The government filed a bill in the Senate that aims to modify a law that protects glaciers with the goal of loosening barriers that currently ban mining in these ice masses and surrounding areas.
The bill is part of the agenda the government wants Congress to debate during extraordinary sessions, which began last week and will last until December 30.
Approved in 2010, the law establishes the definitions of glaciers and of periglacial areas, which are portions of frozen mountain land that are not necessarily glaciers and can defrost depending on the season. Current legislation bans mining both in glaciers and in periglacial areas.
The government’s bill proposes allowing provinces to decide the extent of these protected areas and whether they want to allow mining in them or not.
According to the government, the current law has created “uncertainties” regarding the extent of the periglacial areas. An introductory text included in the bill said that its goal is to “make contributions in order to solve the interpretative controversies caused by the current legal text,” as well as to “fortify” the attributions of the provinces in terms of environment protection and management of natural resources.
Argentine law states that the management and development of natural resources are attributions of the provinces, although this can be limited by certain national laws, such as this one.
The bill has been backed by the governments of Catamarca, Jujuy, Salta, Mendoza and San Juan — provinces rich in minerals such as lithium and copper. In a note, they said that the law that protects glaciers creates obstacles that hinder thegoal of “promoting a sustainable economic development of the provinces and the Nation without compromising future generations.”
The reform of the law seeks to set “clear rules,” said a statement released by the presidential communications office. The goal is for it to protect glaciers, strengthen existing environmental standards, and “eliminate the discretional considerations that, under ideological pretexts, have hindered the country’s economic development”, it read.
The modifications One of the main changes the government wants to introduce is the elimination of restrictions that prohibit certain activities in periglacial areas.
The law currently bans the use of contaminating chemicals in glacial and periglacial areas, which are commonly used in mining. It also bans exploration and development for mining and fossil fuels in these areas, and does not allow any construction or industry that could alter the ice structure or the quality of the water.
The proposed bill states that those prohibitions would remain in place only for glaciers, and specifies that those activities will only be banned if they attempt to modify the glacial structure “considerably.”
The project also establishes that protecting the environment in those areas cannot go against laws that protect the provincial attributions on natural resources and an article in the national constitution that says that economic activities should “satisfy present needs without compromising future generations.”
The new bill also adds an article that would allow authorities to eliminate periglacial areas from their registry of protected areas if they determine that they do not comply with the definition of water sources included in the law. This means that economic activities such as mining would be allowed in them, although they would still be protected by environmental norms.
Along with the modification of the law protecting glaciers, the government also expects lawmakers to debate other key provisions such as the 2026 budget and major reforms to labor, tax, and crime laws during the extraordinary sessions in Congress.