| Montreal, 22/03/2004 – On 16 March, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) of North America received a revised submission from Francisco H. Garza Vara on behalf of Genaro Meléndez Lugo and José Javier, José Genaro, Miguel Ángel, Carlos Ariel, Juan Antonio, Iris Elidia y Cruz Adriana Meléndez Torres (the Submitters). On 20 February 2004, the CEC Secretariat dismissed the original submission, filed on 27 January 2004, because it did not provide sufficient information nor identify the applicable chapters or provisions of the General Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection (Ley General del Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente–LGEEPA) that the Submitters considered not to be effectively enforced.
The submission asserts that Mexico is failing to effectively enforce its environmental laws by not giving due process to the Submitters' complaint against the companies Ecolimpio de México, SA de CV and Transportes J. Guadalupe Jiménez, SA, and by not penalizing those companies. The Submitters claim that both companies operate in violation of the law, causing serious damage to the environment and their property. Furthermore, they assert that the companies are seriously endangering their health and physical well-being due to the improper handling of hazardous waste.
This new version asserts that the environmental authority is failing to effectively enforce Articles 1 (paragraphs I, III and VIII), 121, 150, 151, 164, 170 (paragraphs I and II), 180, 181 and 194 of the LGEEPA and Articles 15 (paragraphs II, III and IV), 16 (paragraph IV), 17 (paragraph II), 18, 19 (paragraph III) and 58 (paragraph II) of its hazardous waste regulations, and that the Mexican government is failing to comply with Articles 1 (paragraphs A, B, C and D), 6 (paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, subsections a, b, c and d) and 7 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC).
The CEC Secretariat will analyze this new version of the submission (SEM-04-001/Hazardous Waste in Arteaga), to determine whether it meets the requirements of NAAEC Article 14.
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 Secretariat may investigate the matter and pursue a factual record of its findings. |
