Policy Workgroups
Policy Workgroups are goal-specific and focus on issues that are borderwide or multi-regional, primarily federal in nature (requiring direct, high-level, and sustained leadership by federal program partners in the United States and Mexico) and require broad policy considerations. Each Policy Workgroup has a federal co-chair from the United States and Mexico. Federal co-chairs will be senior level managers at the U.S. EPA and SEMARNAT headquarters offices who can most effectively influence national policy needed to implement programs to address the following topics: Improve Water Quality; Reduce Air Pollution; Promote Sustainable MaterialsManagement and Waste Management and Clean Sites; and Improve Joint Preparation for Incidents of Environmental Pollution of Hazardous Substances.
Policy Workgroups identify priority borderwide policy issues and programs that can most effectively be addressed through a federally led effort, relying on input from National Coordinators and Regional Coordinators. The goals of this dialogue are to ensure continuity between national policies and regional projects and to ensure that federal policy for the U.S.-Mexico border is implemented or administered with opportunity for review and comment by state and U.S. tribal governments, Mexican indigenous and Afro-Mexican communities, in addition to providing an opportunity for input, advice and support from NGOs and the public.