The government's environmental agency CONAMA on Mar. 19 suspended for 15 workdays the deadlines for proceedings before the Environmental Impact Evaluation System in the regions of El Maule, Bío-Bío and La Araucanía, the hardest hit by the Feb. 27 earthquake. The agency also extended until Apr. 7 the time for public consultation about the emissions standards for thermoelectric power plants proposed by the government.

“Those two specific measures seem quite pertinent and prudent to us,” environmentalist Luis Mariano Rendón, of the non-governmental Ecological Action group, told Tierramérica. However, he said he is worried about the delay in setting up the new Ministry of Environment under the new administration.