Introduction:

The Organic Law of the Environment No. 7554 designates the National Environmental Technical Secretary (Spanish Acronym - SETENA) as the institution in charge of evaluating and following up on environmental compensation measures in Costa Rica.

Objective:

To expose the legal framework and legislation that governs and applies SETENA about environmental compensation in this country.

Methods:

A case study on how compensation has been implemented in the country is briefly described.

Results:

SETENA interprets environmental compensation as a set of measures and actions that generate environmental benefits that: 1) are proportional to the environmental impacts or damages caused by the development projects, provided that prevention, correction, or mitigation measures cannot be adopted; and 2) is a tool to be used during the environmental management stage, in the construction or operational phase, when there is evidence of non-compliance with the acquired environmental commitments, lack of environmental regulations, or environmental damage identified after reaching environmental approval for the project.

Conclusion:

SETENA defines the Environmental Compensation Plan as a procedure that serves as a guide to establish the actions to take. The compensation measures are dictated concerning the type of project and the findings encountered during its monitoring, which is why there is no standardization of these compensation plans.