Cross-Border Agreements Related to Emergency Response
Mexico and the United States have a binational Joint Contingency Plan 
for dealing with emergency response related to chemical hazardous substances. This plan was most recently updated in 2009.
In addition, numerous "sister cities" along the border have their own local, cross-border joint contingency plans. Within the geographical area covered by the Four-State Regional Workgroup, there are five pairings of U.S. and Mexican sister cities with such contingency plans that explain how they would cooperate in the event of emergencies. One of the plans in this region was updated in 2009; the others are in the process of being updated. The U.S. EPA has provided funding to assist with these updates.
Following are the sister-city pairs, with hyperlinks to the actual plans and to additional details about related actions that have been taken in the past half dozen years:
| Sister Cities | Existing Joint Contingency Plan | Addtional Information (scroll through each of these documents until you find the section on emergency response) |
|---|---|---|
|
Brownsville, Texas and
|
2002 Cross-Border Contingency Plan (being updated in 2011) |
Gulf Task Force Workplan/Progress Report |
| McAllen, Texas and Reynosa, Tamaulipas |
2009 Cross-Border Regional Contingency Plan
|
Gulf Task Force Workplan/Progress Report |
| Laredo, Texas and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas |
1998 Cross-Border Contingency Plan
|
Falcon Task Force Workplan/Progress Report |
| Eagle Pass, Texas and Piedras Negras, Coahuila |
1998 Cross-Border Contingency Plan
|
Amistad Task Force Workplan/Progress Report |
| Del Rio, Texas and Cd. Acuña, Coahuila |
1998 Cross-Border Contingency Plan
|
Amistad Task Force Workplan/Progress Report |
