In force since Apr 24, 2026
Glaciers: protection by water function and evaluation in provincial hands
Ley 27.804 (Official Gazette Apr 24, 2026)
in forceNATIONAL
Energy and natural resources
Ley 27.804 rewrites Ley 26.639: it protects glaciers and periglacial areas where they serve a water function, and returns control to the provinces.
The other rules on this subject43
The State reorders the trunk gas pipelines and forces firm transportation contracts to be redrawnRes. SE 66/2026 (Official Gazette, Mar 13, 2026) + Res. ENARGAS 409/2026in execution
Hydrocarbons: the pre-export local offer fallsSE Res. 166/2026 (Official Gazette, Jul 22, 2026)in force
What changed and who it applies to
What changed
Ley 27.804 rewrites the heart of the Glaciers Ley 26.639: (1) the object is narrowed to protecting glaciers and periglacial landforms INSOFAR AS they fulfill a water function (strategic water reserves / basin recharge), with interpretation expressly tied to arts. 41 and 124 of the Constitution (original provincial ownership of resources); (2) the prohibitions of art. 6 —including mining and hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation— stop being general: they apply only to the glaciers IDENTIFIED by each jurisdiction's authority and only against activities that RELEVANTLY alter (art. 27, General Environment Law) their condition or water functions; (3) it is the provincial authority that determines, via case-by-case environmental impact assessment, which activities imply relevant alteration and which can be authorized; (4) precautionary principle (new art. 3 bis): what is inventoried stays protected until technical-scientific studies verify it does not fulfill a water function — and then it leaves the scope of the law and the IANIGLA Inventory. verif Apr 24, 2026 ↗
In force
In force since early May 2026 (general Civil Code term: the eighth day from the Apr 24, 2026 publication; the law sets no own validity clause). verif Apr 24, 2026 ↗
Who it applies to
Companies with mining and hydrocarbon exploration or exploitation, works or industries planned in glaciers or periglacial environments, which the law subjects to prior environmental impact assessment; the provincial environmental authorities, which now identify the glaciers and landforms with a water function and decide in that assessment which activities cannot be authorized; and the IANIGLA, in charge of the National Glacier Inventory, which must be consulted and from which the landforms that the provincial authority finds have no water function are removed verif. The substantive addressees are the provinces with the mining mountain range: San Juan, Mendoza, Catamarca, Salta and Jujuy, and the copper, lithium, gold and silver projects thesis. verif Apr 24, 2026 ↗
The norm
Ley 27.804, passed on Apr 8, 2026 (the Chamber of Deputies gave final approval 137-111-3 to the Senate's first-round passage of Feb 27, 2026), enacted WITHOUT OBSERVATIONS by Decreto 271/2026 of Apr 23, 2026 —signed by Milei and Adorni— and published in the Boletín Oficial on Apr 24, 2026. verif Apr 24, 2026 ↗
Our reading
The regulatory key of large-scale mining in the mountains: the general prohibition that froze projects through an extensive interpretation of the 'periglacial environment' is replaced by a decidable rule — proven water function + case-by-case impact assessment in the hands of the province that owns the resource (art. 124 Constitution). With the RIGI and Decreto 482/2026 (mining regime) already operational, it unlocks the MINING strand of the program: San Juan and Mendoza copper stops having an indefinite environmental veto and moves to a procedure with rules. thesis
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Where it lands, province by province1
Salta Salta is one of the five provinces the rule itself identifies as its underlying targets, because of its mining cordillera. The substantive change — defining the protected object by hydrological function, and putting the PROVINCIAL environmental authority in charge of identifying it — returns to the province the decision over the Puna's periglacial environment, where the lithium salt flats and the two highest-capex cordilleran projects (Taca Taca and Diablillos) are located. What is NOT measured here, and is declared as such: how much of the Salta projects' footprint actually falls within periglacial environment under the new criterion. Without that inventory, the effect is legal certainty over permitting, not the opening of new ground. favorable cheaper to respond: investing takes time, held-back supply shows up at once thesis
Which markets depend on this rule1
These niches list this rule among the ones that condition them.
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Analysis and curation: Ignacio Aredez
Head of Despegue
Method and track record →- 20+ years in technology, 15 of them in data and AI, for clients across Europe and the Americas
- Certified in AI governance (ISO/IEC 42001)
- Machine Learning (Google Cloud)
- Registered expert with the European Commission
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verif primary source · prob primary source pending · unconf a source said it · estim our own calculation · thesis our reading · the date belongs to the datum, at the precision its source allows