- ✅ MARN resolution approving your Category A instrument (EIA or Diagnostic)
- 📋 License form filled in with the project and resolution data
- 💵 Payment at Banrural: Q7,000 per year of validity
- 🆔 Copy of your current DPI to collect the license
The Category A Environmental License is the MARN license for the projects with the highest potential environmental impact or risk in the Listado Taxativo, including development megaprojects. It is issued after MARN approves the project’s Category A environmental instrument — an Environmental Impact Assessment Study for a new project or an Environmental Diagnostic for one that already exists — and it must stay current during every phase of the project, including technical closure or abandonment.
Quick summary: License fee: Q7,000 per year of validity, from Q7,000 (1 year) to Q35,000 (5 years). Exempt: only churches and state institutions. Deadline: request it within 15 days of the approval notice (one 15-day extension possible). Issued: 3 business days after the request. Renewal: within the 30 days before expiry. Before the license: EIA Category A intake Q500 and 152 days of MARN review, or Diagnostic Category A intake Q750 and 120 days.
As of 7 November 2026, based on MARN’s procedure sheets (published October 2026) and Government Agreement 137-2016 as published by MARN with its reforms (including Government Agreement 148-2024).
What is the Category A Environmental License?
Government Agreement 137-2016 classifies projects into categories A, B (split into B1 and B2), C and registration. Category A corresponds to the projects, works, industries or activities considered to have the highest potential environmental impact or environmental risk in the whole Listado Taxativo; development megaprojects are part of this category (Art. 19). Which activity falls in which category is set by MARN’s Listado Taxativo, Ministerial Agreement 204-2019 and its reforms.
The license is issued by MARN’s DIGARN or its departmental delegations once there is a resolution approving the project, and it certifies that the administrative procedure before MARN was completed (Art. 60). It must be current during all phases of the project, including technical closure or abandonment, and for categories A, B1 and B2 it is valid for a minimum of one and a maximum of five years, as the proponent requests (Art. 61).
How a Category A instrument is evaluated (Art. 23)
- DIGARN names a multidisciplinary group that checks the legal and technical documents and confirms the activity is listed as Category A.
- The analysis period is 75 days. For predictive instruments it runs from the day after a meeting held once the public review period ends; for corrective instruments it runs from assignment to the group.
- For Category A, the day after the public review period ends DIGARN requests a one-time in-person meeting with the proponent and the consultant, with the Vice Minister of Environment and the multidisciplinary group, where the project is presented. The presentation takes place within five days of the request.
Public participation (Art. 43-45)
- The proponent of a predictive Category A or B1 instrument publishes an edict in a national newspaper of wide circulation and in the regional newspaper of widest circulation in the area of direct influence.
- The edict is published in Spanish and in the predominant language of the area, measures at least 2 by 4 inches, and the file is filed with MARN the same day the edict is published.
- The public review starts 8 days after the instrument is filed; anyone with an interest has 20 days to submit observations, including opposition.
- The proponent also documents participatory methods (interviews, surveys, workshops, assemblies or working meetings) and a public participation guide.
Requirements for the License
MARN’s procedure sheet for the Category A license lists two requirements:
- Form, filled in with the project data and the approval resolution.
- Payment of the license fee for the years of validity you choose.
The approval resolution itself comes from the Category A instrument, whose requirement list (form, terms of reference, consulting firm, DPI or passport, RTU, legal documents, plans, WGS84 coordinates and others) is described on the EIA and Environmental Diagnostic pages.
Step by Step (MARN procedure sheet)
- Request the license within 15 days of the notice of the approval resolution. You can ask once for a 15-day extension, with justification. A license requested after these deadlines is still issued, but the delay is a breach of the commitments in the approval resolution.
- File the form at the MARN window (ventanilla).
- MARN checks the form against its system.
- A payment order is generated.
- Pay at Banrural.
- Hand in a copy of the bank slip and of the payment order at the window.
- Collect the license three days later. If someone else collects it, they bring an original letter signed by the proponent authorizing them, with simple copies of both parties’ current DPI. If the proponent collects it, a copy of the current DPI is enough.
Cost and Time
| Item | Amount | Time |
|---|---|---|
| EIA Category A — intake | Q500 | 152 days of MARN review (excluding clarifications) |
| Environmental Diagnostic Category A — intake | Q750 | 120 days of MARN review (excluding clarifications) |
| License, 1 year | Q7,000 | 3 business days after the request |
| License, 2 years | Q14,000 | 3 business days |
| License, 3 years | Q21,000 | 3 business days |
| License, 4 years | Q28,000 | 3 business days |
| License, 5 years | Q35,000 | 3 business days |
| Renewal | Same fees by years | Request within the 30 days before expiry |
| MARN control and follow-up process on request, Category A | Q25,000 | — |
Exemption from the license payment applies only to churches and state institutions. Consultant fees and technical studies are private costs and are not part of MARN’s tariff.
Penalties
| Rule | What it says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Fine for not carrying out the assessment | Q5,000 to Q100,000 | Decree 68-86, Art. 8 |
| Closure | If the requirement is not met within six months of the fine, the business is closed until it complies | Decree 68-86, Art. 8; Government Agreement 137-2016, Art. 112 |
| Category A fine range | 751 to 1,000 units (base unit value Q100) | Government Agreement 137-2016, Art. 108-109 a) |
| No current license | Fine according to the category | Government Agreement 137-2016, Art. 109 f) |
Related procedures
- MARN Hub: Ministry of Environment Procedures — full directory.
- General Environmental License — all categories.
- Environmental Impact Study EIA — the predictive instrument for new projects.
- 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 — 3. Licencia Ambiental en Categoría A (procedure sheet) — fees by years, exemption, 3 business days, steps
- MARN — 4. Renovación de Licencia Ambiental en Categoría A — 30 days before expiry
- MARN — 1. Estudio de Evaluación de Impacto Ambiental Categoría A — Q500, 152 days
- MARN — 2. Diagnóstico Ambiental Categoría A — Q750, 120 days
- Government Agreement 137-2016 with reforms (MARN copy) — Art. 19, 23, 43-45, 60-62, 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