Excavating, extracting or dredging: the five permits, where none are issued and who is exempt

It is Chapter 3.5 of Joint Regulation No. 9473, titled Extraction, Excavation, Removal and Dredging of the Earth’s Crust Components. It is the regulation that operationalises the permit: which permits exist, the criteria they are evaluated against, where they are not issued and who is exempt. The statute behind it is Act No. 132 of 1968, as amended by Act 19-2026, which moved the permit from the DRNA to OGPe and left oversight with the DRNA; that act has its own guide on this site and this one complements it. This guide covers Rules 3.5.1 to 3.5.4. Haulage, restoration and bonds, the formal permit, the simple and maintenance permits, and the explosives rules each have their own guide, written from the same reading of the complete chapter.

The general rule draws no distinction: it applies to every person, natural or juridical, on public or private land. Expressly exempt from applying for the permit, on private land or the State’s patrimonial land, are five cases: a total volume under forty cubic metres to remove the vegetal layer for survey purposes, drill test bores or create and maintain access roads; activity incidental to well driving and septic-tank construction holding their permits; activity related to the maintenance and repair of public or private infrastructure rendering public or social-interest services; the removal of material accumulated in retention, mitigation or sedimentation ponds to restore their original design capacity, provided they form part of a previously approved project; and construction activities by governmental infrastructure entities under an agreement formalised with the DRNA. The exemption is not assumed on your own: it must be processed through the preconsulta mechanism in the SUI.

• Obtaining a permit under Chapter 3.5 before carrying out any excavation, extraction, removal or dredging of the earth’s crust components, on public or private land.Verified against the official source
• Obtaining prior authorisation before exporting earth-crust components excavated, extracted, removed or dredged in Puerto Rico.Verified against the official source
• Processing every exemption through the preconsulta mechanism in the SUI: the exemption does not operate on its own.Verified against the official source
• Also complying with any other provision applicable to the works under the jurisdiction of other state and federal agencies, such as the DRNA, the EPA, the ICP and the US Army Corps of Engineers.Verified against the official source

• Phase IA archaeological study, if the proposed area has not been impacted by anthropogenic activity. If deemed necessary, subsequent studies may be required.
• Hydrological-hydraulic study prepared under the Planning Board’s Guides for Hydrological-Hydraulic Studies, if the proposed area is flood-susceptible; it must evaluate the changes in the area’s flooding pattern caused by the proposed activity.
• Comparative historical aerial-photo study, if the proposed area has undergone significant topographic, configuration or geomorphological changes.
• Updated boundary-conformity survey plan, if the area abuts public-domain property or if previously approved conditions are understood to have varied significantly.
• Sediment transport study prepared under the DRNA’s Guides for Sediment Transport Studies for Material Extraction in Puerto Rico’s Rivers.

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   Step 1: The base rule: no one moves earth crust without a permit

   No person, natural or juridical, may carry out excavations, extractions, removals or dredging of the earth’s crust components on public or private land in Puerto Rico without obtaining a permit under the chapter’s provisions. Nor may earth-crust components excavated, extracted, removed or dredged in Puerto Rico be exported without obtaining prior authorisation. The provisions apply to every service request involving extraction, excavation, removal or dredging, except those expressly exempted.

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   Step 2: The five permits OGPe issues

   These permits are applied for, processed and issued by OGPe: Formal Permits, together with their amendments and renewals; Simple Permits; the Public infrastructure maintenance permit; the Export permit; and the final determination on the use of explosives as a rock-fragmentation method. Each has its own threshold, its own validity and its own requirements, and each has its own guide on this site.

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   Step 3: An OGPe permit does not free you from the other agencies

   The regulation says it expressly: complying with the chapter’s provisions does not exempt the applicant from complying with any other provision applicable to the works, necessary to ensure environmental pollution control or the protection of natural and cultural resources, under the jurisdiction of other state and federal agencies, such as the DRNA, the EPA, the ICP and the US Army Corps of Engineers, among others. That is: the OGPe permit is one piece, not the whole package.

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   Step 4: The twelve effects evaluated

   In evaluating the application, the activity’s effects may be considered on adjacent areas; the erosion of tidal lands and riverbanks; the physical formation of the maritime terrestrial zone and of rivers; the action of river and sea waters on coasts or banks; changes in the level of the land subject to the activity; the tides and, as a consequence of possible changes in them, nearby islands, reefs, channels, bays or other water bodies used or not for navigation; the sand dunes located in the maritime terrestrial zone; water and air quality at any phase of the operation; access to public roads and the effect on traffic; dams or lakes; the environment and natural resources, with special emphasis on vulnerable and endangered species; and cultural resources, such as archaeological sites or ruins of historic structures.

