A Bajio Cleaner Production Center (Bajio CP Center) will be established in the city of Leon, Guanajuato to conduct the program. The Bajio CP Center constitutes the first regional expansion of Mexico's national cleaner production program. The United States – Mexico Chamber of Commerce (USMCOC) Bajio Chapter will be the Executing Agency for the CPI Program. The USMCOC Bajio Chapter office and the Bajio CP Center will be co-located.

The Bajio CP Center staff includes a Center Director, a CP Technical Coordinator and an Administrative Assistant, who also comprise the Program Execution Unit (PEU). The Program also will include an Advisory Committee composed of pertinent stakeholders for program oversight, promotion and support, and a Selection and Contracts Committee to assist the PEU with the project contracting process. The Center Director is the Program Director. The Advisory Committee and the Contracts Committee are organizational components of the PEU. The CPI program is organized into three interdependent components as described below.

Component I Awareness-raising and Promotion through Communications and Outreach. This Component consists of workshops, communications and publicity activities designed to raise SME cleaner production awareness and solicit SME participation in the CP program. Outreach will also be directed to the financial and banking community and state, city and municipal agencies for their support. This component includes a USMCOC web page for the Bajio CPI program. The objective of this component is to increase awareness as to the benefits of ecoefficiency and utilizing cleaner production techniques within companies. The program would improve awareness by promoting the benefits of ecoefficiency and thus increase demand for cleaner production services, especially among SMEs. To this end, the program will provide support for: (i) an initial program launching event; (ii) a series of awareness-raising events; (iii) the program’s participation in trade fairs and conferences; (iv) a program related website; and (v) a final conference to disseminate the results and achievements of the program.

Component II CP Training includes all activities necessary for the conduct of CP training courses. The objective of this component is to train professionals in the methodology for implementing cleaner production in enterprises. As a result of this component, a cadre of local qualified, trained professionals in CP implementation in multiple sectors of the economy would be able to offer their expertise and services to companies interested in CP implementation. In addition, a CP manual will be developed as a means to reducing the time and costs for preparing SME CPI plans, which will help in defining the short, medium and long-term goals of the CP implementation in SMEs.

The training program will target SME and industry sector personnel, consultants, and academia. The CP training course will consist of 12 modules. The average module length will be 4-5 days, with the total course about two months in duration. It is planned to conduct one CP training course each year of the program—a total of three courses. A course fee will be charged to all students.

Component III CP Implementation Projects. The CPI projects are the heart of the program. This component includes all activities necessary for the creation and execution of SME cleaner production implementation projects and follows-up support for the implementation of CP in SMEs. The objective of this component is to develop cases in SMEs to demonstrate the technical and economic viability of implementing CP for SMEs. The PEU will select SME CP project candidates, conduct SME pre-assessments assisted by expert consultants, and contract with consulting firms or individual experts to conduct the SME CPI projects. The PEU PC Technical Coordinator will conduct the pre-assessments assisted by a CP expert, and manage the CPI projects.

The program goal is to conduct a minimum of 50 SME cleaner production pre-assessments per year and a minimum of 30 CPI projects over a three-year period. The first-year objective is to conduct a minimum of 50 pre-assessments and seven projects. The second-year objective is to conduct a minimum of 50 pre-assessments and eleven projects. The third-year objective is to conduct a minimum of 50 pre-assessments and twelve projects. In the first year, project top priority will be assigned to the tanning sector due to long-standing critical environmental compliance issues in this industrial sector; however, the intention is to also conduct projects in the automotive, chemical, hospital, and hotel sectors in the first year if possible. To optimize program operations and the Bajio CP Center functions, the Center will create a computer database. In order to achieve CP program sustainability, the participating SMEs will be expected to pay up to 50% of the cost of a CPI project, which are estimated to cost $8000 each. Thus, an SME is expected to pay $4000 for a CP implementation project.

The PEU will conduct an annual program planning workshop in the 12^th month of the first and the second years in order to review overall program progress, accomplishments and issues; assess project outcomes and lessons learned; and develop the plan and budget for the following year. An independent program evaluation will be conducted at the end of the second and third years, and an audit will be conducted in the final month of the program. The CP Training program will be reviewed and updated annually. The Center will conduct a conference in the final quarter of the third year, to include the participation of all SMEs in the CP program and other interested stakeholders. The purpose of the conference is to evaluate program results and to develop appropriate recommendations for follow-on CP initiatives in the Bajio Region.

The three-year program is budgeted for US$943,000. The IDB MIF will provide a grant of US$465,000 and SEMARNAT will provide US$400,000 in counterpart funds. The remainder (US$78,000)) will be provided as an in-kind contribution by the USMCOC Binational Office.. Assuming IDB MIF approval in September 2003, the program will likely be initiated in the fourth quarter of 2003 and completed in the fourth quarter of 2006.

A more detailed description of activities and a draft first-year work plan can be found by clicking on the Annex III (Adobe .Pdf format)