ENVIRONMENT Law 26,639 Minimum Budget Regime for the Preservation of Glaciers and the Periglacial Environment. Sanctioned: September 30, 2010. Enacted in Fact: October 28, 2010. The Senate and Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation meeting in Congress, etc. sanction with force of law: REGIME OF MINIMUM BUDGETS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF GLACIERS AND THE PERIGLACIAL ENVIRONMENT ARTICLE 1 — Object . This law establishes the minimum budgets for the protection of glaciers and the periglacial environment in order to preserve them as strategic reserves of water resources for human consumption; for agriculture and as providers of water for the recharge of hydrographic basins; for the protection of biodiversity; as a source of scientific information and as a tourist attraction. Glaciers constitute public goods. ARTICLE 2 — Definition . For the purposes of this law, a glacier is understood as any stable or slowly flowing perennial ice mass, with or without interstitial water, formed by the recrystallization of snow, located in different ecosystems, whatever its shape, size and state of conservation. The rocky detrital material and the internal and superficial water courses are a constituent part of each glacier. Likewise, the periglacial environment in the high mountains is understood as the area with frozen soils that acts as a regulator of water resources. In the medium and low mountains, the area that functions as a regulator of water resources with soils saturated with ice. ARTICLE 3 — inventory . Create the National Inventory of Glaciers, where all the glaciers and periglacial geoforms that act as existing water reserves in the national territory will be individualized with all the necessary information for their adequate protection, control and monitoring. ARTICLE 4 — Registered information . The National Inventory of Glaciers must contain information on the glaciers and the periglacial environment by hydrographic basin, location, surface and morphological classification of the glaciers and the periglacial environment. This inventory must be updated with a periodicity no greater than FIVE (5) years, verifying the changes in the surface of the glaciers and the periglacial environment, their state of advance or retreat and other factors that are relevant for their conservation. ARTICLE 5 — Carrying out the Inventory . The inventory and monitoring of the state of the glaciers and the periglacial environment will be carried out and the responsibility of the Argentine Institute of Nivology, Glaciology and Environmental Sciences (IANIGLA) with the coordination of the national authority for the application of this law. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship will be given intervention in the case of border areas pending demarcation of the international limit prior to the registration of the inventory. ARTICLE 6 — Prohibited Activities . In glaciers, activities that may affect their natural condition or the functions indicated in article 1, those that imply their destruction or transfer or interfere with their advance, are prohibited, in particular the following: a) The release, dispersion or disposal of polluting substances or elements, chemical products or residues of any nature or volume. Those that develop in the periglacial environment are included in said restriction; b) The construction of works of architecture or infrastructure with the exception of those necessary for scientific research and risk prevention; c) Mining and hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation. Included in this restriction are those that develop in the periglacial environment; d) The installation of industries or development of industrial works or activities. ARTICLE 7 — Environmental impact assessment. All activities projected on glaciers and in the periglacial environment, which are not prohibited, will be subject to an environmental impact assessment and strategic environmental assessment procedure, as appropriate according to their scale of intervention, in which an instance must be guaranteed. of citizen participation in accordance with the provisions of articles 19, 20 and 21 of Law No. 25,675 —General Environmental Law—, prior to its authorization and execution, in accordance with current regulations. The following activities are exempt from this requirement: a) Rescue, derived from emergencies; b) Scientific, carried out on foot or on skis, with possible sampling, that do not leave debris in the glaciers and the periglacial environment; c) Sports, including mountaineering, climbing and non-motorized sports that do not disturb the environment. ARTICLE 8 — Competent authorities . For the purposes of this law, the competent authority will be the one determined by each jurisdiction. In the case of protected areas covered by Law No. 22,351, the National Parks Administration will be the competent authority. ARTICLE 9 — Enforcement Authority . The authority for the application of this law will be the highest hierarchical national body with environmental competence. ARTICLE 10. — Functions . The functions of the national enforcement authority will be: a) Formulate actions leading to the conservation and protection of glaciers and the periglacial environment, in coordination with the competent authorities of the provinces, within the scope of the Federal Environment Council (COFEMA), and