| Montreal, 16/05/2003 – On 14 May 2003 the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) received a submission from Alfonso Ciprés Villareal, president of Movimiento Ecologista Mexicano AC, on behalf of several ecological groups, two academic groups and one individual citizen (the Submitters), asserting that Mexico is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law with respect to the environmental impact authorization (EIA) for a port project on the Mayan Riviera in Quintana Roo.
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.
The CEC Secretariat is analyzing the submission (SEM-03-002/Home Port Xcaret) to determine whether it meets the requirements of Article 14(1) of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (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 North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (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.
Please visit the Citizen Submission on Enforcement Matters page for more information. |
