[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1183 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1183

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide assistance to the 
 Government of Haiti to end within 5 years the deforestation in Haiti 
  and restore within 30 years the extent of tropical forest cover in 
          existence in Haiti in 1990, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 4, 2009

  Mr. Durbin (for himself and Mr. Brownback) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide assistance to the 
 Government of Haiti to end within 5 years the deforestation in Haiti 
  and restore within 30 years the extent of tropical forest cover in 
          existence in Haiti in 1990, 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 ``Haiti Reforestation Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) the established policy of the Federal Government is to 
        support and seek protection of tropical forests around the 
        world;
            (2) tropical forests provide a wide range of benefits by--
                    (A) harboring a major portion of the biological and 
                terrestrial resources of Earth and providing habitats 
                for an estimated 10,000,000 to 30,000,000 plant and 
                animal species, including species essential to medical 
                research and agricultural productivity;
                    (B) playing a critical role as carbon sinks that 
                reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, as 1 hectare 
                of tropical forest can absorb up to approximately 3 
                tons of carbon dioxide per year, thus moderating 
                potential global climate change; and
                    (C) regulating hydrological cycles upon which 
                agricultural and coastal resources depend;
            (3) tropical forests are also a key factor in reducing 
        rates of soil loss, particularly on hilly terrain;
            (4) while international efforts to stem the tide of 
        tropical deforestation have accelerated during the past 2 
        decades, the rapid rate of tropical deforestation continues 
        unabated;
            (5) in 1923, over 60 percent of the land of Haiti was 
        forested but, by 2006, that percentage had decreased to less 
        than 2 percent;
            (6) during the period beginning in 2000 and ending in 2005, 
        the deforestation rate in Haiti accelerated by more than 20 
        percent over the deforestation rate in Haiti during the period 
        beginning in 1990 and ending in 1999;
            (7) as a result, during the period described in paragraph 
        (6), Haiti lost--
                    (A) nearly 10 percent (approximately 11,000 
                hectares) of the forest cover of Haiti; and
                    (B) approximately 22 percent of the total forest 
                and woodland habitat of Haiti;
            (8) poverty and economic pressures are--
                    (A) two factors that underlie the tropical 
                deforestation of Haiti; and
                    (B) manifested particularly through the clearing of 
                vast areas of forest for conversion to agricultural 
                uses;
            (9) the unemployment rate of Haiti is approximately 80 
        percent;
            (10) the per capita income of Haiti is $450 per year, which 
        is barely one-tenth of the per capita income of Latin America 
        and the Caribbean;
            (11) two-thirds of the population of Haiti depend on the 
        agricultural sector, which consists mainly of small-scale 
        subsistence farming;
            (12) 60 percent of the population of Haiti relies on 
        charcoal produced from cutting down trees for cooking fuel;
            (13) soil erosion represents the most direct effect of the 
        deforestation of Haiti, as the erosion has--
                    (A) lowered the productivity of the land due to the 
                poor soils underlying the tropical forests;
                    (B) worsened the severity of droughts;
                    (C) led to further deforestation;
                    (D) significantly decreased the quality and, as a 
                result, quantity of freshwater and clean drinking water 
                available to the population of Haiti; and
                    (E) increased the pressure on the remaining land 
                and trees in Haiti;
            (14) tropical forests provide forest cover to soften the 
        effect of heavy rains and reduce erosion by anchoring the soil 
        with their roots;
            (15) when trees are cleared, rainfall runs off the soil 
        more quickly and contributes to floods and further erosion;
            (16) in 2004, Hurricane Jeanne struck Haiti, killing 
        approximately 3,000, and affecting over 200,000, people, partly 
        because deforestation had resulted in the clearing of large 
        hillsides, which enabled rainwater to run off directly to 
        settlements located at the bottom of the slopes;
            (17) research conducted by the United Nations Environmental 
        Programme has revealed a direct (89 percent) correlation 
        between the extent of the deforestation of a country and the 
        incidence of victims per weather event in the country;
            (18) finding economic benefits for local communities from 
        sustainable uses of tropical forests is critical for the long-
        term protection of the tropical forests in Haiti; and
            (19) tropical reforestation efforts would provide new 
        sources of jobs, income, and investments in Haiti by--
                    (A) providing employment opportunities in tree 
                seedling programs, contract tree planting and 
                management, sustainable agricultural initiatives, 
                sustainable and managed timber harvesting, and wood 
                products milling and finishing services; and
                    (B) enhancing community enterprises that generate 
                income through the trading of sustainable forest 
                resources, many of which exist on small scales in Haiti 
                and in the rest of the region.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to provide assistance to 
the Government of Haiti to develop and implement, or improve, 
nationally appropriate policies and actions--
            (1) to reduce deforestation and forest degradation in 
        Haiti; and
            (2) to increase annual rates of afforestation and 
        reforestation in a measurable, reportable, and verifiable 
        manner--
                    (A) to eliminate within 5 years after the date of 
                enactment of this Act any further net deforestation of 
                Haiti; and
                    (B) to restore within 30 years after the date of 
                enactment of this Act the forest cover of Haiti to the 
                surface area that the forest cover had occupied in 
                1990.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
        Development.
            (2) Afforestation.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``afforestation'' means 
                the establishment of a new forest through the seeding 
                of, or planting of tress on, a parcel of nonforested 
                land.
                    (B) Inclusion.--The term ``afforestation'' includes 
                the introduction of a tree species to a parcel of 
                nonforested land of which the species is not a native 
                species.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture.

