AI, Mining, Data and Water
As the world presses on toward an AI future that relies on data centers and critical minerals, the need for water may be the stumbling block. Data centers need access to large volumes of water to cool their equipment. Mining critical minerals like lithium is a water-intensive process, often in some of the most arid parts of the world like the deserts of Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina. All these new water demands make it crucial for companies to take note when countries start changing water policy and governance. Two important developments from Colombia and Mexico are worth watching.
· Colombia: Water Use Fee Gets a Social Justice Overhaul
Colombia’s Ministries of Environment and Agriculture jointly issued Decree 0700 of 2026 on July 14, modifying the formula for calculating the Water Use Fee (Tasa por Utilización de Agua or TUA). The core change replaces a single macroeconomic indicator in the regional fee calculation with three territory-specific variables: municipal unmet basic needs, municipal categories, and SISBEN social registry data, with preferential treatment for collective and community water uses targeting rural families and agricultural producers. While the reform’s framing is one of social justice and watershed protection, its practical reach extends to all industrial water users in Colombia — including mining operations and data center developers — who will face a recalibrated fee structure starting January 1, 2027. Funds collected must by law be directed to watershed protection, conservation, and páramo restoration.
· Mexico: Water Concessions on the Agenda
Mexico’s National Water Commission (CONAGUA) published an agreement on July 15, 2026 opening a 365-day administrative regularization window for water concession holders whose titles expired between January 1, 2009 and the agreement’s entry into force without renewal. The window covers domestic, public urban, agricultural, livestock, and aquaculture uses — but expressly excludes agro-industrial volumes.
For mining companies, data center developers, and other industrial water users, the direct benefit is limited. The risk, however, is real: CONAGUA will verify actual use of conceded volumes during the two years following entry into force and may declare unused volumes lapsed and reincorporate them into national waters.
Companies with existing concessions need to ensure their documentation of actual water use, metering, and rights payment compliance is airtight. More broadly, Mexico’s new General Water Law that took effect December 2025 is tightening traceability, restricting private title transfers, and subjecting new concession requests, including those needed for infrastructure, manufacturing, mining, and high-consumption industrial facilities, to greater scrutiny under a new framework of water-related offenses.
Link to Colombian Decree:
Link to Mexican agreement:
https://www.dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle.php?codigo=5793639&fecha=15/07/2026#gsc.tab=0
Colombia: Mandatory GHG Emissions Reporting
Colombia is about to join the ranks of Latin American countries requiring mandatory climate reporting for companies. Mexico already requires listed securities issuers on the Mexican Stock Exchange to report under IFRS S1 and S2, using the GHG Protocol for emissions measurement, with first reports covering fiscal year 2025 data due in 2026. Chile requires listed entities to report under TCFD and is integrating IFRS S1 and S2 through the Financial Market Commission’s Norm 461. Brazil was on track to require ISSB-based disclosures for all listed companies in 2026, but the CVM, its securities regulator, joined the US SEC by walking back its progressive plans. As we reported, on May 29th, VM published Resolution 244 to move from mandatory to a voluntary comply-or-explain model.
Now, Colombia’s proposal takes a different approach by targeting not capital markets disclosure but operational emissions reporting across all legal entities above an emissions threshold, implementing the mandatory GHG Emissions Report (ROE) established under Climate Law 2169 of 2021. Public, private, and mixed legal entities whose direct and purchased-energy emissions equal or exceed 11,000 tCO2eq annually would be required to quantify and report using GHG Protocol or ISO 14064-1 methodology, with a phased rollout beginning with large companies reporting 2026 data in 2027. The draft resolution also establishes a tiered third-party verification requirement for larger emitters. The rule is a draft currently open for public comment through July 24, 2026.
The broader picture is worth noting. The US and EU have been pulling back on mandatory ESG and climate disclosure agendas. Meanwhile, several Latin American countries are quietly and steadily moving forward, joining China in that trajectory. It will be important to watch whether the trend in the region continues as elections change administrations and political agendas.
Link to Draft:
Brazil: Cosmetics Ingredient Lists Updated
Mercosul member countries – Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay – continue to update their cosmetics regulations to stay in line with their commitments under the trade bloc. Brazil’s ANVISA published two resolutions in early July 2026 updating the regulatory framework for substances used in personal care products, cosmetics, and perfumes, with a third update already in public consultation.
What Was Published
RDC 1.029/2026 establishes the first part of the Restricted Substances List: substances that can only be used in cosmetic products under expressly defined conditions and limits. In other words, these substances face special restrictions but not all out bans. The resolution incorporates MERCOSUR GMC Resolution 06/25 into Brazilian law.
RDC 1.030/2026 updates the Prohibited Substances List for personal care products, cosmetics, and perfumes. These are substances that may not be used at all.
