Title: Targeting Environmental and Climate Recklessness Act of 2019
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Targeting Environmental and Climate Recklessness Act of 2019
This bill authorizes the President to impose sanctions on a foreign individual or company that has engaged in egregious behaviors that undermine efforts to limit global warming.
Specifically, the President may impose visa-blocking, property-blocking, or economic sanctions upon a determination that a foreign individual or company has (1) caused significant excess greenhouse gas emissions associated with electrical power generation; (2) caused significant or illegal deforestation or loss of natural carbon sinks; or (3) knowingly misrepresented the environmental impact of a project, investment, or product.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5625 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5625

 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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 16, 2020

 Ms. Escobar (for herself and Ms. Velazquez) introduced the following 
 bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in 
   addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Financial Services, 
     Oversight and Reform, and Ways and Means, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 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 2019''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) There is strong global support for actions that limit 
        the severity of climate change.
            (2) On September 18, 2019, more than 200 representatives of 
        environmental groups, human rights groups, indigenous peoples, 
        workers, and academia adopted a declaration calling on 
        governments to urgently address environmental damage, including 
        by increasing the pressure on those most responsible for 
        climate change.
            (3) The United States Government has developed and 
        implements targeted measures to restrict access to the United 
        States financial system for specific individuals and entities 
        involved in conduct including malicious cyber-enabled activity, 
        transnational organized crime, narcotics trafficking, 
        terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, human 
        rights abuse, and corruption. Those conduct-based measures 
        apply globally and are not focused on any specific country.
            (4) As of the date of the enactment of this Act, the United 
        States Government seeks to apply existing sanctions authorities 
        against individuals and entities engaged in wildlife 
        trafficking. On January 30, 2018, the Office of Foreign Assets 
        Control designated an organization for engaging in illicit 
        activities including the trafficking of endangered and 
        vulnerable animals such as black bears, pangolins, tigers, 
        rhinoceroses, and elephants.
            (5) Climate change has disproportionate impact on poorer 
        communities and individuals in less developed countries. 
        Targeted measures against individuals and entities most 
        responsible for exacerbating climate change could help ensure 
        that efforts to address climate change do not worsen global 
        inequality.
            (6) Development of carbon-intensive electrical power plants 
        is continuing across the developing world through new foreign 
        investments, despite broad awareness of the dangers.
            (7) The current investment plans of countries likely to 
        receive significant foreign energy investments may lead to an 
        excess build-out of fossil fuel assets and create carbon 
        ``lock-in'' absent urgent action.
            (8) Governments that are investing in or directing foreign 
        investment toward legacy fossil fuel energy generation often 
        lack the incentive to formulate more efficient or sustainable 
        national energy policies. Those governments are thus likely to 
        default to established but harmful forms of energy generation.
            (9) Alternatives to carbon-intensive electrical power 
        generation are now available and technological advancements 
        continue to strengthen the economic competitiveness of such 
        alternatives.
            (10) Corruption is especially harmful when individuals who 
        abuse positions of influence for personal gain can 
        simultaneously cause great damage to the global commons by 
        facilitating significant increases in the emission of, or 
        decreases in the absorption of, greenhouse gases.
            (11) Deforestation is doubly damaging because it undercuts 
        the absorption of carbon dioxide, while also raising greenhouse 
        gas emissions.
            (12) According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate 
        Change, most pathways to limit warming to well below 2 degrees 
        Celsius require reduced deforestation in concert with 
        reforestation, afforestation, and bioenergy efforts.
            (13) From 2013 to 2019, some of the largest financial 
        institutions in the world provided tens of billions of dollars 
        in financing to entities either directly or indirectly 
        deforesting the largest rainforests in the world. Most 
        financial institutions have no internal policy covering 
        dealings in key forest-risk commodities.
            (14) On September 22, 2019, 130 financial institutions 
        worth $47,000,000,000,000 collectively, representing \1/3\ of 
        the global industry, signed on to the United Nations-backed 
        Principles for Responsible Banking, committing to strategically 
        align their businesses with the goals of the agreement of the 
        parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate 
        Change, done at Paris December 12, 2015, and entered into force 
        November 4, 2016 (in this Act referred to as the ``Paris 
        Climate Agreement''), and the Sustainable Development Goals 
        adopted by all United Nations member countries in 2015.
            (15) Illegal deforestation causes environmental harm while 
        promoting criminal activity. In the Brazilian Amazon, criminal 
        networks with the capacity to coordinate large-scale 
        extraction, processing, and sale of timber deploy armed 
        personnel to protect their interests. They regularly kill and 
        threaten people who stand in the way of criminal activity, 
        including members of indigenous communities and environmental 
        enforcement officials. Perpetrators of violence are rarely 
        brought to justice.
            (16) Between 2002 and 2017, 1,558 people in 50 countries 
        were killed for defending their environments and lands. 
        Environmental defenders currently face a wave of violence that 
        includes threats of physical harm, intimidation, and 
        criminalization.
            (17) 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 restrictive 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 United States entities are not engaged in 
        any of the egregious behaviors for which foreign persons may be 
        targeted under this Act;
            (3) the United States Government must recommit to the Paris 
        Climate Agreement and commit to any successor agreement;
            (4) the United States Government must fulfill its pledges 
        to the Green Climate Fund and promote international efforts to 
        support climate change adaptation and mitigation;
            (5) 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;
            (6) the restrictive measures described in this Act should 
        be employed if engagement has failed to prevent significant 
        actions that exacerbate climate change; and
            (7) given broad international support for countering 
        climate change, the Secretary of State should encourage the 
        governments of other countries to implement restrictive 
        measures that are similar to the provisions of this Act 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 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;
            (2) the United States Government should negotiate a binding 
        agreement to end fossil fuel subsidies with major economies 
        including the People's Republic of China;
            (3) 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;
            (4) 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
            (5) 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(h)) 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 
        that Executive Order 13818.
    (b) Individuals Described.--An individual described in this 
subsection is an individual--
            (1) seeking to protect the environment, public health, or 
        community land rights;
            (2) seeking to expose, or raise awareness of, environmental 
        damage; or
            (3) 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) 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.
            (5) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' means a 
        person that is not a United States person.
            (6) 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.
            (7) 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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