Faster Approvals, Lower Risk: Chile’s New Permitting Framework

Chile has taken a bold step to reform one of the biggest bottlenecks facing investors: the permitting process. For years, companies in mining, energy, and infrastructure projects, have struggled with lengthy, unpredictable timelines, sometimes waiting years for a single environmental or sectoral approval. This uncertainty often delayed project financing, inflated costs, and in some cases forced companies to scale down or abandon investment plans altogether.

With the recently approved Sectoral Permit Law (Ley Marco de Autorizaciones Sectoriales, LMAS), the government is tackling these issues head-on. By cutting red tape, streamlining overlapping approvals, and reducing timelines by up to 70%, Chile is not only making it easier to get projects off the ground but also offering investors a more predictable path forward.

The benefits are clear and immediate: renewable energy companies can connect new capacity to the grid faster; mining firms can plan with greater certainty around permit timelines; and infrastructure developers can better align construction schedules with financing. In short, the new law has the potential to transform Chile into a more agile, investment-friendly market, one where bureaucracy is reduced and projects can move to completion faster and with greater certainty.

Why this Matters?

For foreign investors, Chile’s permitting system has long been one of the greatest hurdles to doing business. Approvals often meant navigating multiple government agencies that worked in silos, with vague deadlines that were frequently missed. Companies had little visibility into the status of their applications, and complex overlaps between environmental, sectoral, and municipal permits could stall projects for years. The result was costly uncertainty, forcing boards and executives abroad to hesitate on capital commitments, delay expansion plans, or even redirect investment to other jurisdictions where timelines were clearer and risks easier to manage.

What is Changing?

The new law makes structural changes to Chile’s permitting system, aiming to deliver speed and predictability while maintaining rigorous standards.

• SUPER Digital Platform
  A single online entry point for all permit applications. Companies can track progress in real time across agencies, creating unprecedented transparency and accountability.
• Firm Deadlines & Administrative Silence
  Agencies now face fixed timelines to respond. In certain cases, if no response is given, the permit is automatically approved—removing the risk of projects being stuck indefinitely.
• Inter-Agency Coordination
  A new Sectoral Authorizations and Investment Office will coordinate permitting across ministries, supported by regional working groups to align national and local authorities. This reduces duplication and conflicting decisions.
• Parallel Processing
  Permits that previously had to be reviewed one after another can now move in parallel, cutting months off approval timelines and helping companies plan with confidence.
• Simplified Low-Risk Procedures
  For lower-impact activities, sworn declarations will replace full reviews, allowing regulators to focus resources on complex, high-impact projects while still giving companies faster approvals where appropriate.

Why it is Different this Time?

Chile has tried to reform permitting before, but this is the most comprehensive effort yet, due to three factors:

• Legislative Backbone
  Previous reforms were policy tweaks. This time, it is enshrined in law, giving investors greater confidence that the changes will last beyond one administration.
• Digital Transformation
  The new SUPER platform centralizes applications and tracks them in real time. No more files disappearing into the bureaucracy, executives abroad gain visibility and traceability from start to finish.
• Stronger Governance
  A central office now oversees and monitors the process across ministries. If deadlines slip, there’s clear accountability, reducing the uncertainty that once stalled major investments.

Key Takeaways for Executives

• Chile is actively repositioning itself as a more attractive destination for global capital.
• The new law is designed to bring predictability, speed, and transparency to a permitting system long seen as a barrier.
• For companies weighing expansion, this is the moment to reassess Chile, especially in mining, where rising global copper demand is creating unprecedented opportunities for projects that can be built in a timely manner.

Environmental Review Reform – The Missing Piece

Alongside the new Sectoral Permit Law, Chile is also advancing reforms to its environmental review system, arguably the most critical piece of the puzzle. While sectoral permits often slowed projects, it has historically been environmental assessments that caused the longest and most unpredictable delays. The bill now before the Senate finance committee aims to streamline reviews, clarify when modifications to approved projects require new assessments, and reduce politically influenced appeals. For foreign investors, this matters because even with faster sectoral permits, a project cannot advance without a favorable environmental resolution. Aligning these two reforms is essential: sectoral streamlining creates predictability, but only if environmental approvals also become more efficient, transparent, and consistent. Together, the two initiatives could finally address the twin bottlenecks that have constrained capital deployment in mining, energy, and infrastructure.

Conclusion

Chile’s new permitting framework has the potential to improve timelines for projects to be built. Cutting approval times by up to 70% means projects can move from boardroom approval to execution with far more certainty, helping companies plan, finance, and deliver major investments in mining, renewables, and infrastructure.

What makes this moment important is that Chile is tackling one of the biggest barriers investors have faced for years. The government is betting on efficiency without lowering standards, sending a clear signal to global executives: Chile wants to make it easier to invest and build large projects here. The true test will be in how well the reforms are implemented, but the direction is clear, these changes are critical to keeping Chile competitive as one of Latin America’s most stable and attractive destinations for global capital.

Ax Legal helps industrial technology, engineering, and service companies to navigate the legal and commercial aspects of operating their business in Latin America. With deep knowledge of the industrial and natural resource sectors, we provide actionable and practical advice to help streamline our clients’ entries into Latin America, improve how they operate in the region, and to protect their interests.

Over the years, our team of legal and commercial advisors have developed a track record of working with companies of all sizes from Australia, Canada, the U.S., and Europe. The one common factor that connects our clients is that they are leaders in their field, providing innovative technologies and services to the industrial sectors.

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