ArcelorMittal, one of the world’s largest steel and mining companies, implemented a water discharge plan in Mexico, required by a new regulation.

In March 2022, Mexico published a new regulation on wastewater discharges, reducing the maximum permissible limits and introducing new parameters for monitoring and quarterly reporting to the National Water Commission (Conagua). 

ArcelorMittal internally defined a preliminary action plan to improve the quality of wastewater discharges in accordance with the requirements of the standard through operational controls. 

In April 2023, with prior authorization from Conagua, ArcelorMittal submitted an action plan outlining milestones for wastewater discharges to comply with the new standard. 

This program is scheduled to conclude in February 2027 and progress reports will be required to update the program milestones. 

ArcelorMittal

Regarding the new rules on metering for the use of national waters effective July 1, 2022, the Conagua allowed the submission by the end of 2023 of a milestone plan to achieve compliance with these rules. 

This extension was granted mainly due to the shortage of authorized companies capable of implementing the required changes and installing new continuous monitoring measurement systems. 

However, considering the technical complexity of the works required on the 60-inch water pipeline, a modified milestone schedule was submitted to Conagua to complete implementation by September 2024.

Mining

In Mexico, due to the recent reform of the National Mining Regulation (RMN), several significant changes were included in the regulation, which include changes to the relevant environmental laws, the national water law and the waste management law. 

These changes are mainly related to the possibility of using water within the mining process to transport iron ore.