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The Institutional Environmental Management Program (Programa de Gestión Ambiental Institucional, PGAI) is a planning instrument based on a diagnosis that must contain all aspects related to institutional activities (energy efficiency, waste, and climate change, among other environmental aspects), for the purpose of establishing and implementing short, medium, and long-term measures for the prevention, mitigation, compensation, or restoration of environmental impacts. This program or plan, as it has also been called, is a cyclical process of planning, implementation, review, and improvement of the procedures and actions carried out by the institution (Art. 2 of the Regulation for the Development of Institutional Environmental Management Programs in the Public Sector of Costa Rica, Executive Decree No. 36499-S-MINAET).
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The Poder Judicial, since September 8, 2009, has had the Environmental Affairs Commission (Comisión de Asuntos Ambientales), complying with the corresponding legal mandate (Art. 7 of the Regulation for the Development of Institutional Environmental Management Programs in the Public Sector of Costa Rica, Executive Decree No. 36499-S-MINAET). This commission, in order to promote the Poder Judicial in environmental matters, has developed a PGAI composed of nine specific programs (wastewater, drinking water, vehicle fleet control, natural disaster prevention and response, energy efficiency, ordinary solid waste management (gestión de los residuos sólidos ordinarios), acquisition of environmentally friendly goods and services, review and updating of current environmental legislation, and citizen participation and training).
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In accordance with the provisions of the corresponding regulations (Art. 8 of the Regulation for the Development of Institutional Environmental Management Programs in the Public Sector of Costa Rica, Executive Decree No. 36499-S-MINAET), the functions of the Institutional Commission include conducting diagnoses or evaluations to determine the status of the institution regarding environmental management, waste management, climate change, and energy efficiency; proposing an institutional environmental policy; developing and implementing the PGAI; submitting reports requested by the MINAET; and establishing quantifiable indicators for the PGAI.
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It is concluded that, in accordance with current regulations, the need for an Environmental Manager (Gestor Ambiental) position is unquestionable, in order to provide technical and specialized knowledge in the development of the PGAI, the preparation of diagnoses, and the development of projects on environmental topics; to provide the corresponding progress reports on the PGAI; as well as to provide recommendations for the prevention, mitigation, compensation, and restoration of environmental damage at the Institutional level, among other tasks established by the Environmental Affairs Commission of the Poder Judicial.
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From the information gathered at different institutions, it can be concluded that many do not have a specific Environmental Manager position, and the functions have been assumed as additional duties by different positions within the institution (Legislative Assembly, Attorney General's Office, Supreme Electoral Tribunal, National Learning Institute, Municipality of San José). However, other institutions do have specific and homologous profiles to the Environmental Manager (National Power and Light Company, Municipality of Alajuela, Municipality of Santa Ana, Municipality of La Unión, and Municipality of Tibás).
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Regarding the placement of Environmental Manager positions or the units responsible for this topic in the consulted institutions, it is found that they can be assigned in the following ways: to a specific process or department (this being the lowest level in the structural placement and functional authority relationship), as is the case of the National Power and Light Company and the Municipalities of Alajuela, San José, and Tibás; also at the staff level, as in the case of the Municipality of La Unión; attached to higher bodies of the institution, as in the case of the National Learning Institute and the Municipality of Santa Ana; or properly to a specific Institutional Commission for environmental matters (a collegiate body composed of positions from different departments), as in the case of the Legislative Assembly and the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. Therefore, it is concluded that there is no specific pattern of organizational assignment; rather, the positions have been placed in accordance with the organization, needs, and policies of each institution, with the possibility of placing the Environmental Manager position in a Directorate, Department, at the staff level, or within an Institutional Commission.
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In the case of the Poder Judicial, and according to the opinion of the president of the Environmental Affairs Commission, Magistrate Oscar Gonzalez Camacho, the assignment of the Environmental Manager position to the Office of the Presidency could be considered. However, it is the opinion of this department that there should be an administrative assignment to the Office of the Presidency and a functional assignment with respect to the Environmental Affairs Commission, so that the occupant of the position can be adequately empowered, as they will need to coordinate with many bodies of the institution for the proper performance of their duties. Nevertheless, it must be made clear regarding the previous conclusion that this is only an opinion resulting from the research conducted, knowing that this department is not competent for the final decision, which, by its own competencies, corresponds to the Department of Planning.
