Targeting Environmental and Climate Recklessness Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.3245 | Sponsor: Rep. Escobar, Veronica (D-TX)
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Targeting Environmental and Climate Recklessness Act of 2021
This bill authorizes the President to impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions on any foreign person that is responsible for or involved in specified activities that are detrimental to the environment.
Such activities include (1) causing significant excess greenhouse gas emissions associated with power generation; (2) causing significant or illegal deforestation or loss of natural carbon sinks; and (3) knowingly misrepresenting the environmental impact of a project, investment, or product.
The bill further states that it is U.S. policy to consider any act of corruption related to such activities and any violation of internationally recognized human rights committed against specified individuals to be sanctionable.

To authorize the imposition of sanctions with respect to significant 
  actions that exacerbate climate change, to reinforce comprehensive 
    efforts to limit global average temperature rise, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Targeting Environmental and Climate 
Recklessness Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Climate change is imposing significant damage on 
        communities in the United States and abroad in the form of 
        severe weather events, wildfires, heat waves, droughts, 
        flooding, ocean acidification, and other threats to public 
        health and safety. Scientists expect these effects to grow in 
        frequency and intensity in the coming decades. Low-income 
        communities and communities of color bear a disproportionate 
        impact of climate-related damages.
            (2) Collectively, the international community needs to 
        limit global warming to under 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-
        industrial levels in order to avoid the most catastrophic 
        effects of climate change. Under the current trajectory, the 
        world will fail to meet this target and will experience warming 
        that exceeds 3 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. In 
        many regions of the world, warming of average temperatures has 
        already surpassed 3 degrees Fahrenheit.
            (3) To limit global warming to under 1.5 degrees Celsius 
        above pre-industrial levels, the world needs to reach net-zero 
        global emissions by 2050, which will require making drastic 
        reforms to global economic systems to mitigate greenhouse gas 
        emissions, reduce deforestation, reduce dependency on coal, 
        adapt to unavoidable changes in the climate, and ensure a just 
        transition.
            (4) The goals articulated in the United Nations Paris 
        Climate Agreement depend on collective action involving the 
        entire international community. Progress made by one economic 
        actor can be reduced or cancelled out if another economic actor 
        emits significant greenhouse gas emissions into the Earth's 
        atmosphere.
            (5) Coal produces the highest intensity of greenhouse gas 
        emissions of any fuel source. The International Energy Agency 
        estimates that coal is responsible for nearly \1/3\ of global 
        warming. The United Nations Secretary General has repeatedly 
        urged countries to stop financing coal and to pledge not to 
        build new coal-fired power plants.
            (6) Subcritical coal-fired power plants continue to be 
        developed, especially in Southeast Asia and as part of the Belt 
        and Road Initiative of the People's Republic of China, despite 
        broad awareness of the dangers and the growing availability of 
        economically superior alternatives. Additionally, coal mining 
        is frequently associated with a wide range of human rights 
        abuses, such as forced evictions and land grabbing, water and 
        air pollution, and violations of the rights of indigenous 
        people and workers.
            (7) Alternatives to carbon-intensive electrical power 
        generation are now available and technological advancements 
        continue to strengthen the economic competitiveness of such 
        alternatives.
            (8) Internationally, several economic actors continue to 
        pursue activities, such as development of new subcritical coal-
        fired power plants and deforestation that contribute to 
        dangerous levels of greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to 
        carrying a significant climate risk, many of these activities 
        are associated with serious human rights abuses, acts of 
        corruption, and environmental injustice against Indigenous 
        communities, communities of color, and other communities that 
        have historically faced marginalization and discrimination.
            (9) The United States Government has developed and 
        implements targeted measures to restrict access to the United 
        States financial system for specific individuals and entities 
        whose actions threaten or run counter to United States national 
        interests. The United States Government has deployed these 
        measures in response to terrorism, proliferation of weapons of 
        mass destruction, transnational organized crime, narcotics 
        trafficking, malicious cyber-enabled activity, wildlife 
        trafficking, serious human rights abuses, and acts of 
        corruption. While President Joseph R. Biden has further 
        centered climate solutions in foreign policy, as of the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the United States Government has not 
        used these measures to target and deter reckless, climate-
        destroying behavior.
            (10) President Biden has indicated that combating the 
        climate crisis is a top domestic and foreign policy priority 
        and has taken steps including the creation of a Special 
        Presidential Envoy for Climate, collaborating with other 
        countries to establish worldwide solutions and reduce the 
        impact of climate change, striving to achieve a net-zero 
        economy in the United States by 2050, producing a plan to end 
        international financing for fossil fuel projects, and 
        emphasizing the need of pursuing an entirely clean energy 
        economy.
            (11) President Biden has made it a priority to counter 
        environmental injustices in the United States and abroad, and 
        plans on implementing community-led approaches as well as 
        Federal protections and regulations that will support those 
        community members whose land and health have been negatively 
        impacted by climate change.
            (12) The climate crisis has led to a surge of civic 
        engagement, activism, and protests across the world. At the 
        same time, reprisals against environmental defenders are on the 
        rise. Front Line Defenders reported that of the 331 human 
        rights defenders killed for their work in 2020, 69 percent were 
        killed for speaking up about Indigenous, land, or environmental 
        rights. In 2020, Global Witness reported than an average of 4 
        environmental defenders had been killed every week since the 
        Paris Climate Agreement was signed in December 2015. Thousands 
        of other environmental defenders are targeted each year with 
        reprisals in the form of enforced disappearances, torture, 
        sexual violence, criminalization, and smear campaigns.
            (13) As a result of corruption and illegally issued permits 
        for forest clearance, only approximately 50 percent of tropical 
        forest destruction is defined as ``illegal'' under local 
        country laws. Critically, violations of land rights and the 
        free, prior, and informed consent and rights of Indigenous 
        people can be overlooked if the only criterion applied is 
        legality.
            (14) Illegal deforestation is a significant driver of the 
        destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Criminal networks with 
        the capacity to coordinate large-scale extraction, processing, 
        and sale of timber deploy armed personnel to protect their 
        interests. Those criminal networks regularly attack and 
        threaten members of Indigenous communities, enforcement 
        officials, and other environmental defenders. Perpetrators of 
        such violence are rarely brought to justice.
            (15) Policies and measures to address climate change must 
        also promote human rights, thereby advancing equality, justice, 
        and dignity for all, in line with the Sustainable Development 
        Goals of the United Nations.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO ADDRESSING 
              CLIMATE CHANGE.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the targeted measures described in this Act are only 
        one component of the comprehensive approach needed to address 
        climate change and mitigate its effects;
            (2) the United States Government must ensure through law 
        and regulation that entities in the United States are not 
        engaged in or complicit in any of the egregious behaviors for 
        which foreign persons may be targeted under this Act;
            (3) the United States Government must fulfill its pledges 
        to the Green Climate Fund and promote international efforts to 
        support climate change adaptation and mitigation;
            (4) the United States Government must work proactively with 
        foreign governments, including by offering positive incentives, 
        to address climate change and to promote economic development 
        in ways that do not needlessly increase carbon emissions or 
        increase the risk of corruption;
            (5) the targeted measures described in this Act should be 
        employed if engagement has failed to prevent significant 
        actions that exacerbate climate change; and
            (6) given broad international support for countering 
        climate change, the Secretary of State should encourage the 
        governments of other countries to implement targeted measures 
        that are similar to the provisions of this Act, and the 
        Secretary of the Treasury should support implementation of such 
        measures, in order to increase the effectiveness of actions 
        taken by the United States to combat significant actions that 
        exacerbate climate change, including related corruption and 
        human rights violations.

SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON ENGAGEMENT WITH THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF 
              CHINA.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the United States Government should continue to hold 
        the People's Republic of China accountable for its human rights 
        abuses, violations of international law, coercive and unfair 
        economic practices, and military aggression, and should do so 
        while also pursuing opportunities to cooperatively address the 
        existential threat of climate change;
            (2) the United States Government should encourage the 
        People's Republic of China to follow through on its stated 
        intentions to reduce the negative environmental impacts of 
        Chinese foreign investment, including investments provided 
        through the Belt and Road Initiative;
            (3) the United States Government should negotiate a binding 
        agreement to end fossil fuel subsidies with major economies 
        including the People's Republic of China;
            (4) the United States Government should build on the 
        successes of existing engagement with the People's Republic of 
        China through the United States-China Clean Energy Research 
        Center and other initiatives to launch new cooperative efforts;
            (5) the United States Government should engage in expanded 
        dialogue with the People's Republic of China to ensure that 
        development finance institutions do not undermine global 
        decarbonization efforts; and
            (6) the United States Government should work with the 
        People's Republic of China to develop and adopt safeguards to 
        promote low-carbon, climate-resilient investments over high-
        carbon, climate risk-inducing investments, particularly in 
        emerging and developing economies in the Indo-Pacific, Africa, 
        and Latin America.

