Good Neighbor Environmental Board

Innovative and Practical Approaches to Solving Border 

Environmental Problems

1

Twelfth Annual Report to the President 

and Congress of the United States

Innovative and Practical 

Approaches to Solving Border 

Environmental Problems

Press Briefing

Washington, D.C., March 10, 2009
Good Neighbor Environmental Board

Innovative and Practical Approaches to Solving Border 

Environmental Problems

Twelfth Annual Report 

To the President and Congress

2

• 9 case studies and 4 case highlights of 

successful projects that address important 

border environmental problems

– demonstrate the power of mobilizing local, 

regional, and state stakeholders from both sides of 

the border

– Reveal the critical role that federal agencies and 

the U.S. Congress play
Good Neighbor Environmental Board

Innovative and Practical Approaches to Solving Border 

Environmental Problems

Twelfth Annual Report 

To the President and Congress

3
Good Neighbor Environmental Board

Innovative and Practical Approaches to Solving Border 

Environmental Problems

• Recommendations

– Continued and enhanced efforts at the federal level 

to facilitate crossborder cooperation on 

transboundary environmental issues

– Enhanced federal support for the Border 2012 

Program process—the joint U.S.-Mexico effort to 

resolve border environmental problems—as well 

as other border environmental initiatives, 

including infrastructure

Twelfth Annual Report 

To the President and Congress

4
Good Neighbor Environmental Board

Innovative and Practical Approaches to Solving Border 

Environmental Problems

• Recommendations

– Improved cooperation across media, federal 

agencies, and local and state entities to resolve 

many border environmental issues efficiently

– Increased federal leadership in fostering markets 

and support for renewable energy, alternative 

fuels, and reuse of scrap material, both 

domestically along the border and across the 

border with Mexico

Twelfth Annual Report 

To the President and Congress

5
Good Neighbor Environmental Board

Innovative and Practical Approaches to Solving Border 

Environmental Problems

Twelfth Annual Report 

To the President and Congress

6
Good Neighbor Environmental Board

Innovative and Practical Approaches to Solving Border 

Environmental Problems

• Wastepaper to create 

building blocks, reduce 

landfill burning

– Ambos Nogales

– Compatible with local 

building methods

– Binational collaboration:

• Business

• Community

• Universities

• Border 2012

Twelfth Annual Report 

To the President and Congress

7
Good Neighbor Environmental Board

Innovative and Practical Approaches to Solving Border 

Environmental Problems

• Constructed wetlands to 

clean contaminated 

problem

– Imperial Valley, CA

– Reduce sedimentation, 

biological contaminants

– Potential problem with 

selenium

– Coalition of local groups, 

federal agencies, 

Congressional support

Twelfth Annual Report 

To the President and Congress

8
Good Neighbor Environmental Board

Innovative and Practical Approaches to Solving Border 

Environmental Problems

Eleventh Annual Report 

To the President and Congress

9
Good Neighbor Environmental Board

Innovative and Practical Approaches to Solving Border 

Environmental Problems

• Transboundary airshed 

management and 

emissions trading

– Paso del Norte

– Pollution credits for El 

Paso utility for building 

lower pollution brick 

kilns in Ciudad Juárez

– Under Texas law

Twelfth Annual Report 

To the President and Congress

10
Good Neighbor Environmental Board

Innovative and Practical Approaches to Solving Border 

Environmental Problems

• Coastal wetland to 

restore habitat and 

species and to reduce 

windborne dust

– Brownsville

– Extensive partnering and 

working across media

– Marine and estuarine 

species have returned

– Dust clouds eliminated 

immediately

Twelfth Annual Report 

To the President and Congress

11
Good Neighbor Environmental Board

Innovative and Practical Approaches to Solving Border 

Environmental Problems

• Binational biodiesel 

production in Ambos 

Nogales

– Reduce grease problems 

in binational sewage 

treatment system

– Waste vegetable oil to 

produce fuel and soap

– Industry, universities, 

Border 2012, and state 

environmental agency

Twelfth Annual Report 

To the President and Congress

12
Good Neighbor Environmental Board

Innovative and Practical Approaches to Solving Border 

Environmental Problems

9

• Wind power for 

renewable and clean 

energy

– Tribal development of 

Campo Kumeyaay 

Nation

– Wind and land resource 

use

– Key role of federal 

government

Twelfth Annual Report 

To the President and Congress

13
Good Neighbor Environmental Board

Innovative and Practical Approaches to Solving Border 

Environmental Problems

Twelfth Annual Report 

To the President and Congress

14

For More Information:

Paul Ganster, Chair, Good Neighbor Environmental Board

pganster@mail.sdsu.edu

Mark Joyce, Designated Federal Officer, OCEM

Joyce.Mark@epa.gov