Fines For Violations Of Environmental Law In Mexico Will Likely Increase Substantially

On September 27, 2017, the Mexican Senate passed a bill that amended Mexico's main environmental law, the General Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection Law, first enacted in 1988 (the "General Law"), as well as other related provisions.

One of the most relevant amendments deals with fines for environmental violations. These will increase substantially if the bill passes. Currently, the maximum fine that may be imposed is equivalent to 50,000 times an UMA (measurement and updating unit), which amounts to $4,050,000.00 pesos Mex Cy (around $225,000.00 dollars). The new maximum fine amount will be 7.5 million times an UMA, which will be roughly equal to $566,175,000.00 pesos (approximately $31 million dollars).