Libro II · Título I Capítulo IV. Salud y ambiente

The Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the National Environment Commission, the municipalities and the organized community, shall promote a healthy environment that favors the full development of individuals, families and communities.

The Ministry of Health and the National Commission for the Environment shall establish the permissible exposure limits and environmental quality limits for environmental contaminants, whether such contaminants are of a chemical, physical or biological nature. Where the contaminants are of a radioactive nature, the Ministry of Health, in coordination with the Ministry of Energy and Mines, shall establish the permissible exposure and environmental quality limits. The Ministry of Health shall likewise determine in the respective regulation the work periods of personnel who work at sites exposed to these contaminants.

The Ministry of Health, the National Environment Commission, the municipalities and the organized community shall establish an environmental quality surveillance system based on permissible exposure limits.

The Ministry of Health, the National Commission on the Environment and the Municipalities shall collect and disseminate information pertinent to the population on the health risks associated with direct or indirect exposure to contaminating agents exceeding the established exposure and environmental quality limits.

The Ministry of Health, the National Environment Commission, the Municipalities and the organized community, with all other appropriate entities, whether public or private, shall promote the development of personal care programs and programs for the reduction of health risks linked to environmental imbalances, or caused by chemical, physical or biological contaminants. The Ministry of Health shall ensure compliance with the international agreements ratified by Guatemala that prohibit the use of substances harmful to the environment and consequently to human beings.

The importation of toxic, radioactive and/or difficult-to-degrade waste is prohibited.

The Ministry of Health, the National Environment Commission and the municipalities shall establish the criteria for conducting environmental impact assessment studies, aimed at determining the necessary prevention and mitigation measures to reduce potential health risks derived from imbalances in environmental quality resulting from the carrying out of works or processes of industrial, urban, agricultural, livestock, tourism, forestry and fisheries development.

The Ministry of Health and the National Environmental Commission in coordination with other public and private sector entities, shall establish the criteria, norms and standards for the production, importation, traffic, distribution, storage and sale of substances and materials hazardous to health, the environment and individual and collective well-being.

The Ministry of Health, jointly with other institutions of the Sector and other sectors, shall participate in the formulation of policies, strategies, plans, programs and projects aimed at the prevention and mitigation of the impact of disasters and public calamities.

The Ministry of Health, the institutions that make up the Sector and the community shall participate in all prevention, care and rehabilitation actions in cases of disasters, in aspects of direct care of both persons and the environment.

The State, through the Ministry of Health, in coordination with the Municipal Development Institute and other institutions of the sector, shall promote a priority policy of public necessity that guarantees the population's access and universal coverage to potable water services, with emphasis on management by the communities themselves, to ensure the sustainable management of the resource.

It is the obligation of the Municipalities to supply potable water to the communities situated within their territorial jurisdiction, as established by the Municipal Code and the needs of the population, in the context of the State policies in this matter as set forth in the present law.

The State, through the Ministry of Health, in coordination with the institutions of the Sector, shall ensure the protection, conservation, exploitation and rational use of drinking-water sources. The municipalities of the country, as the principal providers of the drinking-water service, are obligated to protect and conserve water sources and to support and collaborate with the policies of the Sector, to achieve universal coverage within their territorial jurisdiction, in terms of quantity and quality of the service.

The State, through the Ministry of Health, Sector institutions and others, shall guarantee that rivers, lakes, lagoons, streams, springs and other natural sources of water may, on the basis of a technical opinion, be declared of public utility and public interest, for the supply of potable water for the benefit of urban and rural populations in accordance with the specific law. Aqueduct servitude shall be regulated on the basis of the Civil Code and other laws on the matter.

The Ministry of Health in coordination with the municipalities and the organized community, consistent with the provisions of Articles 78 and 79 of this law, shall promote the construction of works intended for the provision and permanent supply of drinking water to urban and rural populations.

Agroindustrial companies or those of any other nature shall guarantee access to water services to their workers, which meets requirements for human consumption.

The felling of trees is strictly prohibited on the banks of rivers, streams, lakes, lagoons and water sources, up to 25 meters from their banks. Violation of said provision shall be sanctioned in accordance with the provisions established in this Code.

The Ministry of Health, the municipalities and the organized community shall establish the priorities that non-governmental organizations must address to supply drinking water services.

The Ministry of Health shall establish the standards related to the administration, construction and maintenance of drinking water services for human consumption, monitoring, in coordination with the municipalities and the organized community, the quality of the service and of the water of all supplies for human use, whether public or private.

The Municipalities and other public or private institutions in charge of the management and supply of drinking water have the obligation to purify it, based on the methods established by the Ministry of Health. The Ministry shall provide technical assistance to the Municipalities in an efficient manner for compliance therewith. Violation of this provision shall entail sanctions as established in this law, without prejudice to any criminal sanctions that may be incurred.

Every water supply project, prior to its implementation, shall have a certificate issued in an expeditious manner by the Ministry of Health in which it is recorded that it is fit for human consumption. If the certificate is not issued within the time established in the respective regulation, it shall be deemed issued, with liability for any damage remaining with the public official or employee who failed to issue an opinion within the stipulated time limit.

