Guidelines for the development of regulations for environmental protection

7.4Guidelines for the development of regulations for sharing of telecommunication infrastructure

• 
  At all times, shared use of existing towers shall be preferred to the construction of new towers, where economically, technically, legally and environmentally feasible. Where such shared use is unavailable, location of antenna on pre-existing structures shall be considered. An applicant shall be required to present an adequate report inventorying existing towers within reasonable distance of the proposed site and outlining opportunities for shared use of existing facilities and use of other pre-existing structures as an alternative to a new construction.
  

• 
  An applicant intending to share use of an existing tower shall be required to document intent from an existing tower owner to share use. The applicant shall pay all reasonable fees and costs of adapting an existing tower or structure to a new shared use. Those costs include but are not limited to structural reinforcement, preventing transmission or receiver interference, additional site screening, and other changes including real property acquisition or lease required to accommodate shared use.
  

• 
  In the case of new towers, the applicant shall be required to submit a report demonstrating good faith efforts to secure shared use from existing towers as well as documenting capacity for future shared use of the proposed tower. Written requests and responses for shared use shall be provided.
  

7.5Environmental and Social Assessment Manual for FONATEL Projects

The Environmental and Social Assessment Manual for FONATEL Projects is intended for project proponents interested in developing subprojects to be financed by the Universal Service Fund for Telecommunications, FONATEL, foreseen in the telecommunications law, and administered by SUTEL, the Project Implementation Agency (PIA).
The Manual will assist project proponents in screening proposed subproject sites for potential environmental and social impacts in accordance with criteria defined by Costa Rican and World Bank standards prior to submitting proposals to the PIA for funding.
For subprojects that have been approved by the PIA, the Manual also provides guidelines for developing appropriate mitigation measures and developing necessary monitoring protocols during subproject implementation.
The Manual is presented in Annex 9.

8Public consultation and disclosure process

[This section will be completed after a workshop to be held in Costa Rica].

8.1Process for Public Consultation

During the course of the Project, consultations should be carried out with all significant stakeholder groups (see Table 8.1).

Table 8.1 Key stakeholder groups identified

Government and regulatory agencies	Relevant governmental and public sector agencies, such as MINAE, SETENA, SINAC, etc.
Public and private sector operators	Lead public and private sector companies in Costa Rica, such as ICE
Non-government organizations	International and local stakeholder groups, including FECON, InBio, etc.
Local stakeholders	Community based organizations (CBOs), Municipal and district level committees, unions and other local groups
Academic and research institutions	Environmental research groups, universities and technical institutes (UNA, UCR, Instituto Tecnológico)
Indigenous Communities	If subprojects are planned to be performed in an indigenous peoples territory.

Prior, free and informed consultations must be carried out. For the sub-projects that can be developed in indigenous territories, a translator must be used so that the entire audience can be informed about the project. It must be included in the consultation process the concerns and suggestions to the environmental and social evaluation so that it can be considered in the final evaluation. A public consultation workshop will be held in December.

8.2Proposed Disclosure Plan

The World Bank procedures require a public disclosure prior to project appraisal. This allows the public and other stakeholders to comment on the possible environmental and social impacts of the project, and for the Appraisal Team to strengthen as necessary the frameworks, particularly measures and plans to prevent or mitigate any adverse environmental and social impacts.
Towards this end, this document will be publicly released through the World Bank’s InfoShop, and in public locations in Costa Rica prior to project appraisal. The documents should be made available in both English and Spanish, in compliance with the World Bank’s Public Consultation and Disclosure Policy.

1. 
   1 Annex 1. Section I.64. List of projects, works and activities that according to specific laws must comply with the Environmental Impact Assessment or Environmental Impact Study Before SETENA. Regulations of the Assessment Process. Decree 31849-MINAE-S-MOPT-MAG-MEIC
   

2. 
   2 In the past, ICE has issued requests for proposal for wireless mobile systems under an operative leasing scheme. The request clearly includes all technical, legal and financial conditions to be met by the awardee. Once the project is awarded, the supplier delivers all the required equipments, installs and operates the system in the country, under the surveillance of ICE.
   

3. 
   3⁴ The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice has acknowledged the absence of specific health provisions regarding or regulating radio bases. However, it admits the possibility of future regulations on this particular matter as well as the use of existing health regulations that could eventually be applied for the public health protection. Vote 2006-14450, 10:35, September 29th, 2006.
   

4. 
   4⁶ See file 02-013045-0007-CO and Vote 2005-08945, 15:10 July 6, 2006. Constitutional Chamber. Supreme Court of Justice.
   

5. 
   5⁷ General Bylaw on Environmental Impact Studies. Decree 31849-MINAE-MOPT-MAG-MEIC. Annex 1.
   

6. 
   6⁸ Interviews with Ana María Bonilla from the Legal Department of ICE and with Tatiana Cruz, SETENA’s Secretary, on June 5^th, 2007.
   

7. 
   7⁹ See tramites.go.cr, section 7 for further details.
   

8. 
   8¹⁰ As detailed in SETENA’s file 1423-05.
   

9. 
   9¹¹ Idem.
   

10. 
    1⁰¹² This was the case for the Law on Administrative Contracting, the Law on Water, the Law on Hydrocarbons, Law 7200 on electric generators, and the Labor Code, among others.
    

11. 
    1¹ This provision would change the current procedure, according to which SETENA does not develop the environmental impact studies. At the time of this report, the bill did not make reference to key steps in the environmental permit proceedings such as SETENA’s approval or the integral assessment of the impacts expected by the concession proposal.
    

1. 
   1 An estimated 3 million migratory birds pass through Costa Rica each year - personal communication, M. Julio Sanchez, National Museum of Costa Rica.
   

12. 
    1² This process, was primarily used in the hydroelectric projects, but can be applied tot the telecommunication sector if necessary.
    

1

2. 
   1 Issues related to Indigenous Peoples have been included in the VAR developed by ICE in order to comply with World Bank Safeguard Policy (OP4.10)
   

1 As described in Decree N° 31849-MINAE-S-MOPT-MAG-MEIC 28 Jun 2004.

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