Local Ecological Regulations in Jalisco, Mexico: Impediments to its Issuance

Abstract

In Mexico, since 1988, due to the principle of environmental concurrence and distribution of powers, municipalities have the authority to issue the ecological ordering of their territory. The objective of this article is to know the limitations that prevent 111 municipal governments of Jalisco from developing these environmental policy instruments, identify which of them participate in some development process, and determine the follow-up given to the fourteen existing ones. For this purpose, we carried out a structured interview, through transparency (Instituto de Transparencia, Información Pública y Protección de Datos Personales del Estado de Jalisco, ITEI), with the staff of each of the town halls that represent the municipalities that do not have a local ecological ordering; also, a corroboration consultation in the same way with managers of the Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo Territorial, government entity of Jalisco, for having an impact on the matter; finally, a detailed review of the process of those that are current. The results show the following impediments to their local ecological ordinances elaboration: lack of budget, lack of trained personnel, absence of an administrative unit in charge, that its elaboration entails a long process, among other factors. We conclude with the general condition of Jalisco and its municipalities in the issuance of regional ecological regulations, emphasizing the local ones.