         TITLE I--FORESTATION ASSISTANCE TO GOVERNMENT OF HAITI

SEC. 101. FORESTATION ASSISTANCE.

    (a) Authority of Secretary.--
            (1) In general.--In accordance with paragraph (2), the 
        Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator, may offer to 
        enter into agreements with the Government of Haiti to provide 
        financial assistance, technology transfers, or capacity 
        building assistance for the conduct of activities to develop 
        and implement 1 or more forestation proposals under paragraph 
        (2)--
                    (A) to reduce the deforestation of Haiti; and
                    (B) to increase the rates of afforestation and 
                reforestation in Haiti.
            (2) Proposals.--
                    (A) In general.--To be eligible for assistance 
                under paragraph (1), the Government of Haiti shall 
                submit to the Secretary 1 or more proposals that 
                contain--
                            (i) a description of each policy and 
                        initiative to be carried out using the 
                        assistance; and
                            (ii) adequate documentation to ensure, as 
                        determined by the Secretary, that--
                                    (I) each policy and initiative will 
                                be--
                                            (aa) carried out and 
                                        managed in accordance with 
                                        widely accepted environmentally 
                                        sustainable forestry and 
                                        agricultural practices; and
                                            (bb) designed and 
                                        implemented in a manner by 
                                        which to improve the governance 
                                        of forests by building 
                                        governmental capacity to be 
                                        more transparent, inclusive, 
                                        accountable, and coordinated in 
                                        decisionmaking processes and 
                                        the implementation of the 
                                        policy or initiative; and
                                    (II) the Government of Haiti will 
                                establish and enforce legal regimes, 
                                standards, and safeguards--
                                            (aa) to prevent violations 
                                        of human rights and the rights 
                                        of local communities and 
                                        indigenous people;
                                            (bb) to prevent harm to 
                                        vulnerable social groups; and
                                            (cc) to ensure that members 
                                        of local communities and 
                                        indigenous people in affected 
                                        areas, as partners and primary 
                                        stakeholders, will be engaged 
                                        in the design, planning, 
                                        implementation, monitoring, and 
                                        evaluation of the policies and 
                                        initiatives.
                    (B) Determination of compatibility with certain 
                programs.--In evaluating each proposal under 
                subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall ensure that each 
                policy and initiative described in the proposal 
                submitted by the Government of Haiti under that 
                subparagraph is compatible with--
                            (i) broader development, poverty 
                        alleviation, and natural resource conservation 
                        objectives and initiatives in Haiti; and
                            (ii) the development, poverty alleviation, 
                        disaster risk management, and climate 
                        resilience programs of the Department of 
                        Agriculture.
    (b) Eligible Activities.--Any assistance received by the Government 
of Haiti under subsection (a)(1) shall be used to implement a proposal 
developed under subsection (a)(2), which may include--
            (1) the provision of technologies and associated support 
        for activities to reduce deforestation or increase 
        afforestation and reforestation rates, including--
                    (A) fire reduction initiatives;
                    (B) forest law enforcement initiatives;
                    (C) the development of timber tracking systems;
                    (D) the development of cooking fuel substitutes;
                    (E) initiatives to increase agricultural 
                productivity;
                    (F) tree-planting initiatives; and
                    (G) programs that are designed to focus on market-
