JAMA. 1990 Jun 27;263(24):3319-21. doi: 10.1001/jama.1990.03440240109026.
Public health officials, physicians, and politicians have long been aware of the squalid environmental conditions existing along the US-Mexico border. Some attempts have been made to improve the environmental pollution and causes of human disease, beginning as early as the 1930s with the IBWC, established in 1889. More recent agreements and legislation have called for US and Mexico cooperation by way of each nation's corresponding environmental agency (ie, the EPA and Mexico's SEDUE) and their agencies of foreign affairs (ie, the IBWC). Nevertheless, environmental monitoring and disease incidence data continue to point out that public and environmental health along the border--the result of uncontrolled air and water pollution and lack of disease vector control--is rapidly deteriorating and seriously affecting the health and future economic vitality on both sides of the border. Many prominent public health professionals and environmental organizations are concerned that the present working relationship between the United States and Mexico is not functioning well and cannot adequately cope with existing environmental conditions; for one thing, the efforts of the EPA and SEDUE are reviewed no more frequently than once a year by a staff quartered in Washington and Mexico City. Some projects to improve these conditions have been undertaken by the EPA and SEDUE and the IBWC; at present, the prospects for success do not appear promising. Consequently, these individuals and organizations have urged creation of a US-Mexico border environmental health commission. Congress did see fit last year to give responsibility for the environment to the IBWC in the form of Public Law 100-465. This law, however, does not address the full severity of environmental and public health degradation along the border; it does not address the pollution of the New River, Agua Prieta, the San Pedro River, or the Pacific Ocean, neither does it offer remedial control of hazardous waste sites, rabies, and other disease vectors. Moreover, the IBWC is only a deliberative body, not an implementing one.
长期以来，公共卫生官员、医生和政治家们一直都清楚美墨边境沿线恶劣的环境状况。早在19世纪80年代成立的国际边界与水委员会（IBWC），自20世纪30年代起就开始尝试改善环境污染及人类疾病的成因。最近的一些协议和立法呼吁美国和墨西哥通过各自相应的环境机构（即美国环境保护局和墨西哥环境与可持续发展部）及其外交机构（即国际边界与水委员会）进行合作。然而，环境监测和疾病发病率数据继续表明，边境地区的公共卫生和环境卫生——由于空气和水污染失控以及缺乏病媒控制——正在迅速恶化，并严重影响边境两侧的健康和未来经济活力。许多杰出的公共卫生专业人员和环境组织担心，美国和墨西哥目前的工作关系运作不畅，无法充分应对现有的环境状况；一方面，美国环境保护局和墨西哥环境与可持续发展部的工作每年接受驻华盛顿和墨西哥城工作人员审查的频率不超过一次。美国环境保护局、墨西哥环境与可持续发展部以及国际边界与水委员会已经开展了一些改善这些状况的项目；目前，成功的前景似乎并不乐观。因此，这些个人和组织敦促成立一个美墨边境环境卫生委员会。去年，国会确实认为以公法100 - 465的形式将环境责任赋予国际边界与水委员会是合适的。然而，这项法律并未全面解决边境地区环境和公共卫生恶化的严重问题；它没有涉及新河、阿瓜普列塔、圣佩德罗河或太平洋的污染问题，也没有提供对危险废物场地、狂犬病和其他病媒的补救控制措施。此外，国际边界与水委员会只是一个审议机构，而非执行机构。