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From the consultations made to different institutions, it can be concluded that there is a similarity regarding the tasks or functions performed by the Environmental Manager positions. For this reason, and considering what the law indicates, the request of the Environmental Affairs Commission, the DIGECA, and the information provided by Mr. Mauricio Chacón Hernández, a Judicial Expert who has actively participated in the development of the PGAI of the Poder Judicial, the functions that must be included in the corresponding job profile are the following: diagnostic and research work; establishing guidelines, plans, programs, projects, and lines of action aimed at consolidating public environmental policies; compliance with applicable regulations; development of environmental programs; environmental impact assessments (evaluaciones de impacto ambiental); development of management indicators; coordination and verification of the implementation of environmental projects; advising different institutional departments with technical environmental criteria; waste management and inventory, electrical consumption, water consumption, and fuel consumption; carrying out plans to ensure the proper channeling of stormwater, wastewater, sewage, and their treatment; providing criteria and technical analysis of environmental clauses in administrative contracting (green purchasing); diagnosis and control of liquid, solid, atmospheric, and hazardous toxic emissions; recycling programs; on-site inspections; representing the institution on environmental matters; development, implementation, and follow-up of the PGAI as well as its coordination with the DIGECA; providing training; conducting awareness and information campaigns; and performing the environmental management oversight (regencia ambiental) of the institution (preventing, controlling, and mitigating the environmental impacts generated by the institution).
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Regarding the degrees that can be considered for this class of position, it should be noted that the following were evaluated: Environmental Management Engineering from the School of Environmental Sciences of the Faculty of Earth and Marine Sciences of the Universidad Nacional, Bachelor's and Licentiate in Environmental Engineering from the School of Chemistry of the Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, and the Bachelor's and Licentiate in Environmental Health from the School of Health Technologies of the Faculty of Medicine of the Universidad de Costa Rica. It is concluded that all three meet the knowledge needs that an Environmental Manager professional for the Poder Judicial should have. However, considering that this professional will begin with a particular program (environmental management), which is associated with the development, implementation, and follow-up of the PGAI, as well as its coordination with the DIGECA, it would be pertinent to classify the position in the broad class category of Professional 2 and the narrow class of Environmental Manager (Gestor Ambiental).
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7. RECOMMENDATIONS
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As a result of the above conclusions, the following is recommended:
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7.1. That the Department of Planning assess the creation of the Environmental Manager position, not only to comply with the legal imperative that every institution must have this class of position, but also to promote the institutional environmental policy developed by the Environmental Affairs Commission of the Poder Judicial.
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7.2. If the Environmental Manager position is created, it is recommended that the competent and expert administrative body on the matter, that is, the Department of Planning, be responsible for determining its assignment within the organizational structure of the Poder Judicial.
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7.3. If the Environmental Manager position is created by the Department of Planning, it is recommended that the classification and valuation of the position be in the broad class of Professional 2, narrow class Environmental Manager.
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7.4. The creation of the narrow class of “Environmental Manager” is recommended, as presented in annex No. 1 of this report.
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It was agreed: To accept the report in its entirety, with the indication that, correspondingly, coordination must be carried out with the Occupational Health Section when it is pertinent.\"
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\n\nIn a note dated October 13 of the current year, signed by Magistrate Carmenmaría Escoto Fernández, in her capacity as Acting President of the Environmental Affairs Commission, she communicated:
\n\n\"As agreed by the Environmental Affairs Commission of the Poder Judicial, in session No. CAA-06-2014, held on October 7 of this year, I wish to express to you the shared concern of all the members of said Commission regarding the impossibility of following up on the Institutional Environmental Management Plan (Plan de Gestión Ambiental Institucional).
\n\nAccording to the 'Regulation for the development of institutional environmental management programs in the public sector of Costa Rica', hereinafter the Regulation, this instrument is based on 'a cyclical process of planning, implementation, review, and improvement of the procedures and actions carried out by an institution to perform its activity; in order to guarantee compliance with its environmental objectives and, therefore, promote better environmental performance in all institutions of the Public Administration'. For this reason, as it is a dynamic process, it requires constant development and evolution, which has not been possible to achieve at present.
\n\nIn the document of the Institutional Environmental Management Plan (PGAI), approved by the Corte Plena in session No. 35-10 of December 6, 2010, the creation of a position for its follow-up was recommended. However, to date, although the plan was approved, this position does not exist.
