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Arizona/Sonora Regional Workgroup

2019-2020 Action Plan Closing Summary
On-going activities*

March 2021

The purpose of the Arizona/Sonora 2019-2020 Action Plan is to track, assess, and report progress
towards achieving Border 2020 Goals and Objectives. The Action Plan includes program commitments,
timeframes and outputs for activities undertaken by United States Environmental Protection Agency
(U.S.EPA) and Program partners working to improve environmental conditions in border
communities of the Arizona-Sonora region.

*Note: Due to COVID-19 some projects might have challenges and may change deliverables on a
case-to-case basis, https://www.epa.gov/coronavirus

Summary of 2019-2020 Action Plan

The 2019-2020 Action Plan summarized 41 projects and initiatives. Sixteen projects have
been completed and 25 efforts are on-going (see Table 1). Assessment of progress made
showed:

• 56% of the projects achieved significant progress or were completed.

On-going Activities

Below is a summary of new, on-going, and completed efforts funded through several U.S.EPA
resources and programs including Border 2020, Clean Air Act 105 funding, Solid Waste
Disposal Act, and other resources from Border 2020 partners.

•	Operated an Ozone Monitor in San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora including the
implementation of regular equipment maintenance and Quality Assurance (QA) and
Quality Control (QC) checks in coordination with the state of Sonora's environmental
agency.

•	Obtained a "Site Access Agreement between State of Sonora Ecology and Sustainable
Development Commission (CEDES) and the Arizona Department of Environmental
Quality (ADEQ)" that allows ADEQ staff to access the site to install and operate a NOx
Monitor in San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora. The monitor will lead to better understanding
of NOx pollution in the binational airshed of Arizona/Sonora border region. Deployment of
new instrument is delayed due to travel restrictions during the pandemic.

• Continue to implement Arizona State University's water quality project that is working to
produce a binational and sustainable strategy to address stormwater control, urban
flooding, and water quality concerns in the Ambos Nogales area. The project will use digital
mapping to identify optimal location of Gl (Green Infrastructure) interventions in the
watershed to evaluate stormwater runoff reduction in each city. ASU has conducted two

Closing Summary of 2019-2020 Action Plan - Arizona-Sonora	Page 1

Goal 1 - Air

Goal 2 - Water

Final March 2021


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workshops and school-based programing (two demonstration projects) to share project
information at local middle schools in Nogales, Sonora and Nogales, Arizona.*
• Completed a water pilot project in the community of Nogales, Sonora. Efforts created
green infrastructure structures (biofilters) for trapping waste and solids originated within
the city. Coordinated efforts of the Municipal Planning Institute of Nogales (IMIP) and the
Watershed Management Group, a non-profit, worked to improve water quality that runs
through Canada El Muerto in Nogales. The team installed biofilters using large rocks
(gabion) that captures 650 cubic meters of sediment to decrease sediment loading, which
can break collection pipes and sewer lines. Also, a demonstration planter, within its first
three months, captured about 37,000 liters of rainwater and volunteers removed 10 tons
of garbage from streams and implemented 6 trainings and awareness courses to over
300 workshop attendees.

Goal 3 - Materials Management and Clean Sites

•	In 2019, staff of the municipality of Nogales, Sonora initiated created best practices to
safely dismantle scrap (end-of-life) vehicles. Actions and progress include a strategic plan,
promotion of educational workshops, compliance assistance as enforcement efforts in the
city. Grantee is using the "Processing End-of-Life Vehicles: A Guide for Environmental
Protection, Safety and Profit in the United States-Mexico Border Area" developed by
USEPA and SEMARNAT to implement the project:

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2020-10/documents/eol vehicle guide final english.pdf

Final outputs include the creation of a database that will hold information of registered junk
vehicles, as the collection of centers that receive auto parts resulting from the dismantling
of such vehicles. Effort is continuing into 2021 .*

•	CAFES UNISON A.C., affiliated with the University of Sonora, has adapted the state of
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality's guidance for e-waste best management
practices for use in the municipalities of Nogales, Agua Prieta, and San Luis Rfo Colorado,
Sonora (https://azdeq.gov/e-Waste). Efforts include the training of staff and implement
collection events to include final reuse and proper disposal of electronic products. The
main objective is to establish a collection mechanism with adequate frequency of
electronic devices and household appliances so that they can be recycled and not be
disposed in clandestine dumps or in landfills in these border communities.

Goal 4 - Emergency Preparedness and Response

• During last 18 months, Sister-City Emergency Plans were updated in several of the
Arizona/Sonora border communities. Sister City Plans establish the policies,
responsibilities, and procedures required to protect the health and safety of the populace,
environment, public and private property from the effects of any incident. These efforts are
done in close coordination with local fire departments, universities, and other appropriate
community representatives.

Closing Summary of 2019-2020 Action Plan - Arizona-Sonora	Page 2

Final March 2021


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Fundamental Strategy: Environmental Health

•	Implemented the Ask the Experts: Wildfire Smoke, Mental Health and Green Cleaning
Sanitizing Disinfecting Virtual Webinar (bilingual) with over 160 participants.

Additionally, three public bilingual service announcements were made with ~650
views to date associated with the event. Bilingual PSAs include information on wildfire
smoke and children's health, access to air quality data (AirNow), and understanding of
the Air Quality Index. Program recordings of the webinar, PSAs and PowerPoints are
available at the website below with ~75 views to date on the site:
https://www.epa.gov/usmexicoborder/webinarask-experts-wildfire-smoke-mental-
health-andqreen-cleaninq-sanitizinq.

•	The University of Arizona and other local partners continue to collaborate on pest related
pollution prevention and emergency preparedness through integrated pest management
education effort in three tribal communities: Tohono O'odham Nation, the Cocopah
Tribe, and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. Efforts have identified capacity building and training
needs and have implemented four workshops focused on specific environmental health
priorities as identified by each tribal community. Project continue in 2021*.

Table 1:

Summary of active and on-going projects
Arizona-Sonora Action Plan 2019-2020

Goals

Air

Water

Waste

Emergency

Health

Totals

Deliverable
Achieved

3

2

1

2

8

16

Significant
Progress

1



1

1

4

7

Moderate
Progress



2

2



6

10

Initial
Progress

3







2

5

No Progress



1

1



1

3

TOTAL

7

5

5

3

21

41

Closing Summary of 2019-2020 Action Plan - Arizona-Sonora

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Final March 2021


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