Senators leave pending the discussion of a ban on mining in Protected Natural Areas

The minutes to ban mining in Protected Natural Areas (ANP) are taking on weight for the next session, said Senator Miguel Ángel Mancera Espinosa.

“A sensitive issue is being addressed and, of course, everything that can contribute to the protection of Natural Areas is important. The initiative of the deputy Claudia Tello has had a substantive discussion in the Chamber of Deputies. And well, here she has been greeted with the parliamentary process of taking office of the Committee on the Environment,” Natura Mancera, a member of the Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Climate Change, told Causa.

On Tuesday, April 27, representatives of civil organizations held a sit-in outside the Senate to approve the minutes. However, despite the support of 39,000 citizen signatures on the change.org platform, they were not received by legislators.

With the imminent end of the current session on April 30, Mancera indicated that the proposal will not come out during this period due to the responsibility of the majority group of the National Regeneration Movement (Morena).

“The truth is that the majority parliamentary group is attending to some (initiatives) that were of interest to the federal Executive and are the ones that are being approved at this time. They are asserting their majority and, well, you have to understand that,” Mancera said.

However, he noted that for the next period, this minute is emerging as a topic of “necessary attention”.

The Minute was approved in the Chamber of Deputies in early March by 407 votes in favor, zero against and 56 abstentions. It proposes to amend Article 46 of the General Law on Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection (LGEEPA) to prohibit in ANP the establishment of human settlements; hydrocarbon exploration and extraction activities; mining; and the introduction of invasive alien species.

Without proposals to the Mining Law Morena

's deputy Laura Guerra pointed out to Causa Natura the need for this reform to be approved. At the same time, he warned that among the pending works carried out, it was necessary to propose changes to articles 6 and 20 of the Mining Law to harmonize the amendments that protect the ANPs.

Article 6 of the Mining Law states that the exploration, exploitation and benefit of minerals are of public utility and “shall be preferred over any other use or exploitation”.

“To protect the environment, we need to protect these ecosystems and they are in Protected Natural Areas, precisely as a way of protecting and raising awareness as well. We all agree that although there is, so to speak, in the Mining Law, public utility and that it has a preferential use over any other use or exploitation of the territory, what we do need to guarantee is that it is not done in those protected areas,” said Guerra.

For its part, article 20 of the Mining Law states that exploration and exploitation works and works carried out at various sites, including ANP, can only be carried out with authorization, permission or concession from the authorities in charge of such assets.

“It was contemplated at some point that there would be an amendment to the Mining Law in Article 20. But, really, this meant more time for us... and it was difficult for it to be reviewed at the same time (than the LGEEPA),” said the deputy, since given the situation, she preferred to move forward with the amendment to article 46 of the LGEEPA.

Ongoing

projects At the moment 73 mining projects active in ANP, updated as of March of this year based on data from the Mexican Geological Survey, according to information released by the civil organization CartoCrítica in the forum “Towards effective protection of the ANP”.

Asked about how to protect the ANP from these projects already under way, Mancera said:

“I would say that more than a retroactive effect, where you have to be very careful, of course, it is to take an approach perhaps in the transitory ones for the purpose of applying the standard of the necessary adjustments or mitigations... It is not a question of saying that the concessions granted, prior to this reform, are canceled, but rather it is about the spirit of the reform, which is to protect these natural areas and which are already being exploited so that they have the necessary mitigation measures,” said Mancera.

The next step,

Mancera argued that initiatives previously presented in the Senate will possibly serve as a reference to complement the minutes coming from the Chamber of Deputies.

He explained that this is an initiative to ban mining in the ANP by Morena senator Lucía Trasviña, who amends article 3, in addition to 46, of the LGEEPA; and another by the senator of the National Action Party Guadalupe Saldaña, which contemplates changes to the General Law on Sustainable Forest Development, the National Water Act, the Federal Law of the Sea and the Mining Law.

The next session begins on the first of September.