II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 196

To establish certain environmental protection procedures within the area

comprising the border region between the United States and Mexico,

and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 11 (legislative day, JANUARY 10), 1995

Mr. MCCAIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Foreign Relations

A BILL

To establish certain environmental protection procedures

within the area comprising the border region between

the United States and Mexico, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; PURPOSE.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘United States-Mexico Border Environmental Protection

6 Act’’.

7 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide

8 for the protection of the environment within the area com9 prising the border region between the United States and
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1 Mexico, as defined by the Agreement on Cooperation for

2 the Protection and Improvement of the Environment in

3 the Border Area, signed at La Paz on August 14, 1983,

4 and entered into force on February 16, 1984 (TIAS

5 10827) (commonly known as the ‘‘La Paz Agreement’’).

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act:

8 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis9 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ10 mental Protection Agency.

11 (2) BORDER ENVIRONMENT ZONE.—The term

12 ‘‘Border Environment Zone’’ means the area de13 scribed in section 1(b).

14 (3) BORDER SANITATION EMERGENCY.—The

15 term ‘‘border sanitation emergency’’ means a situa16 tion in which untreated or inadequately treated sew17 age is discharged into international surface rivers or

18 streams that form or cross the boundary between

19 the United States and Mexico.

20 (4) COMMISSION FUND.—The term ‘‘Commis21 sion Fund’’ means the United States International

22 Boundary and Water Commission Fund established

23 by section 10(c).

24 (5) ENVIRONMENTAL FUND.—The term ‘‘Envi25 ronmental Fund’’ means the United States-Mexico
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1 Border Environmental Protection Fund established

2 by section 3.

3 (6) UNITED STATES COMMISSIONER.—The term

4 ‘‘United States Commissioner’’ means the United

5 States Commissioner, International Boundary and

6 Water Commission, United States and Mexico.

7 SEC. 3. ENVIRONMENTAL FUND.

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the

9 Treasury of the United States a trust fund to be used

10 to investigate and respond to conditions that the Adminis11 trator determines present a substantial threat to the land,

12 air, or water resources of the Border Environment Zone.

13 The fund shall be known as the ‘‘United States-Mexico

14 Border Environmental Protection Fund’’ and shall consist

15 of—

16 (1) such amounts as are transferred to the En17 vironmental Fund under subsection (b); and

18 (2) any interest earned on investments of

19 amounts in the Environmental Fund under sub20 section (d).

21 (b) TRANSFER TO ENVIRONMENTAL FUND.—From

22 amounts made available to the Department of State, the

23 Secretary of State shall transfer to the Secretary of the

24 Treasury for deposit into the Environmental Fund

25 $10,000,000. The Secretary of the Treasury shall deposit
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1 amounts received under this subsection into the Environ2 mental Fund.

3 (c) EXPENDITURES FROM ENVIRONMENTAL

4 FUND.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to this subsection,

6 upon request by the Administrator, the Secretary of

7 the Treasury shall transfer from the Environmental

8 Fund to the Administrator such amounts as the Ad9 ministrator determines are necessary to carry out

10 field investigations and remediation of an environ11 mental emergency declared by the Administrator

12 under section 4.

13 (2) COST-SHARING PROGRAMS.—Amounts in

14 the Environmental Fund shall be available for use

15 by the Administrator for cost-sharing programs that

16 carry out the purpose described in paragraph (1)

17 with—

18 (A) the Government of Mexico;

19 (B) any of the States of Arizona, Califor20 nia, New Mexico, or Texas;

21 (C) a political subdivision of any of the

22 States referred to in subparagraph (B);

23 (D) a local emergency planning committee;

24 (E) a federally recognized Indian tribe; or
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1 (F) any other entity that the Adminis2 trator determines to be appropriate.

3 (3) METHODS OF DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—

4 In carrying out the purpose described in paragraph

5 (1), the Administrator may expend amounts made

6 available to the Administrator from the Environ7 mental Fund directly or make the amounts available

8 through grants or contracts.

9 (4) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—An amount

10 not exceeding 10 percent of the amounts in the En11 vironmental Fund shall be available in each fiscal

12 year to pay administrative expenses necessary to

13 carry out the purpose described in paragraph (1).

14 (5) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts in the

15 Environmental Fund shall be available without fiscal

16 year limitation.

