I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9265 

To combat the negative environmental, ecological, and public health impacts 

of People’s Republic of China and People’s Republic of China-linked 

investments in sub-Saharan Africa. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 2, 2024 

Mrs. KIM of California (for herself and Mr. ALLRED) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently 

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To combat the negative environmental, ecological, and public 

health impacts of People’s Republic of China and People’s Republic of China-linked investments in sub-Saharan Africa. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stopping PRC Envi5 ronmental Exploitation and Degradation Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘SPEED Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) The Department of State report titled ‘‘Chi4 na’s Environment Abuses’’ states that the People’s 

5 Republic of China (referred to as the ‘‘PRC’’), 

6 ‘‘threatens the global economy and global health by 

7 unsustainably exploiting natural resources and ex8 porting its willful disregard for the environment 

9 through its One Belt, One Road initiative’’. 

10 (2) During the past 20 years, the People’s Re11 public of China has significantly increased its eco12 nomic and business activities in sub-Saharan Africa. 

13 While legal systems across countries vary, business 

14 entities are generally bound by the laws of their 

15 home country, the host country, and international 

16 law. Chinese business entities are notorious for con17 sciously violating the laws of their host countries 

18 and international law. 

19 (3) PRC and Chinese private sector companies 

20 (hereafter referred to as ‘‘PSCs’’) destructive, and 

21 at times illegal, mining, drilling, logging, and fishing 

22 practices in sub-Saharan Africa cause high levels of 

23 concern and harm across sub-Saharan Africa. Many 

24 PRC-linked entities and Chinese PSCs in sub-Saha25 ran Africa operate with little regard for ecology, 


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1 public health, and the well-being of local residents 

2 and wildlife. 

3 (4) The World Wildlife Fund has found that 

4 One Belt, One Road corridors overlap with, and thus 

5 may adversely affect, over 1,700 key biodiversity 

6 areas or important bird areas and the habitat ranges 

7 of 265 threatened species. 

8 (5) Adverse environmental, ecological, and pub9 lic health incidents connected to lax PRC-linked en10 tities and PSCs business practices have been re11 ported throughout sub-Saharan Africa including, but 

12 not limited to, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, and 

13 the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

14 (6) As early as 2014, in Ethiopia’s Somali 

15 ‘‘Ogaden’’ region, reports of a deadly disease spread 

16 across the communities surrounding a PRC-linked 

17 natural gas plant. Local healthcare professionals 

18 suspect that the illness is caused by hazardous 

19 chemical waste from the PRC-linked gas drilling op20 eration that poisoned the drinking water supply. The 

21 illness results in the yellowing of the eyes, bleeding 

22 from the nose and mouth, a fever, and then death. 

23 Over 2,000 deaths suspected of being attributable to 

24 this waste have been reported according to Voice of 

25 America. 


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1 (7) Beginning in 2016, multiple Gambian com2 munities have faced adverse environmental and eco3 nomic impacts from fishmeal processing factories 

4 owned partially or fully by PRC citizen investors. 

5 Golden Lead in Gunjur, JXYG in Kartong, and 

6 Nessim in Sanyang are accused of illegal, unre7 ported, and unregulated (‘‘IUU’’) fishing practices, 

8 discharging untreated waste into waterways and 

9 nearby community gardens, and emitting odors. 

10 Overfishing leads to dumping of dead fish which 

11 then wash onto beaches, disrupting the local fish 

12 market economy and threatening a critical food sup13 ply for Gambians. Locals also report that contami14 nated wastewater from the fishmeal factories is 

15 dumped into freshwater sources, allowing a harmful 

16 algae bloom to spread turning the water red. 

17 (8) The involvement of Chinese nationals in ille18 gal, small-scale gold mining in Ghana, known as 

19 ‘‘galamsey’’, is threatening Ghana’s cocoa industry 

20 and subsistence farming. Between 2008 and 2016 

21 an estimated 50,000 PRC citizens migrated to 

22 Ghana to work in the mining sector. The PRC has 

23 been accused of encouraging the goldrush migration 

24 to Ghana and has been unhelpful in Ghana’s efforts 

25 to crack down on the harmful, illegal mining by 


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1 PRC citizens. These miners are shifting techniques 

2 to sophisticated imported machinery supplied by 

3 PRC citizen investors and introducing alternative 

4 gold extraction processes, such as cyanide washing, 

5 which have had devastating environment impacts es6 pecially to Ghana’s waterways and cocoa farms. 