The owners or possessors of immovable property and water supplies located in the urban area, served by central potable water networks, shall connect said services in accordance with municipal regulations; it is incumbent upon the municipalities to monitor compliance with this provision.

It is prohibited to use contaminated water for the cultivation of food vegetables for human consumption. The respective regulation shall establish the control mechanisms.

In localities that have potable water service, suspension of this service is prohibited, except in cases of force majeure to be determined by the health authorities, in coordination with the municipalities, such as: payment delinquency or questionable alteration by the user.

The municipalities, industries, businesses, agricultural and livestock entities, tourism entities and other types of public and private establishments shall provide or promote the installation of adequate systems for the sanitary disposal of excreta, the treatment of wastewater and sewage, as well as the maintenance of such systems in accordance with the present law and the respective regulations.

The Ministry of Health, jointly with the institutions of the Sector, the municipalities and the organized community, shall promote universal coverage of the population with services for the final disposal of excreta, the conveyance and treatments of wastewater and shall foster health education actions for the correct use thereof.

The Ministry of Health, with other institutions of the sector within its scope of jurisdiction, shall establish the sanitary standards governing the construction of works for the elimination and disposal of excreta and wastewater and shall, jointly with the municipalities, establish the authorization, supervision and control of such works.

The unsanitary disposal of excreta in public places, communal lands and vacant lots is prohibited. Contravention of this provision shall be sanctioned by the respective municipal authority, in accordance with the Municipal Code, municipal regulations and this Code.

The construction of works for the treatment of sewage and wastewater, to prevent contamination of other water sources: rivers, lakes, water springs, is the responsibility of the Municipalities or of the users of the affected basins or sub-basins. The Ministry of Health shall provide technical assistance in aspects related to the construction, operation and maintenance thereof.

The discharge of pollutants of industrial, agro-industrial origin and the use of wastewater that has not been treated without the prior favorable opinion of the Ministry of Health, the National Environment Commission -CONAMA- and the authorization of the Municipal Council of the affected municipal jurisdiction or jurisdictions is prohibited. Said opinion must be issued within a time limit not exceeding that established by the respective regulation. Likewise, the discharge of untreated wastewater into rivers, lakes, streams and lagoons or bodies of water, whether surface or underground, is prohibited.

The Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance must issue, within the time limits established for such purpose in its internal regulations, the applicable sanitary opinion on constructions in general involving hydrosanitary components, the construction or repair and/or modification of public or private works intended for the elimination or disposal of excreta or wastewater that have been authorized by the respective municipalities.

To verify compliance with the regulations corresponding to each type of project, the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance shall carry out surveillance in accordance with the plan that is established.

In localities where a sanitary sewer system exists, owners of real property are obligated to connect their sanitary installations thereto, except in the exception cases determined by the corresponding regulation. In localities where there is no sanitary sewer system, the use of private excreta disposal systems shall be permitted, provided that the standards established by the Ministry of Health are complied with, so as not to compromise the phreatic water tables nor contaminate bodies of water.

The construction of private excreta disposal systems shall be designed and constructed in compliance with the provisions established on the matter by the Ministry of Health, so as not to endanger the phreatic aquifers nor contaminate the bodies of water.

The exploitation of thermal waters and the construction, installation and operation of swimming pools and public baths shall require a favorable technical opinion from the Ministry of Health prior to approval by the Municipalities, which shall be issued within the time limits stipulated by the specific regulatory provisions. If not issued, it shall be deemed favorable, without prejudice to the subsequent liability incurred by the unit of the Ministry that did not issue the opinion within the respective time limit. Such works shall likewise remain subject to the corresponding sanitary controls, in accordance with the provisions of the respective regulation.

It is incumbent upon the municipalities to provide the cleaning or collection, treatment and disposal services for solid waste in accordance with the specific laws and in compliance with the applicable health standards. The municipalities may use sites for the disposal of solid waste or construction of the respective sanitary landfills, subject to the prior opinion of the Ministry of Health and the National Environment Commission, which shall be prepared within the non-extendable time limit of two months from when requested. If it is not issued, it shall be deemed issued favorably, without prejudice to any subsequent liability that may arise, which shall fall upon the public official or employee who failed to issue the opinion within the stipulated time limit.

It is prohibited to throw or accumulate solid waste of any kind in unauthorized places, around inhabited areas and in places that may cause damage to the health of the population, to public aesthetics or to the landscape, to use inadequate means for their transport and storage or to proceed to their utilization, treatment and final disposal, without the corresponding municipal authorization, which shall take into account compliance with the sanitary measures established to prevent contamination of the environment, specifically those derived from contamination by effluents (leachate) originating from legal or clandestine garbage dumps.

If the Ministry of Health verifies that there are places where solid waste is being deposited without meeting the requirements of this law, such waste shall be transferred to other places that comply with the sanitary requirements, on the basis of a program established by common agreement by the respective municipalities and the Ministry of Health.

