On March 6th, 2024, the Mexican Standard NOM-003-SEDATU-2023 was published in the Federal Official Gazette, which establishes guidelines for strengthening the territorial system to resist, adapt, and recover from threats of natural origin and climate change through territorial planning (“NOM“).
Objective
The purpose of this NOM is to strengthen the territorial system to resist, adapt, and recover from threats of natural origin and climate change, under a socio-ecosystemic approach through the application of guidelines in the preparation or updating of territorial planning and urban development plans and programs.
It is directed towards and applicable to the federal government, the governments of the federal entities, municipalities and territorial demarcations, as well as those applicable to the regional and metropolitan context. Its application is in the processes of preparation or updating of the following territorial planning and urban development plans and programs: i) state territorial planning and Urban Development programs; ii) programs for metropolitan areas or conurbations; iii) municipal urban development plans or programs, and their derivatives, such as those for Population Centers, partial plans, sectoral plans, simplified planning schemes, and rural service center schemes; as well as iv) Regional Territorial Planning Programs.
Guidelines
The guidelines for strengthening the territorial system complement and reinforce the content of territorial planning and urban development plans and programs to resist, adapt, and recover, directly or indirectly, from threats of natural origin and Climate Change.
The guidelines are organized by scale:
- Regional;
- State;
- Metropolitan; and
- Municipal.
Each planning scale consists of five territorial subsystems: i) environmental; ii) social; iii) cultural; iv) economic; and v) governance.
Conformity Assessment Procedure
The NOM states that there is a Conformity Assessment Procedure (“CAP“), which assesses the conformity of territorial planning and urban development plans and programs that, in their preparation or updating process, by the federal government, the governments of the federal entities, municipalities, and territorial demarcations, as well as those applicable to the regional and metropolitan context within the scope of their respective attributions and territorial circumscriptions, comply with the requirement to integrate the guidelines for strengthening the territorial system.
The CAP evaluation will be carried out by the Ministry of Agrarian, Territorial, and Urban Development in its capacity as the standardizing authority through the General Directorate of Territorial Planning. It will be responsible for verifying compliance with this NOM, which establishes guidelines for strengthening the territorial system to resist, adapt, and recover from threats of natural origin and climate change through territorial planning.
