Chetumal, Quintana Roo — Ten civil society organizations have called on Mexico’s federal environment ministry to review the operations of Quintana Roo’s state environmental agency, which they accuse of lacking transparency and overstepping its legal authority.
The groups, which include the Mexican Center for Environmental Law (CEMDA), Grupo Tortuguero del Caribe, Selvame MX, and seven others, allege the Secretariat of Ecology and Environment of Quintana Roo (SEMA) has failed to provide adequate public access to information, inhibited citizen participation, and improperly assumed federal responsibilities in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) processes.
They state that despite more than one hundred formal requests, SEMA has opened virtually no public consultations for EIAs within the state. The organizations also report observing irregularities in EIA procedures, including opaque practices and the invasion of federal jurisdiction by evaluating projects that, under the General Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection (LGEEPA), fall under federal authority.
“In various cases, SEMA has analyzed and even authorized environmental impact statements for projects that, due to their nature, scale, location, or regional impacts, clearly correspond to the federal level, specifically to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT),” the groups stated in their announcement.
They argue this conduct is legally questionable, weakens environmental controls, and sets a worrying precedent for fragmented and relaxed environmental protection standards. As an example, they cited beach restoration projects in several Quintana Roo municipalities.
The organizations further accuse SEMA of using excessive formalities, restrictive criteria, and improper or malicious interpretations of state law to systematically obstruct public participation. “All this has prevented public consultations from opening, even in cases where environmental legislation permits or expressly requires them,” they added.
Additionally, the groups claim SEMA has issued environmental permits on an accelerated or “express” basis, sometimes even before publishing its monthly lists of projects subject to evaluation, apparently to avoid scrutiny.
The signatory organizations have formally requested that SEMARNAT conduct a comprehensive review of SEMA’s actions, particularly in procedures showing signs of federal jurisdiction overreach, opacity, improper acceleration of timelines, and systematic obstruction of public participation.
They also demand a deep investigation to verify whether SEMA, alongside the state’s Environmental Protection Attorney’s Office (PPA), is illegally inspecting and monitoring projects that strictly belong under federal oversight, and to halt such actions if confirmed.
Finally, they urge SEMARNAT to fully exercise its authority as the federal environmental agency by ensuring projects are evaluated at the federal level when required, guaranteeing effective access to environmental information, and demanding new Environmental Impact Statements when a project’s magnitude, scope, modification, or cumulative impacts warrant it.
“The undersigned organizations reiterate our willingness to provide technical and legal elements that contribute to strengthening environmental governance in Quintana Roo,” they concluded.
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