Overview
- The Chamber of Deputies formally set public hearings for March 25 (in-person) and March 26 (virtual) from 10:00 to 19:00, with registration open until March 20 and five-minute limits per speaker.
- Maximiliano Ferraro, Sabrina Selva and María Inés Zigarán asked authorities to extend or add sessions and to publish the full list of registrants, warning that a narrow format risks judicial challenges under environmental law.
- Roughly 18,000 people have registered to speak, far exceeding the capacity of the two scheduled days and intensifying calls for broader, regionally distributed participation.
- The reform passed the Senate on February 26 and would narrow protections by allowing certain activities in periglacial areas not deemed hydrologically relevant while empowering provinces to influence the National Glacier Inventory.
- Environmental groups and scientists, including Greenpeace, argue the changes would weaken water safeguards, as the Chamber confirms the process will follow Article 114 bis and the Escazú Agreement with all submissions published online.