Amendments to Mexican Mining and Environmental Laws: a Comprehensive Overview
On March 24, 2023, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador introduced a bill to reform and supplement various provisions in the Mining Law (Ley de Minería), National Waters Law (Ley de Aguas Nacionales), Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection Law (Ley General del Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente), and the General Law for the Prevention and Integral Management of Waste (Ley General para la Prevención y Gestión Integral de los Residuos), specifically concerning mining and water concessions (the “Original Bill”). Following extensive discussions across various platforms, the House of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados) approved on April 20, 2023, an alternative text proposed by the MORENA deputies (the “New Bill”). The New Bill was then sent to the Senate (Senado de la República), where it was approved expeditiously on May 1, 2023. It is currently awaiting publication by the President in the Federal Official Gazette (Diario Oficial de la Federación).
Beyond the New Bill’s goals to shorten concession durations, restrict concessions to a single type of mineral, eliminate the mining industry’s preferential status and establish new grounds for concession revocation, it may also create several unintended consequences and challenges for the sector.
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