Another pre-existing regulator greatly modified by this Reform is the National Agency of Industrial Safety and Protection of the Environment of the Hydrocarbons Sector (ASEA for its acronym in Spanish), for which the Environment Ministry as the ASEA parent entity, has also published accordingly its own new regulation consisting of the ASEA law1 along with diverse guidelines and Mexican Official Norms.
The ASEA within its jurisdiction has adopted a few core values, contained in the ASEA Law to ensure the physical integrity of the persons in matters of operative and industrial safety as well as the integrity of the facilities and the protection of the environment.
The ASEA through its new regulation establishes a management system for industrial safety, operational safety and protection of the environment ("SASISOPA" for its acronym in Spanish), which is a risk management, prevention and remediation system.
For the Energy Reform to be successfully implemented, the regulatory bodies need to coordinate between them since some of their attributions are concurrent and its articulate coordination is crucial to be in line with a broader government strategy that aims to coordinate all entities and bodies to simplify and facilitate the permit granting, the development of regulated activities and to allow the adequate supervision of the relevant procedures.
The recently published Guidelines by ASEA regarding onshore E&P operations on conventional3 and unconventional4 fields are complementary to the SASISOPA and expand the scope of the regulation on this particular subject.
Another sought objective is to prevent the risk of induced earthquakes by controlling the fluid injection.
These Guidelines seek to achieve that the regulated activities cause the less possible damage to the environment in accordance with the SASISOPA Guidelines, through the implementation of effective risk assessment measures, while preventing deforestation and habitat fragmentation.
The National Agency for Industrial Safety and of Environmental Protection of the Hydrocarbons Sector Law (Ley de la Agencia Nacional de Seguridad Industrial y de Protección al Medio Ambiente del Sector Hidrocarburos) published on August 11th, 2014 in the Federal Official Gazette of the Federation.
The General Administrative Provisions that establish the Guidelines for the establishment, implementation and authorization of the Industrial Safety, Operational Safety and Environmental Protection Systems applicable to the activities of the Hydrocarbons Sector (Disposiciones administrativas de carácter general que establecen los Lineamientos para la conformación, implementación y autorización de los Sistemas de Administración de Seguridad Industrial, Seguridad Operativa y Protección al Medio Ambiente aplicables a las actividades del Sector Hidrocarburos que se indican) published on May 13th, 2016 in the Federal Official Gazette.
The General Administrative Provisions that establish the Guidelines regarding industrial safety, operational safety and environmental protection to carry out Hydrocarbon Exploration and Extraction activities in Non-Conventional Onshore Reservoirs.