7 Ghana’s National Food Buffer Stock Company Lim8 ited, the state-owned company responsible for man9 aging the government’s emergency food security re10 serves, estimates that galamsey activities have nega11 tively affected or destroyed more than 19,000 hec12 tares (46,950 acres) of cocoa plantations. 

13 (9) In 2021, local riverine communities in the 

14 Democratic Republic of Congo accused a PRC min15 ing company of polluting the Aruwimi River, an im16 portant tributary of the Congo River. Locals re17 ported water discolored by waste disposal. The inci18 dent sparked an increase in sickness, and dead fish 

19 began floating in the river, which locals consumed. 

20 The PRC mining firm planned to remediate the 

21 issue by relocating 10,000 people away from their 

22 communities and livelihoods. 

23 (10) The PRC’s involvement in fisheries can 

24 threaten Africa’s sovereignty over natural resources 

25 through beneficial ownership agreements, coercive liVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Sep 06, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9265.IH H9265

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1 censing arrangements, and investments in ports, 

2 fishmeal, and cold storage facilities. PRC-owned ves3 sels frequently reflag to other nations, obscuring 

4 ownership and responsibility for vessels’ actions. 

5 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

6 It is the policy of the United States to— 

7 (1) ensure that United States-registered cor8 porate entities abide by United States, host country, 

9 and international environmental protection and labor 

10 laws and regulatory guidelines; 

11 (2) oppose the actions of PRC-linked entities 

12 and PSCs that do not abide by host country and 

13 international environmental protection and labor 

14 laws in their business dealings in sub-Saharan Afri15 ca and that instead aim to exploit the natural re16 source endowments of these countries, irrespective of 

17 the damage done to local communities; and 

18 (3) work with willing African governments to 

19 encourage development of a mitigation strategy for 

20 the negative environmental, ecological and public 

21 health impact of PRC-linked entities and Chinese 

22 PSCs, including holding violators accountable. 

23 SEC. 4. STRATEGY AND SUITABILITY FOR LISTING. 

24 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

25 of this Act, the Secretary of State and the Administrator 


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1 of the United States Agency for International Develop2 ment, in consultation with the heads of other Federal de3 partments and agencies as applicable, shall submit to Con4 gress a strategy to partner with willing African countries 

5 to develop mitigation strategies for the negative environ6 mental impact of PRC-linked and PSC investments across 

7 Africa. Such a strategy shall— 

8 (1) outline major founded instances of adverse 

9 environmental, ecological, and public health incidents 

10 that can be linked to the People’s Republic of China 

11 and Chinese PSC’s adverse business practices in 

12 sub-Saharan Africa; 

13 (2) identify specific sub-Saharan African coun14 tries where the opportunity is greatest for increased 

15 collaboration on environmental remediation and eco16 logical restoration to address and mitigate PRC17 linked entities and Chinese PSCs environmental deg18 radation; and 

19 (3) include a plan detailing how increased 

20 United States technical assistance would assist the 

21 countries identified in paragraph (2) in combating 

22 the environmental degradation caused by PRC23 linked entities and Chinese PSCs to positively im24 pact the most at-risk communities. 


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1 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

3 date of enactment of this Act, the President may impose 

4 the sanctions described in subsection (b) with respect to 

5 any foreign person the President determines, based on 

6 credible evidence and consistent with United States for7 eign policy interests, is responsible for a severe, adverse 

8 environmental, ecological, or public health incident in sub9 Saharan Africa and is— 

10 (1) an entity that is headquartered in a country 

11 of concern or is organized under the laws of a coun12 try of concern; or 

13 (2) an individual who is— 

14 (A) a citizen of a country of concern; 

15 (B) an official or employee of a country of 

16 concern; or 

17 (C) a foreign employee of an entity de18 scribed in paragraph (1). 

