Articles 14 and 15 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) establish the process regarding citizen submissions and development of factual records relating to the effective enforcement of environmental law. The Secretariat of the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) administers this process. On 16 May 2000, the Council voted unanimously to instruct the Secretariat to develop a factual record on the alleged failure to effectively enforce Articles 170 and 134 of Mexico's General Law on Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection (Ley General del Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente—LGEEPA) in the case of the site known as Metales y Derivados, the subject of submission SEM-98-007. The submission was filed 23 October 1998 by the Environmental Health Coalition and Comité Ciudadano Pro Restauración del Cañón del Padre y Servicios Comunitarios, A.C. The implementation of safety measures is called for under Article 170 in cases of "contamination with dangerous repercussions on ecosystems, their components or public health." The situation contemplated by Article 134 regarding prevention and control of soil contamination is the existence of "soil that is contaminated by the presence of hazardous materials or waste." In the development of this factual record, the Secretariat considered publicly available information, information provided by the Parties to the NAAEC and other interested parties, and technical information developed by the Secretariat through independent experts. In this factual record, the Secretariat presents the facts relevant to whether or not Mexico is failing to enforce LGEEPA Articles 170 and 134 effectively, without aiming to reach any conclusions of law on this question. (...) | 
Download document