1
Public
Review
Comment
Period
State
of
the
Border
Region
Indicators
Report
2005
The
Border
Indicator
Task
Force
(
BITF)
requests
public
review
and
comment
of
the
State
of
the
Border
Region
Indicators
Report.
The
purpose
of
the
review
is
to
ensure
that
US­
Mexico
border
region
stakeholders
have
had
an
opportunity
to
review
and
comment
on
the
content
of
the
report.
The
report
is
available
online
at
www.
epa.
gov/
border2012/
indicators.

Background
Border
2012
is
a
10
year,
binational,
results­
oriented
environmental
program
for
the
U.
S.­
Mexico
border
region,
managed
by
U.
S.
Environmental
Protection
Agency
(
USEPA)
and
Mexico's
Secretariat
of
Environment
and
Natural
Resources
(
SEMARNAT).
The
US­
Mexico
border
region,
as
defined
by
the
1983
La
Paz
Agreementi,
is
the
area
within
100
kilometers
(
about
62.5
miles)
on
either
side
of
the
international
border
and
extends
3,141
km
(
1,952
miles)
from
the
Gulf
of
Mexico
to
the
Pacific
Ocean.

The
Program's
national
coordinators
recognize
the
value
of
indicators
in
program
planning
and
decision
making
for
environmental
and
public
health
protection.
Therefore,
the
national
coordinators
champion
the
development
and
use
of
environmental
and
performance
indicators
as
an
effective
means
to
measure
progress
for
attaining
Border
2012
program
objectives.
The
Program
aims
to
"
achieve
concrete,
measurable
results"
and
"
strengthen
capacity
of
local
community
residents
and
other
stakeholders
to
manage
environmental
and
environmentally­
related
public
health
issues."
ii
Further
information
about
the
Border
2012
program
is
available
online
at
http://
www.
epa.
gov/
border2012/.

The
goal
of
the
State
of
the
Border
Region
Indicators
Report
is
to
inform
the
communities
and
stakeholders
in
the
US­
Mexico
border
region
about
the
state
of
the
environment
and
progress
made
to
address
the
six
goals
of
the
Border
2012
program.
The
report
presents
available
information
about
the
status
and/
or
trends
in
environmental
and
health
conditions
to
aid
in
(
1)
general
understanding
of
the
border
conditions,
(
2)
identifying
data
gaps,
and
(
3)
making
well
informed
policy
and
research
decisions.
The
report
presents
an
initial
set
of
agreed
upon
indicators,
covering
a
limited
number
of
objectives
under
each
of
the
six
goals.
The
BITF,
which
coordinated
the
development
of
this
indicators
report,
plans
to
improve
and
expand
upon
the
initial
set
of
indicators
in
future
reports
as
more
data
become
available.
A
more
comprehensive
report
will
be
prepared
in
2007
to
be
released
in
the
spring
of
2008.
For
more
information
on
the
reporting
schedule,
see
http://
www.
epa.
gov/
border2012/
reports.
htm#
implement.

Developing
a
useful
initial
set
of
indicators
has
been
challenging.
Many
data
sets
were
not
readily
available;
hence,
much
effort
was
spent
on
searching
for
data
owners
and
sources
on
both
sides
of
the
border.
Also,
many
data
sets
do
not
cover
the
entire
border
region,
and
consequently
some
of
the
indicators
do
not
tell
a
complete
story.
Further,
for
many
indicators,
data
are
not
available
for
more
than
one
time
period,
limiting
the
BITF's
ability
to
discern
a
trend
in
environmental
or
human
health
condition.
The
BITF
recognizes
that
effective
public
policies
and
decisions
to
protect
public
health
2
and
environment
can
require
knowing
the
causes
of
the
environmental
health
problems.
Yet,
in
many
cases,
the
lack
of
data
and
border­
specific
scientific
knowledge
did
not
allow
determining
causal
linkages
between
specific
ambient
conditions,
human
exposure,
and
effects
on
human
health.
It
is
important
to
affirm
that
the
current
amount
of
data
and
knowledge
collected
for
the
report,
in
spite
of
great
effort,
still
falls
short
of
fully
presenting
the
environmental
and
health
conditions
at
the
border.
However,
this
is
a
start
at
developing
a
more
complete
set
of
indicators
for
the
2007
mid­
term
and
for
the
program
completion
in
2012.

Questions
As
stated
above
in
the
Background,
this
report
presents
an
initial
set
of
indicators
and
should
be
reviewed
as
such.
The
BITF
asks
the
public
to
comment
on
the
accuracy
and
clarity
of
the
content.
In
addition,
we
welcome
comments
for
areas
of
improvements
for
future
reports.
In
this
context,
we
ask
of
the
public
to
review
the
report
with
the
following
questions
in
mind.

1.
Are
the
graphics
and
accompanying
text
accurate
and
clear
in
describing
what
the
data
show?
2.
How
can
the
report
be
improved
for
the
future?
a.
Specific
examples
including
references
to
available
data
sources
are
welcome.

References
i
"
Agreement
between
the
United
States
of
America
and
the
United
Mexican
States
on
Cooperation
for
the
Protection
and
Improvement
of
the
Environment
in
the
Border
Area"
ii
"
Border
2012
Framework:
US­
Mexico
Border
Environmental
Program"
Available
at:
http://
www.
epa.
gov/
usmexicoborder/
pdf/
2012_
english.
pdf
p.
3
3