These two resolutions are part of Brazil’s ongoing review of its cosmetics substance framework, and they aling it with current international scientific evidence and reduce regulatory asymmetries within MERCOSUR.
What Is Still Coming
On July 1, 2026, ANVISA opened Public Consultation 1.399/2026 on a proposed revision of the second part of the Restricted Substances List, complementing RDC 1.029/2026. The consultation is open for contributions through September 8, 2026.
For cosmetics and personal care companies selling in Brazil, a review of formulations against the updated prohibited and restricted substance lists is warranted now. Companies with substances that may fall in the second part of the Restricted Substances List that is still under consultation should consider engaging before September 8.
Link to Public Consultation 1.399/2026: https://anvisalegis.datalegis.net/action/UrlPublicasAction.php?acao=abrirAtoPublico&num_ato=00001399&sgl_tipo=CPB&sgl_orgao=ANVISA/MS&vlr_ano=2026&seq_ato=222&cod_modulo=134&cod_menu=1696
Colombia: Cosmetics Notifications Automated, Same-Day Results
Latin American countries continue the trend of leaning into digitalization and online platforms to cut red tape for regulated products like cosmetics. As already reported, Colombia’s INVIMA has been moving cosmetics and personal care products onto the agency’s online platform InvimÁgil. The latest move is to automate the issuance of Mandatory Sanitary Notifications (Notificaciones Sanitarias Obligatorias or NSO) — delivering results in as little as one day with no prior INVIMA review required.
Under the Andean Community framework (Andean Decision 833 of 2018), cosmetics companies selling in Colombia must file an NSO — a sworn declaration that a cosmetic product will be commercialized from a specified date. Previously this involved a review process by the Institute. Now, upon payment of the applicable fee and completion of platform requirements, the system assigns the NSO code automatically.
INVIMA has also launched a module allowing companies to migrate existing NSOs into InvimÁgil, preserving their original information, nomenclature, and validity. This migration is free and is necessary to manage future procedures such as modifications or transfers through the platform. INVIMA recommends prioritizing migration of notifications for which any near-term procedure is anticipated.
To use either function, companies must be registered in InvimÁgil with the appropriate cosmetics sector permissions, with their company and where applicable their technical responsible party enrolled.
For further information: Circular Externa 1000-014-2026, available in the InvimÁgil microsite.
Brazil: New Lead Limits in Paints with Mandatory Testing
Brazil replaced its 2008 lead-in-paint law with a significantly updated framework. Law 15.441/2026, published June 29, 2026, reduces the maximum permitted lead concentration in paints and similar surface coating materials from 600 ppm to 90 ppm — bringing Brazil in line with the global standard advocated by the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint. The law enters into force 12 months after publication.
The limit reduction is important but not the most operationally significant change for manufacturers and importers. The old Law 11.762/2008 set a limit but did not impose an obligation on companies to test and document compliance — enforcement testing was a government surveillance function carried out by INMETRO. The new law explicitly requires that limits be determined through laboratory testing in conformance with national or international technical standards. This moves the compliance burden squarely onto manufacturers and importers, who must now be able to demonstrate through testing that their products meet the new limit.
Two exceptions survive the tightening: anti-fouling paints containing copper oxide biocides and anti-corrosion paints containing zinc powder may contain up to 600 ppm lead — reflecting the technical constraints of those specific industrial and maritime applications.
Products already manufactured, imported, or in the process of importation before the law’s entry into force are excluded from the new requirements.
Link to Law 15.441/2026:
https://www.in.gov.br/web/dou/-/lei-n-15.441-de-26-de-junho-de-2026-716767777
GHS Expanding in LatAm: Dominica the Latest
GHS continues to expand across the region. Even countries that have not adopted it broadly at the national level are looking to apply it to specific product categories. We saw this trend in 2025 when the Dominican Republic adopted GHS labeling for hazardous cosmetics, personal care, and household cleaners. Now the Commonwealth of Dominica has a draft standard that would apply GHS Revision 8 to pesticide labeling.
The Dominica Bureau of Standards has notified the WTO of draft standard DCRS 39:202X, which incorporates GHS 8th revision hazard symbols and labeling requirements — including pictograms, signal words, and hazard and precautionary statements — as normative requirements for pesticide products commercialized in Dominica.
For agrochemical companies and pesticide registrants selling into the Eastern Caribbean, the practical implication is straightforward: GHS-aligned labels will be required for market access once the standard is finalized, regardless of whether Dominica has adopted GHS more broadly. Companies should assess whether their current pesticide label formats for this market will need updating.
Link to Draft: https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2026/TBT/DMA/26_03444_00_e.pdf
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Tracking Brazil’s new chemical management law? Visit www.BrazilREACH.com for plain-English guidance on Law 15.022/2024, including what an Only Representative structure means in practice.
Questions about how any of this applies to your business? Reach out directly at mowen@ambientelegal.com to talk about how we can help your business succeed in Latin America.
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