| Montreal, 2/06/2005 – Today, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation of North America (CEC) issued a determination that submission SEM-05-002 (Coronado Islands) did not contain sufficient information and gave the Submitters 30 days to re-file a submission with additional information.
The submission was filed on 3 May 2005, by the Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace Mexico, Alfonso Aguirre, Shaye Wolf, American Bird Conservancy, Los Angeles Audubon Society, Pacific Environment and Resources Center, and Wildcoast (the Submitters). The submission asserts that Mexico is failing to effectively enforce provisions of its environmental law by allowing the construction of a liquefied natural gas re-gasification terminal adjacent to the Coronado Islands, off the coast of the state of Baja California, and a site of a breeding colony of Xantus's Murrelet, a seabird considered at risk, and other species considered at risk.
The Secretariat found that the submission does not provide sufficient information to allow the Secretariat to review it, and therefore fails to satisfy Article 14(1)(c) of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC). The Submitters now have 30 days to file a submission that meets the requirements of Article 14(1) of the NAAEC.
The citizen submissions mechanism of the CEC enables the public to play a whistle-blower role on matters of environmental law enforcement. Under Article 14 of the NAAEC, any person or nongovernmental organization may submit a claim alleging that a NAFTA partner has failed to effectively enforce its environmental law. Following a review of the submission, the CEC may investigate the matter and pursue a factual record of its findings.
For additional information, see the Citizen Submissions on Enforcement Matters web page at <www.cec.org/citizen>. |
