The EPA awarded $461,368 in grants this week for various environmental projects along the U.S.-Mexico border. About half of the funds went to projects in Calexico, CA and Phoenix, AZ, but the remaining $230,000 went to two cities on the Mexican side of the border, Nogales and Ensenada. The funding came under a partnership with the Border Environment Cooperation Commission, part of the bi-national U.S.-Mexico Environmental Program: Border 2020.
The projects funded in Mexico include:
- Restoration of the Upper Tijuana River Corridor – $98,500
- Air Emissions Inventory for Nogales, Sonora – $53,610
- Training on Handling of Wastewater Containing Metals and Cyanide – $63,015
- Used Oil Collection and Management in Nogales – $16,508
Generally the funds are remitted to non-profit organizations to carry out the projects, although the grant for the used oil collection project will go directly to the city of Nogales. For the other projects,
the recipient organizations will provide matching funds, a total of $354,746.
Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Pacific Southwest regional administrator, explained the benefits of these projects, as well as those on the U.S. side of the border:
The EPA further touts the broader benefits to both countries from agreements going back decades, include the La Paz Agreement, as well as NAFTA:
