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U.S.EPA SEEKS COMMENT ON BORDER ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATORS REPORT

Release Date: 6/25/1997
Contact Information: Lois Grunwald, U.S. EPA, (415) 744-1588

     (San Francisco)--  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) is seeking comment on a draft report outlining measures of environmental conditions along the U.S.-Mexico border.

     The draft Environmental Indicators Report has been prepared in response to concerns by border communities in the U.S. and Mexico about the need for ways to evaluate the effectiveness of U.S.-Mexico border policies. The U.S.-Mexico Border XXI Framework document called for the development of "environmental indicators" that show how effectively these policies are working.

     "Environmental indicators" are measures of environmental quality that can be used to assess status and trends in how well the environment is supporting people, plants and wildlife.  The report will also include "program performance indicators," which are measures of whether environmental programs are meeting their goals.

     The Border XXI Framework document is a five-year binational plan that outlines actions to improve human health and environmental conditions along the U.S.-Mexico border. The plan is an outgrowth of the La Paz agreement which committed the United States and Mexico to solving border environmental problems exacerbated by population growth and unsustainable development.  

   The Environmental Indicators Report and other Border XXI documents are available on the U.S.-Mexico homepage at: https://www.epa.gov/usmexicoborder, and by calling 1-800-334-0741. Comments must be electronically mailed or postmarked by July 15, 1997. The e-mail address is swartz-larson.darrin @ epamail.epa.gov. Comments can be sent to:

      Darrin Swartz-Larson
      U.S.-Mexico Border Environmental Indicators Coordinator
      U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
      75 Hawthorne St., PMD-1
      San Francisco, CA 94105

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