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Despite Menem’s creation in 1991 of the National Environmental Secretariat in the wake of several environmental disasters in Argentina, little of the funds that were allocated towards the cleanup were actually put to use, and the Secretariat remained subordinate to the neoliberal polices of non-intervention of the administration (Nonna). In 1994 the amended National Constitution saw the addition of Article 41, which guaranteed the human right to a clean and healthy environment and first brought forth the idea of sustainable development within the nation, marking a major environmental policy milestone for Argentina. This article also declared that Argentina should set forth minimum environmental protection standards, which the provinces of the nation can then amend to make more stringent, but cannot diminish (Parravicini). While this marked a major change within Argentina environmental law, it was not until 2002 that the National Congress began work on delineating what these minimum standards were. The most important law within the framework of these minimum standard regulations has been the General Environmental Law, which has created basic environmental principles for the nations, as well as land use planning, environmental education and awareness, company disclosure of environmental impact information, and assessment of environmental impact. It also sets goals within the nation for

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