IV

107TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. RES. 355

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with regard to negotiations between the United States Government and the governments of

Mexico and Canada with regard to the North American Development

Bank and the Border Environmental Cooperation Commission.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 5, 2002

Mr. GONZALEZ (for himself, Mr. BONILLA, Mr. LAFALCE, Mr. MENENDEZ,

Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. BENTSEN, Mr.

GREEN of Texas, Mr. HINOJOSA, and Mr. ORTIZ) submitted the following

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with

regard to negotiations between the United States Government and the governments of Mexico and Canada with

regard to the North American Development Bank and

the Border Environmental Cooperation Commission.

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that, in negotiations with the governments of

3 Mexico and Canada with regard to the North American

4 Development Bank (NADB) and the Border Environ5 mental Cooperation Commission (BECC), the United
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•HRES 355 IH

1 States Government should seek to achieve the following

2 goals:

3 (1) FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE

4 INSTITUTIONS.—

5 (A) Maintain the NADB and the BECC as

6 separate entities.

7 (B) Review the certification process to lay

8 the groundwork for possible simplification and

9 improvement of the certification process, with

10 an opportunity for all interested parties to par11 ticipate.

12 (C) Use the review of the procurement

13 process to improve the quality and efficiency of

14 project development and lower the costs of tech15 nical assistance, and ensure early NADB in16 volvement in project development to avoid later

17 conflicts.

18 (D) Require the boards of the BECC and

19 the NADB to consult with interested parties in

20 exploring options for better follow-up of

21 projects.

22 (2) UNUSED NADB LENDING CAPACITY.—

23 (A) Devote $150,000,000 to $200,000,000

24 of paid-in capital to the low-interest financing
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•HRES 355 IH

1 facility to provide lower interest rates for bor2 der environmental infrastructure projects.

3 (B) Increase the United States contribu4 tion to the Border Environmental Infrastruc5 ture Grant Fund, consistent with the 5-year

6 outlook needs assessment of the NADB.

7 (C) Allow most remaining paid-in capital

8 and callable capital of the NADB to be used for

9 lending to other infrastructure projects. The

10 United States and Mexico should invite Canada

11 to participate in this aspect of NADB oper12 ations. BECC certification should not be re13 quired of such other infrastructure projects.

14 However, the NADB should develop a set of

15 procedures, in consultation with interested par16 ties, to provide for transparency and public par17 ticipation in development and approval of such

18 projects, and for environmental assessment and

19 mitigation.

20 (3) PERFORMANCE REVIEW OF THE INSTITU21 TIONS.—

22 (A) Require a third-party to conduct a

23 comprehensive review of the NADB and the

24 BECC to study where structural inefficiencies
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•HRES 355 IH

1 should be improved in the NADB and the

2 BECC.

3 (B) The review should include an assess4 ment of expanding the mandate of the NADB

5 and the BECC with respect to infrastructure

6 projects with an environmental focus, and a

7 management audit, performance audit, procure8 ment audit, and financial analysis.

9 (C) The review should also include an

10 analysis of the potential effects of any changes

11 made to the process for certification by the

12 BECC, and funding by the NADB of border

13 environmental infrastructure projects.

14 (D) The review should be conducted in

15 consultation with all the stakeholders in the

16 NADB and the BECC, including border states

17 and municipalities, the Good Neighbor Environ18 mental Board, Consejo Consultivo Region I,

19 project applicants, nongovernmental organiza20 tions involved in border issues, and academics.

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