I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 52 

To amend the Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 1998 to provide debt 

relief to developing countries that take action to protect tropical forests 

and coral reefs and associated coastal marine ecosystems, to reauthorize 

such Act through fiscal year 2011, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 6, 2009 

Mr. KIRK (for himself and Mr. HASTINGS of Florida) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 1998 

to provide debt relief to developing countries that take 

action to protect tropical forests and coral reefs and 

associated coastal marine ecosystems, to reauthorize such 

Act through fiscal year 2011, 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 ‘‘Tropical Forest and 

5 Coral Conservation Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Subsection (a) of section 802 of the 

3 Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 

4 2431) is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraphs (1), (6), and (7), by striking 

6 ‘‘tropical forests’’ each place it appears and inserting 

7 ‘‘tropical forests and coral reefs and associated 

8 coastal marine ecosystems’’; 

9 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through 

10 (7) as paragraphs (4) through (8), respectively; 

11 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(3) Coral reefs and associated coastal marine 

14 ecosystems provide a wide range of benefits to man15 kind by— 

16 ‘‘(A) harboring more species per unit area 

17 than any other marine habitat, providing the 

18 basis for developing pharmaceutical products 

19 and fostering a growing marine tourism sector;

20 ‘‘(B) providing a major source of food and 

21 jobs for hundreds of millions of coastal resi22 dents; and 

23 ‘‘(C) serving as natural storm barriers, 

24 thus protecting vulnerable shorelines and com25 munities from storm waves and erosion.’’; and 

26 (4) in paragraph (4) (as redesignated)— 


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1 (A) by inserting ‘‘and coral reef and asso2 ciated coastal marine ecosystems’’ after ‘‘forest 

3 resources’’; and 

4 (B) by inserting ‘‘and coral reef and asso5 ciated coastal marine ecosystem exploitation’’ 

6 after ‘‘tropical deforestation’’. 

7 (b) PURPOSES.—Subsection (b) of such section is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) in paragraphs (1), (3), and (4), by striking 

10 ‘‘tropical forests’’ each place it appears and inserting 

11 ‘‘tropical forests and coral reefs and associated 

12 coastal marine ecosystems’’; and 

13 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘tropical forests’’ the first 

15 and third place it appears and inserting ‘‘trop16 ical forests and coral reefs and associated coast17 al marine ecosystems’’; 

18 (B) by striking ‘‘tropical forests’’ the sec19 ond place it appears and inserting ‘‘areas’’; and 

20 (C) by inserting at the end before the 

21 semicolon the following: ‘‘and unsustainable 

22 coral reef and associated coastal marine eco23 system exploitation’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 Section 803 of the Tropical Forest Conservation Act 

3 of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 2431a) is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘Com5 mittee on International Relations’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘Committee on Foreign Affairs’’; 

7 (2) by striking paragraphs (4), (7), (8), and 

8 (9); 

9 (3) in paragraph (5)— 

10 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘TROPICAL

11 FOREST’’ and inserting ‘‘TROPICAL FOREST OR

12 CORAL REEF OR ASSOCIATED COASTAL MARINE

13 ECOSYSTEM’’; 

14 (B) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

15 (A), by striking ‘‘tropical forest’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘tropical forest or coral reef or associated 

17 coastal marine ecosystem’’; and 

18 (C) in subparagraph (B)— 

19 (i) by striking ‘‘tropical forest’’ and 

20 inserting ‘‘tropical forest or coral reef or 

21 associated coastal marine ecosystem’’; and 

22 (ii) by striking ‘‘tropical forests’’ and 

23 inserting ‘‘tropical forests or coral reefs or 

24 associated coastal marine ecosystems’’; 

25 (4) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and (6) as 

26 paragraphs (9) and (10), respectively; and 


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1 (5) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(4) CONSERVATION AGREEMENT.—The term 

4 ‘Conservation Agreement’ or ‘Agreement’ means a 

5 Conservation Agreement provided for in section 809. 

6 ‘‘(5) CONSERVATION FACILITY.—The term 

7 ‘Conservation Facility’ or ‘Facility’ means the Con8 servation Facility established in the Department of 

9 the Treasury by section 804. 

10 ‘‘(6) CONSERVATION FUND.—The term ‘Con11 servation Fund’ or ‘Fund’ means a Conservation 

12 Fund provided for in section 810. 

13 ‘‘(7) CORAL.—The term ‘coral’ means species 

14 of the phylum Cnidaria, including— 

15 ‘‘(A) all species of the orders Antipatharia 

16 (black corals), Scleractinia (stony corals), 

17 Alcyonacea (soft corals), Gorgonacea (horny 

18 corals), Stolonifera (organpipe corals and oth19 ers), and Coenothecalia (blue coral), of the class 

20 Anthozoa; and 

21 ‘‘(B) all species of the order 

22 Hydrocorallina (fire corals and hydrocorals) of 

23 the class Hydrozoa. 


