EPA allocates $450,000 to environmental projects on U.S.-Mexico border

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on Wednesday that it will make $450,000 available to fund environmental projects along the U.S.-Mexico border and support cooperation with the Mexican government, as of the recently held national coordinators meeting in El Paso, Texas.

“Working together, we take environmental challenges along the border and find solutions,” EPA Regional Administrator Ron Curry said. “I look forward to continuing our efforts with our counterparts from Mexico and border communities to address the remaining complex environmental issues we face along the border.”

The El Paso meeting took place from Sept. 21 to 23 and hosted officials from the EPA and Mexican Environmental and Natural Resources Secretariat (SEMARNAT), allowing them to discuss the Border 2020 program. The governmental representatives spoke about the program’s successes and re-examined goals, providing information to citizens and receiving their feedback.

“Environmental pollution has no borders and affects the 14.1 million residents living along the entire 2,000 mile U.S.-Mexico Border,” EPA Regional Administrator Jared Blumenfeld said. “It is important for EPA to continue working with Mexico and our federal, state and local partners to fulfill our commitments in Border 2020 so that residents on both sides of the border are better protected.”