Overview
- Lawmakers in the Chamber of Deputies added an extra briefing to hear governors, keeping the reform on a fast track despite growing pushback.
- Public hearings on March 25–26 drew more than 100,000 registrants, and most speakers opposed changing the current glacier protections.
- The bill, already passed by the Senate, would let provinces define periglacial zones and protect only areas that prove a relevant water function.
- Periglacial areas are high‑mountain frozen soils where water moves through ice‑rich ground, and El Cronista reports 85 mining projects sit in or near these sensitive zones, many in San Juan.
- Environmental groups and opposition figures call the plan unconstitutional, seek to add constitutional scholars to the briefing, and prepare lawsuits that could test the law if it passes.