Submission

Summary of the matter addressed in the submission:

The Submitter asserts that Mexico is failing to effectively enforce its environmental laws with respect to the authorization of an open-pit mining project in the town of Cerro de San Pedro, San Luis Potos¡. In submission SEM-07-001 (Minera San Xavier), the Submitter asserts that in April 2006 the Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources (Secretar¡a de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales-Semarnat) violated a Mexican court ruling by authorizing -for a second time- the gold and silver mining project by Minera San Xavier, the Mexican subsidiary of Canadian company Metallica Resources Inc. The Submitter asserts that in 2000 it successfully filed an appeal that led to a judicial decision canceling the original authorization and requiring Semarnat to consider guidelines established by the court. The Submitter asserts that Semarnat failed to comply with the court’s ruling in reauthorizing the project.

Summary of the response provided by the Party:

In its response, Mexico states that an administrative tribunal determined that Semarnat’s authorization was compliant with the court order. Concerning the assertion of alleged failure to enforce the law in authorizing the project, Mexico explains that the project is conditional to the implementation of environmental impact mitigation programs; it states that the project meets the siting restrictions and asserts that the EIS contains correct figures on water availability and the project’s use of explosives. Mexico emphasizes that in issuing the authorization it observed the principle of sustainable development, but argues that the precautionary principle is not binding because it has not been incorporated into the General Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection Act (Ley General del Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente-LGEEPA).

In accordance with Article 14(3)(a) of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), Mexico requested that the Secretariat proceed no further in processing the submission, asserting that the matter is the subject of pending judicial and administrative proceedings. Furthermore, it requested that the information provided by Mexico in this regard be kept confidential.

Names and citations of the environmental laws in question:

Ley General del Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente (LGEEPA); Reglamento de la LGEEPA en Materia de Impacto Ambiental (RIA); Reglamento de la LGEEPA en Materia de Residuos Peligrosos (RRP)

Submitter(s):

Pro San Luis Ecologico, A.C.