Citizen Submissions on Enforcement Matters

Canada, Mexico and the United States cooperating to protect North America's shared environment.

Home Port Xcaret

Submmission ID: 03-002
Party concerned: Mexico
Date filed: 14/05/2003
Status: Closed

Latest update: 2/09/2003
The thirty-day term expired without the Secretariat receiving a submission that conformed to Article 14(1). Under guideline 6.2, the process was therefore terminated.

Summary of the matter addressed in the submission:
The Submitters allege "legal violations and irregularities in the permit-granting process for the Home Port Xcaret project," which they assert "will irreparably affect and destroy the natural resources and coral ecosystems, gravely endangering countless marine species." They assert that the project's EIA violates Article 34 of the General Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection (Ley General del Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente—LGEEPA) and Articles 37, 38 and 40 through 43 of the Environmental Impact Regulations thereunder, since the project developer failed to make certain information about the project available to the public and to hold a public consultation or information meeting. The Submitters further assert that the project affects protected coral colonies and that the developer failed to process the EIA with the Quintana Roo State Secretariat of Development and Environment (Secretaría de Desarrollo y Medio Ambiente). The submission is accompanied by a video showing marine life and a reef system near where the project will be located, with numerous newspaper articles.

Submitter(s)
Alfonso Ciprés Villarreal, president of Movimiento Ecologista Mexicano AC, on behalf of several ecological groups, two academic groups and one individual citizen

More about the process
Bringing the Facts to Light
A Guide to Articles 14 and 15 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation
More information >>
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Name and citation of the environmental law inquestion
Article 34 of LGEEPA and Articles 37, 38 and 40 through 43 of the Environmental Impact Regulations thereunder

Submission timeline

15/05/2003

The Secretariat acknowledged receipt of a submission and began a preliminary analysis of it under the guidelines.
	Submission — Submission authored by Submitter(s) on 14/05/2003
	Acknowledgement — Communication to Submitter(s) authored by Secretariat on 15/05/2003

31/07/2003

The Secretariat notified the submitter(s) that the submission did not meet all of the Article 14(1) criteria and the submitter(s) had 30 days to provide the Secretariat with a revised submission that conforms with Article 14(1).
	Determination — Secretariat Determination under Article 14 (1) authored by Secretariat on 31/07/2003

2/09/2003

The thirty-day term expired without the Secretariat receiving a submission that conformed to Article 14(1). Under guideline 6.2, the process was therefore terminated.