Legislation in Mexico
Introduction
The General Law on Ecological Equilibrium and Environmental Protection (Ley General del Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente—LGEEPA), under Title IV Environmental Protection, Chapter I and II, establishes regulations on the prevention and control of atmospheric pollution, by stipulating the necessary policy instruments, mechanisms and procedures for controlling, reducing and preventing atmospheric pollution. These provisions are implemented by the Secretariat of Environment, Natural Resources and Fisheries (Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales—Semarnat) and are regulated by the Regulations on the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution (Reglamento en Materia de Prevención y Control de la Contaminación Atmosférica), which establishes the procedures that must be fulfilled by the sources of pollutant releases under federal jurisdiction, with the aim of preventing and controlling atmospheric pollution.
Semarnat is also authorized to issue Mexican Official Standards (Normas Oficiales Mexicanas—NOMs) for regulating pollutant emissions from both fixed and mobile sources, restricting emission levels, establishing standards for regulating fuel quality, and establishing the technical requirements for methods used to measure the most common pollutants found in the air.
The corresponding legislation can be consulted in the following Semarnat website: http://www.semarnat.gob.mx/LEYESYNORMAS/Pages/inicio.aspx
Mexico has also acquired international commitments for protecting the atmosphere, by signing and ratifying a number of treaties and conventions, which subsequently become part of Mexican law.
Mexico has acquired obligations in protecting the ozone layer through its adoption of the Montreal Protocol, the objective of which is to regulate and eliminate the consumption of ozone-depleting substances (ODS). The Ozone Layer Protection Unit (Unidad de Protección a la Capa de Ozono) has been created to fulfill these obligations. It is administered by Semarnat and responsible for implementing the Montreal Protocol in Mexico. The website for this unit can be consulted at: http://sissao.semarnat.gob.mx/sissao/unidad.htm
Regulations on the requirements and procedures for registers and authorizations for importing and exporting ODS are established in the Regulations on Registers, Import and Export Authorizations and Certificates for Exporting Pesticides, Plant Nutrients and Toxic and Hazardous Substances and Materials (Reglamento en Materia de Registros, Autorizaciones de Importación y Exportación y Certificados de Exportación de Plaguicidas, Nutrientes Vegetales y Sustancias y Materiales Tóxicos o Peligrosos). These regulations can be consulted at: http://www.semarnat.gob.mx/leyesynormas/Pages/reglamentosdelsector.aspx
Responsibility for implementing these Regulations on ODS lies with the Federal Commission for Protection Against Health Risks (Comisión Federal para la Protección contra Riesgos Sanitarios—COFEPRIS), a commission under the combined jurisdiction of the Secretariat of Health, the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food, and Semarnat, in accordance with their respective functions.