17 (d) INVESTMENT OF FUNDS.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas19 ury shall invest such portion of the Environmental

20 Fund as is not, in the judgment of the Secretary, re21 quired to meet current withdrawals. Investments

22 may be made only in interest-bearing obligations of

23 the United States.
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1 (2) ACQUISITION OF OBLIGATIONS.—For the

2 purpose of investments, obligations may be ac3 quired—

4 (A) on original issue at the issue price; or

5 (B) by purchase of outstanding obligations

6 at the market price.

7 (3) SALE OF OBLIGATIONS.—Any obligation ac8 quired by the Environmental Fund may be sold by

9 the Secretary of the Treasury at the market price.

10 (4) CREDITS TO ENVIRONMENTAL FUND.—The

11 interest on, and the proceeds from the sale or re12 demption of, any obligations held in the Environ13 mental Fund shall be credited to and form a part of

14 the Environmental Fund.

15 (e) TRANSFERS OF AMOUNTS.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amounts required to be

17 transferred to the Environmental Fund under sub18 section (d) shall be transferred at least monthly

19 from the general fund of the Treasury to the Envi20 ronmental Fund on the basis of estimates made by

21 the Secretary of the Treasury.

22 (2) ADJUSTMENTS.—Proper adjustment shall

23 be made in amounts subsequently transferred to the

24 extent prior estimates were in excess of or less than

25 the amounts required to be transferred.
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1 SEC. 4. DECLARATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL EMERGENCIES.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—

3 (1) DETERMINATION BY THE ADMINIS4 TRATOR.—Subject to paragraph (3), if the Adminis5 trator determines that conditions exist that present

6 a substantial threat to the land, air, or water re7 sources of the area comprising the Border Environ8 ment Zone, the Administrator may declare that an

9 environmental emergency exists in the Zone.

10 (2) PETITION OF GOVERNOR.—Subject to para11 graph (3), in addition to the authority under para12 graph (1), the Administrator, upon the petition of

13 the Governor of the State of Arizona, California,

14 New Mexico, or Texas, or the governing body of a

15 federally recognized Indian tribe, may declare that

16 an environmental emergency exists in the Zone.

17 (3) LIMITATION.—The Administrator may not

18 declare a condition to be an environmental emer19 gency under this section if the condition is specifi20 cally within the sole jurisdiction of the International

21 Boundary and Water Commission.

22 (b) CONSULTATION WITH AFFECTED PARTIES.—In

23 responding to emergencies, the Administrator shall consult

24 and cooperate with affected States, counties, municipali25 ties, Indian tribes, the Government of Mexico, and other

26 affected parties.
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1 (c) AUTHORITY TO RESPOND.—The Administrator

2 may respond directly to an emergency declared under this

3 section or may coordinate the response with appropriate

4 State or local authorities.

5 SEC. 5. INFORMATION SHARING.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in cooperation

7 with the Secretary of State, the Governors of the States

8 of Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas, the gov9 erning bodies of federally recognized Indian tribes located

10 within the Border Environment Zone, and the appropriate

11 officials of the Government of Mexico, may establish a sys12 tem for information sharing and for early warning to the

13 United States, each of the several States and political sub14 divisions of the States, and Indian tribes, of environmental

15 problems affecting the Border Environment Zone.

16 (b) INTEGRATION INTO EXISTING SYSTEMS AND

17 PROCEDURES.—The Administrator shall integrate sys18 tems and procedures established under this section into

19 any systems and procedures that are in existence at the

20 time of the establishment under this section and that were

21 established to provide information sharing and early warn22 ing regarding environmental problems affecting the Bor23 der Environment Zone.
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1 SEC. 6. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—After consultation with the Sec3 retary of State, appropriate officials of the Government

4 of Mexico, the Governors of the States of Arizona, Califor5 nia, New Mexico, and Texas, and the governing bodies of

6 appropriate federally recognized Indian tribes, the Admin7 istrator shall submit an annual report to Congress describ8 ing the use of the Environmental Fund during the cal9 endar year preceding the calendar year in which the report

10 is filed, and the status of the environmental quality of the

11 area comprising the Border Environment Zone.

12 (b) NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY.—The Administrator

13 shall publish a notice of the availability of the report in

14 the Federal Register, together with a brief summary of

15 the report.

16 SEC. 7. INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS.

17 (a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of State, acting

18 through the United States Commissioner, may enter into

19 agreements with the appropriate representative of the

20 Ministry of Foreign Relations of Mexico for the purpose

21 of correcting border sanitation emergencies.