with the ministries of the Executive Power national in the scope of their respective competences; b) Contribute to the formulation of a policy regarding climate change in accordance with the objective of preserving glaciers and the periglacial environment, both nationally and within the framework of international agreements on climate change; c) Coordinate the realization and update of the National Inventory of Glaciers, through the Argentine Institute of Nivology, Glaciology and Environmental Sciences (IANIGLA); d) Prepare a periodic report on the state of the glaciers and the periglacial environment existing in the Argentine territory, as well as the projects or activities that are carried out on glaciers and the periglacial environment or their areas of influence, which will be sent to the Congress of the nation; e) Advise and support local jurisdictions in glacier monitoring, control and protection programs; f) Create research promotion and incentive programs; g) Develop environmental education and information campaigns in accordance with the objectives of this law; h) Include the main results of the National Glacier Inventory and its updates in the national communications intended to inform the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. ARTICLE 11. — Violations and penalties . The sanctions for non-compliance with this law and the regulations issued as a consequence, without prejudice to the other responsibilities that may correspond, will be those established in each of the jurisdictions according to the police power that corresponds to them, the which may not be less than those established here. Jurisdictions that do not have a sanctions regime will additionally apply the following sanctions that correspond to the national jurisdiction: a) Warning; b) A fine of ONE HUNDRED (100) to ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND (100,000) basic salaries of the initial category of the national public administration; c) Suspension or revocation of authorizations. The suspension of the activity may be from THIRTY (30) days to ONE (1) year, as appropriate and depending on the circumstances of the case; d) Definitive cessation of the activity. These sanctions will be applicable prior to a substantiated summary in the jurisdiction where the infraction took place and will be governed by the corresponding administrative procedure rules, ensuring due legal process, and will be graduated according to the nature of the infraction. ARTICLE 12. — Recidivism . In case of recidivism, the minimum and maximum sanctions provided for in subparagraphs b) and c) of the previous article may be tripled. It will be considered a repeat offender who, within the term of FIVE (5) years prior to the date of commission of the infraction, has been sanctioned for another infraction of environmental cause. ARTICLE 13. — Solidarity responsibility . When the offender is a legal person, those who are in charge of the direction, administration or management, will be jointly and severally liable for the sanctions established in this law. ARTICLE 14. — Destination of the amounts received . The amounts received by the competent authorities, as fines, will be allocated, primarily, to the protection and environmental restoration of the affected glaciers in each of the jurisdictions. ARTICLE 15. — Temporary provision . Within a maximum period of SIXTY (60) days from the sanction of this law, IANIGLA will submit to the national enforcement authority a schedule for the execution of the inventory, which must begin immediately for those areas in which , due to the existence of activities contemplated in article 6, are considered a priority. In these areas, the inventory defined in article 3 must be carried out within a period not exceeding ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY (180) days. For this purpose, the competent authorities must provide all the pertinent information that the aforementioned institute requires. The activities described in article 6, in execution at the time of the sanction of this law, must, within a maximum period of ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY (180) days from the enactment of this law, undergo an environmental audit in which they are identified and quantified. the potential and generated environmental impacts. In case of verifying significant impact on glaciers or periglacial environment, contemplated in article 2, the authorities will order the pertinent measures to comply with this law, being able to order the cessation or transfer of the activity and the protection, cleaning and restoration measures. that correspond. ARTICLE 16. — Argentine Antarctic Sector . In the Argentine Antarctic Sector, the application of this law will be subject to the obligations assumed by the Argentine Republic under the Antarctic Treaty and the Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty on Environmental Protection. ARTICLE 17. — This law will be regulated within a period of NINETY (90) days from its publication in the Official Gazette. ARTICLE 18. — Contact the National Executive Power. GIVEN IN THE SESSION ROOM OF THE ARGENTINE CONGRESS, IN BUENOS AIRES, ON THE THIRTY DAYS OF THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER OF THE YEAR TWO THOUSAND AND TEN. — REGISTERED UNDER N° 26,639 — EDUARDO A. FELLNER. — Jose Juan Bautista Pampuro. — Marta Alicia Luchetta. — Juan José Canals.