EXECUTIVE ORDER 2003-19
WHEREAS,
Executive Order 01-5 created the Governor’s CANAMEX Task Force in order to
assist Arizona to become part of an essential trade corridor between the United
States, Mexico and Canada and to help the state capture the benefits of a trade
corridor to activate and accelerate economic activity throughout the corridor
and surrounding areas; and
WHEREAS, the North American Free
Trade Agreement (NAFTA) created a preferential trade relationship between
Canada, Mexico and the United States and a key component of its successful
implementation is the efficient flow of goods, services, people and information
between participating nations; and
WHEREAS, trade corridors are
geographically designated areas that facilitate the national and transnational
movement of goods, services, people and information; and
WHEREAS,
Arizona’s
interests in promoting free trade and capturing its share of trade will be well
served by participating in a designated trade corridor and by utilizing the
trade corridor to promote trade-related economic activity; and
WHEREAS, Arizona’s interests can be
served by participating in the CANAMEX Corridor, a federally designated trade
corridor located in the western portion of North
WHEREAS, the ability to provide
direct access to multiple markets and regional transportation distribution
centers is critical to a trade corridor’s success; and whereas,
certain
highways in the CANAMEX Corridor must be improved to promote access between
markets, reduce freight transportation costs and enhance CANAMEX’s regional
competitiveness, including by constructing a bridge over the Hoover Dam to
accommodate large volumes of commercial truck traffic and expanding US 93 to a
four-lane divided highway; and
WHEREAS, under the National Highway
System Designation Act, the CANAMEX Corridor was given “high priority
designation,” and continues to have “high priority designation” in the
Transportation Efficiency Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21).
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Janet Napolitano, Governor
of the State of Arizona, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Arizona
Constitution and the laws of the State, do hereby order and direct as follows:
1) The task force known as the
Governor’s CANAMEX Task Force (“Task
Force”) shall be continued and shall serve the purpose of coordinating
statewide CANAMEX efforts and coordinating with other applicable states,
provinces and nations in the development of the CANAMEX Corridor.
2) The Task Force shall
initially be comprised of at least thirty-three members, each to be appointed
by, and serve at the pleasure of, the Governor, with a quorum consisting of
seventeen members. The Task Force’s members shall include:
(a) The Governor, who shall
serve as chair of the Task Force unless the Governor designates another member
of the Task Force to chair meetings;
(b) The Governor’s Policy
Advisors for Transportation, Economic Development and Mexico and Latin America;
(c) The Directors of the Arizona
Departments of Public Safety, Transportation, Homeland Security and Commerce,
the Arizona Office of Tourism, the Government Information Technology Agency and
the CANAMEX Project or their designees;
(d) One member of the
Arizona-Mexico Commission Board of Directors, one member of the Arizona Board
of Transportation, and the Governor’s NAFTA implementer;
(e) Eighteen at-large members
representing the business and academic communities and the general public;
(f) Additional at-large members
to the Task Force as deemed necessary and appropriate; and
(g) Members of the Arizona
Legislature, the local business community and the academic communities may be
called to serve as non-voting, ex-officio representatives to the Task Force.
Except for the Governor, agency directors, and
elected officials, members shall not send alternates to represent them at Task
Force meetings.
.
3)
Committees: The Task Force shall
establish the following five standing
committees:
(a) a Steering Committee;
(b)
a committee focusing on transportation;
(c)
a committee focusing on economic
development and communications infrastructure;
(d)
a committee focusing on efficient ports
of entry; and
(e)
a committee focusing on tri-national
relationships and regional branding.
Committees
shall be comprised of members of the Task Force and additional ad hoc members
appointed by the committees as needed.
Agency Directors, or their designees, shall chair and staff the
committees.
4) Duties:
The Task Force shall advise the Governor on all matters of the CANAMEX
Corridor development and strategy for the State of Arizona. Specific goals and responsibilities shall
include, but not be limited to:
(a) Consulting and collaborating
with all the states and provinces within the CANAMEX Corridor with the goal of
enhancing the safety and efficiency of the CANAMEX Corridor through strategic
investment in transportation, telecommunications and economic infrastructure.
Involved states and provinces may include, but are not limited to, Nevada,
Utah, Idaho, Montana, the Mexican States of Sonora, Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco,
Guanajuato, Queretaro, Estado de Mexico and Mexico D.F., and the Canadian
Provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan;
(b) Working with the Arizona
Departments of Transportation, Commerce, Environmental Quality, and Public
Safety, and the Arizona Office of Tourism and the Arizona Congressional
delegation to identify funding sources for projects of strategic importance to
the CANAMEX corridor’s development, such as the integration of regional
distribution centers, the completion of the Hoover Dam bypass, improvements to
US 93, construction of the I-10/I-19 Interchange and the widening of State
Route 85 to four lanes between Interstate 10 and Interstate 8;
(c) Focusing on transportation,
ports of entry, commerce, communications infrastructure, alliances between the
American and Mexican states and the Canadian province of Alberta, and border
issues.
(d) Identifying cooperative
opportunities to be undertaken by the Arizona’s Executive Branch with the
Executive Branches of the other interested states and provinces of the CANAMEX
Corridor, and those opportunities best suited to be undertaken by the business
community and other community organizations;
(e) Identifying potential
inter-regional legislative or policy initiatives, in cooperation with the
Arizona Legislature, applicable Arizona agencies, and representatives of other
interested states and provinces within the CANAMEX Corridor, that support the
development of the CANAMEX Corridor, and working to support implementation of
such initiatives;
(f) Promoting Arizona as the
CANAMEX Gateway and center of Corridor activities, in cooperation with various
state agencies and CANAMEX communities;
(g) Working to accelerate
broadband deployment in rural Arizona and developing a program with other
CANAMEX jurisdictions to implement Smart Process Partnerships;
(h) Identifying and soliciting
financial support from the public and private sector throughout Arizona’s
portion of the CANAMEX Corridor; and
(i) Preparing an annual report
of its activities to be submitted to the Governor no later than December 31st
of each year. Copies of the report shall
be distributed to the Secretary of State, the President of the Senate, the
Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Director of Library, Archives
& Public Records.
5) Plans and decisions made by the Task Force are subject to the approval of the Governor.
6) The
Governor’s CANAMEX Task Force shall be reviewed no later than December 31,
2004, to determine appropriate action for its continuance, modification or
termination.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused to be affixed the Great Seal
of the State of Arizona.
DONE
at the Capital in Phoenix this 5th day
of June in the Year Two Thousand and
Three and of the Independence of the United States of America the Two Hundred
and Twenty-Seventh.
ATTEST: