RESEARCH PAPER NUMBER: 28
RESEARCH PAPER MNEMONIC: XUSEX28
RESEARCH PAPER NAME: US-Mexico Border Issues
DRAFT AUTHOR: Patrick Sanders
The Rio Grande is important ecological and economic significance because of the water that it provides to businesses and local communities all along the Texas and Mexico border. Dealing with the problems of an area like the Rio Grande river is not an easy task and many issues need to be considered. It is helpful, for example, to consider issues like the type of dangers the water supply of the Rio Grande faces by the communities and businesses that it serves, the role multilateral agreements play in protecting the environment, previous cases that have addressed pollution on the border, and the collaborative efforts that have been made between countries to protect their shared environment.
II. ISSUE BACKGROUND
The Rio Grande begins in the San Juan Mountains of southern Colorado and follows 1,885-mile course before it empties into the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way the river and its tributaries drain a land area more than twice the size of California. This drainage area, or basin, encompasses a widely varied landscape in the U.S. and Mexico including mountains, forests, and deserts. The basin is home to diverse native plants and wildlife as well as some 10 million people. For approximately two -thirds of its course, the river also serves as the boundary between the countries.
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that was signed in December 1992 and approved by the U.S. Congress in the Fall of 1993 has greatly impacted the quality and quantity of the water in the river basin. In fact, part of the public debate surrounding NAFTA centered on the environment, especially the implications of increased U.S./Mexico economic integration for the border environment. To address some of these environmental concerns, NAFTA was accompanied by environmental "side agreements" setting up new binational and trinational agencies to deal with some of the environmental issues. The agreement, which strengthens trade relationships between the United States, Mexico and Canada, was the culmination of more than 3 years of sometimes difficult negotiations between the countries.
Concerns and conflicts over water have historically involved water quantity, and predicted population and economic growth will exacerbate the problem of water supply. In the last few decades, however, major concerns over water quality have arisen as increased pressures from the agricultural, municipal and industrial sectors have led to new and more widespread possibilities for contamination. Quality also depends on quantity: a river system with scarce water has a limited capacity to maintain its chemical and biological balance while accommodating human waste.
The problem of pollution on the border, specifically water pollution, was not a new phenomenon. NAFTA, however, helped to bring the need for environmental clean-up and regulation to public attention. The problem of pollution on the Rio Grande goes back mare than thirty years. In 1965, Mexico initiated the Border Industrialization Program, widely known now as the maquiladora program. Under this program, foreign companies (primarily form the U.S. and Asia) could construct factories in Mexico and import parts and materials to those factories duty -free.
While the maquiladora program achieved its purpose of providing jobs for Mexican workers, it also attracted a growing population to the border, and as a developing country, Mexico was not fully equipped to cope with the environmental implications of the rapid industrial development at its northern border.
The environmental and public health implications of rapid population growth and industrial development at the border drew increasing attention during the NAFTA debate. Attention was focused on several issues, including: 1) the lack of wastewater treatment and drinking water systems 2) problems tracking and accounting for hazardous waste generated by maquiladora plants 3) concerns about industrial air and water pollution associated with maquiladora plants.
To deal with these issues more effectively, both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) have strengthened their border-related operations, in conjunction with their Mexican counter-parts. A few of the most recent initiatives to address the problem include: NAFTA and the Border Environment Cooperation Commission. The environmental infrastructure side agreement to NAFTA between Mexico and the U.S. created the Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC) and the North American Development Bank (NAD Bank) to address the environmental infrastructure needs of the border area.
NAFTA has brought with it not only the potential for greater economic growth but also a larger population and increased industrialization on the border, and according to the Executive Summary of a biennial report authorized by the Texas Clean Rivers Act (1991), increased population and industrialization creates greater risk to the quality and quantity of the water used on the border.
According to the Texas Environmental Almanac, in the fifteen Texas counties that border Mexico there has been on average a 27% increase in population from 1980 to 1990 from 1,211,820 to 1,535, 823. In the four Mexican states that border the U.S. the result was much the same. The average growth rate between border area populations and the rest of the state population was 26%. As a result of this increased population and industrialization, federal and local governments have been forced to deal with the key issues of wastewater treatment such as tracking hazardous waste, and maquiladora pollution, which can help provide a healthier water supply to the border population.(see case-study, Rio Grande, for more statistical information)
There are projects being developed to address the problem. The BECC and the North American Development Bank, for example, will give priority to projects that deal with water pollution, wastewater treatment and municipal solid waste. A study by the IBWC found that the cost of construction of wastewater treatment plants for Mexican border towns between and including Ciudad Juarez and Matamoros would approach $2 billion. While costly such funding could be the single most important factor in the effort for improved water quality in the basin.
Second, in order to better track waste movements across the border and to conduct monitoring of air and water quality in the region, in 1993 the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission established an office of Border Affairs and Environmental Equity. This office coordinates the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission's efforts and tracks federal activities with respect to border environmental issues and works with state environmental departments in the four Mexican states that border Texas.
Finally, to more effectively address the problem of pollution caused by the Maquiladora system, the biennial report from the Texas Clean Rivers Act suggests utilizing local steering committees to encourage public input about the specific problems or concerns they have regarding their communities. Examples of this include, the Dia del Rio a citizen -led event organized by the Rio Grand/Rio Bravo Basin in October of 1995 and the Clean Rivers Program Water Quality Issues Meeting in January 1996.
III. RELEVANT TED CASES
A. Relevant Case Studies and Analysis
The following are cases that address one or more aspects of the Rio Grande case. Case 1 deals with the role of multilateral agreements in environmental protection. Case 2 deals with regulating water quality on the border. Case 3 deals with how Mexico and the U.S. worked together to deal with environmental problems on the border. Case 4 deals with the control of transboundary movements of hazardous waste. Case 5 deals with the issue of free-trade and how it will effect Mexico's attitude toward environmental protection, and case 6 discusses the importance of NAFTA in environmental protection.
This case addresses the important role that multilateral agreements have in the area of trade and environment. Problems such as pollution, specie and habitat loss, climate control, hazardous wastes, deforestation and other environmental problems no longer just affect one or a few countries. One of the issues addressed in this case, that is particularly salient to the Rio Grande case, is the conflictual issues that arise between "North" and "South". Among other things the environmental standards that are often demanded by the "North", which consists of the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Japan, are considered to unfair restrictions on trade from the "South".
This case establishes an important precedent about how to deal with water pollution on the border. The 1944 United States Mexico Treaty for Utilization of Waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and the Rio Grande allots to Mexico a guaranteed annual quantity of water from these sources. Rapid economic development and increased agricultural water use in the U.S. spurred degradation of water quality received by Mexico. With a view to resolve the problem, Mexico protested and entered into bilateral negotiations with the U.S. In 1974, these negotiations resulted in an international agreement, interpreting the 1944 Treaty, which guaranteed Mexico water of the same quality as that being used in the U.S.
In this case the pollution by an American firm in Mexico was discussed in terms of how the two countries worked together to deal with the issue, and a potentially serious pollutant of water was identified. In June of 1993, the Dallas based lead recycling firm, RSR Corporation, agreed to pay $2.5 million in environmental fines for the illegal dumping of toxic material near Tijuana, Mexico. RSR had hired the California waster transportation/ disposal company, Alco Pacific, to salvage lead from used car batteries at its facility in El Florido, Mexico. The processing plant's hazardous emissions, and open dumping of toxic by -products near the semi-rural communities prompted an investigation by Mexico's environmental protection agency. Findings from this investigation led to a disposition from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office against Alco Pacific and RSR Corporation.
The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Waste (referred to as the "Basel Convention") is the first global attempt to regulate and monitor the international transport of hazardous wastes. One of the Convention's main objectives is to protect countries from uncontrolled dumping of toxic wastes within their borders emanating from foreign sources. In addition, the Convention seeks to promote environmentally conscious disposal of wastes.
The important question in this and other cases related to the U.S. -Mexico border is whether free trade will encourage Mexico to clean up its environment or whether it will degrade the environment further. In this case, sewage from Tijuana has been flowing into the Pacific Ocean for over six decades. This became a serious problem in the 1960s with the rise of the maquiladora program in 1965. Trade is related to this case in several ways. The maguiladoras directly and indirectly generate waste and sewage that pollutes the environment.
In August of 1992, the governments of the United States, Canada and Mexico concluded negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Four months later, the historic trade accord was signed by the respective heads of state. NAFTA is considered historic for three reasons: 1) it represents the most comprehensive free trade agreement ever agree to between regional trading partners; 2) it is the first reciprocal trade agreement between a industrialized country and a developing one; and 3) it offers the unique opportunity to integrate environmental protection across a continent with a free trade pact.
B. Comparison and Contrast
The following table is designed to compare and contrast the six cases listed above. The cases are compared using six different criteria. The categories are discourse and statue, forum and scope, legal standing, geographic domain, habitat, and product. These categories were chosen from a previous case, the Xmulti case, which effectively organized the material in its analysis. Each of the categories addresses a different issue. Discourse and status describes whether or not the cases have an agreement and what type of an agreement was reached. Forum and scope addresses the issue of whether or not the cases were multilateral or regional in nature. Legal Standing describes whether or not these cases represent legally binding agreements. Geo. domain and habitat address the type of geographic domain is affected by the agreements, and the product addresses the type of product that is being regulated or affected by the agreements that are being put in place. In addition to comparing and contrasting the cases, this table supposed to make the reader aware of some of the key issues that should be considered when analyzing a case.
| CATEGORY | TIJUANA | FLORIDO | NAFTA | BASEL | COLORADO | XMULTI
| Discourse & Status
| Agree & Inprog
| Disagree & Compl
| Agree & Compl
| Agree & Compl
| Agree & Compl
| Agree & Inprog
| Forum & Sope
| NAFTA/ Bil
| NAFTA/ Bil
| NAFTA/ Religion
| BASEL/ Multi
| NAFTA/ Religion
| GLOBAL/ Multi
| Legal Standing
| Treaty
| Treaty
| Treaty
| Treaty
| Treaty
| Treaty
| Geo Domain
| Namer
| Namer
| Namer
| Global
| Namer
| Global
| Habitat
| Dry
| Dry
| Varied
| Global
| Dry
| Global
| Product
| Tourism
| Waste
| Many
| Waste
| Water
| Many
| |
|---|
About Ted Categories and Clusters
Discourse and Status:
All but one of the cases indicate an agreement between the parties, and their appears to be no difference between the two global cases and the four more regional cases. The four regional cases had their forums within NAFTA, and the other two were multilateral in nature. There is no indication, however, that the NAFTA forum is necessarily a better arena in which to deal with the issues because there was one disagreement in both NAFTA and Global treaties.
Forum and Scope:
Four of these cases were negotiated within the context of NAFTA and the resolutions were signed and adopted by the members. The other two cases were global in nature. In the case of the BASEL convention, the U.S. has still failed to ratify that treaty which might explain why there was problems between the U.S. and Mexico in the Florido case.
Legal Standing:
Five of these cases are actual treaties, and the sixth one, the Xmulti case, describes the impact of growing multilateral system on world trade and environmental protection. Although all of these cases are either treaties or analyze the impact of treaties, they are not all identical. Five of the six cases ended in agreements, but the Florido case did not. For of the cases were complete but two of them are still in progress, the Tijuana case and Xmulti case.
Geo Domain and Habitat:
There are four regional and two global cases. In each of the cases, there is either a negative impact or the potential for negative impact on the water and habitats of all the areas discussed. Three of cases discussed were dry, which means that they were in arid regions. Specifically, each of the dry cases was in the southwest portion of the United States or Mexico, these cases were Tijuana, Florido, and Colorado. The NAFTA case because it includes all of Mexico, the United States, and Canada, which makes it a varied environment. The BASEL and XMULTI cases are global because the BASEL agreement is a multilateral agreement that deal countries from all over the world and the XMULTI case discusses multilateral agreements so it too would address a global environment.
Product:
Because these cases describe conditions on both a global and a regional level, the number and type of products that these agreements deal with greatly varies. The common denominator in all of these cases, however, has do with water. Not all of these cases directly address the issue of clean water, like the Colorado case. The Florido case addresses waste, specifically lead. But the potential of harmful effects to water from lead are clear. Similarly, the Tijuana case addresses waste in the Pacific/ Tijuana river and how a resolution was come to. Basel, NAFTA, and Xmulti have many different products, but these cases address the mechanisms that can be used to deal with environmental problems like contaminated water, and describe some efforts that are already being taken to address the problem.
One of the key international issues that must be addressed in the future is environmental degradation. Specifically, how will economic(trade) issues be balanced with environmental issues? Free-trade has become the accepted form of economic interaction in the world today. With free-trade, however, comes greater technological breakthroughs and greater industrialization, which can create the potential for greater environmental risks.
The treaty system, especially multinational treaties, seems to be the mechanism of choice to deal with trade and environment issues now and in the future. Regional treaties, like NAFTA, can be very helpful in creating specific institutions to deal with water problems, like those on the Rio Grande. The North American Development bank and the BECC are examples of the type of institutions that have been created to deal with such a problem.
In the case of NAFTA, it was also helpful because the publicity that was generated from its signing helped generate public awareness of past and potentially future problems. Grass-roots organizations in Texas for example have sprung up to deal with the water problems that local communities will face on both sides of the border.
On the global level, there are mechanisms that are rules and norms being established that all countries are compelled to abide by. The Basel convention, for example, establishes a regime to monitor and regulate the international transport of hazardous waste.
Similarly, the Xmulti case describes the past and future impacts that multinational agreements will have on trade and environment. The assertion being that in an increasingly interdependent world, only multilateral agreements on a global scale will be able to address the environmental problems that all countries collectively face.
Basmex
Lizardcase
Carbon 2case
Maquilacase
Truckcase
Texas, Mexico, Water, NAFTA, Maquiladora
Texas/ Mexico Border
Population-Water Use Statistics
Rio Grande Assessment Page
Rio Grande Assessment Report
Focus: NAFTA and the ...o Border Environment
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