SEC. 5. STATEMENT OF POLICY ON APPLICATION OF GLOBAL MAGNITSKY 
              SANCTIONS TO CLIMATE-LINKED CORRUPTION AND HUMAN RIGHTS 
              ABUSES.

    (a) In General.--It is the policy of the United States to 
consider--
            (1) any act of corruption related to a covered activity (as 
        defined in section 6(i)) to be corruption, as that term is used 
        in Executive Order 13818 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to 
        blocking the property of persons involved in serious human 
        rights abuse or corruption); and
            (2) any violation of internationally recognized human 
        rights committed against an individual described in subsection 
        (b) to be a serious human rights abuse, as that term is used in 
        Executive Order 13818.
    (b) Individuals Described.--An individual described in this 
subsection is an individual who--
            (1) advocates for the protection of the environment, public 
        health, Indigenous rights, or community land rights;
            (2) investigates, exposes, or raises awareness of harm or 
        corruption related to natural resource use; or
            (3) is obliged to leave the individual's habitual home due, 
        in whole or in part, to sudden or progressive change in the 
        environment that adversely affects the individual's life or 
        living conditions.

SEC. 6. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO SIGNIFICANT ACTIONS 
              THAT EXACERBATE CLIMATE CHANGE.

    (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
President should employ the authorities provided by this section to 
prioritize action against, and deterrence of, egregious behaviors that 
undermine efforts to limit the increase in global average temperature 
to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
    (b) In General.--The President may impose one or more of the 
sanctions described in subsection (c) with respect to any foreign 
person the President determines, based on credible information--
            (1) to be responsible for or complicit in, or to have 
        directly or indirectly engaged in, a covered activity, 
        including a government official who approves or implements 
        policies or acts that serve to promote a covered activity;
            (2) to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, 
        directly or indirectly, any foreign person in a matter relating 
        to a covered activity, including for or on behalf of a 
        government official described in paragraph (1);
            (3) to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided 
        financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or 
        services to or in support of, a covered activity; or
            (4) to be owned or controlled by a foreign person described 
        in paragraph (1).
    (c) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions that may be imposed with 
respect to a foreign person under subsection (b) are the following:
            (1) Inadmissibility to united states.--In the case of a 
        foreign person who is an individual--
                    (A) ineligibility to receive a visa to enter the 
                United States or to be admitted to the United States; 
                or
                    (B) if the individual has been issued a visa or 
                other documentation, revocation, in accordance with 
                section 221(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
                (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), of the visa or other documentation.
            (2) Blocking of property.--
                    (A) In general.--The blocking, in accordance with 
                the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 
                U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), of all transactions in all 
                property and interests in property of the foreign 
                person if such property and interests in property are 
                in the United States, come within the United States, or 
                are or come within the possession or control of a 
                United States person.
                    (B) Inapplicability of national emergency 
                requirement.--The requirements of section 202 of the 
                International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 
                1701) shall not apply for purposes of this paragraph.
            (3) Other sanctions options.--Any of the sanctions 
        described in section 235 of the Countering America's 
        Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (22 U.S.C. 9529).
    (d) Consideration of Certain Information in Imposing Sanctions.--In 
determining whether to impose sanctions under subsection (b), the 
President shall consider--
            (1) information provided jointly by the chairperson and 
        ranking member of each of the appropriate congressional 
        committees; and
            (2) credible information obtained by other countries and 
        nongovernmental organizations that monitor environmental harm 
        or violations of human rights.
    (e) Requests by Appropriate Congressional Committees.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 120 days after receiving a 
        request that meets the requirements of paragraph (2) with 
        respect to whether a foreign person has engaged in an action 
        described in subsection (a), the President shall--
                    (A) determine if that person has engaged in such an 
                action; and
                    (B) submit a classified or unclassified report to 
                the chairperson and ranking member of the committee or 
                committees that submitted the request with respect to 
                that determination that includes--
                            (i) a statement of whether or not the 
                        President imposed or intends to impose 
                        sanctions with respect to the person; and
                            (ii) if the President imposed or intends to 
                        impose sanctions, a description of those 
                        sanctions.
            (2) Requirements.--A request under paragraph (1) with 
        respect to whether a foreign person has engaged in an action 
        described in subsection (b) shall be submitted to the President 
        in writing jointly by the chairperson and ranking member of one 
        of the appropriate congressional committees.
    (f) Exceptions.--
            (1) Intelligence and law enforcement activities.--Sanctions 
        under this section shall not apply with respect to--
                    (A) any activity subject to the reporting 
                requirements under title V of the National Security Act 
                of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.); or
                    (B) any authorized intelligence or law enforcement 
                activities of the United States.
            (2) Compliance with united nations headquarters 
        agreement.--This section shall not apply with respect to the 
        admission of an individual to the United States if the 
