| Montreal, 7/03/1997 – The United States government has responded to a citizen submission filed by a non-governmental organization and an individual citizen under the environmental side accord to NAFTA alleging that the Government of the United States of America is failing to effectively enforce provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) with respect to the U.S. Army’s operation of Fort Huachuca, Arizona. In its response, the U.S. contends it is not failing to enforce environmental law and that the citizen submission does not warrant an inquiry to gather factual information.
The Secretariat of the CEC will now review the submission in light of the response and will inform Council of the CEC whether or not, in its view, an inquiry to gather factual information -- known as a "factual record" -- is warranted. The Council is composed of the top environmental authority from each of the NAFTA countries: EPA Administrator Carol Browner, Canadian Environment Minister Sergio Marchi and the Mexican Minister of Environment, Natural Resources and Fisheries, Julia Carabias. If the Secretariat is of the opinion that a factual record should be developed, the CEC Council then votes on whether to proceed with such an inquiry.
Under Articles 14 and 15 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), any nongovernmental organization or person may file a submission with the Secretariat of the CEC asserting that one of the NAFTA countries is failing to effectively enforce its environmental laws.
The CEC, which is equally funded by Canada, Mexico and the United States, is based in Montreal, Canada.
The registry of submissions, as more information on the submission process, is available on the Internet at the following address: http://www.cec.org. |
