Annual Operating Certificate (COA) before SEMARNAT: step-by-step guide

The Annual Operating Certificate (Cédula de Operación Anual, COA) is the annual report through which obligated establishments declare to SEMARNAT their air emissions, wastewater discharges, generation and transfer of hazardous waste, and use of pollutant substances. It is the most important environmental information-gathering instrument for federal-jurisdiction fixed sources in Mexico.

In short: if your establishment holds a Single Environmental Licence (LAU) or is a federal-jurisdiction fixed source, each year you must declare in the COA which pollutants you emitted or transferred during the previous year. The information is captured electronically on SEMARNAT's COA Web platform, within a fixed window.

What the COA is and what it is for

The COA is an instrument for reporting and collecting information on emissions and transfers of pollutants to air, water, soil and subsoil, as well as on the materials and hazardous waste an establishment handles. It is not a permit or an authorisation, but an annual declaration the authority uses to understand, assess and monitor the environmental performance of fixed sources.

Its role goes beyond individual compliance: the information each establishment reports in the COA is the main data source for the Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (RETC), the national public database on pollutants. That is why the COA is regulated both by the LGEEPA and by the RETC Regulation and various Mexican Official Standards.

If you want the exact legal basis: article 21 of the LGEEPA Regulation on the prevention and control of atmospheric pollution requires licensed federal-jurisdiction fixed sources to file the COA between 1 March and 30 June, using the certificate defined in article 10 of the LGEEPA Regulation on the RETC; that article 10 details its content and article 11 sets the period. For greenhouse gases, article 12 of the General Law on Climate Change Regulation on the National Emissions Registry refers to the same instrument and the same calendar.

Who must file the COA

Those responsible for federal-jurisdiction fixed sources are required to file the COA. In practice, this mainly includes:

• Establishments that hold a Single Environmental Licence (LAU) or a federal-jurisdiction atmospheric operating licence.
• Fixed sources in the industrial sectors listed as federal jurisdiction (chemical, oil and petrochemical, paints and inks, metallurgy, automotive, cement, pulp and paper, among others).
• Large hazardous-waste generators and companies providing hazardous-waste management services.
• Establishments that use, produce or transfer substances subject to reporting above the established thresholds.

Article 9 of the RETC Regulation sums it up in three categories: the fixed sources in the sectors of article 111 Bis of the LGEEPA, including hydrocarbon sector activities (which file the certificate with the Safety, Energy and Environment Agency, ASEA), hazardous waste generators, and anyone discharging wastewater into receiving bodies that are national waters. Note that there is also a state-jurisdiction COA for locally regulated fixed sources; this guide focuses on the federal COA. Determining your jurisdiction is the first step, because it defines which authority and which platform you report to.

The sections of the COA

The COA is organised into parts that run through the establishment's activity and its different pollution vectors. In summary, the format covers:

Each part requires quantitative, traceable data. For example, air emissions must be backed by stack measurements; water discharges by laboratory analyses; and hazardous waste by the corresponding manifests and logs. This is where good data management throughout the year makes the difference versus reconstructing everything at the last minute.

Filing period: from 1 March to 30 June

The COA is filed once a year and always refers to the previous calendar year. The official capture and submission period runs from 1 March to 30 June. Outside that window the platform does not allow ordinary capture or submission, so the calendar is strict: the COA covering one year's operations is reported between March and June of the following year. It is worth confirming the calendar SEMARNAT publishes for each cycle.

Submitting the certificate does not close the procedure. The authority has 20 working days to check that it is properly completed and, if it is not, can require you once to complete, correct, clarify or confirm the information within a maximum of 15 working days. If the request goes unanswered, the certificate is deemed not filed. The same rule applies to the greenhouse gas section under the RENE regulation. If you spot an error yourself, you can remedy it within 15 working days of submission.

Establishments that exceed the greenhouse-gas emissions threshold also report to the National Emissions Registry through the certificate itself, as we explain in the guide on RENE and the GHG Mexico Programme. That is one more reason to have environmental data consolidated before the capture window opens. Those establishments must also attach, every three years, a verification report issued by an accredited and approved body, filed between 1 July and 30 November of the relevant year.

