request — see Environmental License Category A.

Penalties

Related procedures

• MARN Hub: Ministry of Environment Procedures — full directory.
• Environmental License Category A — the license after a Category A EIA.
• General Environmental License — all categories.
• Environmental Diagnostic — the corrective instrument for projects already operating.
• Wastewater Discharge Permit — Government Agreement 236-2006.
• Solid Waste Rules for Businesses — Government Agreement 164-2021.
• MEM Procedures — energy and mining.
• MAGA Procedures — agribusiness.
• CONAP Procedures — projects inside protected areas.
• Register a business in the Mercantile Registry.
• RTU registration.

Sources and MARN contacts

• MARN — Trámites MARN (procedure sheets)
• MARN — 1. Estudio de Evaluación de Impacto Ambiental Categoría A — Q500, 152 days, requirements, steps
• MARN — 12. Estudio de Evaluación de Impacto Ambiental Categoría B1 — Q400, 103 days
• MARN — 17. Evaluación Ambiental Inicial Categoría B2 — Q300, 60 days
• MARN — 28. Evaluación Ambiental Inicial Categoría C — Q100, 50 days
• Government Agreement 137-2016 with reforms (MARN copy) — Art. 3, 13, 22 quinquies, 43-45, 61, 72, 108-112
• Decree 68-86 (INAB copy) — Art. 8
• SAGA: https://saga.marn.gob.gt/ · Address: 7a avenida 03-67 zona 13, Guatemala City · PBX: 2423-0500 · WhatsApp: 3024-3048