I. Introduction and Methodology

A. Mandate

In November 2001, the Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) of the Commission on Environmental Cooperation (CEC) and several nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) requested that the council of the CEC refer to JPAC for public review, the issue of defining the scope of factual records related to Articles 14 and 15 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC or the Agreement). The council authorized JPAC to conduct this public review after the completion of the relevant factual records: Submission on Enforcement (SEM)-99-002 (Migratory Birds); SEM-97-006 (Oldman River II); SEM-98-004 (BC Mining); and SEM-00-004 (BC Logging). JPAC informed the council at its regular session in June 2003, that it would commence a public review on this issue on July 17, 2003. The public review was also to include the impacts of a recent council decision interpreting what constitutes "sufficient" information to support an allegation of failure to enforce, related to SEM-02-001 (Ontario Logging).