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Good Neighbor Environmental Board Comment Letter
 an independent federal advisory committee on environmental sustainability in the U.S.-Mexico border region |
Chair |
|
| Designated Federal Officer Elaine Koerner Telephone: (202) 564-2586 Koerner.Elaine@epa.gov |
April 14, 2006
The President
The Vice President
The Speaker of the House of Representatives
As your advisors on environmental and infrastructure issues along the
U.S. border with Mexico, we write to express our continued support for
the North American Development Bank (NADB) and the Border Environment
Cooperation Commission (BECC). Both agencies were created in 1993 under
a bilateral side agreement to NAFTA to improve environmental infrastructure
in the U.S.-Mexico border region. The NADB was established specifically
to help finance projects in the U.S.-Mexico border after certification
by BECC.
Recent media reports in both the United States and Mexico indicate
that over the past few years, members of the U.S. Department of Treasury
have discussed an attempt to close down the NADB with members of Mexico's
Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit. In fact, Treasury spokespersons
have acknowledged these talks in public statements. While it appears
that a shutdown has been averted for now, the Good Neighbor Environmental
Board remains very concerned that this issue may arise again, and that
the benefits of NADB still are not fully understood.
Any movement toward eliminating the NADB is, in our view, extremely
regrettable because the Bank and the Commission are the very institutions
helping to provide solutions to environmental infrastructure needs
in the border region: As of December 31, 2005, NADB had provided $704
million, through grants or loans, to 90 border environmental infrastructure
projects in both the U.S. and Mexico border regions. These projects
have an estimated total cost of $2.35 billion dollars and demonstrate
NADB's ability to leverage additional capital. As a result of
these NADB grants or loans, many of the recipient communities have
improved their potable water facilities or wastewater treatment plants;
in some cases, these funds have made possible the development of facilities
where none had existed before. NADB's water and wastewater programs
are directly and indirectly benefiting more than 6 million people on
the U.S.-Mexico border.
We recognize that all institutions have room for improvement, and we
respect the recent reforms your administration made to the NADB and
the BECC. Just last year, you issued Executive Order 13380 regarding
membership of a combined NADB-BECC board. In addition, in April 2004
you signed into law HR 254, which made changes to the NADB and the
BECC, preceded by a Statement of Administration Policy (February 26,
2003) that read:
"
The Administration strongly supports passage of H.R. 254, which authorizes
key reforms of the North American Development Bank (NADB) and the Border
Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC). Since taking office, President
Bush has worked closely with Mexico's President Fox to make these
institutions more effective in addressing the critical environmental
needs of the communities of the U.S.-Mexico border region and, thus,
improve the quality of life for the region's 12 million residents…"
In January of this year, to fulfill Executive Order 13380, U.S. members
were appointed to the combined board. With this series of reforms to
NADB and BECC having recently occurred, we believe these changes should
be allowed to work their course. In addition, we strongly urge members
of the new board to hold a public meeting as soon as practical and
act on pending projects.
The U.S.-Mexico border region continues to be an area of tremendous
environmental and infrastructure needs. More than $900 million in water
and wastewater infrastructure needs were identified in 2005. The dissolution
of the NADB would create serious problems for border community residents
and, ultimately, for the nation. Rather than consider terminating the
NADB, we advise, instead, that the NADB be strengthened through continued
funding and a recommitment by the members of its Board, as well as
high ranking staff within the U.S. Department of Treasury, to advance
its important work.
Sincerely yours,
Paul Ganster,
Chair
Note: As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department
of
State are members of the combined BECC-NADB board, the Good Neighbor
Environmental Board representatives from those agencies have recused
themselves from this Comment Letter. In addition, the representatives
from the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Health and Human Services,
Interior, and Transportation also have recused themselves, as has the
U.S. Commissioner of the International Boundary and Water Commission.