\n\nOn April 8, 2013, former Magistrate Oscar González and the undersigned submitted a request to the Consejo Superior for the creation of an environmental manager position. This petition was heard in Session No. 36-13 of April 16 of that same year, and the communication was forwarded to the Department of Personnel so that they could determine the profile as well as a possible placement of said position within the structure of the Poder Judicial.
\n\nFrom the follow-up carried out by the Commission on said agreement, the Human Resources Department (Dirección de Gestión Humana) informed us that the report was recently presented to you and is scheduled for next Thursday's session.
\n\nIn this regard, I would like to make the following reflections in light of the discussion that will take place on the topic in said session.
\n\nIn a conversation held with the Director of Planning, the requested position was not included in the 2015 budget for reasons of institutional priority, without taking into consideration that the Institution established environmental matters as a cross-cutting axis of planning (strategic and operational). However, she recommends taking the corresponding steps so that it is included in the 2016 budget, which will soon be prepared.
\n\nIt is important to note that, as a control mechanism, the regulation provides for the submission of semi-annual reports, with the head of each Institution being responsible for such management before the DIGECA. Likewise, at least one follow-up audit is conducted annually by said office to verify that the plan is being properly executed. To date, the Poder Judicial has not submitted the reports corresponding to the year 2013 and the first half of 2014, given that there is no person responsible for operationalizing, controlling, and reporting on the environmental programs to which the institution has been committed since the approval of the Environmental Management Plan in 2010.
\n\nThe foregoing was ratified by the Judicial Audit in official letter No. 406-28-AEE-2214, dated April 7, 2014, heard by the Consejo Superior in session No. 34-14, where it concluded that the Environmental Management Program in the Institution is not being complied with, because it does not have a Program coordinator to manage it and to perform the operational work of coordination, control, and follow-up on the different activities carried out both in this Plan and in the tasks performed by the Environmental Affairs Commission.
\n\nThe regulation specifies the following as sanctions for non-compliance: \"articles 98, 99, 100, and 101 of the Organic Environmental Law; 98, 99, and 100 of the General Law of Public Administration; and 54 and 57 of the Law for Integrated Waste Management, without prejudice to other sanctions derived from national legislation.\"
\n\nRegarding the position and recommendations made by the Human Resources Department, it seems opportune to point out that during 2011, the Poder Judicial paid an amount of $22160.00 (more than twelve million colones) for environmental management oversight (regencia ambiental) provided by an external professional hired by the hour. Said professional assisted an average equivalent of 3 days per month to carry out formalities on behalf of the Poder Judicial before SETENA and to be present during drug destructions, which reached a maximum frequency of two destructions per week. The foregoing in an incinerator that was donated to the Judicial Investigation Agency, which from the beginning presented operating and contamination problems (as part of the operating requirements of an incinerator, emission analysis is required, including dioxins and furans, which are highly polluting and potentially carcinogenic chemical compounds. These analyses were carried out, finding that emissions exceeded the permitted values by more than ten times).
\n\nTo address the situation, an agreement was subsequently renegotiated with HOLCIM, a site where an agreement had initially been canceled due to problems with drug handling. Said agreement is valid for one more year (2015). For that same year, the OIJ has a budget for the acquisition of a new incinerator, so it must resume the issue of drug destructions, continuing the 2011 dynamic. This is why the creation of a position to address environmental matters would allow covering these functions and would further justify the need for the position.
\n\nFurthermore, regarding the profile indicated in the Human Resources report, we would very respectfully like to make an observation based on the experience of the Department of Forensic Sciences regarding the definition of profiles and classes for positions in the basic and natural sciences areas. Regarding the academic requirements, they may be leaving out other possible educational backgrounds that would also be capable of filling the position, thus closing the profile to only three base areas of training. Therefore, it is possible to hire a professional in natural sciences (biologist, chemist, or other) with a postgraduate degree in environmental management or environmental management (which various universities in the country currently offer) who would have sufficient qualifications to meet the job profile and functions.
