Contents:

BECC Board Certifies Naco Project: High Public Support

Congratulations on the Inauguration

Small Communities Initiative Conducts Second Meeting

Environmental Tour on the border

Request for Public Comments on Confidentiality Rule

Requests for Proposals: Sustainable Development Analysis Project

Step I Forms received

The BECC Board of Directors unanimously approved a Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment Project for the City of Naco, Sonora, on April 30th, during its 8th public meeting in Cd. Juarez. The $650,000 project will provide a comprehensive solution to existing water supply, sewage collection, and wastewater treatment problems and eliminate the problem of wastewater flowing into the State of Arizona. The Board certified the project with the recognition of the need for subsequent concurrence of the Governments of the United States and Mexico, through the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), that the proposed project complies with international obligations already in place.

The project was certified after a series of public comments were made in favor of the project. Nikki Zeuner, with the Arizona Toxics Information, commended the "BECC staff and project sponsors for an excellent job in developing the project, taking enough time to meet the BECC criteria, particularly in terms of public participation." Dr. Raul Hinojosa, with the NAID Center at UCLA, which has been working with the Naco community on the project for more than 2 years, stated that the Naco project is "an example of what we can do with the processes of the BECC." He added that "the project is an example of the spirit of what we are trying to do in assisting a small community on the border."

Upon certification, Porfirio Moreno, Mayor of Naco, Sonora thanked the BECC for their assistance in certifying the project. He stated that the certification of the project is an example of cooperation among federal organizations like the National Water Commission, binational organizations like the BECC, state organizations like the Secretary of Urban Infrastructure and Environment of the State of Sonora, non-governmental organizations, and the community of Naco.

The Naco project marks the 7th environmental infrastructure project certified by the BECC Board of Directors. The project now qualifies for financing consideration from the North American Development Bank (NADBank), or other sources.

Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, United States Ambassador to Mexico James Jones, Tamaulipas Governor Manuel Cavazos, and Texas Governor George Bush inaugurated the new International Wastewater Treatment Plant located in Nuevo Laredo on April 17th, at the project site in Nuevo Laredo. Accompanying the President were the Secretaries of Environment and Social Development, Julia Carabias and Carlos Rojas and the Director of National Water Commission, Guillermo Guerrero Villalobos. The new state-of-the-art treatment facility will provide wastewater collection and treatment for the residents of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, at a capacity of 31 million gallons per day.

The project is authorized by International Agreement - IBWC Minute No. 279, "Joint Measures to Improve the Quality of the Waters of the Rio Grande at Laredo, Texas/Nuevo Laredo Tamaulipas," signed on August 28, 1989, and will eliminate the flow of untreated wastewater into the Rio Grande river. Funded by Mexico and the United States, including funding from the states of Tamaulipas and Texas, the $56 million dollar treatment facility is the first of its kind in Nuevo Laredo and on the Texas-Mexico border. Congratulations to all the organizations and individuals involved in developing, financing, and constructing the facility!

A Special Apology...

The Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC) would like to extend a sincere apology to the public for not allowing time for general public comments at the close of the public meeting of the Board of Directors on April 30, 1996, in Cd. Juarez, Chihuahua. The BECC recognizes and appreciates the great deal of time spent and long distances traveled by many of the individuals who come to participate in BECC public meetings. Please be assured that at future public meetings of the BECC, time will be permitted for an open dialogue between the public and the Board. Public input is critical in developing quality projects and procedures of the BECC.

BECC would like to extend a personal apology to the following individuals who were signed up to provide comments during the meeting. Each of these individuals have been contacted to provide their comments to the BECC. All comments submitted will be provided to the Board of Directors and Advisory Council, included in the public record of the public meeting, and highlighted in the next edition of BECCNEWS. Additionally, comments submitted will be made available to everyone on the BECCNET.