19 (b) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions de20 scribed in this subsection are the following: 

21 (1) INADMISSIBILITY TO UNITED STATES.—In 

22 the case of a foreign person who is an individual— 

23 (A) ineligibility to receive a visa to enter 

24 the United States or to be admitted to the 

25 United States; or 


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1 (B) if the individual has been issued a visa 

2 or other documentation, revocation, thereof, in 

3 accordance with section 221(i) of the Immigra4 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), of 

5 the visa or other documentation. 

6 (2) BLOCKING OF PROPERTY.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The blocking, in ac8 cordance with the International Emergency 

9 Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), 

10 of all transactions in all property and interests 

11 in property of a foreign person if such property 

12 and interests in property are in the United 

13 States, come within the United States, or are or 

14 come within the possession or control of a 

15 United States person. 

16 (B) INAPPLICABILITY OF NATIONAL EMER17 GENCY REQUIREMENT.—The requirements of 

18 section 202 of the International Emergency 

19 Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701) shall 

20 not apply for purposes of this section. 

21 (c) EXCEPTION RELATING TO THE PROVISION OF

22 HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE.—Sanctions under this sec23 tion may not be imposed with respect to transactions or 

24 the facilitation of transactions for— 


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1 (1) the sale of agricultural commodities, food, 

2 medicine, or medical devices; 

3 (2) the provision of humanitarian assistance; 

4 (3) financial transactions relating to humani5 tarian assistance; or 

6 (4) transporting goods or services that are nec7 essary to carry out operations relating to humani8 tarian assistance. 

9 (d) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH UNITED NATIONS

10 HEADQUARTERS AGREEMENT AND LAW ENFORCEMENT

11 OBJECTIVES.—Sanctions under subsection (b)(1) shall 

12 not apply to an individual if admitting the individual into 

13 the United States would further important law enforce14 ment objectives or is necessary to permit the United 

15 States to comply with the Agreement regarding the Head16 quarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake Success 

17 June 26, 1947, and entered into force November 21, 

18 1947, between the United Nations and the United States, 

19 or other applicable international obligations of the United 

20 States. 

21 (e) EXCEPTIONS FOR INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES.— 

22 Sanctions under this section shall not apply to any activity 

23 subject to the reporting requirements under title V of the 

24 National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.) 


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1 or any authorized intelligence activities of the United 

2 States. 

3 (f) ENFORCEMENT OF BLOCKING OF PROPERTY.— 

4 A person that knowingly violates, attempts to violate, con5 spires to violate, or causes a violation of a sanction de6 scribed in subsection (b)(2) that is imposed by the Presi7 dent or any regulation, license, or order issued to carry 

8 out such a sanction shall be subject to the penalties set 

9 forth in subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the Inter10 national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 

11 1705) to the same extent as a person that commits an 

12 unlawful act described in subsection (a) of that section. 

13 (g) WAIVER.—The President may waive the applica14 tion of subsection (b) if the President— 

15 (1) determines that such a waiver is in the na16 tional interests of the United States; and 

17 (2) not more than 15 days after the waiver 

18 takes effect, notifies Congress of the waiver and the 

19 reason for the waiver. 

20 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 (1) COUNTRY OF CONCERN.—The term ‘‘coun22 try of concern’’ has the meaning given to the term 

23 ‘‘foreign country of concern’’ in section 231.102 of 

24 title 15, Code of Federal Regulations. 


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1 (2) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per2 son’’ means an individual or entity that is not a 

3 United States person. 

4 (3) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

5 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 

6 (A) a United States citizen; 

7 (B) a permanent resident alien of the 

8 United States; 

9 (C) an entity organized under the laws of 

10 the United States or of any jurisdiction within 

11 the United States, including a foreign branch of 

12 such an entity; or 

13 (D) a person in the United States. 

14 SEC. 6. SUNSET. 

15 This Act shall terminate on the date that is 5 years 

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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