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1 ‘‘(8) CORAL REEF.—The term ‘coral reef’ 

2 means any reef or shoal composed primarily of cor3 als.’’. 

4 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FACILITY. 

5 Section 804 of the Tropical Forest Conservation Act 

6 of 1988 (22 U.S.C. 2431b) is amended by striking ‘‘Trop7 ical Forest Facility’’ and inserting ‘‘Conservation Facil8 ity’’. 

9 SEC. 5. ELIGIBILITY FOR BENEFITS. 

10 Section 805(a) of the Tropical Forest Conservation 

11 Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 2431c(a)) is amended by striking 

12 ‘‘tropical forest’’ and inserting ‘‘tropical forest or coral 

13 reef or associated coastal marine ecosystem’’. 

14 SEC. 6. REDUCTION OF DEBT OWED TO THE UNITED 

15 STATES AS A RESULT OF CONCESSIONAL 

16 LOANS UNDER THE FOREIGN ASSISTANCE 

17 ACT OF 1961. 

18 (a) ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—Sub19 section (c)(2) of section 806 of the Tropical Forest Con20 servation Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 2431d) is amended by 

21 striking ‘‘Tropical Forest Fund’’ and inserting ‘‘Conserva22 tion Fund’’. 

23 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Sub24 section (d)(6) of such section is amended by striking ‘‘fisVerDate Nov 24 2008 06:04 Jan 08, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H52.IH H52

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1 cal year 2007’’ and inserting ‘‘each of the fiscal years 

2 2007 through 2011’’. 

3 (c) USE OF FUNDS TO CONDUCT PROGRAM AUDITS, 

4 EVALUATIONS, MONITORING, AND ADMINISTRATION.— 

5 Subsection (e) of such section is amended to read as fol6 lows: 

7 ‘‘(e) USE OF FUNDS TO CONDUCT PROGRAM AU8 DITS, EVALUATIONS, MONITORING, AND ADMINISTRA9 TION.—Of the amounts made available to carry out this 

10 part for a fiscal year, up to $300,000 is authorized to be 

11 made available to carry out audits, evaluations, moni12 toring, and administration of programs under this part, 

13 including personnel costs associated with such audits, 

14 evaluations, monitoring, and administration.’’. 

15 SEC. 7. REDUCTION OF DEBT OWED TO THE UNITED 

16 STATES AS A RESULT OF CREDITS EXTENDED 

17 UNDER TITLE I OF THE AGRICULTURAL 

18 TRADE DEVELOPMENT AND ASSISTANCE ACT 

19 OF 1954. 

20 Section 807(c)(2) of the Tropical Forest Conserva21 tion Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 2431e(c)(2)) is amended by 

22 striking ‘‘Tropical Forest Fund’’ and inserting ‘‘Conserva23 tion Fund’’. 


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1 SEC. 8. UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATION 

2 ON OVERSIGHT BODIES FOR GRANTS FROM 

3 DEBT-FOR-NATURE SWAPS AND DEBT4 BUYBACKS. 

5 Section 808(a)(5) of the Tropical Forest Conserva6 tion Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 2431f(a)(5)) is amended by 

7 adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(C) UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT REP9 RESENTATION ON THE ADMINISTERING

10 BODY.—One or more individuals appointed by 

11 the United States Government may serve in an 

12 official capacity on the administering body that 

13 oversees the implementation of grants arising 

14 from this debt-for-nature swap or debt buy-back 

15 regardless of whether the United States is a 

16 party to any agreement between the eligible 

17 purchaser and the government of the bene18 ficiary country.’’. 

19 SEC. 9. CONSERVATION AGREEMENT. 

20 (a) AUTHORITY.—Subsection (a) of section 809 of 

21 the Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 

22 2431g) is amended— 

23 (1) by striking ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—’’ and all 

24 that follows through ‘‘The Secretary of State’’ and 

25 inserting ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of 

26 State’’; 


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1 (2) by striking ‘‘Tropical Forest Agreement’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘Conservation Agreement’’; and 

3 (3) by striking paragraph (2). 

4 (b) ADMINISTERING BODY.—Subsection (c)(2)(A) of 

5 such section is amended— 

6 (1) in clause (i), by inserting at the end before 

7 the semicolon the following: ‘‘to serve in an official 

8 capacity’’; and 

9 (2) in clause (iii)(III), by inserting ‘‘or marine’’ 

10 after ‘‘forestry’’. 

