On the basis of the response received in front of a public Submission , the Secretariat will prepare a report in which it can suggest to the Environmental Council the development of a Factual Record.
What are the requirements for the approval of the development of a Factual Record?
With the affirmative vote of any of the members of the Environmental Council, the Factual Record will be developed, without prejudice to the other measures that could be taken to address the Submission.
The development of the Factual Record, shall consider the information submitted by the Party, as well as any technical, scientific or other type of information, that is relevant, which may be of a public nature, provided by the interested parties, presented by national advisory committees or advisers, developed by the Environmental Cooperation Agreement, or prepared by independent experts.
Who decides if a Factual Record is made public?
Once the record is made, it will be submitted to the Environmental Council, which may issue its comments within 45 days. The comments will be integrated to the record and will be submitted again before the Environmental Council, which will have a 60-days term to decide whether or not to make the final Factual Record public. This may come to be by the vote of any of the Parties.
The Final Factual Record must be considered by the Environmental Council as provided for in the Environmental Chapter (17) and the Environmental Cooperation Agreement (ACA). Responding to the matters addressed in the record, the Environmental Council will provide recommendations to the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, including those related to the development, by the Parties, of monitoring mechanisms for the enforcement of environmental law.
