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CEC Publishes Factual Record on the Effective Enforcement of Environmental Law Regarding the North Atlantic Right Whale Submission
Tiohtià:ke (Montreal), 6 January 2026—On 19 December 2025, the Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) published the factual record regarding submission SEM-21-003 (North Atlantic right whale) filed by Oceana (“Submitter”), who asserted that the United States is failing to effectively enforce its environmental laws to protect the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) from collisions with ships, known as “vessel strikes,” and from entanglement in commercial fishing gear.
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Factual Record Regarding Submission SEM-18-003
August 2, 2024 100 pages Enforcement
According to the Submitters, the Party is failing to effectively enforce Article 28 of the General Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection Act (Ley General del Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente— LGEEPA) with respect to the obligation to file an environmental impact statement (EIS); LGEEPA Article 15, concerning the obligation to repair harm arising from work that affects the environment; LGEEPA Article 122, applicable to control of wastewater; LGEEPA Article 170, which authorizes the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales—Semarnat) to impose safety measures; LGEEPA Articles 1, 15, and 88, in relation to sustainable water use; Articles 7 and 10 of the Federal Environmental Liability Act (Ley Federal de Responsabilidad Ambiental—LFRA), in regard to the liability of Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) for environmental harms; Articles 2 and 91 of the Regulation to the General Waste Prevention and Integrated Management Act (Reglamento de la Ley General de Prevención y Gestión Integral de Residuos—LGPGIR Regulation), in regard to wastewater discharges into geologically stable formations, and Articles 8, 16, and 18 of the Guidelines for the protection and conservation of national waters during hydrocarbon exploration and extraction in unconventional reservoirs (Lineamientos para la protección y conservación de las aguas nacionales en actividades de exploración y extracción de hidrocarburos en yacimientos no convencionales— “Guidelines for Water Conservation-UR”), applicable to the prevention of subsoil and aquifer contamination.
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