I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2988 

To amend the Export Enhancement Act of 1988 to enhance awareness of 

export promotion activities with respect to clean energy and environmental products and services of the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 21, 2011 

Mr. BERMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Export Enhancement Act of 1988 to enhance 

awareness of export promotion activities with respect to 

clean energy and environmental products and services 

of the United States, 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 ‘‘Green Export Pro5 motion and Job Creation Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO EXPORT ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 

2 1988. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of the Export En4 hancement Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 4721), relating to ex5 port promotion, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 2315. PROMOTION OF EXPORTS OF CLEAN AND EFFI8 CIENT ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROD9 UCTS AND SERVICES. 

10 ‘‘(a) PUBLIC DIRECTORY FOR FOREIGN BUYERS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Com12 merce, acting through the Under Secretary for 

13 International Trade, shall, in cooperation with the 

14 relevant Federal departments and agencies, establish 

15 a directory accessible through a public Web site for 

16 foreign buyers to identify United States manufactur17 ers and service providers that are prepared to export 

18 products and services in the following areas: 

19 ‘‘(A) Clean and efficient energy generation, 

20 distribution, and use. 

21 ‘‘(B) Remediation of air and water pollu22 tion. 

23 ‘‘(C) Water supply. 

24 ‘‘(D) Sanitation. 

25 ‘‘(E) Solid waste disposal. 


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1 ‘‘(F) Chemical and hazardous waste treat2 ment and containment. 

3 ‘‘(G) Equipment and services for testing, 

4 monitoring, and analysis with respect to any 

5 area described in any of subparagraphs (A) 

6 through (F), or otherwise with respect to envi7 ronmental hazards. 

8 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The directory estab9 lished under paragraph (1) shall— 

10 ‘‘(A) include a mechanism for United 

11 States businesses to register for inclusion in the 

12 directory, and for the United States Govern13 ment to ascertain the location in the United 

14 States and the legitimacy of such businesses; 

15 ‘‘(B) include a summary of the products 

16 and services provided by each registered United 

17 States business; 

18 ‘‘(C) provide contact information for each 

19 United States business in the database; 

20 ‘‘(D) be searchable by industry, business 

21 name, product, or service, or by a combination 

22 of keywords; and 

23 ‘‘(E) be updated regularly. 

24 ‘‘(3) SUBMISSION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

25 TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 180 days after the 


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1 date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary 

2 of Commerce shall submit to the appropriate con3 gressional committees a detailed plan for estab4 lishing and maintaining the directory required by 

5 paragraph (1), including plans for the operation, 

6 content, maintenance, and functionality of the direc7 tory. The plan submitted under this paragraph shall 

8 include a detailed implementation schedule for the 

9 directory, and plans for a public awareness cam10 paign to be conducted by the Secretary to provide 

11 consumer awareness of the directory. 

12 ‘‘(4) DATE OF INITIAL AVAILABILITY.—Not 

13 later than 18 months after the date on which the 

14 Secretary submits the plan required by paragraph 

15 (3), the Secretary of Commerce shall establish the 

16 directory required by paragraph (1). 

17 ‘‘(5) GOVERNMENT PROMOTION.—The Sec18 retary of Commerce should promote awareness and 

19 use of the directory established under this subsection 

20 in the United States and Foreign Commercial Serv21 ice and in United States missions and posts abroad. 

22 ‘‘(b) GOVERNMENTAL DATABASE ON FOREIGN

23 SALES OPPORTUNITIES.— 

24 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Com25 merce shall, in cooperation with the relevant Federal 


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1 departments and agencies, establish a database ac2 cessible only to United States Government per3 sonnel, that identifies potential sales opportunities 

4 abroad for United States manufacturers and service 

5 providers that are prepared to export products and 

6 services in the areas described in subsection (a)(1). 

7 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The database estab8 lished under paragraph (1) shall— 

9 ‘‘(A) include a mechanism for United 

10 States businesses to subscribe to the database; 

11 ‘‘(B) establish a mechanism for United 

12 States Government personnel to enter informa13 tion regarding foreign business opportunities 

14 described in paragraph (1) into the database; 

15 ‘‘(C) provide a summary of the products or 

16 services desired by each foreign buyer; 

17 ‘‘(D) provide information that will allow a 

18 subscriber to the system to contact the foreign 

19 buyer or the person who entered the informa20 tion into the database; 

21 ‘‘(E) be searchable by location, industry, 

22 company name, product, or service, or by a 

23 combination of keywords; 

24 ‘‘(F) be able to transmit regular updates 

25 on potential sales opportunities to database 


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1 subscribers, including the ability for subscribers 

2 of the system to be able to customize the type 

3 of information they receive; and 

4 ‘‘(G) be updated regularly. 

5 ‘‘(c) MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF UNITED

6 STATES EXPORT PROMOTION WITH RESPECT TO CLEAN

7 AND EFFICIENT ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROD8 UCTS AND SERVICES.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Com10 merce shall develop and implement a rigorous sys11 tem to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of 

12 United States export promotion activities with re13 spect to clean and efficient energy and environ14 mental products and services. 

15 ‘‘(2) COMPONENTS OF SYSTEM.—In order to 

16 avoid duplication, ensure comprehensive coverage, 

17 promote high and uniform standards, and facilitate 

18 comparability of results and the development of a 

19 strong body of evidence, the system required under 

20 paragraph (1) shall include— 

21 ‘‘(A) a method of coordinating monitoring 

22 and evaluation activities among all Federal 

23 agencies carrying out United States export pro24 motion activities with respect to clean and effiVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:30 Sep 22, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2988.IH H2988

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1 cient energy and environmental products and 

2 services; 

3 ‘‘(B) a survey of business customers that 

4 receive export promotion services from the 

5 United States Government; 

6 ‘‘(C) small- and medium-sized businesses 

7 that receive export promotion services from the 

8 United States Government and, of such busi9 nesses, those that export products and services 

10 for the first time; and 

11 ‘‘(D) a process for consulting with the pri12 vate sector and subject matter experts, as ap13 propriate, on the planning, design, and imple14 mentation of evaluation activities and dissemi15 nation of evaluation findings under this sub16 section. 

