Surfrider Foundation: Rincón, Puerto Rico

SOLUTIONS: HOW THIS CAN HAPPEN

Solution Main Page | How This Can Happen | Policy and Law Library

How this is going to happen:
There are three primary ways to create the Reserva Marina (RNM), Area de Planificación Escpecial (APE), and Reserva Natural. They are:

Legislative: The Commonwealth government can pass a law that establishes either an RNM or an APE or both.
Administrative: The Commonwealth agencies in charge of protecting coastal marine resources is the Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales de Puerto Rico (DRNA) (at http://www.drnapr.net). The DRNA has created and manages the 8 APE that were established in 1978 and as well as the two RNM that currently exist.
Finally the Natural Heritage Law can be used to establish either an RNM or and APE.

The Coalition in Rincón is currently pursuing both legislative and administrative opportunities to achieve our goals.

The process for establishing either of these protection areas is two fold. First the RNM, APE and Reserva Natural must be designated and a designation document justifying the protected area must be created. This designation document must be approved by the Mayor, the DRNA, the Planning Board and the Governor.

Once the area is designated then a management plan must be generated to describe the types of uses that are acceptable for different zones within the protected area. The management plan must include local input and also be approved by the same agencies that approve the designation document.

At this point we intend to achieve our goal of creating a Reserva Natural by incorporating the Reserva Natural into the APE management plan.

(the diagram below shows the process)

Process diagram

Another important land use planning component to our campaign is the development of the Plan de Ordenación Territorial de Rincón. The creation and approval by the Planning Board of this local land use plan will transfer land use decision power to the local government. The local land use plan for Rincón is currently being developed. A key aspect to the plan is the creation of a Junta de Communidad -- a citizen's advisory panel -- that must consult on the development of the plan and on land use decisions. This process has been established by the Ley de Municipos Autónomous (Ley 81 Del 30 de agosto de 1991).

See the "policy and law library" page.

(see the Junta Plan graphic below)

We believe the community groups that represent the local citizen's of Rincón must be a component of the development of the plan and should be represented in the Junta de Communidad.