                based solutions, including programs that leverage the 
                international carbon-offset market;
            (2) the enhancement and expansion of governmental and 
        nongovernmental institutional capacity to effectively design 
        and implement a proposal developed under subsection (a)(2) 
        through initiatives, including--
                    (A) the establishment of transparent, accountable, 
                and inclusive decisionmaking processes relating to all 
                stakeholders (including affected local communities);
                    (B) the promotion of enhanced coordination among 
                ministries and agencies responsible for agroecological 
                zoning, mapping, land planning and permitting, 
                sustainable agriculture, forestry, and law enforcement; 
                and
                    (C) the clarification of land tenure and resource 
                rights of affected communities, including local 
                communities and indigenous peoples; and
            (3) the development and support of institutional capacity 
        to measure, verify, and report the activities carried out by 
        the Government of Haiti to reduce deforestation and increase 
        afforestation and reforestation rates through the use of 
        appropriate methods, including--
                    (A) the use of best practices and technologies to 
                monitor any change in the forest cover of Haiti;
                    (B) the monitoring of the impacts of policies and 
                initiatives on--
                            (i) affected communities;
                            (ii) the biodiversity of the environment of 
                        Haiti; and
                            (iii) the health of the tropical forests of 
                        Haiti; and
                    (C) independent and participatory forest 
                monitoring.
    (c) Development of Performance Metrics.--
            (1) In general.--If the Secretary provides assistance under 
        subsection (a)(1), in accordance with paragraph (2), the 
        Secretary, in cooperation with the Government of Haiti and, if 
        necessary, in consultation with the Administrator, shall 
        develop appropriate performance metrics to measure, verify, and 
        report--
                    (A) the conduct of each policy and initiative to be 
                carried out by the Government of Haiti;
                    (B) the results of each policy and initiative with 
                respect to the tropical forests of Haiti; and
                    (C) each impact of each policy and initiative on 
                the local communities and indigenous people of Haiti.
            (2) Requirements.--Performance metrics developed under 
        paragraph (1) shall, to the maximum extent practicable, include 
        short-term and long-term metrics to evaluate the implementation 
        of each policy and initiative contained in each proposal 
        developed under subsection (a)(2).
    (d) Reports.--
            (1) Initial report.--Not later than 18 months after the 
        date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 
        the appropriate committees of Congress a report that describes 
        the actions that the Secretary has taken, and plans to take--
                    (A) to engage with the Government of Haiti, 
                nongovernmental stakeholders, and public and private 
                nonprofit organizations to implement this section; and
                    (B) to enter into agreements with the Government of 
                Haiti under subsection (a)(1).
            (2)  Biennual reports.--Not later than 2 years after the 
        date on which the Secretary first provides assistance to the 
        Government of Haiti under subsection (a)(1) and biennially 
        thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 
        that describes the progress of the Government of Haiti in 
        implementing each policy and initiative contained in the 
        proposal submitted under subsection (a)(2).
    (e) Additional Assistance.--The Secretary may provide financial and 
other assistance to nongovernmental stakeholders to ensure--
            (1) the access by local communities and indigenous people 
        to information relating to each policy and initiative to be 
        carried out by the Government of Haiti through funds made 
        available under subsection (a)(1); and
            (2) that the groups described in paragraph (1) have an 
        appropriate opportunity to participate effectively in the 
        design, implementation, and independent monitoring of each 
        policy and initiative.
    (f) Nongovernmental Organization.--At the election of the 
Government of Haiti, or on the determination of the Secretary, in 
cooperation with the Government of Haiti, the Government of Haiti may 
enter into an agreement with a private, nongovernmental conservation 
organization authorizing the organization to act on behalf of the 
Government of Haiti for the purposes of this section.
    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this section.

