General Environment Law 25,675 (Argentina)

General Environment Law 25,675 is the umbrella law of Argentine environmental law. It was passed on 6 November 2002 and partially enacted on 27 November 2002, and it sets the minimum standards for achieving sustainable and adequate environmental management. Everything else, from provincial permits to Law 27,520 on climate change, is read against it.

For a company, three parts of this law show up in day to day operations: environmental impact assessment, the mandatory environmental insurance of article 22 and the liability regime for collective environmental damage.

The ten environmental policy principles

Article 4 lists the principles that govern the interpretation and application of all Argentine environmental rules: congruence, prevention, precaution, intergenerational equity, progressivity, responsibility, subsidiarity, sustainability, solidarity and cooperation.

These are not decorative. The precautionary principle allows protective measures even without scientific certainty about the harm, and the congruence principle makes this law prevail over any conflicting rule. Argentine courts apply them routinely.

The instruments of environmental policy

Article 8 lists six instruments:

1. Environmental land use planning.
2. Environmental impact assessment.
3. A control system over human activities.
4. Environmental education.
5. An environmental diagnosis and information system.
6. An economic regime to promote sustainable development.

Environmental impact assessment: articles 11 to 13

Article 11 subjects to environmental impact assessment any work or activity in national territory that is liable to degrade the environment, any of its components, or to significantly affect the quality of life of the population.

Article 12 defines the procedure: the applicant files a sworn statement declaring whether the works will affect the environment, the authority may require a full environmental impact study and then issues an environmental impact declaration approving or rejecting it. Article 13 sets the minimum content of the study: a detailed description of the project, identification of its consequences for the environment and actions to mitigate negative effects.

The operational detail, however, is set by each province: which projects are covered, with what forms, before which body and with what deadlines. A company with plants in several jurisdictions faces different procedures for the same type of facility.

Mandatory environmental insurance under article 22

Article 22 is the obligation most often overlooked. Its wording is clear: any natural or legal person, public or private, carrying out activities that are risky for the environment, ecosystems and their constituent elements must take out insurance with sufficient coverage to finance the remediation of any damage they may cause.

Who is covered?

This is determined by the Environmental Complexity Level (NCA), a polynomial formula introduced by Resolution SAyDS 177/2007 and its amendments, including Resolutions 303/2007 and 1639/2007. The formula combines activity sector, effluents and waste, risk, size and location, and adjusts for particularly hazardous substances and for holding a certified environmental management system. The result places the facility in the first, second or third category. Listed activities falling into the second or third category are covered; transport of hazardous substances and waste goes directly into the third.

For how much?

The Minimum Sufficient Coverage Amount is calculated using the methodology of Resolution SAyDS 1398/2008 and its updates, which starts from the environmental complexity level and adjusts for the vulnerability of the surroundings and the handling of hazardous materials.

With what policy?

Decree 447/2019, published on 1 July 2019, is the implementing regulation in force. Its article 3 expressly repeals the earlier Decree 1638/2012, and it allows surety insurance for collective environmental damage, risk transfer insurance policies and other financial instruments approved by the competent authorities. In practice in the Argentine market, the available instrument has been surety insurance for collective environmental damage. The National Insurance Superintendency and the national environmental authority approve the covers.

If your internal materials still cite Decree 1638/2012 as being in force, they are out of date.

Collective environmental damage

Articles 27 to 33 build a demanding liability regime. Article 27 defines environmental damage as any relevant alteration that negatively modifies the environment, its resources, the balance of ecosystems or collective goods and values. Article 28 requires the party causing it to restore the environment to its previous state, on a strict liability basis. Article 29 presumes, subject to rebuttal, the liability of the author of the damage where administrative environmental rules have been breached. Article 31 establishes joint and several liability where there are several responsible parties.

Article 30 broadens who can claim restoration considerably: the affected party, the Ombudsman, environmental non-governmental associations and the state. That broad standing explains much of Argentine environmental litigation.

How it fits with the rest of the framework

Law 25,675 is the umbrella, not the detail. The other minimum standards laws sit on top of it: 25,612 on industrial waste, 25,688 on water management, 25,916 on household waste, 26,331 on native forests and 27,520 on climate change, alongside Law 24,051 on hazardous waste. For the full map, see our guide to environmental and sustainability regulation for companies in Argentina.

Frequently asked questions

Is environmental insurance mandatory in Argentina?

Yes, for anyone carrying out activities that are risky for the environment under article 22 of Law 25,675. Whether you are covered is determined by calculating the Environmental Complexity Level under Resolution SAyDS 177/2007 and its amendments: listed activities in the second and third categories are covered.

Is Decree 1638/2012 still in force?

No. It was repealed by article 3 of Decree 447/2019, which is the environmental insurance regulation in force.

Does Law 25,675 require a sustainability report?

No. Law 25,675 governs environmental management, impact assessment, insurance and liability, not the publication of a sustainability report. Sustainability disclosure requirements come from elsewhere, mainly the capital markets.

Who enforces the law?

The national environmental authority sets the floor and coordinates, but day to day enforcement, with its permits and inspections, sits with the environmental bodies of each province and of the City of Buenos Aires.

Organising each site's environmental information, from waste to consumption, is what makes compliance manageable. Start with our waste management solution.