How it is filed: the COA Web platform

Filing is fully electronic through COA Web, SEMARNAT's platform for this procedure. The general flow is:

1. Log in with the establishment's credentials and select the Annual Operating Certificate procedure.
2. Update the general data and complete each applicable section with the reported year's information.
3. Attach supporting documentation where relevant (for example, measurement and analysis results).
4. Sign the submission with the responsible party's e.firma.
5. Obtain the acknowledgement of receipt that proves timely filing.

The acknowledgement is the proof of compliance, so it must be kept. If the establishment had no significant changes, it must still file its declaration; the obligation is annual regardless of whether emissions rose or fell.

On where the figures come from, the regulation distinguishes two cases. Emissions regulated by a NOM must be measured with the methods and procedures that standard establishes. Those not regulated, or whose measurement is exempt, may be estimated through emission factors, historical data, material balances, engineering calculations or mathematical models. In both cases, calculation records and measurements must be kept for five years from the filing of each certificate, and greenhouse gas information for five years from the date SEMARNAT receives the COA.

How the COA feeds the RETC

The information declared in the COA is the raw material of the RETC. From the sections on air emissions, water discharges, hazardous waste and reportable substances, SEMARNAT builds and publishes a public database on which pollutants are released or transferred in the country, where and in what quantities. In other words, the COA is the procedure and the RETC is the register built from that data, with a clear environmental-transparency purpose.

The COA also relates to other instruments of the federal environmental system. The LAU is the operating authorisation that reflects the emission sources, while the Environmental Impact Statement (MIA) applies at the project stage of new facilities. For an overview of the Mexican framework, see our guide on environmental laws, NOMs and certifications in Mexico.

Common mistakes when filing the COA

These are some of the errors that most often complicate filing or trigger requests from the authority:

• Leaving it to the end: gathering measurements, analyses and manifests in June, when they should have been collected throughout the year.
• Incomplete or inconsistent data: mass balances that do not add up, or consumption and emissions that do not match the reported activity.
• Omitting RETC substances: failing to identify that a substance in use exceeds its reporting threshold.
• Confusing jurisdictions: filing with the state authority what belongs to the federal one, or vice versa.
• Not keeping the acknowledgement or the supporting documentation behind each declared figure.
• Letting a request lapse: if the authority asks you to complete or clarify the certificate and you do not respond within 15 working days, the certificate is deemed not filed.

Filing the COA well not only avoids penalties: it is also an opportunity to organise the establishment's environmental data and connect it with the carbon footprint calculation, since much of the information (fuel and energy consumption, processes) is common to both exercises. Equivalence between gases is expressed in CO2 equivalent, the reference unit for climate reporting.

What penalties apply for not filing the COA

A certificate that is not filed, filed late or filed with false data is penalised under the LGEEPA. Its article 171 provides for fines of 30 to 50,000 days of minimum wage (a reference now calculated in UMA), temporary or definitive closure, administrative arrest of up to 36 hours and the suspension or revocation of licences, permits and authorisations; in case of recidivism the fine can be tripled. The atmospheric regulation adds its own range of fines, from 20 to 20,000 days of minimum wage. And for the greenhouse gas section, the General Law on Climate Change sets fines of 500 to 3,000 days for failing to deliver requested information and 3,000 to 10,000 days for false information or missed deadlines. The LGEEPA itself treats it as a mitigating factor if the establishment corrects the irregularities before the penalty is imposed.

Frequently asked questions

When is the COA filed?

From 1 March to 30 June each year, with information referring to the immediately preceding calendar year. Outside that period the platform does not allow ordinary capture of the certificate.

Who is required to file it?

Those responsible for federal-jurisdiction fixed sources, including establishments with a Single Environmental Licence, large hazardous-waste generators and those who use or transfer reportable substances above their thresholds.

How does the COA relate to the RETC?

The COA is the procedure through which emissions and transfers are reported; the RETC is the public database SEMARNAT builds from that information.

What happens if SEMARNAT asks me for information?

You have 15 working days from notification to complete, correct or clarify the certificate. If you do not respond, the certificate is deemed not filed and the establishment is exposed to the penalties of the LGEEPA.

How is the COA filed?

Electronically on SEMARNAT's COA Web platform, signing the submission with the e.firma and keeping the acknowledgement of receipt as proof of compliance.

If you want to reach the filing period with the year's consumption, emissions and waste already organised and traceable, you can centralise them and calculate your establishment's carbon footprint with Manglai.