International Financial Institutions Act of 1977, As Amended*
* includes amendments of 1988 and 2005 Foreign Operations Appropriation Acts
SEC 1301. The Congress finds that
(1) United States assistance to the multilateral development banks should promote sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of the environment, public health, and the status of indigenous peoples in developing countries;
(2) multilateral development bank projects, policies, and loans have failed in some cases to provide adequate safeguards for the environment, public health, natural resources, and indigenous peoples;
(3) many development efforts of the multilateral development banks are more enduring and less costly if based on consultations with directly affected population groups and communities;
(4) developing country governments sometimes do not ensure that appropriate policies and procedures are in place to use natural resources sustainably or consult with affected population groups and communities, where costs could be reduced or benefits made more enduring; and
(5) in general, the multilateral development banks do not yet provide systematic and adequate assistance to their borrowers to encourage sustainable resource use and consultation with affected communities, where costs could be reduced or benefits made more enduring.
SEC. 1302.
The Secretary of the Treasurer and the Secretary of State, in cooperation with the Administrator of the Agency for International Development, shall vigorously promote mechanisms to strengthen the environmental performance of these banks. These mechanisms shall include strengthening organizational, administrative, and procedural arrangements within the banks which will substantially improve management of assistance programs necessary to ensure the sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of indigenous peoples.
SEC. 1303.
(a)
(1) In the course of reviewing assistance proposals of the multilateral development banks, the Administrator of the Agency for International Development, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of State, shall ensure that other agencies and appropriate United States embassies and overseas missions of the Agency for International Development are instructed to analyze, where feasible, the environmental impacts of multilateral development loans well in advance of such loans ' approval by the relevant institutions to determine whether the proposals will contribute to the sustainable development of the borrowing country.
(2) To the extent possible, such reviews shall address the economic viability of the project, adverse impacts on the environment, natural resources, public health, and indigenous peoples, and recommendations as to measures, including alternatives, that could eliminate or mitigate adverse impacts.
(3) If there is reason to believe that any such loan is particularly likely to have substantial adverse impacts, the Administrator of the Agency for International Development, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of State, shall ensure that an affirmative investigation of such impacts is undertaken in consultation with relevant Federal agencies. If not classified under the national security system of classification, the information collected pursuant to this paragraph shall be made available to the public.
(b)
(1) The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the Executive Directors representing the United States at the multilateral development banks as defined in section 1307(g) to urge the management and other directors of each such bank, to provide sufficient time between the circulation of assistance proposals and bank action on those proposals, in order to permit their evaluation by major shareholder governments.
(2) The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct such Executive Directors to work with other countries ' Executive Directors and multilateral development bank management to –
(A) improve the procedures of each multilateral development bank for providing its board of directors with a complete and accurate record regarding public consultation before they vote on proposed projects with significant environmental implications; and
(B) revise bank procedures to consistently require public consultation on operational policy proposals or revisions that have significant environmental or social implications.
(3) Progress under this subsection shall be incorporated into Treasury 's required annual report to Congress on the environmental performance of the multilateral development banks.
(c) Based on the information obtained during the evaluation referred to in subsection (a) of this section and other available information, the Administrator of the Agency for International Development, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of State, shall identify those assistance proposals likely to have adverse impacts on the environment, natural resources, public health, or indigenous peoples. The proposals so identified shall be transmitted to the Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, not later than April 1 and October 1 of each year following the date of enactment of this title.
(d) The Secretary of the Treasury shall forward reports concerning information received under subsection (a) of this section to the Executive Director representing the United States in the appropriate bank with instructions to seek to eliminate or mitigate adverse impacts which may result from the proposal.
SEC. 1304.
The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the Agency for International Development, shall create a system for cooperative exchange of information with other interested member countries on assistance proposals of the multilateral development banks.
SEC. 1305.
The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States Executive Directors of the multilateral development banks to support the strengthening of educational programs within each multilateral development bank to improve the capacity of mid-level managers to initiate and manage environmental aspects of development activities, and to train officials of borrowing countries in the conduct of environmental analyses.
SEC. 1306.
(a) The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States Executive Director of each multilateral development bank to vigorously and continuously urge that each bank identify and develop methods and procedures to insure that in addition to economic and technical considerations, unquantified environmental values be given appropriate consideration in decisionmaking, and include in the documents circulated to the Board of Executive Directors concerning each assistance proposal a detailed statement, to include assessment of the benefits and costs of environmental impacts and possible mitigating measures, on the environmental impact of the proposed action, any adverse environmental effects which cannot be avoided if the proposal is implemented, and alternatives to the proposed action.