Owners or possessors of lots, sites or open spaces in urban and rural sectors shall fence them and keep them free of solid waste, weeds and stagnant water. Municipal authorities, in coordination with health authorities, are responsible for enforcing this provision.

Public and private hospitals that by their nature use or discard organic materials or toxic, radioactive substances or substances capable of disseminating pathogenic elements, and waste produced in the normal activities of the establishment, may only store and dispose of such waste in the places and in the manner stipulated by the norms prepared by the Ministry of Health. Hospitals are obligated to install incinerators for the handling and final disposal of waste, whose specifications and norms shall be established in the respective regulation.

For the storage, transportation, recycling and disposal of solid residues and waste, as well as hazardous industrial waste, industrial or commercial enterprises shall have adequate systems according to the nature of their operations, especially when the hazardousness and volume of the waste do not allow the use of the ordinary service for the disposal of general waste. The Ministry of Health and the corresponding municipality shall rule on the basis of the specific regulation on this matter.

Solid waste arising from agricultural and livestock activities shall be collected, transported, deposited and eliminated in accordance with the norms and regulations to be established, in order not to create foci of environmental contamination, provided that its reprocessing and/or recycling for use in other duly authorized activities is not possible.

The Ministry of Health in coordination with the National Environment Commission and the corresponding municipal corporation shall approve, in accordance with urban development and sanitary regulations and standards, applications for the formation of new urban developments, extension of the area of existing ones and installation of places of recreation or public gathering, within the time limit established in the respective regulations.

The Municipality, in coordination with the Ministry of Health, may order modifications or repairs to deficient dwellings, buildings or constructions that pose risks to life and health, in accordance with the provisions of the respective regulation. The construction of dwellings and urban developments in areas declared as high-risk is prohibited.

The permanent installation of stables for equine, bovine and porcine livestock and sheds for poultry farming in urban areas is prohibited. The municipalities and the National Environment Commission -CONAMA- shall ensure compliance with said provision, whose violation shall be sanctioned in accordance with what is established in this Code. Said institutions may authorize their installation for specific activities and on a temporary basis, upon prior request of the interested party or parties.

It is the responsibility of the Ministry of Health, in coordination with the municipalities and the National Environment Commission, to establish standards for the construction, operation, expansion or closure of cemeteries in the country.

The construction and administration of the cemeteries of the Republic shall be in charge of the municipalities, which function may be granted in concession to private entities. The municipalities may also authorize the construction and installation of new cemeteries, as well as the expansion and closure thereof, subject to the prior opinion of the Ministry of Health and of the National Commission on the Environment.

Corpses shall be buried or cremated within twenty-four hours counted from death, except in the following cases:

a)That the corpse has been embalmed, in which case it shall be governed by what the regulation and/or international standards indicate;

b)When there is need to carry out a prior judicial investigation;

c)Where special and justifiable circumstances concur, in the judgment of the health authorities and with an order from a competent judge;

d)The burial or cremation of the corpse shall be immediate, when the cause of death was a disease of high risk to the population and in the cases determined by the respective regulation.

Burials and incinerations may only be carried out in duly authorized cemeteries, upon prior presentation to the administrator or person in charge of the cemetery of proof of having registered the death with the responsible institution, in accordance with the regulation. In the case of cremation, the next of kin may be authorized to dispose of the ashes, as decided by the family.

The exhumation of cadavers before the time during which they are obligatorily required to remain interred may only be carried out with the express authorization of the Ministry of Health, pursuant to the regulation, or by judicial order in accordance with the law.

The transfer of cadavers or human remains may only be carried out with prior authorization given by the health authority of the place and after the requirements determined by the regulation have been complied with.

The international transfer of cadavers shall be authorized only with the prior permission of the health authority of the countries involved and within international norms. The permission shall be granted once it is verified that all regulatory requirements regarding preservation of the cadaver and the safety conditions of the coffin and its packaging have been met, in addition to other regulatory and legal requirements relating to the identification of the persons and the causes of death.

Any person who wishes to bring into the territory of the Republic the corpse of a person who died abroad, for its burial or cremation, shall comply with the international rules on the transfer of corpses and attach the death certificate.

Cadavers, their organs and tissues may be used for therapeutic, educational and scientific purposes in accordance with what is established in the specific law on the disposition of organs and tissues. Violation thereof shall be sanctioned under the present law.

The installation and operation of establishments, public or private, intended for care and service to the public, may only be permitted upon prior sanitary authorization from the Ministry of Health. Authorization for fixed establishments is granted by means of a sanitary license. The Ministry shall exercise supervision and control actions without prejudice to those that the municipalities must carry out. The specific regulation shall establish the requirements for granting said authorization and the time limit for its issuance.

Fiscal offices may only issue or renew licenses to the establishments referred to in the preceding Article, upon prior presentation of the sanitary license issued by the Ministry of Health.

For purposes of sanitary control, the owners or administrators of establishments open to the public are obligated to allow duly identified public officials to conduct inspection at any hour of their operation, as established by the respective regulation.