I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1946 

To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to authorize the United States Trade 

Representative to take discretionary action if a foreign country is engaging in unreasonable acts, policies, or practices relating to the environment, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 22, 2015 

Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself, Mr. KIND, Mr. NEAL, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. 

PASCRELL, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California, and Mrs. DAVIS of 

California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to authorize the United 

States Trade Representative to take discretionary action 

if a foreign country is engaging in unreasonable acts, 

policies, or practices relating to the environment, and 

for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Trade and Environ5 ment Enforcement Act’’ or ‘‘Green 301 Act’’. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 1946 IH

1 SEC. 2. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN TRADE RELA2 TIONS. 

3 Section 301(d)(3)(B) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 

4 U.S.C. 2411(d)(3)(B)) is amended— 

5 (1) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

6 (2) in clause (iii)(V), by striking the period at 

7 the end and inserting ‘‘, or’’; and 

8 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

9 clause: 

10 ‘‘(iv) constitutes a persistent pattern 

11 of conduct that— 

12 ‘‘(I) fails to effectively enforce 

13 the environmental laws of a foreign 

14 country; 

15 ‘‘(II) waives or otherwise dero16 gates from the environmental laws of 

17 a foreign country or weakens the pro18 tections afforded by such laws; 

19 ‘‘(III) fails to provide for judicial 

20 or administrative proceedings giving 

21 access to remedies for violations of the 

22 environmental laws of a foreign coun23 try; 

24 ‘‘(IV) fails to provide appropriate 

25 and effective sanctions or remedies for 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 1946 IH

1 violations of the environmental laws of 

2 a foreign country; or 

3 ‘‘(V) fails to implement environ4 mental commitments in agreements to 

5 which a foreign country and the 

6 United States are a party.’’. 

7 SEC. 3. IDENTIFICATION OF FOREIGN COUNTRY TRADE 

8 PRACTICES THAT NEGATIVELY AFFECT THE 

9 ENVIRONMENT. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title III of the Trade 

11 Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2411 et seq.) is amended by add12 ing at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 311. IDENTIFICATION OF FOREIGN COUNTRY TRADE 

14 PRACTICES THAT NEGATIVELY AFFECT THE 

15 ENVIRONMENT. 

16 ‘‘(a) IDENTIFICATION.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Trade Representative 

18 shall identify those foreign country trade practices 

19 that cause negative environmental impacts on the 

20 protection of human, animal, or plant life or health, 

21 or the conservation of exhaustible natural resources 

22 in the United States, the foreign country, a third 

23 country, or internationally. 

24 ‘‘(2) FACTORS.—In identifying foreign country 

25 trade practices under paragraph (1), the Trade RepVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:33 May 02, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1946.IH H1946

emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 1946 IH

1 resentative shall take into account all relevant fac2 tors, including— 

3 ‘‘(A) the strength of the connection be4 tween trade and the negative environmental im5 pact; 

6 ‘‘(B) the significance of the negative envi7 ronmental impact on the protection of human, 

8 animal or plant life or health, or the conserva9 tion of exhaustible natural resources; and 

10 ‘‘(C) the costs and benefits of mitigating 

11 the negative environmental impact through the 

12 remedies described in this section. 

13 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION.—In identifying foreign 

14 country trade practices under paragraph (1), the 

15 Trade Representative shall provide the opportunity 

16 for input by and consultation with interested per17 sons, including private or nongovernmental organiza18 tions working towards environmental protection or 

19 conservation, domestic industrial users of any goods 

20 that may be affected by this section, and appropriate 

21 Federal departments and agencies. 

22 ‘‘(b) REPORT.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days 

24 after the date of submission of a report under sec25 tion 181(b) of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter, 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 1946 IH

1 the Trade Representative shall submit to the Com2 mittee on Ways and Means of the House of Rep3 resentatives and the Committee on Finance of the 

4 Senate and publish in the Federal Register a report 

5 on the foreign country trade practices identified 

6 under subsection (a). 

7 ‘‘(2) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The Trade 

8 Representative may include in the report, if appro9 priate— 

10 ‘‘(A) a description of other foreign country 

11 trade practices that may in the future warrant 

12 inclusion in the report as foreign country trade 

13 practices that negatively affect the environment; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(B) a statement regarding other foreign 

16 country trade practices that negatively affect 

17 the environment that have not been identified 

18 because they are subject to other provisions of 

19 United States trade law, existing bilateral trade 

20 agreements, or trade negotiations, and progress 

21 is being made toward the mitigation, reduction, 

22 or elimination of the negative environmental im23 pacts of such foreign country trade practices.’’. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 1946 IH

1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

2 for the Trade Act of 1974 is amended by inserting after 

3 the item relating to section 310 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 311. Identification of foreign country trade practices that negatively affect the environment.’’. 

Æ 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS