YGNACIO GARZA NAMED CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY IN MERCEDES, TEXAS

BORDER XXI - NATIONAL COORDINATORS MEETING

EPA AND NADBANK ENTER INTO COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT

RUBIN AND ORTIZ ANNOUNCE MANAGEMENT CHANGES AT NADBANK

BECC PARTICIPATES IN CONFERENCE ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

NEW STEP I FORMAT RECEIVED

BECC Director Ygnacio Garza was named Chairman of the Board of Directors by the Governments of the United States and Mexico ("the Parties") this month after the new General Manager and Deputy General Manager were selected in early May.

Chairman Garza has served on the BECC Board since its inception as a border state representative. A resident of Brownsville, Texas, Mr. Garza is the Managing Partner of Long, Chilton, Payte & Hardin, LLP, Certified Public Accountants. He is the former Chairman of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission and former Mayor of the City of Brownsville. Mr. Garza has also been a City Commissioner for Brownsville and President of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council.

The Rules of Procedure governing the Board of Directors require that the Chairman of the Board be a Director of the same nationality as the Deputy General Manager. Furthermore, according to the Rules, the Chairperson is selected annually, on an alternating basis by each of the Parties. Mr. Garza replaces Dr. Jorge A. Bustamante, a Mexican citizen, who served as Board Chairman since 1994.

BECC Chairman Ygnacio Garza joined NADBank Managing Director Victor Miramontes, Congressman Ruben Hinojosa, Texas Secretary of State Tony Garza, EDA Regional Manager Pedro Garza, Texas Water Development Board Vice-Chair Noe Fernandez and Mayor of Mercedes Miguel Castillo in the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the City of Mercedes Water and Wastewater Expansion Project on May 23^rd. Senator Kay Bailey Huchison’s Office, the Rio Grande Empowerment Zone and University of Texas - Pan American also participated in the event.

The BECC played an important part in the development of the Mercedes project. To achieve certification, the BECC helped the community develop a project proposal to expand its existing water and wastewater systems. As a result, the $4.3 million project was certified in November 1996, based on the community’s ability to comply with a set of rigorous technical, environmental, financial and community participation criteria. With certification, the project qualified for financing from the North American Development Bank, which has made the construction of this project a reality.

The BECC is gratified to note that the goals of the project are to be complemented and enlarged by a partnership with the Texas Water Development Board, which will help fund connections for thousands of nearby colonia residents to the City’s water and wastewater treatment facilities. The combined effect of these joint endeavors will be to allow the City to supply potable water to, and collect and treat wastewater from, residents in the City as well as in surrounding colonias.

The Mercedes project is one of twelve projects certified by the BECC to date.

Top officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), William Nitze and Alan Hecht, emphasized the success of the Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC) and North American Development Bank (NADBank), for the benefit of the United States and Mexican border region, during the National Coordinators Meeting of the Border XXI, which was held in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, ON May 26-28th.

The EPA officials noted that the BECC’s and NADBank’s participation will be especially important for long-term planning in the border region, with funds dedicated to the BECC from the EPA for technical assistance. The $10 million technical assistance program will include the development of Master Plans for border communities, which Mr. Nitze noted will facilitate the certification and financing process for projects submitted to the BECC.

Jose Luis Samaniego, Director of International Relations for Mexico’s Secretary for Ecology, Natural Resources and Fisheries (SEMARNAP), concurred with the importance of strategic planning, and added that the federal government believes that the two institutions, created by parallel agreement to NAFTA, will operate with a vision of long-term sustainable development, to promote environmental infrastructure projects on the border well into the next century.

BECC General Manager Javier Cabrera and Deputy General Manager Peter S. Silva highlighted the BECC’s achievements to date and outlined the objectives of the new administration. Mr. Cabrera noted that as an organization the BECC is an innovative model and complements the Border XXI program and the diverse institutions, organizations and individuals involved in the development of environmental infrastructure on the border. Currently, the BECC participates in the Border XXI’s water and hazardous waste workgroups.

Mr. Cabrera also presented the most important elements of his work plan, to:

• Consolidate and improve the technical and administrative structure of the institution.
• Establish more agile mechanisms for the certification process, with better coordination among the three levels of government, NADBank and border communities of both countries.
• Make the BECC a key player in relations between the United States and Mexico.

The BECC Managers also announced that $130 million worth of environmental infrastructure projects which will be considered for certification during the 12^th Public Meeting of the Board of Directors, scheduled for June 18^th, at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Mexicali, Baja California.

Finally, Arturo Nuñez, a Manager with the NADBank, highlighted NADBank’s achievements, including the Bank approval of financing packages for the $25 million Water Treatment Plant in Brawley, California, and the $4.5 million water and wastewater project in Mercedes, Texas, as well as a financing package for the $830,000 project in Naco, Sonora, and guarantees for the $1 million Wastewater Treatment Plant for the Finsa Industrial Park in Matamoros.

Mr. Nuñez also noted the Bank’s coordinating mechanisms with Mexico’s Treasury Secretary and BANOBRAS, which allows Mexican communities to access credit from the Bank through an exchange risk mechanism. Furthermore, he highlighted NADBank’s cooperative agreement with EPA, through which the Bank will administer $170 million of EPA funds for construction of environmental infrastructure projects on both sides of the border.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Carol E. Browner announced earlier this month that EPA has entered into a cooperative agreement with the North American Development Bank (NADBank). Pursuant to the cooperative agreement, EPA will contribute $170 million to the Border Environment Infrastructure Fund established by the Bank to administer grant resources for border water and wastewater projects. The Bank will be responsible for formulating financing packages with the grant money from EPA and other sources, and the Bank’s own loan and guaranty programs. EPA will have final approval of which projects will receive its funds. To qualify for the EPA grant funding, projects must be certified by the BECC.

Administer Browner noted that the funds would be available for projects on both sides of the border, which reflects U.S. commitment to coordination with Mexico of policies and resources for a region whose transboundary environmental problems require binational solutions.

The cooperative agreement is EPA’s response to the challenge of developing a variety of flexible mechanisms for meeting the needs of border communities and appropriate to the unique circumstances of each of these communities.

Contact: Ms. Annie Alvarado, NADBank, Tel: (210) 231-8000.

Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin and Mexican Finance Minister Guillermo Ortiz, on behalf of the Board of Directors of the NADBank, named Victor Miramontes as the new Managing Director of the Bank. In addition, they selected Raul Rodriguez to replace Mr. Miramontes as the Deputy Managing Director.

Mr. Miramontes has been the Bank’s Deputy Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer since December 1994. He is largely responsible for the Bank’s policy development and its relations with U.S. Congress, U.S. agencies, and border state governments. Prior to working for the Bank, he was Vice President and Regional Manager of Wells Fargo Bank of San Antonio, Texas, with considerable experience in financing infrastructure projects in the border region.

Mr. Rodriguez was appointed Director of Project Development and Finance at the NADBank in early 1995. He has played the central role in developing the Bank’s first projects and establishing its institutional development program. Prior to joining the Bank, he has served as Executive Director of the Mexican Foreign Trade Bank, Mexico’s Trade Commissioner in Canada, and Secretary of Economic Development for the border state of Tamaulipas.

The NADBank, which is capitalized and governed by the U.S. and Mexican governments, is designed to finance environmental infrastructure projects certified by the BECC. The Bank has already approved four financing packages, two in the U.S. and two in Mexico.

Contact: Annie Alvarado, NADBank, (210) 231-8000.

The central goal of the Sustainable Development Conference, help on May 9, 1997, was to bring together academic researchers and representatives of diverse community constituencies to examine the environmental and social consequences of closer economic integration within the San Diego-Tijuana region. Key issues examined included:

• Environmental Implications of Economic Integration
• Immigration, Population Growth, and the Environment
• Governance Issues under the Environmental Side Agreement to the NAFTA
• Environmental Infrastructure and Community Planning

April Lander, BECC’s Environmental Program Manager, represented the BECC on a panel addressing the Governance Issues under the Environmental Side Agreement to NAFTA. Each of the institutions created by environmental side agreement (BECC, NADBank and CEC) were examined during this session.

The conference was sponsored by the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, University of California, San Diego in association with the Institute for Regional Studies of the Californias (SDSU) and the University of California Consortium on Mexico and the United States (UCMEXUS).

Contact: April Lander, MEM, BECC Program Manager, at Tel: (011-52-16) 29-23-95; E-mail: alander@cocef.interjuarez.com.

In accordance with Article I of the Border Environment Cooperation Commission's (BECC) Procedures Regarding Public Notice and Comment on Project Applications, the BECC has received a Step I Form for the following projects during the months of April and May. Please note that this listing does not represent any type of BECC staff recommendation concerning the potential for project certification.

• Wastewater Treatment Plant, Brawley, CA. Expansion of the city's wastewater treatment plant from its current 3.9 MGD to 6.0 MGD with a hydraulic capacity to perform adequately at combined storm and DWF of up to 15.3 MGD. Total Est. Cost: $6 million. Contact: Mr. Jerry Santillan, City Manager, City of Brawley, 400 Main Street, Brawley, CA 92227; Tel: (760) 344-9111; Fax: (760) 344-0907. Rec’d: 4/17/97.

• Organ Wastewater System Upgrade, Organ, NM. The project aims to improve the current lagoons and extend their collection system. Total Est. Cost: $600,000. Contact: Mr. Charles Jefferson, President, Organ Water and Sewer Association, P.O. Box 123 Organ, NM 88052; Tel: (505) 382-5423 ; Fax: (505) 382-5582. Rec’d: 5/13/97.

• Wastewater Collection System Extension and Treatment Facility Improvements, City of Tombstone, AZ. The project entails the expansion of the sewer system, currently with a 50% coverage. Project also involves improvements to the treatment plant, drying capacity, and a dechlorination process to bring the plant into compliance with its NPDES permit. Total Est. Cost: $3.3 million. Contact: Mr. Henry Harvey, City Clerk, City of Tombstone, 315 Freemont St. Tombstone, AZ 85638; Tel: (520) 457-2202; Fax: (520) 457-3516. Rec’d: 5/27/97.

For more information, contact Edgardo Tovilla, Technical Coordinator at tel: (011-52-16) 29-23-95; e-mail: etovilla@cocef.interjuarez.com.

The BECCNEWS would like to recognize April Lander this month for her work…behind the scenes.

Many subscribers to the BECCNEWS know Ms. Lander for her work on the BECC’s Project Certification Criteria. In addition to helping the BECC establish a set of criteria to help communities develop projects and subsequently evaluate them, Ms. Lander is also responsible for the analysis of human health and environmental need, environmental impact assessments including transboundary environmental impacts, project compliance with environmental and cultural resource laws and international agreements, and sustainable development aspects of project development.

Ms. Lander holds a Master’s Degree in Environmental Management from Duke University specializing in water and air resources and a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Management from Knox College specializing in biology, geology and economics. Ms. Lander has considerable experience in implementation and evaluation of natural resource conservation and development projects. Her experience has taken her to the countries of Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Peru, and most recently to Mexico.

Previously, Ms. Lander worked with the Peruvian Foundation for the Conservation of Nature and the World Wildlife Fund on national park management. She also served as Chief of Regional Planning for the Texas Water Development Board.