On March 29, 2023, Resolution No. 1/2023 of the Public and Environmental Safety Area of the National Electricity Regulatory Entity (“Resolution 1“) was published in the Official Gazette with the purpose of approving the guide of contents, formats and presentation of the reports provided for in Resolution No. RESOL-2022-558-APN-ENRE#MEC (“the Guide“). The purpose of the Guide is to establish the criteria for the registration, submission and processing of the documentation that integrates the Environmental Management System (“SGA“, for its Spanish acronym, Sistema de Gestión Ambiental) and the environmental plans to be prepared by the agents of the Wholesale Electricity Market (“MEM“, for its Spanish acronym, Mercado Eléctrico Mayorista).

I. Background

Resolution No. RESOL-2022-558-APN-ENRE#MEC (“Resolution 558“) approved new methodological guidelines and deadlines for the execution of the tasks related to the SGA and the submission of information by certain agents of the MEM.

In this regard, Resolution 558 delegated to the head of the Public and Environmental Safety Area (the “ASPA“, for its Spanish acronym, Área de Seguridad Pública y Ambiental) of the National Electricity Regulatory Agency (the “ENRE“, for its Spanish acronym, Ente Nacional Regulador de la Electricidad), the necessary powers to provide the measures to comply with the aspects related to communication, procedures for submitting information, approval of minimum contents and design of forms and tables to be included in the reports for their effective implementation.

Based on the experience gathered gained as a consequence of the application of Resolution ASPA No. 1/2010, ASPA considers necessary and convenient to update the formats, contents and procedures used.

II. Information about the Guide

The Guide is made up by the following annexes:

  1. Annex I: Contents and formats for the presentation of the environmental planning;
  2. Annex II: Contents and formats for the presentation of management reports;
  3. Annex III: Registration of the results of the monitoring of environmental parameters in the ENRE’s web environmental system and mandatory forms according to the type of agent of the MEM;
  4. Annex IV: Contents and formats of additional reports;
  5. Annex V: Contents and formats of the environmental planning and management reports of the agents reached by the alternative procedure set forth in article 7 of Resolution 558; and
  6. Annex VI: Management reports of the agents reached by the alternative procedure set forth in Article 8 of Resolution 558.

The Guide is mandatory for generating agents, self-generators, co-generators, high voltage electric energy transporters, electric energy transporters by trunk distribution, international interconnection electric energy transporters and electric energy distributors of federal jurisdiction of the MEM.

Likewise, it is mandatory to inform to the ENRE the documentation required in Resolution 1 and its annexes.

Sanctions and penalties set forth in the respective concession contracts or in Article 77 of Law No. 24,065 will apply in case of non-fulfilment of the abovementioned obligations.

 

For additional information, please contact Nicolás Eliaschev, María Eugenia Muñoz, Pablo Arrascaeta and/or Rocío Valdez.