Special apologies go out to: John Flaherty, Guillermo Perez Diaz, Julian Rivas, Nikki Zeuner, Harry Browne, Caroline Hotaling, Marc Coles-Ritchie, Jan Hartman, Nancy Lowery, Laura Martinez, Patricia Martinez, Jose M. Rodriguez, Jose Luis Morales, Teresa Leal, Tootsie Herndon, Richard Boren, Ruben Solis, and Kenneth Williams.

Should you have any questions or need additional information, please feel free to contact Tracy Williams at Tel: (011-52-16) 29-23-95; e-mail: twilliams@cocef.interjuarez.com.

The next meeting of the BECC Board of Directors is scheduled for July 18th, in San Diego, California. The meeting will be followed by a public meeting of the Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC), of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), located in Montreal, Canada. More information on the meetings will be available in upcoming editions of BECCNEWS.

U.S.-Mexico border states reconvened for their second meeting with officials from the BECC and NADBank on April 10th in Cd. Juarez. Representatives from the U.S. and Mexico sections of the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC and CILA), U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Economic and Community Development Program, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Mexico's National Water Commission (CNA), and the Western Governors' Association (WGA) also attended the meeting.

Funded by the WGA, the meeting focused on developing methods for U.S.-Mexico border states to assist BECC and NADBank in addressing the special needs of small border communities. Areas of concentration included technical assistance, financial assistance, leveraging resources, and BECC/NADBank criteria. A large portion of the meeting focused on the BECC's proposed Project Development Assistance Program (PDAP), with which BECC plans to assist communities in the development of project proposals.

In evaluating the program to date, Roger Frauenfelder, BECC's General Manager, commented that the "meetings are moving in a positive direction and helping BECC more accurately assess the unique needs of small communities".

The meeting was part of an overall strategy for BECC, NADBank, and border states to address environmental infrastructure needs of U.S. and Mexican border communities, with emphasis on small community concerns. The third meeting of the border states is scheduled for mid-June in San Antonio, Texas, and will be hosted by the NADBank. This meeting will be preceded by meetings with officials from the state of New Mexico and the state of Sonora to take a closer look at individual state issues regarding small border communities. Meetings with other border states will take place after the San Antonio meeting.

For more information, contact Angeles Villarreal, BECC's Project Evaluation Coordinator, at Tel: (011-52-16) 29-23-95; or e-mail: avillarreal@cocef.interjuarez.com.

A delegation of technical and financial experts from SEDESOL, BECC, and NADBank, toured ten border cities in the Mexican states of Sonora and Tamaulipas, during a week-long trip this April. The purpose of the trip was to examine, first hand, the environmental infrastructure needs and respective projects of these communities, with particular focus on solid waste.

With participation from Ing. Gustavo Rosiles, Director of the Preservation of Solid Waste and the Environment for SEDESOL, solid waste needs were examined in Agua Prieta and Puerto Peñasco in Sonora, and Reynosa, Cd. Camargo, Díaz Ordaz, Miguel Alemán, Mier, and Nuevo Cd. Guerrero in Tamaulipas. During the trip, both BECC and SEDESOL committed to provide assistance to these communities in developing their project proposals to the BECC for certification.

The tour also involved in a stop in Naco, Sonora, for the organizations to review the water supply and wastewater treatment project with Mexico's National Water Commission (CNA). The group also met in Sonoyta, Sonora where the Sonoytan Mayor highlighted the need for the city to improve its drinking water distribution system, add wastewater collection to certain areas of the community, and eliminate the discharge of untreated wastewater into the Sonyta river, located close to the urban center.

For more information, contact Adolfo Urias, BECC Engineering Manager, at (011-52-16) 29-23-95; e-mail: aurias@cocef.interjuarez.com.

