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Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

June 17, 2010

Good Neighbor Environmental Board

13th Report of GNEB to the President and 

Congress of the United States

Paul Ganster, Chair

GNEB

San Diego State University

pganster@mail.sdsu.edu

A Blueprint for Action on 

the U.S.-Mexico Border
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GNEB 2010 meeting in Rio Rico, AZ
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Acknowledgements

• CEQ and Nancy Sutley for facilitating the 

Board’s interactions with the President and 

administration 

• EPA/OITA and Michelle DePass for 

leadership of Border 2012

• EPA/OCEM for support of GNEB and its 

activities
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GNEB 13th Report

• A comprehensive blueprint on border 

environmental issues

• The Board approached the issues and 

solutions with a clear understanding of the 

ongoing federal resource limitations 

• The Board brings perspectives from all 

border stakeholders, especially the border 

communities
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A Blueprint for Action

• 63 specific and actionable 

recommendations grouped in 8 thematic 

chapters

• There are also a number of cross-cutting 

observations and recommendations that 

appear throughout the report
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A Blueprint for Action

1 Climate Impacts, Adaptation, 

and Mitigation 

9 recommendations

2 Air Quality 7 recommendations

3 Renewable Energy 6 recommendations

4 Water 6 recommendations

5 Solid and Hazardous Waste 11 recommendations

6 Emergency Preparedness 9 recommendations

7 Habitat and Biodiversity 

Conservation

9 recommendations

8 Institutional Mechanisms 6 recommendations
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A Blueprint for Action

• Climate Impacts, Adaptation, and 

Mitigation

– Effects on border water and ecosystems

– Coordinate U.S.& Mexico federal, state, local 

adaptation and mitigation planning, education, and 

implementation for the border region

• Air Quality

– Binational airshed management

– Reduce idling and wait times at ports of entry

– Co-benefits of GHG and criteria pollutant reductions
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A Blueprint for Action

• Renewable Energy

– Coordination with Mexico of regulations and 

transborder effect assessment of renewable energy 

production and transmission

– Federal regulations and incentives for residential and 

commercial renewable energy and energy efficiency

• Water

– Water supply and drought

– Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program

– Water and watershed management coordination with 

Mexico and tribes
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A Blueprint for Action

• Solid and Hazardous Waste

– U.S. and Mexico coordination to improve flow of 

Hazmat through ports of entry; binational hazmat 

tracking system

– U.S. and Mexico coordination of flow and 

management of used materials such as tires, 

appliances, vehicles

– Binational recycling market development

• Emergency Preparedness

– Address border port of entry bottlenecks for 

emergency responders

– Improve and implement international and city-to-city 

agreements for effective regional emergency 

response system
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A Blueprint for Action

• Habitat and Biodiversity Conservation

– Better coordination among U.S. and Mexican officials 

for management of shared resources

– Coordinated binational response to climate change

– Mitigation of fence impacts and long-term monitoring

– DOI participation in Border 2012 

• Institutional Mechanisms

– Transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment

– Clarify roles of border institutions to address and 

prioritize unmet needs

– Make Border 2012 more accessible to tribes and 

small communities

– Other federal agencies should more actively 

participate in Border 2012 process—Energy, 

Agriculture, DHS, Defense, and others
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A Blueprint for Action: Themes

• Due to location along the international 

boundary, border communities face 

greater challenges and have a lower 

environmental quality than comparable 

communities within the United States
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A Blueprint for Action: Themes

• There is a 

coincidence of 

poverty, ethnicity, and 

environmental 

problems in border 

communities

– 68.5% Hispanic

– 88.0% Hispanic without San Diego & Pima
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A Blueprint for Action: Themes

• Improved coordination across the border is 

needed to develop binational solutions for 

binational environmental problems

• Better coordination among all U.S. federal 

agencies with programs in the border 

region would significantly improve 

approaches and efficiencies to border 

environmental problem resolution
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For More Information

Dolores Wesson

Designated Federal Officer

Good Neighbor Environmental Board

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Office of Cooperative Environmental 

Management

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Washington, DC 20460 

202/564-1351

wesson.dolores@epa.gov 

Paul Ganster, Ph.D.

Chair, GNEB

Institute for Regional Studies of the 

Californias

San Diego State University

5500 Campanile Drive, A&L 337 

San Diego, CA 92182-4403

619-694-5423

pganster@mail.sdsu.edu 

http://www.epa.gov/ocem/gneb/