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   Step 5: And everything else that is looked at

   Besides the effects, the evaluation considers the property’s boundaries; the areas designated for storing, processing and distributing the material; the means and methods used and their effects on nearby dwellings, public roads, dams and other structures of public or private use; the industrial demand and market value of the material; the benefits derived, directly or indirectly, for the area and adjacent ones; the purpose the material is destined for; the capacity of the roadworks or the running surface of the access roads to withstand the vehicular movement the operation may generate; the most advanced management practices; all technical information produced by the DRNA or any other municipal, state or federal instrumentality; and whether the proposed activity is extraction, excavation or removal of limestone for commercial purposes or land levelling in a karst zone, under Act 292-1999.

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   Step 6: The five studies you may be required to submit

   For considerations of health, safety, order or the public interest, any other study containing information not accessible to the Government may be included with the application or requested during the evaluation. The regulation names five: the Phase IA archaeological study if the proposed area has not been impacted by anthropogenic activity, with subsequent studies if deemed necessary; the hydrological-hydraulic study under the Planning Board’s Guides if the area is flood-susceptible; the comparative historical aerial-photo study if the area has undergone significant topographic, configuration or geomorphological changes; the updated boundary-conformity survey plan if the area abuts public-domain property or if a previous approval’s conditions have varied; and the sediment transport study under the DRNA’s Guides for material extraction in rivers.

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   Step 7: Where no permits are issued

   No permits are issued to excavate, extract, remove or dredge earth-crust components where it is expressly prohibited by law. Nor where the place proposed is a fishing area or a recreational area, a balneario, a reef, a natural-resource, wildlife or dune reserve area. And nor where the place abuts any of those areas and the work could affect fishing and recreation activities or the integrity of the reef’s or the reserve’s natural systems, nor in any other area prohibited by law, such as Act No. 111 of 12 July 1985, the Act for the Protection and Conservation of Caves, Caverns or Sinkholes of Puerto Rico.

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   Step 8: The five exemptions, and the preconsulta you still must do

   Expressly exempt from applying for a permit, on private land or the State’s patrimonial land, are five cases. First, where the activity’s total volume is under forty cubic metres of any earth-crust material, to remove the vegetal layer for survey purposes, drill test bores, or create and maintain access roads. Second, where the activity is incidental to well driving and septic-tank construction holding the corresponding permits. Third, where it relates to the maintenance and repair of public or private infrastructure rendering public or social-interest services, such as water, sewer, electricity, telephone or other underground infrastructure. Fourth, where material accumulated in retention, mitigation or sedimentation ponds or similar hydraulic structures must be removed to restore their original design capacity, provided they form part of a previously approved project or work. And fifth, where construction activities by governmental infrastructure entities conform to the agreement formalised with the DRNA. Note what the rule says first: the exemption must be processed through the preconsulta mechanism in the SUI.

The five permits and the explosives determination are applied for, processed and issued by OGPe, through the SUI. The exemption is also processed through the SUI, via the preconsulta mechanism. The DRNA keeps its own functions in this chapter: it receives royalties, may issue restoration and do-and-do-not orders, and its officials inspect the permit holder’s records.

• Assuming the exemption without processing it through the preconsulta mechanism in the SUI.
• Reading the forty cubic metres as a general threshold instead of an exemption for three specific activities.
• Believing the OGPe permit replaces permits from the DRNA, the EPA, the ICP or the Corps of Engineers.
• Proposing an extraction abutting a reef, a balneario or a reserve without knowing the abutting land is barred too where the work could affect them.
• Exporting material extracted in Puerto Rico without the prior authorisation the chapter requires.
• Not anticipating the Phase IA archaeological study in an area with no prior anthropogenic impact.
• Forgetting the hydrological-hydraulic study when the proposed area is flood-susceptible.
• Ignoring that limestone extraction in a karst zone triggers Act 292-1999 as an evaluation criterion.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Oficina de Gerencia de Permisos (OGPe)

  OGPe

  docs.pr.gov

• Permit Management Office

  ogpe

  ogpe.pr.gov

• Department of Natural and Environmental Resources

  drna

  www.drna.pr.gov