        admission of the individual is necessary to comply with United 
        States obligations under the Agreement between the United 
        Nations and the United States of America regarding the 
        Headquarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake Success June 
        26, 1947, and entered into force November 21, 1947, under the 
        Convention on Consular Relations, done at Vienna April 24, 
        1963, and entered into force March 19, 1967, or under other 
        international obligations of the United States.
            (3) Exception relating to importation of goods.--
                    (A) In general.--The authority to block and 
                prohibit all transactions in all property and interests 
                in property under this section shall not include the 
                authority to impose sanctions on the importation of 
                goods.
                    (B) Good defined.--In this paragraph, the term 
                ``good'' means any article, natural or man-made 
                substance, material, supply or manufactured product, 
                including inspection and test equipment, and excluding 
                technical data.
    (g) Implementation; Penalties.--
            (1) Implementation.--The President may exercise all 
        authorities provided under sections 203 and 205 of the 
        International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 
        1704) to carry out this section.
            (2) Penalties.--A person that violates, attempts to 
        violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of this 
        section or any regulation, license, or order issued to carry 
        out this section shall be subject to the penalties set forth in 
        subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the International 
        Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same 
        extent as a person that commits an unlawful act described in 
        subsection (a) of that section.
    (h) Report Required.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of 
Energy, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the 
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall submit to 
the appropriate congressional committees a report that includes a list 
of each activity in a foreign country that--
            (1) is initiated or negotiated in the year preceding 
        submission of the report; and
            (2) the Secretary determines is a covered activity, 
        regardless of whether sanctions have been imposed with respect 
        to the activity.
    (i) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Environment and Public Works 
                and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; 
                and
                    (B) the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the 
                Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
                Representatives.
            (2) Carbon sink.--The term ``carbon sink'' means a feature 
        or process that absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it 
        releases.
            (3) Covered activity.--The term ``covered activity'' means 
        any activity in a foreign country that, on or after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act--
                    (A) causes, or is likely to cause, significant 
                excess greenhouse gas emissions associated with 
                electrical power generation, including--
                            (i) construction, importation, or 
                        exportation of subcritical coal-fired power 
                        plants; or
                            (ii) any action that significantly 
                        undermines, as a result of timing or magnitude, 
                        adoption in the country of high-efficiency, 
                        low-carbon, or renewable energy technology or 
                        infrastructure;
                    (B) causes, or is likely to cause, significant or 
                illegal deforestation or loss of natural carbon sinks, 
                including--
                            (i) establishment of incentives for, or 
                        promotion of, systematic deforestation;
                            (ii) engagement in, or failure to combat, 
                        illegal logging, mining, or ranching; or
                            (iii) unjust actions that limit or 
                        circumvent opposition to deforestation by 
                        individuals seeking to protect the environment, 
                        public health, or community land rights; or
                    (C) knowingly misrepresents the environmental 
                impact of a project, investment, or product, including 
                misrepresenting the amount of greenhouse gas emissions 
                associated with the project, investment, or product, in 
                the context of--
                            (i) assessments conducted by multilateral 
                        organizations, national governments, or 
                        investors; or
                            (ii) public efforts to gain market 
                        advantage based on purported environmental 
                        advantages of a product.
            (4) Deforestation.--The term ``deforestation'' means a loss 
        of natural forest resulting from the whole or partial 
        conversion of natural forest to--
                    (A) agriculture or another non-forest land use; or
                    (B) a tree plantation.
            (5) Knowingly.--The term ``knowingly'', with respect to 
        conduct, a circumstance, or a result, means that a person has 
        actual knowledge, or should have known, of the conduct, the 
        circumstance, or the result.
            (6) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' means a 
        person that is not a United States person.
            (7) Subcritical coal-fired power plant.--The term 
        ``subcritical coal-fired power plant'' means a coal-fired power 
        plant with carbon intensity equal to or greater than 880 
        kilograms of carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour.
            (8) United states person.--The term ``United States 
        person'' means--
                    (A) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully 
                admitted for permanent residence to the United States; 
                or
                    (B) an entity organized under the laws of the 
                United States or of any jurisdiction within the United 
                States, including a foreign branch of such an entity.

SEC. 7. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR THE OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the 
Treasury such sums as may be necessary to support the targeting by the 
Office of Foreign Assets Control of persons under this Act and to 
enhance the ability of that Office to target persons for the imposition 
of sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act 
(subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114-328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note).
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