Countries › Peru › Guide › 13. Regulation › Environmental enforcement in Peru: OEFA supervision, strict liability, corrective measures and fines up to 30,000 UIT

Environmental enforcement in Peru: OEFA supervision, strict liability, corrective measures and fines up to 30,000 UIT

Last verified: 2026-10-28 · Status: Stable

Environmental compliance in Peru is enforced by OEFA and other enforcement bodies under the national evaluation and enforcement system (Ley Nº 29325). Breaching environmental rules, the commitments in an approved environmental study, concession commitments or OEFA orders is an infringement. Liability is strict: the company answers for the breach without proof of fault. OEFA can inspect without notice, order preventive and corrective measures including stoppage, closure and restoration, and fine up to 30,000 UIT (S/ 165 million, about US$47.8 million). Going to court does not suspend collection of an OEFA fine, and a court order to suspend it requires a counter guarantee.

USD figures use S/ 3.452 per US dollar, the banking system selling rate published by the Superintendencia de Banca, Seguros y AFP for 27 October 2026, from the Banco Central de Reserva del Perú statistics series PD04640PD. UIT based amounts use the 2026 UIT of S/ 5,500 set by Decreto Supremo Nº 301-2025-EF, as listed in the SUNAT UIT table. Fines expressed in UIT are paid at the UIT in force on the payment date. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Main environmental enforcement agency	OEFA Ley Nº 29325 art. 4 and 6, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Maximum environmental fine	30,000 UITLey Nº 28611 art. 136.2 b) (Ley Nº 30011), as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Strict liability for environmental obligations	Yes Ley Nº 29325 art. 18, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Lawsuit suspends collection of an OEFA fine	No Ley Nº 29325 art. 20-A, as of 2026-10-28 · in force

The rule

1. The national system for environmental evaluation and enforcement applies to every natural or legal person, public or private, and is made up of the Ministry of the Environment, OEFA as its lead body, and the national, regional and local environmental enforcement bodies. OEFA's enforcement covers evaluation (monitoring), direct supervision, including preventive measures and promoting voluntary correction, enforcement and sanctioning. Supervision and enforcement, except rule making and sanctioning, can be carried out through third parties.
Cost to do it: Monitoring and reporting under the approved environmental study; supervision costs can be assigned to regulated companies where the regulation provides.
Example: An oil terminal operator in Callao is supervised by OEFA on the commitments in its approved environmental study. / Same scope for foreign owned operators.Ley Nº 29325, Ley del Sistema Nacional de Evaluación y Fiscalización Ambiental (promulgated 4 March 2009), as amended by Ley Nº 30011 (El Peruano, 26 April 2013), Art. 2, art. 4, art. 11.1 and art. 12, 2013-04-26 official text · verified 2026-10-28

2. OEFA can inspect without notice, bring experts, require information from the company and its staff, take samples and measurements, and record photos, video and plans. Infringements under OEFA's competence are breaches of environmental regulations, of obligations in environmental management instruments, of environmental commitments in concession contracts, and of OEFA's precautionary, preventive or corrective measures and orders. Companies are strictly liable for breaching these obligations.
Cost to do it: Compliance systems and evidence of monitoring; strict liability means good faith is no defence.
Example: A mining company whose effluent exceeds the limits in its approved study commits an infringement even if a contractor caused the spill. / Contracts with operators and contractors should allocate this risk, since OEFA looks to the permit holder.Ley Nº 29325 art. 15, 17 and 18, as amended by Ley Nº 30011, Art. 15, art. 17 and art. 18, 2013-04-26 official text · verified 2026-10-28

3. Infringements and sanctions are classified as minor, serious and very serious, based on harm to health and environment, potential or actual damage and extent. OEFA's board approves the scale of sanctions on the basis of the General Environmental Law, art. 136, under which the fine can reach 30,000 UIT in force on the payment date. OEFA can also order corrective measures such as confiscation, stoppage or restriction of the activity, temporary or permanent closure and the obligation to restore, rehabilitate, repair or compensate, and preventive measures when there is imminent danger of serious harm, without opening a sanction procedure.
Cost to do it: Up to 30,000 UIT, S/ 165,000,000, about US$47.80 million.
Example: A very serious infringement fined 1,000 UIT costs S/ 5,500,000 at the 2026 UIT; restoration costs come on top. / About US$1.59 million for 1,000 UIT.Ley Nº 29325 art. 19, 22 and 22-A as amended and added by Ley Nº 30011; Ley Nº 28611 art. 136.2 b) as amended by Ley Nº 30011, Art. 19, art. 22, art. 22-A; Ley Nº 28611 art. 136.2 b), 2013-04-26 official text · verified 2026-10-28

4. Filing a contentious administrative, amparo or other lawsuit does not interrupt or suspend coercive collection of OEFA fines. To obtain a court injunction suspending an OEFA sanction, the company must offer a personal or real counter guarantee, under special rules. Appeals within OEFA go to the Environmental Enforcement Tribunal (TFA), the last administrative instance, whose precedents can be binding.
Cost to do it: Counter guarantee costs if seeking judicial suspension.
Example: A company challenging a S/ 5 million OEFA fine in court must still pay or face coercive collection unless the court grants an injunction backed by a guarantee. / About US$1.45 million at stake while the case proceeds.Ley Nº 29325 art. 20-A added by Ley Nº 30011; art. 10 as amended by Decreto Legislativo Nº 1389 (El Peruano, 5 September 2018), Art. 10 and art. 20-A, 2018-09-05 official text · verified 2026-10-28

Tool	What it does	Source
Unannounced inspection	Samples, measurements, records, interviews	Ley Nº 29325 art. 15
Preventive measure	Orders to act or abstain where imminent serious harm, without a sanction procedure	Art. 22-A
Corrective measure	Confiscation, stoppage, closure, restoration or compensation	Art. 22
Fine	Up to 30,000 UIT (S/ 165,000,000)	Ley Nº 28611 art. 136.2 b)
Coercive collection	Not suspended by lawsuits	Art. 20-A

OEFA enforcement toolkit.

Worked example

A tailings pipe leaks into a river. OEFA inspects unannounced, orders a preventive stoppage of the pipeline and a cleanup, opens a sanction procedure and, finding a very serious infringement, fines the operator. The operator is strictly liable even though a contractor caused the leak; a fine of 5,000 UIT would be S/ 27,500,000 (about US$7.97 million), collectable even while the company litigates.

Step by step

Keep a register of every commitment in approved environmental studies and permits, with owners and deadlines.
Monitor and report as the study requires, and keep evidence ready for unannounced inspections.
Correct deviations promptly; voluntary correction is part of OEFA's supervision approach.
Allocate environmental risk in contractor agreements, since the permit holder is strictly liable.
Budget for guarantees if planning to challenge a fine in court.

Common traps

Strict liability: no fault needed.
Lawsuits do not stop collection of fines.
Breaching commitments in your own approved study is an infringement, even if no environmental standard is exceeded.
Fines are in UIT at the payment date.

Sources

← Environmental impact assessment in Peru: when a project needs environmental certification, the three categories, review deadlines, SENACE and the five year lapseCourts, arbitration and enforcement in Peru: the arbitration law, annulment, foreign awards and judgments, the New York Convention and ICSID →

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