22 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Agreements entered into

23 under subsection (a) should consist of recommendations

24 to the Governments of the United States and Mexico of

25 measures to protect the health and welfare of persons

26 along the international surface rivers and streams that
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1 form or cross the boundary between the United States and

2 Mexico, including recommendations concerning—

3 (1) facilities that should be constructed, oper4 ated, and maintained in each country;

5 (2) estimates of the costs of plans, construction,

6 operation, and maintenance of the facilities;

7 (3) formulas for the sharing of costs between

8 the United States and the Government of Mexico;

9 and

10 (4) a time schedule for the construction of fa11 cilities and other measures recommended by the

12 agreements entered into under this section.

13 SEC. 8. JOINT RESPONSES TO BORDER SANITATION EMER14 GENCIES.

15 (a) CONSTRUCTION OF WORKS.—The Secretary of

16 State, acting through the United States Commissioner,

17 may enter into agreements with the appropriate represent18 ative of the Ministry of Foreign Relations of Mexico for

19 the purpose of joint response to correct border sanitation

20 emergencies through the construction of works, repair of

21 existing infrastructure, and other appropriate measures in

22 Mexico and the United States. The United States Com23 missioner shall consult with the Governors of the States

24 of Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas in develop-
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1 ing and implementing agreements entered into under this

2 section.

3 (b) HEALTH AND WELFARE.—Agreements entered

4 into under subsection (a) should consist of recommenda5 tions to the Governments of the United States and Mexico

6 that establish general response plans to protect the health

7 and welfare of persons along the international surface riv8 ers and streams that form or cross the boundary between

9 the United States and Mexico, including recommendations

10 concerning—

11 (1) types of border sanitation emergencies re12 quiring response, including sewer line breaks, power

13 interruptions to wastewater handling facilities,

14 breakdowns in components of wastewater handling

15 facilities, and accidental discharge of sewage;

16 (2) types of response to border sanitation emer17 gencies, including acquisition, use, and maintenance

18 of joint response equipment and facilities, small

19 scale construction (including modifications to exist20 ing infrastructure and temporary works), and the in21 stallation of emergency and standby power facilities;

22 (3) formulas for the distribution of the costs of

23 responses to emergencies under this section on a

24 case-by-case basis; and
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1 (4) requirements for defining the beginning and

2 end of an emergency.

3 SEC. 9. CONSTRUCTION, REPAIRS, AND OTHER MEASURES.

4 (a) BORDER SANITATION EMERGENCIES.—The Sec5 retary of State, acting through the United States Commis6 sioner, may respond through construction, repairs, and

7 other measures in the United States to correct border

8 sanitation emergencies. The Secretary of State may re9 spond directly to a border sanitation emergency or may

10 coordinate the response with appropriate State or local au11 thorities.

12 (b) CONSULTATION WITH AFFECTED PARTIES.—In

13 responding to a border sanitation emergency, the Sec14 retary shall consult and cooperate with the Administrator,

15 affected States, counties, municipalities, federally recog16 nized Indian tribes, the Government of Mexico, and other

17 affected parties.

18 SEC. 10. TRANSFER OF FUNDS.

19 (a) TRANSFER AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of State,

20 acting through the United States Commissioner, may in21 clude as part of the agreements entered into under sec22 tions 7, 8, and 9 such arrangements as are necessary to

23 administer the transfer to another country of funds as24 signed to 1 country and obtained from Federal or non25 Federal governmental or nongovernmental sources.
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1 (b) COST-SHARING AGREEMENTS.—

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para3 graph (2), no funds of the United States shall be ex4 pended in Mexico for emergency investigation or re5 mediation pursuant to section 7, 8, or 9 without a

6 cost-sharing agreement between the United States

7 and the Government of Mexico.

8 (2) EXCEPTION.—

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Funds may be ex10 pended as described in paragraph (1) without a

11 cost-sharing agreement if the Secretary of State

12 determines and can demonstrate that the ex13 penditure of the funds in Mexico would be cost14 effective and in the interest of the United

15 States.

16 (B) REPORT.—If funds are expended as

17 described in paragraph (1) without a cost-shar18 ing agreement, the Secretary of State shall sub19 mit a report to the appropriate committees of

20 Congress that explains why the costs were not

21 shared between the United States and the Gov22 ernment of Mexico and why the expenditure of

23 the funds without cost-sharing was in the inter24 est of the United States.