11 (c) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Subsection (d) of such 

12 section is amended— 

13 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

14 striking ‘‘the tropical forests’’ and inserting ‘‘trop15 ical forests or coral reefs or associated coastal ma16 rine ecosystems’’; 

17 (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘and water’’ 

18 after ‘‘land’’; 

19 (3) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘tropical for20 est’’; and 

21 (4) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘living in or 

22 near a tropical forest in a manner consistent with 

23 protecting such tropical forest’’ and inserting ‘‘de24 pendent on a tropical forest or coral reef or associ25 ated coastal marine ecosystem in a manner conVerDate Nov 24 2008 06:04 Jan 08, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H52.IH H52

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1 sistent with protecting and conserving such re2 sources’’. 

3 (d) GRANT RECIPIENTS.—Subsection (e)(1) of such 

4 section is amended— 

5 (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘marine,’’ 

6 after ‘‘forestry,’’; and 

7 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘in excep8 tional circumstances, the government of the bene9 ficiary country’’ and inserting ‘‘in limited cir10 cumstances, the government of the beneficiary coun11 try when needed to improve governance and enhance 

12 management of tropical forests or coral reefs or as13 sociated coastal marine ecosystems, without replac14 ing existing levels of financial efforts by the govern15 ment of the beneficiary country and with priority 

16 given to projects that complement grants made 

17 under subparagraphs (A) and (B)’’. 

18 (e) REVIEW OF LARGER GRANTS.—Subsection (f) of 

19 such section is amended to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(f) REVIEW OF LARGER GRANTS.—Any grant of 

21 more than $250,000 from a Fund shall be approved by 

22 the Government of the United States and the government 

23 of the beneficiary country.’’. 


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1 (f) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The heading of 

2 such section is amended by striking ‘‘TROPICAL FOR3 EST’’ and inserting ‘‘CONSERVATION’’. 

4 SEC. 10. CONSERVATION FUND. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subsection (a) of section 810 

6 of the Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 1998 (22 

7 U.S.C. 2431h) is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘Tropical Forest Agreement’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘Conservation Agreement’’; and 

10 (2) by striking ‘‘Tropical Forest Fund’’ and in11 serting ‘‘Conservation Fund’’. 

12 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

13 Such section is amended— 

14 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘terms as con15 ditions’’ and inserting ‘‘terms and conditions’’; and 

16 (2) in the heading, by striking ‘‘TROPICAL

17 FOREST’’ and inserting ‘‘CONSERVATION’’. 

18 SEC. 11. BOARD. 

19 Section 811 of the Tropical Forest Conservation Act 

20 of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 2431i) is hereby repealed. 

21 SEC. 12. ANNUAL REPORTS TO THE CONGRESS. 

22 Section 813 of the Tropical Forest Conservation Act 

23 of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 2431k) is amended— 

24 (1) by striking ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’; 


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1 (2) by striking ‘‘December 31’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘April 15’’; 

3 (3) by striking ‘‘fiscal year’’ each place it ap4 pears and inserting ‘‘calendar year’’; and 

5 (4) by striking subsection (b). 

6 SEC. 13. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

7 (a) PART HEADING.—The heading of part V of the 

8 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 is amended by striking 

9 ‘‘TROPICAL FORESTS’’ and inserting ‘‘TROPICAL FOR10 ESTS OR CORAL REEFS OR ASSOCIATED COASTAL

11 MARINE ECOSYSTEMS’’. 

12 (b) SHORT TITLE.— 

13 (1) AMENDMENT.—Section 801 of the Tropical 

14 Forest Conservation Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 2151 

15 note) is amended by striking ‘‘Tropical Forest Con16 servation Act of 1998’’ and inserting ‘‘Tropical For17 est and Coral Conservation Act of 2009’’. 

18 (2) REFERENCES.—Any reference in a law, reg19 ulation, document, or other record of the United 

20 States to the Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 

21 1998 shall be deemed to be a reference to the Trop22 ical Forest and Coral Conservation Act of 2009. 

23 (c) REDESIGNATION.—Part V of the Foreign Assist24 ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2431 et seq.) is amended 


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1 by redesignating sections 812 and 813 as sections 811 and 

2 812, respectively. 

3 (d) OTHER AMENDMENTS.—Section 703(a)(5) of the 

4 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2430b(a)(5)) 

5 is amended— 

6 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 

7 by striking ‘‘or, as appropriate in exceptional cir8 cumstances,’’ and inserting ‘‘or’’; and 

9 (2) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or an ar10 rangement under the structural adjustment facility 

11 or enhanced structural adjustment facility, or in ex12 ceptional circumstances, a Fund monitored program 

13 or its equivalent,’’ and inserting ‘‘an arrangement 

14 under the structural adjustment facility or enhanced 

15 structural adjustment facility, a Fund monitored 

16 program, or is implementing sound macroeconomic 

17 policies,’’. 

Æ 


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