[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 154 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 154

 Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States Government 
should encourage other governments to draft and participate in regional 
    treaties aimed at avoiding any adverse impacts on the physical 
  environment or environmental interests of other nations or a global 
     commons area, through the preparation of Environmental Impact 
                    Assessments, where appropriate.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                July 19 (legislative day, July 10), 1995

Mr. Pell submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States Government 
should encourage other governments to draft and participate in regional 
    treaties aimed at avoiding any adverse impacts on the physical 
  environment or environmental interests of other nations or a global 
     commons area, through the preparation of Environmental Impact 
                    Assessments, where appropriate.
Whereas in 1978 the Senate adopted Senate Resolution 49, calling on the United 
        States Government to seek the agreement of other governments to a 
        proposed global treaty requiring the preparation of Environmental Impact 
        Assessments for any major project, action, or continuing activity that 
        may be reasonably expected to have a significant adverse effect on the 
        physical environment or environmental interests of another nation or a 
        global commons area;
Whereas subsequent to the adoption of Senate Resolution 49 in 1978, the United 
        Nations Environment Programme Governing Council adopted Goals and 
        Principles on Environmental Impact Assessment calling on governments to 
        undertake comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessments in cases in 
        which the extent, nature, or location of a proposed activity is such 
        that the activity is likely to significantly affect the environment;
Whereas Principle 17 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, 
        adopted at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development 
        in 1992, states that Environmental Impact Assessments as a national 
        instrument shall be undertaken for proposed activities that are likely 
        to have a significant adverse impact on the environment and are subject 
        to a decision of a competent national authority;
Whereas on October 7, 1992, the Senate gave its advice and consent to the 
        Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, which 
        obligates parties to the Antarctic Treaty to require Environmental 
        Impact Assessment procedures for proposed activities in Antarctica; and
Whereas the United States is a signatory to the 1991 United Nations Economic 
        Commission for Europe's Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in 
        a Transboundary Context, a regional treaty that calls for the use of 
        Environmental Impact Assessments as necessary tools to minimize the 
        adverse impact of certain activities on the environment, particularly in 
        a transboundary context: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) the United States Government should encourage the 
        governments of other nations to engage in additional regional 
        treaties, along the lines of the 1991 United Nations Economic 
        Commission for Europe's Convention on Environmental Impact 
        Assessment in a Transboundary Context, regarding specific 
        transboundary activities that have adverse impacts on the 
        environment of other nations or a global commons area; and
            (2) such additional regional treaties should ensure that 
        specific transboundary activities are undertaken in 
        environmentally sound ways and under careful controls designed 
        to avoid or minimize any adverse environmental effects, through 
        requirements for Environmental Impact Assessments where 
        appropriate.
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