 As we mentioned in the first part of this document, the National Standardization Program (Programa Nacional de Normalizacion - PNN) is a coordination and information instrument of the private and public standardization activities, performed in our country. The Program is a useful and important tool which contains those new, rescheduled and cancelled topics as well as the drafts published in the Federal Official Gazette.
The purpose of this document is to continue with the second part of the National Standardization Program 2007 and describe the environmental topics that will be developed as Official Mexican Standards, as well as the conclusions reached after an extensive analysis of the Program and its content.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that the Program has been approved, however it has not been published yet.
CONTENT OF THE NATIONAL STANDARDIZATION PROGRAM 2007 AND THEIR ENVIRONMENTAL TOPICS OF STUDY (CONTINUATION)
SUBCOMMITTEE III OF INDUSTRY
Rescheduled Topics:
 1- Modification to the Official Mexican Standard NOM-076-SEMARNAT-1995 that establishes the maximum allowable limits of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxygen coming from leaks, as well as evaporation hydrocarbons coming from fuel systems using gasoline, natural gas, Liquefied Oil Gas and other alternate fuels; and that will be used for the propulsion of automobile vehicles with a weight higher than 3,857 kilograms.
Objectives:
- Update the maximum allowable limits established in this Official Mexican Standard, based on new technologies.
- Establish the testing methods and the procedures for the Evaluation of Conformity, in coordination with the Secretariat of Economy.
2- Procedures for the formulation and application of hazardous waste management plans.
Objective:
- Establish the procedures for the formulation and application of hazardous waste management plans, defining the appropriate conditions in which such plans must be developed, in order to avoid environmental damages.
3- Classification and labeling of hazardous materials.
Objective:
- Establish the criteria and testing methods for hazardous materials classification, with the purpose of improving the environmental protection during their management, transportation and use. This Standard will apply to the persons responsible for classifying those chemical substances manufactured, used or commercialized as hazardous materials.
4- List of substances, threshold reporting, and procedure for including and excluding substances subject to report in the Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (Registro de Emisiones y Transferencia de Contaminantes -RETC).
Objectives:
- Establish the list of substances subject to report by industrial establishments in the Pollutant Release and Transfer Register.
- Establish the procedure for including and excluding the substances and their report limits.
5- List of highly risky activities and the criteria for their classification.
Objective:
- Establishing the classification of activities that must be considered highly risky for the ecological balance and the environment, of such materials generated or managed in industrial or commercial establishments.
SUBCOMMITTEE IV- URBAN DEVELOPMENT, TRANSPORT AND TOURISM
Published Drafts:
 6- Draft of Official Mexican Standard PROY-NOM-129-SEMARNAT-2005. Natural gas distribution nets- Establishes the specifications of environmental protection for site preparation, construction, operation, maintenance and abandonment of natural gas distribution nets pretended to be located at urban, sub urban, industrial, urban equipment and service areas.
7- Draft of Official Mexican Standard PROY-NOM-140-SEMARNAT-2005. - Establishes the environmental requisites for golf camps and real states including them.
8- Draft of Official Mexican Standard PROY-NOM-041-SEMARNAT-2006. - Establishes the maximum allowable limits for contaminants gas emissions coming from the leaks of automobiles that use gasoline.
9- Draft of Official Mexican Standard PROY-NOM-045-SEMARNAT-2006. - Vehicles using diesel. Maximum allowable limits in light absorption, testing procedures and technical characteristics of measurement equipment.
Rescheduled Topics:
10- Urban solid wastes subject to management plans. Elements and procedures for implementing these plans.
Objective:
- According to the General Law for the Prevention and Integral Management of Wastes, this Standard establishes the criteria, elements and procedures to be observed by urban solid wastes subject to management plans. These criteria will allow identify the elements and procedures for this type of wastes, with the purpose of reducing their environment impacts.
11- Special management wastes subject to management plans. Elements and procedures for implementing these plans.
Objective:
- Establish the guidelines for an appropriate integral management of special management wastes, with the objective to have a suitable final disposition in landfills.
 12- Modification to the Official Mexican Standard NOM-048-SEMARNAT-1993. - Establishes the maximum allowable limits for hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and smoke emissions, coming from motorcycles leaks that use gasoline or mixture of gasoline-oil as fuel.
Objective:
- Update the maximum allowable limits of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and smoke emissions, coming from the motorcycles escape that use gasoline or mixture of gasoline-oil as fuel.
New topics:
13- Establishment and operation of air quality monitoring systems.
Objective:
- Establish the specifications and operation of air quality monitoring systems, in order to help local governments to establish and operate this type of systems, implementing the criteria for improving this activity.
Conclusions
The National Standardization Program is an important and useful instrument for letting know people the topics that will be developed as Official Mexican Standards, Mexican Standards and Reference Standards, as well as the changes to be made in the different topics that are currently regulated. Consequently, people will be prepared for acting in accordance to their objectives, specifications and maximum allowable limits. However, we consider that many times article 51 of the Federal Law of Metrology and Standardization that states that the Official Mexican Standards must be reviewed every five (5) years since the date they come into force, is not observed and complied at all. It is clear that today many Standards result useless, because they are not updated to the realities and needs of Mexicans, according to what is established in the Law.
We understand that sometimes due to the complexity of the topics, some Standards cannot be evaluated and must be rescheduled for the next year; nevertheless, we believe that some issues are very important and require an urgent regulation. For this reason, we suggest establishing the criteria for defining what the priority topics are, and which ones require a more extensive study and evaluation, with the objective of focusing the efforts toward them, of course without discarding other topics that are relevant too.
Even if it seems that there are many Standards regarding environmental matter, the process of standardization in our country is still incipient, and must be focused on bringing certainty. It is worth mentioning that the existence of Standards is not bad, however, we consider that they need to be adjusted according to the law in order to bring legal certainty.
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