Countries › Dominican Republic › Guide › 13. Regulation › Environmental liability and sanctions

Environmental liability and sanctions

Last verified: 2026-10-30 · Status: Stable

Whoever damages the environment answers without proof of fault and must repair it. The Ministry can fine up to 3,000 minimum salaries, and courts up to 10,000, while a company convicted faces 5,000 to 20,000 minimum salaries. Any person or association can file a complaint.

Key facts

Top Ministry fine	3000 minimum salariesLey 64-00 art. 167, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Top court fine	10000 public sector minimum salariesLey 64-00 art. 183, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Top company fine for a crime	20000 minimum salariesLey 64-00 art. 176, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Strict liability for damage	Yes textLey 64-00 art. 169, as of 2026-10-30 · in force

The rule

1. Anyone who damages the environment or natural resources has strict liability, must repair the damage at its own cost where possible and must compensate.Ley 64-00 General sobre Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, art. 169, 2000-08-18 official text · verified 2026-10-30

2. Repair means restoring the prior state where possible and paying for harm to the environment, communities or individuals.Ley 64-00 General sobre Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, art. 169 paragraph, 2000-08-18 official text · verified 2026-10-30

3. The Ministry can fine from half a minimum salary to 3,000, by the size of the offender and the damage. It can also restrict activity, seize items, suspend or close.Ley 64-00 General sobre Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, art. 167, 2000-08-18 official text · verified 2026-10-30

4. Administrative, civil and criminal liability are independent.Ley 64-00 General sobre Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, art. 168, 2000-08-18 official text · verified 2026-10-30

5. Those who took part are jointly liable. A company's liability arises when its management bodies authorized the acts.Ley 64-00 General sobre Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, art. 172, 2000-08-18 official text · verified 2026-10-30

6. An official who authorizes damaging activity is jointly liable with the operator.Ley 64-00 General sobre Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, art. 171, 2000-08-18 official text · verified 2026-10-30

7. Environmental crimes include serious harm to resources, damage in protected areas, illegal discharges, breach of license terms, and false data to get a license or altered logs.Ley 64-00 General sobre Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, art. 175, 2000-08-18 official text · verified 2026-10-30

8. If directors decide the crime in the company's normal business, using its funds and for its gain, the company faces 5,000 to 20,000 minimum salaries and a ban on the activity for one month to three years. Severe harm allows permanent closure.Ley 64-00 General sobre Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, art. 176, 2000-08-18 official text · verified 2026-10-30

9. Courts can impose six days to three years of prison, fines of a quarter of a minimum salary to 10,000 public sector minimum salaries, confiscation, indemnity, loss of the license, demolition and restoration.Ley 64-00 General sobre Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, art. 183, 2000-08-18 official text · verified 2026-10-30

10. Any person or association can complain about actual or potential damage, and demand compliance from the Ministry or the environmental prosecutor.Ley 64-00 General sobre Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, art. 178 and paragraph, 2000-08-18 official text · verified 2026-10-30

11. The prosecutor must act within 3 working days on a serious matter.Ley 64-00 General sobre Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, art. 181, 2000-08-18 official text · verified 2026-10-30

12. Mandatory environmental liability insurance is foreseen in the law, for rules to be set by the finance authority.Ley 64-00 General sobre Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, art. 173, 2000-08-18 official text · verified 2026-10-30

Step by step

Audit sites before buying them.
Log permits, monitoring and incidents.
Set an emergency plan; the Ministry issued an emergency protocol by Resolución 0052-2025.
Treat a Ministry inspection record as evidence, since courts rely on it under art. 170.
Check insurance; the law foresees it but we found no rule making it effective.

Common traps

Strict liability means proving diligence does not remove the duty to repair.
Directors who authorize the act expose the company to the art. 176 range and themselves to art. 183.
The law's fine is counted in minimum salaries, and art. 183 says public sector. Peso amounts are not given here for that reason.
Neighbors and NGOs have standing, so conflict can arise without the Ministry.
A Ministry sanction does not end civil or criminal exposure.

Sources

Ley 64-00

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