During the April 30th public meeting, the Board of Directors approved the release of draft Procedures Regarding Disclosure and Confidentiality for comments from the public. The draft procedures define issues related to public access to information, requests for confidentiality designation, and other categories of information protected from disclosure. Please submit comments to Chuck Sheehan, BECC's General Counsel, by May 24th. The draft procedures will available on BECC's Home Page at http://cocef.interjuarez.com, or by contacting Chuck Sheehan directly at Tel: (011-52-16) 29-23-95; E-mail: csheehan@cocef.interjuarez.com.

The BECC has received Step I forms for the following projects during the month of April. A project for an On-Site Wastewater Treatment System Self-Help Loan Project for the Colonias of El Paso County was submitted in March, and was listed in the February edition of BECCNEWS. Please note that the listings do not represent any type of BECC staff recommendation concerning the potential for project certification.

• Recycled Plastic Products, Cd. Juarez, Chihuahua. Conversion of recycled plastics into usable products (ie: fences, shingles, lumber). Est. Cost: $14 million dollars. Contact: Mr. Richard Wells, President. Environmental Resources, Inc. 10115 S. Marion, Tulsa, OK 74137. Tel: (918) 299-3540. Rec'd: 4/24/96.
• Upgrade of Wastewater Management System, Bisbee, Arizona. Update 1980 facility plan for wastewater management system and preliminary engineering. Est. Cost: $4.4 million. Contact: Nils A. Gustavson, Director of Public Works, 118 Arizona Street, Bisbee, Arizona 85603. Tel: (520) 342-5446. Rec'd 4/30/96.
• Installation of Water System, Desert Aire, New Mexico. Phase II and Phase III of the Desert Aire MDW&SWA water system installation to include water lines, fire hydrants, valves, meters, new well, and water tank. Est. Cost: $201,000. Contact: Mr. Manuel Quezada, Board Chairman MDW&SWA, Box 38, 112 Lisa Drive, Chaparral, New Mexico 88021. Tel: (915) 533-4241. Rec'd: 4/30/96.

The BECC is soliciting proposals for a two-phase project on the analysis and enhancement of BECC's sustainable development criteria. Proposals for the project can be submitted in English or Spanish and should include a description of each work task, task cost, time frame, task executor, and deliverables to complete the following.

Phase I of the project will be to: 1) identify a representative number of organizations (international, governmental, non-governmental, etc.) with sustainable development principles, criteria, or incentives that relate to environmental infrastructure projects; 2) using the BECC criteria document as a guide, develop a report listing the organizations, contacts, and a summary of the organization's principles, criteria, and incentives using the following categories: institutional capacity building, human capacity building, natural resource conservation and management, public health, technical efficiency, benefits to low-income residents, other socioeconomic factors, community participation, and other categories of community benefits that improve the quality of life or increase the long-term sustainability of the project and natural resource system; 3) develop recommendations for revision of BECC's fundamental sustainable development criteria, 4) develop recommendations for revision of project high sustainability recognition; 5) develop recommendations for project evaluation methodology to determine the level of project sustainability and 6) submission of all documents, reports, Internet resources, and other information analyzed for public use in the BECC Resource Center.

Phase II of the project will include the: 1) analysis of all public comments received on the BECC criteria document concerning sustainable development, 2) development of recommendations for revision of the criteria document, and 3) development of recommendations for establishment of project evaluation methodology to determine the level of project sustainability.

Phase I work should be completed by July 5, 1996; Phase II work should be completed between July 15 and August 15. The proposal should be a maximum of 5 pages with 15 pages of attachments for resumes of key participants and/or firm experience, for a total maximum of 20 pages. $20,000 has been budgeted for completion of the entire project. Award of Phase II will be contingent on successful completion of Phase I.

Any individual, firm, or organization may apply. Preference will be given to two-member teams with representatives from the United States and Mexico. All proposals must be received by May 23, 1996, and should be directed to: Ms. April Lander, BECC's Program Manager-Environment. Tel: 011-52 (16) 29-23-95; Fax 011-52 (16) 29-23-97; E-mail: alander@cocef.interjuarez.com.