March 19, 2008 -- The latest report of a Presidential advisory committee shows how U.S. and Mexican officials can improve their cooperation in coping with floods and other natural disasters that occur along their shared border. The Good Neighbor Environmental Board (GNEB), an independent Presidential advisory committee managed by EPA, presented the report today in Washington to the President's environmental advisory group, the Council on Environmental Quality.

To effectively protect human health and the environment within the U.S.-Mexico border region from natural disasters, the GNEB recommends that the federal government work with appropriate authorities to implement the following policy options:

• Prevent or minimize the impacts of natural disasters through appropriate zoning codes, building codes, landscape requirements, watershed management, and municipal strategic planning.
• Build capacity at the local, state, regional, and tribal levels to effectively manage natural disasters, including cross-border coordination.
• Better integrate current disparate preparedness and response management systems and practical exercises so as to cover all types of emergencies, including natural disasters.
• Expand existing domestic and binational agreements to incorporate U.S.-Mexico border-specific measures related to natural disasters, including measures tailored to specific natural features and human settlements.

To obtain a copy of the new report, titled "Natural Disasters and the Environment Along the U.S. - Mexico Border -- Eleventh Report of the Good Neighbor Environmental Board to the President and Congress of the United States," call 1-800-490-9198 or e-mail at nscep@bps-lmit.com and request the document by number, EPA 130-R-08-001.

To view an electronic copy of the report:
(English version) http://www.epa.gov/ocem/gneb/gneb11threport/English-GNEB-11th-Report.pdf
(Spanish version) http://www.epa.gov/ocem/gneb/gneb11threport/espanol-gneb-11th-report.pdf