\n\nFor the foregoing reasons, I convey to you the following agreements adopted by the Commission:
\n\n\"c. To request that the Consejo Superior assess the provision of a resource to appoint a professional to collaborate with the implementation, administration, and follow-up of the PGAI for the years 2014 and following, which would thereby achieve compliance with institutional commitments before the MINAE, while the study for the environmental manager position is being processed. The person designated as part of the requested human resource must fulfill all the functions cited in point b) of this agreement. Furthermore, it is agreed to reiterate to the members of the Consejo Superior that this is a management effort that the Environmental Affairs Commission has raised previously given the lack of specialized human talent to handle this work, which is of institutional interest. It is ordered to send a copy of this management effort to the Presidency of the Poder Judicial and to Human Resources, as the job profile is being developed.\"
\n\n\"d. To inform the Presidency of the Poder Judicial, the members of the Consejo Superior, and the Judicial Audit that, on the occasion of the PGAI implementation, administration, and follow-up report for the year 2014, as there is still no designated expert to issue it, Mrs. Magda Protty, representative of the DIGECA of the MINAE, was summoned to explain to her the problems the institution faces due to the absence of a position to manage the PGAI, in order to request an extension for the commitments acquired by the Poder Judicial, which require an environmental specialist for their fulfillment. Additionally, to communicate the data collected on the matter by the different offices represented by the members of the Environmental Affairs Commission. If an extension of the deadline is granted, it will be communicated to the Presidency of the Poder Judicial and the members of the Consejo Superior, for their corresponding actions.\"
\n\nFrom the foregoing, we very respectfully request that the Consejo Superior adopt the recommendations of the indicated agreements, as well as the observations made regarding the profile and functions that the person hired for these purposes could perform.
\n\nWe remain at your disposal to address any questions you may have in this regard.”\n\n- 0 -\n\n**It was agreed: 1.)** To consider the report of the Human Resources Management Office as rendered and to accept the recommendations directed to the Planning Office; consequently: **a)** That the Planning Office evaluate the creation of the Environmental Manager (Gestor Ambiental) position, not only to comply with the legal imperative that every institution must have this type of position, but also to promote the institutional environmental policy developed by the Environmental Affairs Commission (Comisión de Asuntos Ambientales) of the Judiciary. **b)** Should the Environmental Manager position be created, the competent administrative body with expertise in the matter, that is, the Planning Office, is responsible for determining its placement within the organizational structure of the Judiciary. **c)** Should the Environmental Manager position be created by the aforementioned Office, the classification and valuation of the position will be in the broad class of Professional 2, narrow class Environmental Manager. **d)** Create the narrow class of “Environmental Manager” as presented in Annex No. 1 of this report. **2.)** To accept the agreement reached by the Environmental Affairs Commission and forward it to the Planning Office so that it may carry out the study for the implementation, administration, and follow-up of the PGAI for the years 2014 and following, and to request an extension from MINAE to fulfill the institutional commitments before that Ministry. **3.)** Given that this Branch of the Republic is budgetarily constrained, to request the Planning Office to carry out a redistribution of positions.\n\n**It was agreed:** **1.)** To consider the report of the Human Resources Management Office as rendered and to accept the recommendations directed to the Planning Office; consequently: **a)** That the Planning Office evaluate the creation of the Environmental Manager position, not only to comply with the legal imperative that every institution must have this type of position, but also to promote the institutional environmental policy developed by the Environmental Affairs Commission of the Judiciary, approved by the Full Court in session No. 14-08 of May 5, 2008, article VI. **b)** Should the Environmental Manager position be created, the competent administrative body with expertise in the matter, that is, the Planning Office, is responsible for determining its placement within the organizational structure of the Judiciary. **c)** Professionals in natural sciences, biologists, chemists, or others with studies or experience in environmental management should be added to the careers already indicated in the report that may be considered for this class of position. **d)** Should the Environmental Manager position be created by the aforementioned Office, the classification and valuation of the position will be in the broad class of Professional 2, narrow class Environmental Manager. **e)** Create the narrow class of “Environmental Manager” as presented in Annex No. 1 of this report. **2.)** To accept the agreement reached by the Environmental Affairs Commission and forward it to the Planning Office so that it may carry out the study for the implementation, administration, and follow-up of the PGAI for the years 2014 and following, and to request an extension of the deadline from MINAE to fulfill the institutional commitments before that Ministry. **3.)** Given that this Branch of the Republic is budgetarily constrained, to request the Planning Office to evaluate whether there is a possibility that an existing position could assume these functions. **4.)** To make this agreement known to the Environmental Affairs Commission." }