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Ecuador is a trailblazer in human and environmental rights. The country enshrined in its 2008 Constitution the human right to water and the right to live in a healthy and ecologically balanced environment. It was also the first country in the world to recognize nature as a subject of rights in and of itself. However, the Ecuadorian legislature has failed to fully recognize these rights in the country's civil law codes. This article explores the shortcomings of Ecuadorian law on Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and proposes modifications to better ensure the protection of international and constitutional human and nature's rights through the EIA process. Part I describes the environmental review process for the San José del Tambo hydroelectric project and the dam's socio-environmental impacts in the Dulcepamba watershed over the past two decades. Part II examines international and domestic law governing environmental review and identifies gaps in the Ecuadorian EIA law that hinder the protection of human and nature's rights. Part III recommends several legal reforms to the Ecuadorian EIA law, "CODA," which will allow for protection of human and nature's rights, thereby reducing socio-environmental harm from hydroelectric and other projects in marginalized rural communities. In a period of Ecuadorian history marked by feverish attempts to develop and extract the country's natural resources, the need for enhanced EIA standards is urgent and essential to realize the rights of marginalized rural communities and of nature.
Rachel E. Conrad (Mon,) studied this question.