[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7160 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7160

To authorize United States participation in, and appropriations for the 
United States contribution to, an international clean technology fund, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 26, 2008

 Ms. Moore of Wisconsin (for herself, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, Mr. 
    Israel, and Mr. Shays) introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize United States participation in, and appropriations for the 
United States contribution to, an international clean technology fund, 
                        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. INTERNATIONAL CLEAN TECHNOLOGY FUND.

    (a) In General.--The Bretton Woods Agreements Act (22 U.S.C. 286-
286oo) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 64. CLEAN TECHNOLOGY FUND.

    ``(a) Contribution Authority.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury may 
        contribute on behalf of the United States $400,000,000 to a 
        fund, as described in subsection (b) (in this section referred 
        to as the `Clean Technology Fund').
            ``(2) Limitations on authorization of appropriations.--For 
        the contribution authorized by paragraph (1), there is 
        authorized to be appropriated not more than $400,000,000 for 
        fiscal year 2009.
    ``(b) Requirements.--The requirements of this subsection are as 
follows:
            ``(1) Administration.--The Clean Technology Fund is 
        established and administered by the Bank.
            ``(2) Purpose.--The purpose of the Clean Technology Fund is 
        to promote accelerated deployment in developing countries of 
        technologies that will substantially reduce greenhouse gas 
        emissions, by providing funds, primarily through multilateral 
        development banks to promising projects in developing 
        countries.
            ``(3) Coordination with the united nations framework 
        convention on climate change.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Clean Technology Fund is 
                required to operate in a manner that is fully 
                consistent and supportive of the United Nations 
                Framework Convention on Climate Change (in this 
                paragraph referred to as the `UNFCCC').
                    ``(B) Termination of operations.--The Bank is 
                required to take necessary steps to conclude the 
                operations of the Clean Technology Fund (including by 
                not entering into new agreements for contributions to 
                the Clean Technology Fund) on the commencement of 
                operations of an international clean technology fund 
                provided for by the UNFCCC, unless the outcome of the 
                UNFCCC negotiations indicates otherwise.
            ``(4) Authority to hold undisbursed funds in interest-
        bearing accounts.--Pending disbursement from the Clean 
        Technology Fund of amounts provided under this section, the 
        Bank has the authority to hold the amounts in interest-bearing 
        accounts of the Clean Technology Fund.
            ``(5) Limits on country access.--
                    ``(A) Distribution of fund resources.--The Clean 
                Technology Fund is prohibited from providing more than 
                approximately 15 percent of Fund resources to any 1 
                country.
                    ``(B) Country eligibility.--In order for a country 
                to be eligible for support from the Clean Technology 
                Fund, the country must--
                            ``(i) submit to the governing body of the 
                        Clean Technology Fund an investment plan that 
                        will achieve substantial reductions in 
                        national-level greenhouse gas emissions; and
                            ``(ii) in the case of a country classified 
                        by the Bank as `lower middle income' or above, 
                        based on gross national income per capita, 
                        contribute, from public funds, an amount equal 
                        to 25 percent of the cost of any project for 
                        which the country seeks assistance from the 
                        Clean Technology Fund--
                                    ``(I) to the project; or
                                    ``(II) to the Clean Technology 
                                Fund.
            ``(6) Project and program requirements.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Support from the Clean 
                Technology Fund is required to be used to cover the 
                incremental costs of deploying clean energy 
                technologies that result in substantial and additional 
                reductions from baseline greenhouse gas emissions to 
                the atmosphere.
                    ``(B) Selection criteria.--Support from the Clean 
                Technology Fund is required to be allocated with the 
                principal objectives of--
                            ``(i) deploying `zero carbon' clean energy 
                        technologies, such as electricity generation 
                        from renewable sources;
                            ``(ii) maximizing additional reductions of 
                        greenhouse emissions per dollar of support 
                        provided;
                            ``(iii) catalyzing a shift within the host 
                        country towards widespread commercial 
                        deployment of clean energy technologies; and
                            ``(iv) prioritizing clean technology 
                        investments to proven privately-owned 
                        enterprises, preferably small and medium-sized 
                        enterprises.
                    ``(C) Limitations on coal-related projects.--The 
                Clean Technology Fund is prohibited from providing 
                support for any new coal-fired electricity generation 
                facility unless--
                            ``(i) the facility utilizes--
                                    ``(I) integrated gasification 
                                combined cycle or ultrasupercritical 
                                technology; or
                                    ``(II) another new technology (but 
                                not subcritical or supercritical 
                                technology) with an efficiency rating 
                                equal to or greater than the efficiency 
                                rating of the technologies referred to 
                                in subclause (I);
                            ``(ii) the facility would not use the 
                        technology so utilized in the absence of 
                        support from the Clean Technology Fund; and
                            ``(iii) the facility is specifically 
                        designed to accommodate retrofitting with 
                        carbon capture and storage technology when the 
                        technology becomes ready for commercial 
                        deployment.
                    ``(D) Definitions.--For purposes of this paragraph:
                            ``(i) Additional.--The term `additional' 