17 ‘‘(3) REQUIRED ACTIONS.—In carrying out 

18 paragraph (1), the Secretary of Commerce shall es19 tablish, through the Trade Promotion Coordinating 

20 Committee, standards for the following actions with 

21 respect to the export promotion activities with re22 spect to clean and efficient energy and environ23 mental products and services that are engaged in by 

24 any Federal agency: 


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1 ‘‘(A) Establishing measurable and mean2 ingful performance objectives, including— 

3 ‘‘(i) exports by small- and medium4 sized businesses; 

5 ‘‘(ii) businesses that become first-time 

6 exporters; 

7 ‘‘(iii) newly accessed markets; and 

8 ‘‘(iv) number of new registrants to re9 ceive export promotion services. 

10 ‘‘(B) Establishing criteria for the selection 

11 of programs, projects, and activities to be sub12 ject to various evaluation methodologies, with a 

13 particular emphasis on impact evaluation. 

14 ‘‘(C) Establishing or designating an orga15 nizational unit at the Department of Commerce 

16 with adequate staff and resources to oversee 

17 and provide technical support for appropriate 

18 evaluation activities. 

19 ‘‘(D) Through the Trade Promotion Co20 ordinating Committee, developing a plan for im21 proving the capacity of the agency to conduct 

22 rigorous and objective program monitoring and 

23 evaluation, including by— 

24 ‘‘(i) expanding relevant education and 

25 training opportunities; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) encouraging the adoption of im2 proved methodologies for data collection 

3 and analysis; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) ensuring that best practices are 

5 shared within and between agencies. 

6 ‘‘(E) Establishes a process for applying the 

7 findings and results of monitoring and evalua8 tion activities, including impact evaluation re9 search, into future program planning, budg10 eting, design, and implementation. 

11 ‘‘(F) Establishes a policy for the publica12 tion of program evaluations. 

13 ‘‘(G) Develops, in consultation with rel14 evant stakeholders, as appropriate, an annual 

15 evaluation plan that describes how the agency 

16 will meet the requirements of this section. 

17 ‘‘(4) SUBMISSION OF EVALUATION PLANS.—The 

18 President shall ensure that the evaluation plans re19 quired by paragraph (3)(G) are submitted to the ap20 propriate congressional committees each year along 

21 with the annual budget submitted under section 

22 1105 of title 31, United States Code, and are pub23 lished on a Government Web site. 

24 ‘‘(d) COOPERATION WITH THE INTERNATIONAL RE25 NEWABLE ENERGY AGENCY.—The Secretary of ComVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:30 Sep 22, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2988.IH H2988

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1 merce, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall 

2 work with the International Renewable Energy Agency 

3 (IRENA) to identify countries that have received or are 

4 in the process of receiving assistance from IRENA that 

5 improve the deployment and adoption of renewable energy 

6 in such country in order to promote United States exports 

7 in clean and efficient energy and environmental products 

8 and services to that country. 

9 ‘‘(e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than one 

10 year after the date of the enactment of this section and 

11 annually thereafter, the Secretary of Commerce shall 

12 transmit a report to Congress on the implementation of 

13 this section. Such report shall include— 

14 ‘‘(1) a description of the activities undertaken 

15 during the preceding year; 

16 ‘‘(2) the results of the monitoring and evalua17 tion programs under subsection (c) during the pre18 ceding year; and 

19 ‘‘(3) the operations of the public directory es20 tablished under subsection (a) and the governmental 

21 database established under subsection (b) during the 

22 preceding year. 

23 ‘‘(f) GAO REPORT ON EFFECTIVENESS OF U.S. EX24 PORT PROMOTION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than one year 

2 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

3 Comptroller General shall submit a report to the ap4 propriate congressional committees containing— 

5 ‘‘(A) a baseline analysis that compares the 

6 scope of effectiveness of United States export 

7 promotion activities with respect to clean and 

8 efficient energy and environmental products 

9 and services with those of other major trade 

10 competitors; and 

11 ‘‘(B) recommendations on how United 

12 States export promotion activities described in 

13 subparagraph (A) can be strengthened to coun14 teract foreign government competition. 

15 ‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT REPORT.—Not later than 

16 two years after the date of the enactment of this 

17 section, the Comptroller General shall submit a re18 port to the appropriate congressional committees 

19 containing— 

20 ‘‘(A) an assessment of the overall effective21 ness of United States export promotion activi22 ties with respect to clean and efficient energy 

23 and environmental products and services and a 

24 comparison to the baseline analysis conducted 

25 in paragraph (1); 


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1 ‘‘(B) an assessment of the ability of the 

2 Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee to 

3 coordinate United States export promotion ac4 tivities described in subparagraph (A); 

5 ‘‘(C) an evaluation of the effectiveness of 

6 the monitoring and evaluation system estab7 lished under subsection (c); and 

8 ‘‘(D) recommendations for improving the 

9 coordination and implementation of United 

10 States export promotion activities described in 

11 subparagraph (A). 

12 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

13 ‘‘(1) the term ‘appropriate congressional com14 mittees’ means the Committee on Foreign Affairs in 

15 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

16 Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs in the Senate; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(2) the term ‘product’ includes technology.’’. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con20 tents of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 

21 1988 is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

22 section 2314 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 2315. Promotion of exports of clean and efficient energy and environmental products and services.’’. 

Æ 


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