On July 26th, the Mexican Geological Service (Servicio Geológico Mexicano, SGM) announced its program to identify and map mine tailing dams. In its blog, the SGM posted an email address where the public can send “comments, images, recommendations or complaints” related to tailing dams in order to generate “preventive actions and environmental care” in
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Bills Pending Discussion in Mexico’s Congress That Could Impact the Mining Industry. Part 3.
This is our last post on our series of Bills Pending Discussion in Mexico’s Congress that could impact the Mining Industry. In part 1 we discussed the 5 bills which introduce changes to environmental laws. In part 2 we discussed the bills dealing with indigenous communities and public consultations. In this post, we will address…
Bills Pending Discussion in Mexico’s Congress that Could Impact the Mining Industry. Part 2.
Bills Related to Indigenous Communities & Public Consultations
This is part 2 in our series of Bills Pending Discussion in Mexico’s Congress that could impact the mining industry. In part 1 we discussed the 5 bills which introduced changes to environmental laws. In this post, we will discuss the 4 bills dealing with indigenous communities…
Bills Pending Discussion in Mexico’s Congress that Could Impact the Mining Industry. Part 1.
Mexico’s Congress concluded its legislative year on April 30th, 2019 with 18 bills proposing changes to several laws, including the Mining Law, which could have an impact in how mining operations do business in the coming years. One bill, sponsored by Baja California’s State Legislature, proposed a review of all current concessions and the need…
Federal Court Rules Mining Law Unconstitutional
A Federal Court in Puebla declared various articles of the Mexican Mining Law unconstitutional in a judgment rendered on March 5th and published on April 12th, 2019. The decision stems from an Amparo proceeding filed by indigenous communities in Puebla which claimed that the procedure to grant concessions, and specifically, the failure to hold public…
Senate Rejects Bill that Proposed Review of Current Mining Concessions
The Senate’s Joint Committees on Mining and Regional Development and Legislative Studies rejected the bill proposed by the Baja California State Congress to modify the mining law. The bill, which was presented by the Social Encounter Party and congresswoman Lorenia Lineth Montaño Ruiz, was passed by the Baja California legislature on October 25th, 2018 and…
Official Mexican Standards for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Materials
Mexico’s Secretary of Energy published two Official Mexican Standards related to the transportation and labeling of radioactive materials: NOM-009-NUCL-2017, “Determination and application of the transport index (TI) for radioactive materials and the Criticality Safety Index (CSI) for the transport of fissile substances” and NOM-014-NUCL-2017, “Categories of packages, overpacks and cargo containers containing radioactive material: Marking,…
Mexico’s Supreme Court: Environmental Impact Assessments Required for Projects that May Affect the Environment.
Mexico’s Supreme Court recently approved judicial precedent in Amparo proceeding 307/2016. In its decision, the Court relied on the precautionary principle to hold that environmental impact assessments are required for any project that may have an adverse environmental impact. This means that any project not backed by an environmental impact evaluation may be subject to…
Senator Proposes Social Impact Assessments for Mining Concessions
Senator Angélica García Arrieta of the MORENA party presented an initiative to change the Mining Law. The initiative, which was presented on November 15th, would require mining projects to be subjected to social impact assessments prior to granting the concession.
In our previous post, we recalled that Mexico’s Supreme Court has held in a…
Mexico’s Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Public Consultations for Environmental Permits
Introduction
Mexico’s Supreme Court recently published the public version of the judicial Amparo proceedings filed by residents of a community against the authorization to construct and operate a mine tailings dam in the northern state of Sonora. The case came to court from a petition filed at a District Court alleging that the Ministry of…