                        means the extent to which reductions in 
                        greenhouse gas emissions are incremental to 
                        business-as-usual, measured as the difference 
                        between--
                                    ``(I) the baseline; and
                                    ``(II) net lifecycle greenhouse gas 
                                emissions resulting from a project or 
                                program, including, where practicable, 
                                effects beyond the physical boundaries 
                                of the project but associated with the 
                                project activity.
                            ``(ii) Baseline.--The term `baseline' means 
                        the greenhouse gas emissions that would have 
                        occurred in the absence of a project or 
                        program.
                            ``(iii) Clean energy technology.--The term 
                        `clean energy technology' means an energy 
                        supply technology or an end-use energy 
                        efficiency technology that, as compared with 
                        technologies being deployed at that time for 
                        widespread commercial use in the country 
                        involved--
                                    ``(I) achieves substantial 
                                reductions in lifecycle emissions of 
                                greenhouse gases, calculated on an 
                                appropriate per unit basis; and
                                    ``(II) does not result in 
                                significant incremental adverse effects 
                                on public health or the environment.
                            ``(iv) Greenhouse gas.--The term 
                        `greenhouse gas' means any of--
                                    ``(I) carbon dioxide;
                                    ``(II) methane;
                                    ``(III) nitrous oxide;
                                    ``(IV) sulfur hexafluoride;
                                    ``(V) a hydrofluorocarbon; or
                                    ``(VI) a perfluorocarbon.
            ``(7) Transparency.--The Bank and the governing body of the 
        Clean Technology Fund shall provide for maximum transparency in 
        all aspects of the governance of the Clean Technology Fund, 
        including--
                    ``(A) providing for broad-based input of 
                stakeholders in the strategic directions, results, and 
                impacts of the Clean Technology Fund, including through 
                meetings of interested governments, multilateral 
                development banks, United Nations agencies, the Global 
                Environment Facility, other multilateral and bilateral 
                climate programs, nongovernmental organizations, 
                private sector entities and scientific and technical 
                experts;
                    ``(B) in the case of the governing body, engaging 
                in an active dialogue with representatives of 
                institutions with a mandate to promote investments in 
                clean technology to address climate change, including 
                by extending invitations of the institutions to attend 
                meetings of the governing body as observers; and
                    ``(C) in the case of the Bank, maintaining a 
                clearly identified web site that includes all public 
                information or links to information regarding the 
                policies of the Clean Technology Fund, projects and 
                programs supported by the Clean Technology Fund, 
                minutes of the Trust Fund Committee meetings, annual 
                reports of the Clean Technology Fund and other result 
                measurement documents.
    ``(c) United States Votes on Fund Proposals and United States 
Policy on Environmental Assessments.--The Secretary of the Treasury 
shall--
            ``(1) direct the United States representative in the entity 
        that oversees the operations and activities of the Clean 
        Technology Fund to use the voice and vote of the United States 
        to oppose any proposal (including any loan, credit, grant, or 
        guarantee) which would result in the Clean Technology Fund 
        failing to meet the requirements of subsection (b)(3), (b)(5), 
        (b)(6), or (b)(7) of this section; and
            ``(2) encourage all the multilateral development banks to 
        apply environmental assessment procedures similar to those 
        described in section 1307 of the International Financial 
        Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262m-7) in their consideration and 
        implementation of Clean Technology Fund proposals.
    ``(d) Coordination With the International Clean Energy 
Foundation.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall seek to ensure that 
the duties and activities of the Clean Technology Fund are 
complementary to the duties and activities of the International Clean 
Energy Foundation as established by section 922 of the Energy 
Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17352).''.
    (b) Report to the Congress.--Within 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of the 
Treasury shall submit to the Congress a report on the operations of any 
fund to which amounts made available under section 64 of the Bretton 
Woods Agreements Act are provided, including a description of--
            (1) any projects for which amounts have been disbursed from 
        the fund;
            (2) the effects expected by the Secretary of each such 
        project (or, in the case of a project which has been 
        implemented, the effects of the project) on the overall 
        greenhouse gas emissions from the country in which the project 
        is being carried out;
            (3) the criteria and methodology used to determine the 
        eligibility of proposed projects for funding from the fund;
            (4) the progress made in commencing operations of the fund, 
        including any remaining obstacles to the operations; and
            (5) any project for which amounts have been disbursed from 
        the fund which support coal or coal-related technologies, and a 
        justification for support for the project from the fund, 
        including a description of--
                    (A) the transformational nature of the project;
                    (B) how the project is consistent with the national 
                low carbon strategy of the country involved;
                    (C) the degree to which the project reduced 
                greenhouse gas emissions; and
                    (D) the degree to which the technology was a 
                higher-cost technology relative to other available 
                technologies.
    (c) Sense of the Congress.--It is the sense of the Congress that 
small and medium-sized enterprises--
            (1) are an important source of technological innovation and 
        economic development globally;
            (2) can and should play an important role in the 
        dissemination and implementation of innovative clean 
        technologies in developing countries; and
            (3) should be supported through any fund referred to in 
        subsection (b).

SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION ACTIVITIES OF, AND USE 
              OF GREENHOUSE GAS ACCOUNTING BY, THE MULTILATERAL 
              DEVELOPMENT BANKS.

    Title XIII of the International Financial Institutions Act (22 
U.S.C. 26m--262m-7) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 1308. EXPANSION OF CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION ACTIVITIES OF, AND 
              USE OF GREENHOUSE GAS ACCOUNTING BY, THE MULTILATERAL 
              DEVELOPMENT BANKS.

    ``(a) Use of Greenhouse Gas Accounting.--The Secretary of the 
Treasury shall seek to ensure that each multilateral development bank 
(as defined in section 1701(c)(4)) adopts and implements greenhouse gas 
(GHG) accounting in analyzing the benefits and costs of individual 
projects (excluding those with de minimus greenhouse gas emissions) for 
which funding is sought from the bank.
    ``(b) Sense of the Congress.--It is the sense of the Congress that 
adopting and implementing GHG accounting includes--
            ``(1) calculating net GHG flows;
            ``(2) establishing uniform calculation techniques, with 
        provision for modification as professional standards evolve;
            ``(3) making public the calculation techniques and the 
        calculations;
            ``(4) measuring GHG emissions of individual projects, and 
        considering global social costs of the emissions when 
        evaluating the economic costs and benefits of the projects; and
            ``(5) performing GHG accounting for each project.
    ``(c) Expansion of Climate Change Mitigation Activities.--The 
Secretary of the Treasury shall work to ensure that the multilateral 
development banks (as defined in section 1701(c)(4) of the 
International Financial Institutions Act) expand their activities 
supporting climate change mitigation by--
            ``(1) expending support for energy efficiency and renewable 
        energy investments;
            ``(2) reviewing all proposed infrastructure investments to 
        ensure all opportunities for integrating viable energy 
        efficiency measures have been considered; and
            ``(3) increasing their dialogue with developing country 
        governments on analysis and policy measures needed for low-
        carbon-emission economic development, including on reforms 
        needed to promote private sector engagement in renewable and 
        energy efficiency investments, and integrate low-carbon-
        emission economic development objectives into multilateral 
        development bank country strategies.
    ``(d) Report to Congress.--Within 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of 
the Treasury shall submit to the Committee on Financial Services of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
Senate a report on the status of efforts to implement this section.''.
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