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 City Park project in the city of León, Guanajuato, Mexico.

In submission SEM-19-002 (City Park Project), the Submitter asserts that the León municipal authorities illegally authorized the construction of the City Park project because they did not have jurisdiction to evaluate and authorize the project, since under the General Act on Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection (Ley General del Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente—LGEEPA), this is a duty of the state and federal governments. The Submitter further states that the municipal authority did not adequately consider the project's effects on the environment and that it violated the environmental impact assessment procedure.

Summary of the response provided by the Party:

Mexico informs in its Response that the issue regarding the alleged violation of the LGEEPA for having authorized a project without authority includes questions that are currently the subject of various administrative and jurisdictional procedures. On the other hand, Mexico considers that Article 20 of the REIA-Guanajuato was indeed violated since the impact assessment should have been submitted under the General B type of assessment because it is a project that due to its characteristics, could generate environmental impacts that could affect more than the site’s boundaries. In relation to the violation of Articles 104, 105, and 120 of the RGA-Leon, regarding the procedure followed during the environmental impact assessment procedure, Mexico considers that in fact not all of the documents required by these legal provisions were submitted, nor did they comply with the obligations to ensure the right to consultation and participation of the neighboring communities. Finally, in light of the review and analysis of the “Management Program for four priority species” and the NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010 derived from the “City Park” project, Mexico considers that Articles 9, Section XIII of the LGVS and 32: Section VI of the RI- SEMARNAT, as well as NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010 were not violated in this matter. Mexico concludes that the objectives of those programs are focused on maintaining the natural biodiversity of the priority species. In addition, the submission does not specify the reason or the specific impact on the Submitter, nor does it refer to the specific section of the standard that was not applied with respect to the “City Park” project.

Names and citations of the environmental laws in question:

General Act on Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection (Ley General del Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente—LGEEPA

Submitter(s):

Acción Colectiva Socioambiental, A.C.