EPA Collaboration with Mexico
EPA works with our Mexican neighbors on the U.S.-Mexico Environmental Program, a collaboration between the United States and Mexico to improve the environment and protect the health of the nearly 12 million people living along the border. The bi-national program focuses on cleaning the air, providing safe drinking water, reducing the risk of exposure to hazardous waste, and ensuring emergency preparedness along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Border 2020 is building on the success of Border 2012 by maintaining the bottom-up approach to program design, and by committing to strategic priorities to achieve an ambitious set of goals and objectives.
Border 2020 has identified five long-term goals with specific objectives to address the most serious environmental and environmentally-related public health challenges in the border region. Some objectives and sub-objectives targeted by these strategic goals are broad and are expected to serve as guidance in the development of biennial action plans. The goals are:
- Goal 1: Reduce Air Pollution
- Goal 2: Improve Access to Clean and Safe Water
- Goal 3: Promote Materials Management, Waste Management, and Clean Sites
- Goal 4: Enhance Joint Preparedness for Environmental Response
- Goal 5: Enhance Compliance Assurance and Environmental Stewardship
Explore our work
- Border 2020 Program
- EPA Collaboration with the Border Health Commission
- The North American Development Bank (NADB) and Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC)
- Preparing for and preventing environmental emergencies
- US-Mexico Border: Water Infrastructure Program
EPA Collaboration with the Border Health Commission
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ U.S.-México Border Health Commission (BHC), U.S. Section have been working together since 2011 to identify joint priorities and possible areas of collaboration.
The 2016 agreement between EPA and BHC identifies the areas of collaboration, with particular focus on fulfilling and strengthening each organization’s strategic frameworks along the U.S.-México border, including EPA’s Border 2020 Program and the BHC’s Healthy Border 2020 initiative. The goal of the collaborative agreement is to advance efforts that address the important relationship between the environment and public health.
Additional Resources About Environment and the Mexico-U.S. Border
- International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC). Exit The U.S. and Mexico have cooperated on their shared border environment for over a hundred years. Much of this cooperation took place under the auspices of the IBWC, a U.S.-Mexico international organization with a presence in both countries. The IBWC administers several large water cleanup projects, including those in Tijuana and Nuevo Laredo.
- Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC). Exit BECC identifies, develops, and certifies environmental infrastructure projects in the the U.S.-Mexico border area.
- North American Development Bank (NADBank). Exit NADBank participates in the financing of BECC-certified projects.
- SEMARNAT, Exit Mexico's Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources. SEMARNAT is EPA's federal counterpart in the U.S.-Mexico Environmental Program.
Contacts
For additional information about EPA's programs with Mexico, contact:
Lisa Almodovar
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of International and Tribal Affairs (2650R)
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20460
Email: almodovar.lisa@epa.gov
202-564-6401