(b) The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States Executive Director of each multilateral development bank to vigorously and continuously promote –
(1) increases in the proportion of loans supporting environmentally beneficial policies, projects, and project components;
(2) the establishment of environmental programs in appropriate policy-based loans for the purpose of improving natural resource management, environmental quality, and protection of biological diversity;
(3) increases in the proportion of staff with professional training and experience in ecology and related areas and in the areas of anthropological and sociological impact analysis to ensure systematic appraisal and monitoring of environmental and sociocultural impacts of projects and policies;
(4) active and systematic encouragement of participation by borrowing countries nongovernmental environmental, community and indigenous peoples ' organizations at all stages of preparations for country lending strategies, policy based loans, and loans that may have adverse environmental or sociocultural impacts; and
(5) full availability to concerned or affected nongovernmental and community organization, early in the preparation phase and at all subsequent stages of planning of full documentary information concerning details of design and potential environmental and sociocultural impacts of proposed loans.
SEC. 1307.
Assessment Of Environmental Impact of Proposed Multilateral Development Bank Actions.
(a) ASSESSMENT REQUIRED BEFORE FAVORABLE VOTE ON PROPOSAL – The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States Executive Director of each multilateral development bank not to vote in favor of any proposal (including but not limited to any loan, credit, grant, guarantee) which would result or be likely to result in significant impact on the environment, unless the Secretary, after consultation with the Secretary of State and the Administrators of the United States Agency for International Development and the Environmental Protection Agency, determines that for at least 120 days before the date of the vote –
(1) an assessment analyzing the environmental impacts of the proposed action, including associated and cumulative impacts, and of alternatives to the proposed action, has been completed by the borrower or the bank and has been made available to the board of directors of the bank; and
(2) such assessment or a comprehensive summary of the assessment (with proprietary information redacted) has been made available to affected groups, and local nongovernmental organizations and notice of its availability in the country and at the bank has been posted on the bank 's website.
(b) Access to Assessments In All Member Countries.
The Secretary of the Treasury shall seek the adoption of policies and procedures, through discussions and negotiations with the other member countries of the multilateral development banks and with the management of such banks, which result in access by governmental agencies and interested members of the public of such member countries, to environmental assessments or documentary information containing comprehensive summaries of such assessments which discuss the environmental impact of prospective projects and programs being considered by such banks. Such assessments or summaries should be made available to such governmental agencies and interested members of the public at least 120 days before scheduled board action, and public participation in review of the relevant environmental information should be encouraged.
(c) Consideration Of Assessment. – The Secretary of the Treasury shall
(1) ensure that an environmental impact assessment or comprehensive summary of such assessment described in subsection (a) of this section accompanies loan proposals through the agency review process; and
(2) take into consideration recommendations from all other interested Federal agencies and interested members of the public.
(d) Development Of Procedures For Systematic Environmental Assessment.
The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with other Federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of State, and the Council on Environmental Quality, shall –
(1) instruct the United States Executive Director of each multilateral development bank to initiate discussions with the other executive directors of the respective bank and to propose that the respective bank develop and make available to member governments of, and borrowers from, the respective bank, within 18 months after December 19, 1989, a procedure for the systematic environmental assessment of development projects for which the respective bank provides financial assistance, taking into consideration the Guidelines and Principles for Environmental Impact Assessment promulgated by the United Nations Environmental Programme and other bilateral or multilateral assessment procedures; and
(2) in determining the position of the United States on any action proposed to be taken by a multilateral development bank, develop and prescribe procedures for the consideration of, among other things –
(A) the environmental impact assessment of the action described in subsection (a);
(B) interagency and public review of such assessment; and
(C) other environmental review and consultation of such action that is required by other law.
(e) Use Of United States Personnel.
The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Interior, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality, the Administrator of the Agency for International Development, and the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shall –
(1) make available to the multilateral development banks, without charge, appropriate United States Government personnel to assist in –
(A) training bank staff in environmental impact assessment procedures;
(B) providing advice on environmental issues;
(C) preparing environmental studies for projects with potentially significant environmental impacts; and
(D) preparing documents for public release, and developing procedures to provide for the inclusion of interested nongovernmental organizations in the environmental review process; and
(2) encourage other member countries of such banks to provide similar assistance.
(f) Reports.
(1) In General. - The Secretary of the Treasury shall submit to the Committees on Foreign Relations and Environment and Public Works of the Senate and the Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs of the House of Representatives –
(A) not later than the end of the 1-year period beginning on December 19, 1989 , a progress report on the efficacy of efforts by the United States to encourage consistent and timely environmental impact assessment of actions proposed to be taken by the multilateral development banks and on the progress made by the multilateral development banks in developing and instituting environmental assessment policies and procedures; and
(B) not later than January 1, 1993, a detailed report on the matters described in subparagraph (A).
(2) Availability Of Reports. - The reports required by paragraph (1) shall be made available to the member governments of, and the borrowers from, the multilateral development banks, and to the public.
(g) MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANK DEFINED – In this title, the term `multilateral development bank ' means the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Development Association, the International Finance Corporation, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, the African Development Bank, the African Development Fund, the Asian Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Inter-American Investment Corporation, any other institution (other than the International Monetary Fund) specified in section 1701(c)(2), and any subsidiary of any such institution.