EPA and SEMARNAT Reaffirm Shared Commitment to Improving Public Health and the Environment Along the U.S.-Mexico Border

September 13, 2024

Contact Information

EPA Press Office (press@epa.gov)

WASHINGTON – Earlier this week, U.S Environmental Protection Agency Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe and her counterpart in Mexico, Undersecretary Alonso Jiménez for the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) participated in the 2025 United States – Mexico Border Program’s National Coordinators Meeting, marking the celebration of 40 years of cooperation and achievements under the La Paz Agreement. Deputy McCabe and Undersecretary Jiménez co-chaired the meeting in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, Sept. 10-11, at the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC), with participation from state, local, and Indigenous and Tribal leaders and partners from along both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.

“Today, I am reaffirming EPA’s continued commitment to strengthen our binational cooperation on the most pressing environmental challenges we face, including the climate crisis and advancing environmental equity,” said EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe. “EPA is committed to continued collaboration with SEMARNAT, along with program partners, to improve the environmental and public health conditions for communities along our shared border.”

The National Coordinators Meeting celebrated environmental and public health accomplishments, highlighted existing and emerging challenges and identified priorities to be addressed under the goals, objectives and guiding principles going forward. The discussion focused on the U.S. Administration’s priorities of tackling climate, addressing environmental justice and equity, and the Mexico Administration’s priority of being more inclusive of Mexico’s indigenous and Afro-Mexican communities in solving environmental challenges. Discussions also focused on analyzing achievements that have been made over 40 years of cooperation since the signing of the La Paz Agreement, which includes measuring progress in the implementation of goals for the program and listening to the needs of the region.

“At the end of these meetings, we reaffirmed that bilateral cooperation is the best way to address the problems we face on our common border. From SEMARNAT, we will continue working with our colleagues from the EPA, state governments and local communities to achieve the objectives of the Border 2025 Program,” said SEMARNAT.

This program addresses environmental and public health priorities and challenges along the 1,954-mile shared U.S.-Mexico border, including reducing air pollution through air monitoring, improving water quality through community workshops, promoting sustainable management of materials, waste and clean sites through wastewater reuse designs, and improving joint preparedness for and response to hazardous environmental emergencies through evaluating emergency sister-city contingency plans. The program also promotes projects to address environmental equity among federally recognized Tribes, and Indigenous and Afro-Mexican communities along the border.

The United States and Mexico continue to collaborate to address the cross-border flows that affect communities on both sides of the border. For example, on Aug. 21, a contract was announced for the expansion project of the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant in San Diego and the upcoming completion of the construction of the San Antonio de los Buenos wastewater treatment plant in Tijuana. These are key infrastructure projects that will help address the cross-border flows that impact both sides of the border.

This meeting continues efforts to develop the fifth strategic plan for border cooperation between U.S. and Mexico under the 1983 La Paz Agreement. Since the signing of the La Paz Agreement on Aug. 14, 1983, in La Paz, Baja California, Mexico, the U.S. and Mexico committed to join efforts to protect the environment and improve public health in the border region. Through the program, significant achievements and progress have been made in addressing pressing environmental problems in the U.S.-Mexico border region.

This binational strategic planning is the latest environmental program implemented under the La Paz Agreement. The program emphasizes a regional and community-level bottom-up approach for decision making, priority setting, and project implementation to address the environmental and public health challenges in the border region. 

Please visit the U.S.-Mexico Border Program for more information.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-and-semarnat-reaffirm-shared-commitment-improving-public-health-and-environment