For many years, the U.S. and Mexico have been involved in formal and informal cooperative efforts to protect the border’s environment and natural resources. Numerous bilateral agreements guide both countries’ efforts in the border area. Despite the recognized problems and the agreement that they require solutions, environmental conditions have not been adequately preserved (when healthy) or remedied (when polluted). Industrialization has accelerated population growth, production of goods, and consumption of resources. All this surpasses the natural resources available in this area.

In order to protect, improve and conserve the environment of the border region, in 1983 both governments signed the Agreement for the Protection and Improvement of the Environment in the Border Area (La Paz Agreement) which provided a formal foundation for cooperative environmental efforts. The La Paz Agreement defined the border region as the area lying 100 kilometers or 62.5 miles to the north and south of the U.S.-Mexico boundary. Work carried out under the La Paz Agreement is coordinated by two National Coordinators: the International Affairs Coordinator in SEMARNAP and the Assistant Administrator for International Activities of the EPA.

In February 1992 the environmental authorities of both governments released the Integrated Environmental Plan for the Mexican-U.S. Border Area (IBEP). While the IBEP represented a reasonable point of departure for addressing environmental concerns in the border region, it had a limited scope and failed to adequately address natural resources and environmental health concerns. The U.S. Congress and by Mexico’s Ministry of Finance created The Border XXI Program to build on the efforts of the IBEP.

The key agencies involved in developing and implementing border environmental regulations are:

1) Environmental Protection: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Mexico’s Secretariat for Environment, Natural Resources and Fisheries (SEMARNAP) and Secretariat for Social Development (SEDESOL).

2) Natural Resources: the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and SEMARNAP.

3) Border Water Resources: U.S. and Mexican Sections of the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), DOI, EPA, and SEMARNAP.

4) Environmental Health: the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Mexico’s Secretariat of Health (SSA).

Several other federal agencies participate in environmental protection, but these are the major ones. The State of California and the State of Baja California, as well as local governments and indigenous communities, are likewise very much involved in the issues discussed in this section.

In a parallel agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the United States and Mexico established the Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC) and the North American Development Bank (NADBank) to improve environmental infrastructure in the border area.

[Much of this was taken from Lawrence A. Herzog, Shared space: rethinking the U.S.-Mexico border environment. La Jolla, CA: Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, University of California, San Diego, 2000; NAFTA’s Broken Promises: the border betrayed. Washington, D.C.: Public Citizen Publications (1996); U.S.-Mexico Border XXI Program Framework Document, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington D.C.: 1996.]

Last revised: 11/5/02