I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6982 
To reauthorize the Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 1998 through fiscal 
year 2021, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 
Mr. CHABOT (for himself, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. ENGEL, 
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. GRIJALVA, and Ms. MCCOLLUM) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs 
A BILL 
To reauthorize the Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 1998 
through fiscal year 2021, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Tropical Forest Conservation Reauthorization Act of 
2018’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Amendment to short title of Act to encompass modified scope. 
Sec. 3. Protection of tropical forests and coral reefs. 
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Sec. 4. Change to name of facility. 
Sec. 5. Eligibility for benefits. 
Sec. 6. Reduction of debt owed to the United States as a result of credits ex-
tended under title I of Food for Peace Act. 
Sec. 7. United States Government representation on oversight bodies for grants 
from debt-for-nature swaps and debt buybacks. 
Sec. 8. Conservation agreements. 
Sec. 9. Conservation Fund. 
Sec. 10. Changes to due dates of annual reports to Congress. 
Sec. 11. New authorization of appropriations for the reduction of debt and au-
thorization for audit, evaluation, monitoring, and administra-
tion expenses. 
SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO SHORT TITLE OF ACT TO ENCOM-
PASS MODIFIED SCOPE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 801 of the Tropical For-
est Conservation Act of 1998 (part V of Public Law 87– 
195; 22 U.S.C. 2151 note) is amended by striking ‘‘Trop-
ical Forest Conservation Act of 1998’’ and inserting 
‘‘Tropical Forest and Coral Reef Conservation Act of 
1998’’. 
(b) REFERENCES.—Any reference in any other provi-
sion of law, regulation, document, paper, or other record 
of the United States to the ‘‘Tropical Forest Conservation 
Act of 1998’’ shall be deemed to be a reference to the 
‘‘Tropical Forest and Coral Reef Conservation Act of 
1998’’. 
SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF TROPICAL FORESTS AND CORAL 
REEFS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 802 of the Tropical For-
est and Coral Reef Conservation Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 
2431), as renamed by section 2(a), is amended— 
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(1) in subsections (a)(1), (a)(6), (b)(1), (b)(3), 
and (b)(4), by striking ‘‘tropical forests’’ each place 
it appears and inserting ‘‘tropical forests and coral 
reef ecosystems’’; 
(2) in subsection (a)(2)(C), by striking ‘‘far- 
flung’’; 
(3) in subsection (a)(7), by striking ‘‘tropical 
forests is critical to the protection of tropical for-
ests’’ and inserting ‘‘tropical forests and coral reef 
ecosystems is critical to the protection of such 
areas’’; and 
(4) in subsection (b)(2)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘tropical forests’’ the first 
place it appears and inserting ‘‘tropical forests 
and coral ecosystems’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘tropical forests’’ the sec-
ond place it appears and inserting ‘‘areas’’; and 
(C) by striking ‘‘tropical forests’’ the third 
place it appears and inserting ‘‘tropical forests 
and coral reef ecosystems’’. 
(b) AMENDMENTS RELATED TO DEFINITIONS.—Sec-
tion 803 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 2431a) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (5)— 
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(A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘TROPICAL 
FOREST’’ and inserting ‘‘TROPICAL FOREST OR 
CORAL REEF’’; 
(B) in the matter preceding subparagraph 
(A), by striking ‘‘tropical forest’’ and inserting 
‘‘tropical forest or coral reef’’; and 
(C) in subparagraph (B)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘tropical forest’’ and 
inserting ‘‘tropical forest or coral reef’’; 
and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘tropical forests’’ and 
inserting ‘‘tropical forests or coral reefs’’; 
and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraphs: 
‘‘(10) CORAL.—The term ‘coral’ means species 
of the phylum Cnidaria, including— 
‘‘(A) all species of the orders Antipatharia 
(black corals), Scleractinia (stony corals), 
Alcyonacea (soft corals), Gorgonacea (horny 
corals), Stolonifera (organpipe corals and oth-
ers), and Coenothecalia (blue coral), of the class 
Anthozoa; and 
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‘‘(B) all species of the order Hydrocoral-
lina (fire corals and hydrocorals) of the class 
Hydrozoa. 
‘‘(11) CORAL
REEF.—The term ‘coral reef’ 
means any reef or shoal composed primarily of coral. 
‘‘(12) CORAL
REEF
ECOSYSTEM.—The term 
‘coral reef ecosystem’ means any coral reef and any 
coastal marine ecosystem surrounding, or directly re-
lated to, a coral reef and important to maintaining 
the ecological integrity of that coral reef, such as 
seagrasses, mangroves, sandy seabed communities, 
and immediately adjacent coastal areas.’’. 
SEC. 4. CHANGE TO NAME OF FACILITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 804 of the Tropical For-
est and Coral Reef Conservation Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 
2431b), as renamed by section 2(a), is amended by strik-
ing ‘‘Tropical Forest Facility’’ and inserting ‘‘Conserva-
tion Facility’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO DEFINITIONS.— 
Section 803(8) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 2431a(8)) is 
amended— 
(1) in the heading, by striking ‘‘TROPICAL FOR-
EST FACILITY’’ and inserting ‘‘CONSERVATION FA-
CILITY’’; and 
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(2) by striking ‘‘Tropical Forest Facility’’ both 
places it appears and inserting ‘‘Conservation Facil-
ity’’. 
(c) REFERENCES.—Any reference in any other provi-
sion of law, regulation, document, paper, or other record 
of the United States to the ‘‘Tropical Forest Facility’’ 
shall be deemed to be a reference to the ‘‘Conservation 
Facility’’. 
SEC. 5. ELIGIBILITY FOR BENEFITS. 
Section 805(a) of the Tropical Forest and Coral Reef 
Conservation Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 2431c(a)), as re-
named by section 2(a), is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘tropical forest’’ and inserting 
‘‘tropical forest or coral reef’’; 
(2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para-
graph (7); and 
(3) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the 
following new paragraphs: 
‘‘(1) whose government is democratically elect-
ed; 
‘‘(2) whose government has not repeatedly pro-
vided support for acts of international terrorism; 
‘‘(3) whose government is not failing to cooper-
ate on international narcotics control matters; 
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‘‘(4) whose government (including its military 
or other security forces) does not engage in a con-
sistent pattern of gross violations of internationally 
recognized human rights; 
‘‘(5) that has in effect, has received approval 
for, or is making significant progress toward— 
‘‘(A) an International Monetary Fund 
standby arrangement, extended Fund arrange-
ment, or an arrangement under the structural 
adjustment facility or enhanced structural ad-
justment facility, or a Fund monitored pro-
gram, or is implementing sound macroeconomic 
policies, unless the President determines that 
such an arrangement or program could reason-
ably be expected to have significant adverse so-
cial or environmental effect; and 
‘‘(B) as appropriate, structural or sectoral 
adjustment loans from the International Bank 
for Reconstruction and Development or the 
International Development Association, unless 
the President determines that the resulting ad-
justment requirements could reasonably be ex-
pected to have significant adverse social or envi-
ronmental effects; 
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