25 (c) COMMISSION FUND.—
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1 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in

2 the Treasury of the United States a trust fund to

3 be known as the ‘‘United States International

4 Boundary and Water Commission Fund’’. The Com5 mission Fund shall consist of—

6 (A) such amounts as are transferred to the

7 Commission Fund under paragraph (2); and

8 (B) any interest earned on investment of

9 amounts in the Commission Fund under para10 graph (4).

11 (2) TRANSFER TO COMMISSION FUND.—From

12 amounts made available to the Department of State,

13 the Secretary of State shall transfer to the Secretary

14 of the Treasury for deposit into the Commission

15 Fund $5,000,000. The Secretary of the Treasury

16 shall deposit amounts received under this paragraph

17 into the Commission Fund.

18 (3) EXPENDITURES FROM COMMISSION

19 FUND.—

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to this para21 graph, upon request by the Secretary of State,

22 the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer

23 from the Commission Fund to the Secretary of

24 State such amounts as the Secretary of State
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1 determines are necessary to carry out this sec2 tion and sections 7, 8, and 9.

3 (B) METHODS OF DISTRIBUTION OF

4 FUNDS.—In carrying out the purpose described

5 in subparagraph (A), the Secretary of State

6 may expend amounts made available to the Sec7 retary of State from the Commission Fund di8 rectly or make the amounts available through

9 grants or contracts.

10 (C) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—An

11 amount not exceeding 10 percent of the

12 amounts in the Commission Fund shall be

13 available in each fiscal year to pay administra14 tive expenses necessary to carry out the purpose

15 described in subparagraph (A).

16 (D) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts

17 in the Commission Fund shall be available with18 out fiscal year limitation.

19 (4) INVESTMENT OF FUNDS.—

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the

21 Treasury shall invest such portion of the Com22 mission Fund as is not, in the judgment of the

23 Secretary, required to meet current withdraw24 als. Investments may be made only in interest25 bearing obligations of the United States.
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1 (B) ACQUISITION OF OBLIGATIONS.—For

2 the purpose of investments, obligations may be

3 acquired—

4 (i) on original issue at the issue price;

5 or

6 (ii) by purchase of outstanding obliga7 tions at the market price.

8 (C) SALE OF OBLIGATIONS.—Any obliga9 tion acquired by the Commission Fund may be

10 sold by the Secretary of the Treasury at the

11 market price.

12 (D) CREDITS TO COMMISSION FUND.—The

13 interest on, and the proceeds from the sale or

14 redemption of, any obligations held in the Com15 mission Fund shall be credited to and form a

16 part of the Commission Fund.

17 (5) TRANSFERS OF AMOUNTS.—

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The amounts required

19 to be transferred to the Commission Fund

20 under paragraph (4) shall be transferred at

21 least monthly from the general fund of the

22 Treasury to the Commission Fund on the basis

23 of estimates made by the Secretary of the

24 Treasury.
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1 (B) ADJUSTMENTS.—Proper adjustment

2 shall be made in amounts subsequently trans3 ferred to the extent prior estimates were in ex4 cess of or less than the amounts required to be

5 transferred.

6 SEC. 11. ADMINISTRATION.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State and the

8 Administrator shall carry out this Act in a manner that

9 is consistent with the environmental provisions of the

10 North American Free Trade Agreement, so long as the

11 United States applies the North American Free Trade

12 Agreement to Mexico.

13 (b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘North

14 American Free Trade Agreement’’ means the agreement

15 between the United States and Mexico (without regard to

16 whether Canada is a party to all or part of the agreement)

17 entered into on December 17, 1992, and approved by Con18 gress pursuant to section 101(a) of the North American

19 Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (19 U.S.C.

20 3311(a)). The term includes any letters exchanged be21 tween the Government of the United States and the Gov22 ernment of Mexico with respect to the agreement and any

23 side agreements entered into in connection with the agree24 ment.
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1 SEC. 12. EFFECT ON OTHER LAW.

2 Nothing in this Act shall amend, repeal, or otherwise

3 modify any provision of the Comprehensive Environmental

4 Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42

5 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.), the Superfund Amendments and Re6 authorization Act of 1986 (Public Law 99–499) and the

7 amendments made by the Act, or any other law, treaty,

8 or international agreement of the United States.

9 SEC. 13. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.

10 The authority provided by this Act shall terminate

11 on the date that is 5 years after the date of enactment

12 of this Act.

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