[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6452 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6452

   To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to identify foreign country trade 
practices that negatively affect the environment and to take actions to 
                        address such practices.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 10, 2008

 Mr. Blumenauer (for himself and Mr. Doggett) introduced the following 
      bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to identify foreign country trade 
practices that negatively affect the environment and to take actions to 
                        address such practices.

    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 ``Trade and Environment Enforcement 
(`Green 301') Act''.

SEC. 2. IDENTIFICATION OF FOREIGN COUNTRY TRADE PRACTICES THAT 
              NEGATIVELY AFFECT THE ENVIRONMENT.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 1 of title III of the Trade Act of 1974 
(19 U.S.C. 2411 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 311. IDENTIFICATION OF FOREIGN COUNTRY TRADE PRACTICES THAT 
              NEGATIVELY AFFECT THE ENVIRONMENT.

    ``(a) Identification.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Trade Representative shall identify 
        those foreign country trade practices that cause negative 
        environmental impacts on the protection of human, animal, or 
        plant life or health, or the conservation of exhaustible 
        natural resources in the United States, the foreign country, a 
        third country, or internationally.
            ``(2) Factors.--In identifying foreign country trade 
        practices under paragraph (1), the Trade Representative shall 
        take into account all relevant factors, including--
                    ``(A) the strength of the connection between trade 
                and the negative environmental impact;
                    ``(B) the significance of the negative 
                environmental impact on the protection of human, animal 
                or plant life or health, or the conservation of 
                exhaustible natural resources; and
                    ``(C) the costs and benefits of mitigating the 
                negative environmental impact through the remedies 
                described in this section.
            ``(3) Consultation.--In identifying foreign country trade 
        practices under paragraph (1), the Trade Representative shall 
        provide the opportunity for input by and consultation with 
        interested persons, including private or nongovernmental 
        organizations working towards environmental protection or 
        conservation, domestic industrial users of any goods that may 
        be affected by this section, and appropriate Federal 
        departments and agencies.
    ``(b) Report.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 270 days after the date 
        of submission of a report under section 181(b) of this Act, the 
        Trade Representative shall submit to the Committee on Ways and 
        Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
        Finance of the Senate and publish in the Federal Register a 
        report on the foreign country trade practices identified under 
        subsection (a).
            ``(2) Matters to be included.--The Trade Representative may 
        include in the report, if appropriate--
                    ``(A) a description of other foreign country trade 
                practices that may in the future warrant inclusion in 
                the report as foreign country trade practices that 
                negatively affect the environment; and
                    ``(B) a statement regarding other foreign country 
                trade practices that negatively affect the environment 
                that have not been identified because they are subject 
                to other provisions of United States trade law, 
                existing bilateral trade agreements, or trade 
                negotiations, and progress is being made toward the 
                mitigation, reduction, or elimination of the negative 
                environmental impacts of such foreign country trade 
                practices.
    ``(c) Petitions.--
            ``(1) In general.--Any interested person, as described in 
        subsection (a)(3), may file a petition with the Trade 
        Representative requesting that action be taken under subsection 
        (a) and setting forth the allegations in support of the 
        request.
            ``(2) Review.--The Trade Representative shall review the 
        allegations in any petition filed under paragraph (1) and, not 
        later than 45 days after the date on which the Trade 
        Representative receives the petition, shall determine whether 
        to initiate consultations under subsection (d) with respect to 
        the allegations in the petition.
            ``(3) Determination not to initiate consultations.--If the 
        Trade Representative determines not to initiate consultations 
        under subsection (d) with respect to a petition filed under 
        paragraph (1), the Trade Representative shall inform the 
        petitioner of the reasons therefor and shall publish notice of 
        the determination, together with a summary of such reasons, in 
        the Federal Register.
    ``(d) Consultations.--Not later than 3 weeks after the date on 
which the report required under subsection (b) is submitted to the 
congressional committees specified under subsection (b) or upon 
acceptance of a petition described in subsection (c), the Trade 
Representative shall request consultations with the government of each 
foreign country identified under subsection (a) or in such a petition 
regarding the practices with respect to which the foreign country was 
so identified.
    ``(e) Agreements.--
            ``(1) In general.--As part of the consultations with a 
        foreign country under subsection (d), the Trade Representative 
        shall seek to negotiate an agreement between the United States 
        and the foreign country that provides for the mitigation, 
        reduction, or elimination of the negative environmental impacts 
        that are the result of the trade practices with respect to 
        which the foreign country was identified under subsection (a) 
        or (c).
            ``(2) Failure to reach agreement.--If the United States and 
        a foreign country fail to reach an agreement described in 
        paragraph (1), the Trade Representative--
                    ``(A) shall take all appropriate and feasible 
                action authorized under section 301(c) of this Act, 
                subject to the specific direction, if any, of the 
                President regarding any such action; and
                    ``(B) shall take all other appropriate and feasible 
                action within the power of the President that the 
                President may direct the Trade Representative to take 
                under this subsection, to obtain the mitigation, 
                reduction, or elimination of negative environmental 
                impacts that are the result of the trade practices with 
                respect to which the foreign country was identified 
                under subsection (a).
    ``(f) Foreign Country Trade Practice Defined.--In this section, the 
term `foreign country trade practice' or `trade practice'--
            ``(1) means any act, policy, or practice of a foreign 
        country relating to trade as well as the sustained or recurring 
        lack of any act, policy, or practice of a foreign country 
        relating to trade; but
            ``(2) does not include any such act, policy, or practice 
        that reflects a reasonable exercise of prosecutorial discretion 
        or a reasonable decision regarding the allocation of 
        environmental enforcement resources.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for the Trade Act of 
1974 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 310 the 
following:

``Sec. 311. Identification of countries that engage in trade practices 
                            that negatively affect the environment.''.
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