ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS

U.S.-MEXICO BORDER PROGRAM

Border XXI Program (.pdf file)
The .pdf file describes the preliminary outline of the program.

More about the U.S.-Mexico Border Program
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For decades, the United States and Mexico have collaborated on efforts to protect the environment and health of border communities. The most recent binational effort was the Border XXI Program, which was initiated in 1996 with a five-year plan for addressing the most challenging environmental and human health problems in the region. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Mexico’s Secretariat for Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), and other federal, state, and U.S. tribal agencies are currently developing a new binational border program.

The Border XXI Program was preceded by a number of formal and informal cooperative efforts to protect the environment and human health in the border area. The formal foundation for these efforts is the Agreement between the United States of America and United Mexican States on Cooperation for the Protection and Improvement of the Environment in the Border Area, signed by Presidents De la Madrid and Reagan in La Paz, Mexico in 1983. The agreement is implemented through multi-year binational programs, such as the Border XXI Program and the plan currently being developed, and governs binational cooperation during periods when one multi-year plan has ended and the successor is being created.

Although most of the Border XXI Program’s projects were implemented at the local level, its organizational structure emphasized border-wide coordination and planning. Nine border-wide workgroups -- each focused on a particular environmental program, such as air quality or hazardous waste management -- coordinated the efforts of various federal, state, tribal and local government activities in the border area. This structure, however, did not facilitate comprehensive regional- and local-level planning and made it difficult for communities to fully participate in all the discussions affecting a single area.

The Border XXI Program achieved some notable successes, among them significant increases in infrastructure development, innovative and wide-reaching mechanisms for addressing border clean ups, a partnership agreement with border states and tribes, and an ambitious agenda for work with the private sector. The U.S.-Mexico Border XXI Program: Progress Report 1996-2000 provides an assessment of the Border XXI Program and a summary of its accomplishments.
Progress Report English PDF format Spanish PDF format

In the final year of the Border XXI Program, EPA and SEMARNAT initiated discussions with various state and tribal governmental partners and local community stakeholders on ways to improve binational environmental planning efforts in the border region. The border states and U.S. border tribes voiced their desire for a greater role in the new program. The Ten States (a coalition of U.S. and Mexican border state environmental agencies) recommended that the new collaborative effort focus on regional planning.

In late 2000 and early 2001, EPA and U.S. state environmental agencies held community roundtable meetings throughout the border area to gather ideas on what the new border program should address and how it should be organized. Border community members, businesses, environmental organizations, academic institutions, and state and local government officials shared their views and explored ideas for improving binational environmental cooperation. Similar meetings were held with U.S. tribal officials. At these roundtable sessions and other meetings, participants strongly favored establishing a regionally-focused border program to facilitate environmental priority setting and planning at the regional and local levels.

In October 2001, EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman and SEMARNAT Secretary Victor Lichtinger announced their commitment to developing the kind of border program that community members and other stakeholders had recommended. In their joint statement, Whitman and Lichtinger stressed that the new results-oriented border plan would empower state and local governments and U.S. tribes to establish their own environmental and public health priorities. The two leaders also emphasized their commitment to more effective participation by stakeholder groups and to more transparent decision-making.

EPA, SEMARNAT, U.S. and Mexican border states, U.S. border tribes, and other federal and state agencies are discussing a proposed organizational structure and set of environmental and human health priorities for a regionally-focused border program. As currently proposed, the program would create a small number of regional workgroups and an overall coordinating mechanism for the entire border.

In each regional workgroup, local, state, tribal, and federal governmental officials would join with community members, businesses, environmental organizations, academic experts, and other stakeholders to develop a plan for solving the most significant environmental and environmental health problems in that region. U.S. and Mexican federal agencies, in addition to participating in the regional workgroups, would lead efforts to address those problems that are more effectively approached from a border-wide perspective.

EPA expects that a draft border plan will be provided to border communities and other stakeholders for review during the summer of 2002. EPA encourages all stakeholders to review the draft plan and join the Agency at public meetings to be held throughout the border region. Community participation will make this a program that meets the needs of border communities. After revising the border plan to reflect stakeholder input, EPA expects to finalize it and distribute it near the end of 2002.

The United States and Mexico established the Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC) and North American Development Bank (NADB) in 1993 to help border communities address the lack of existing environmental infrastructure and the anticipated environmental consequences of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The BECC and NADB had some start-up difficulties, including management and personnel issues, cumbersome procedures, and faulty coordination. Over the years, progress has been made on some of these issues, and the institutions can point to tangible accomplishments. The BECC has certified 57 projects, of which 39 are operational or under construction. The NADB has administered or is in the process of administering $330 million in EPA-provided grant funds to 36 of these projects and coordinates other financing for BECC certified projects. These projects will represent a total investment of approximately $1 billion and many more projects are in the pipeline.

In March 2002, President Bush and President Fox directed their respective administrations to work with their legislatures to make changes to the BECC and the NADB. These changes include:

Expanding the geographic scope for BECC/NADB operations in Mexico from 100 kilometers to 300 kilometers, concentrating grants and low-interest rate loans for projects in the poorest communities located within the current border region of 100 kilometers; Expanding NADB’s ability to extend concessional financing by doubling its low interest rate lending facility and increasing its capacity to provide grants out of its own resources; Replacing the two boards of directors with a single board to oversee both institutions with representatives from the federal governments, the border states, and the public; and Making a more concerted effort to certify and finance private sector environmental projects.

This site is sponsored by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)