Meeting shows significant progress in the work of the BECC and NADB

Though the work of the Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC) and the North American Development Bank (NADB) the five infrastructure projects are expected to benefit more than four million border residents. The projects were presented and approved by the BECC/NADB Board of Directors during the November 8, meeting held in San Antonio, Texas.

The Board approved the certification of the following projects:

• Water and wastewater improvement project for San Agustin Chihuahua, cost US$2.64 million
• Construction of wastewater collection and conveyance system for Tintown, Arizona, cost US$1.46 million
• Wastewater collection improvement project for Tijuana, Baja California, with approved funding of US$1.58 million
• Ocotillo Express Wind Energy Project located in Imperial County, California, with approved funding of US$110
• Solar Park project located on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, southwest of Tucson, Arizona, with approved funding of US$45 million

More information about the projects can be found at www.cocef.org

Karen Mathiasen, representing the U.S. Department of the Treasury, welcomed these developments, commenting, “These projects should have a direct, positive impact on the lives of U.S. and Mexican citizens in some of the poorest border communities and improve air quality through the provision of reliable access to clean energy."

NADB Managing Director Geronimo Gutiérrez noted that the NADB “has achieved a balance in its portfolio, with an important increase in credit financing.” He noted that in the coming years to expect a significant increase in the generation of renewable energy projects in Mexico "and most will be built on the border." In this regard, he said that "we must take advantage of market trends."

BECC General Manager Maria Elena Giner reported that for 2013 "our portfolio will have ten projects that could receive funding for more than $277 million, two urban transport projects BTR type (bus rapid transit) in the cities of Chihuahua and Juarez, Chihuahua, three solar projects in California, two of biogas with one in Saltillo, Coahuila and one in Tecate, Baja California, a desalination plant in Ensenada, a lighting project in Rosarito Beach and sustainable urban development project in Tijuana, with these last three located in Baja California.”

A significant part of the public meeting was the signing of a US$50 million loan agreement between NADB and the German development bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) to be used specifically for water and wastewater projects in the Mexican border region. In addition, KfW will provide more than a million dollars in grants to be administered by the BECC technical assistance to support the development of these projects.

“KfW is privileged to count on the North American Development Bank and the Border Environment Cooperation Commission as allies working on advancing these projects,” said KfW representative Ingrid Hahn Arellano prior to the signing ceremony with the BECC and NADB General Managers. Arellano added that while this agreement is for water and wastewater projects, KfW hopes to explore future urban renewable energy projects.

Vanessa Rubio Márquez, representing Mexico’s Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público stated that, “at almost 20 years since their creation, NADB and BECC have evolved into robust and efficient institutions providing environmentally sustainable infrastructure that improves living standards on both sides of the border.”

The NADB-BECC Board of Directors is comprised on the U.S. side of the Department of the Treasury, the Department of State and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and on the Mexican side by their counterparts—the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP), the Ministry of Foreign Relations (SRE) and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), as well as by a border state and a border resident representative from each country.

Among the speakers during the public meeting was the Consul General of Mexico in San Antonio, Armando Ortiz Rocha who acknowledged the leadership and the great team of the BECC and NADB, "which is reflected in the projects that have been developed, especially in the transition to renewable energy projects in such a short term, representing financing worth more than 1.5 billion dollars," he said.

The next meeting of the NADB-BECC Board of Directors will be held in May of 2013.