                   TITLE II--GRANTS FOR REFORESTATION

SEC. 201. REFORESTATION GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary, in consultation with the 
Administrator, shall establish a grant program to carry out the 
purposes of this Act, including reversing deforestation and improving 
reforestation and afforestation in Haiti.
    (b) Grants Authorized.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary is authorized to award 
        grants and contracts to public and private nonprofit 
        organizations to carry out projects that, in the aggregate, 
        reverse deforestation and improve reforestation and 
        afforestation.
            (2) Maximum amount.--
                    (A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph 
                (B), the Secretary may not award a grant under this 
                section in an amount greater than $500,000 per year.
                    (B) Exception.--The Secretary may award a grant 
                under this section in an amount greater than $500,000 
                per year if the Secretary determines that the recipient 
                of the grant has demonstrated success with respect to a 
                project that was the subject of a grant under this 
                section.
            (3) Duration.--The Secretary shall award grants under this 
        section for a period not to exceed 3 years.
    (c) Use of Funds.--
            (1) In general.--Grants awarded pursuant to subsection (b) 
        may be used for activities such as--
                    (A) providing a financial incentive to protect 
                trees;
                    (B) providing hands-on management and oversight of 
                replanting efforts;
                    (C) focusing on sustainable income-generating 
                growth;
                    (D) providing seed money to start cooperative 
                reforestation and afforestation efforts and providing 
                subsequent conditional funding for such efforts 
                contingent upon required tree care and maintenance 
                activities;
                    (E) promoting widespread use of improved cooking 
                stove technologies and the development of liquid 
                biofuels, to the extent that neither results in the 
                harvesting of tropical forest growth; and
                    (F) securing the involvement and commitment of 
                local communities and indigenous peoples--
                            (i) to protect tropical forests in 
                        existence as of the date of enactment of this 
                        Act; and
                            (ii) to carry out afforestation and 
                        reforestation activities.
            (2) Consistency with proposals.--To the maximum extent 
        practicable, a project carried out using grant funds shall 
        support and be consistent with the proposal developed under 
        section 101(a)(2) that is the subject of the project.
    (d) Application.--
            (1) In general.--To be eligible for a grant under this 
        section, an entity shall prepare and submit an application at 
        such time, in such manner, and containing such information as 
        the Secretary may reasonably require.
            (2) Content.--Each application submitted under paragraph 
        (1) shall include--
                    (A) a description of the objectives to be attained;
                    (B) a description of the manner in which the grant 
                funds will be used;
                    (C) a plan for evaluating the success of the 
                project based on verifiable evidence; and
                    (D) to the extent that the applicant intends to use 
                nonnative species in afforestation efforts, an 
                explanation of the benefit of the use of nonnative 
                species over native species.
            (3) Preference for certain projects.--In awarding grants 
        under this section, the Secretary shall give preference to 
        applicants that propose--
                    (A) to develop market-based solutions to the 
                difficulty of reforestation in Haiti, including the use 
                of conditional cash transfers and similar financial 
                incentives to protect reforestation efforts;
                    (B) to partner with local communities and 
                cooperatives; and
                    (C) to focus on efforts that build local capacity 
                to sustain growth after the completion of the 
                underlying grant project.
    (e) Dissemination of Information.--The Secretary shall collect and 
widely disseminate information about the effectiveness of the 
demonstration projects assisted under this section.
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this section.

SEC. 202. FOREST PROTECTION GRANTS.

    Chapter 7 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
U.S.C. 2281 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 466 the 
following new section:

``SEC. 467. PILOT PROGRAM FOR HAITI.

    ``(a) Submission of List of Areas of Severely Degraded Natural 
Resources.--The Administrator of the Agency for International 
Development, in cooperation with nongovernmental conservation 
organizations, shall invite the Government of Haiti to submit a list of 
areas within the territory of Haiti in which tropical forests are 
seriously degraded or threatened.
    ``(b) Review of List.--The Administrator shall assess the list 
submitted by the Government of Haiti under subsection (a) and shall 
seek to reach agreement with the Government of Haiti for the 
restoration and future sustainable use of those areas.
    ``(c) Grant Program.--
            ``(1) Grants authorized.--The Administrator of the Agency 
        for International Development is authorized to make grants, in 
        consultation with the International Forestry Division of the 
        Department of Agriculture and on such terms and conditions as 
        may be necessary, to nongovernmental organizations for the 
        purchase on the open market of discounted commercial debt of 
        the Government of Haiti in exchange for commitments by the 
        Government of Haiti to restore tropical forests identified by 
        the Government under subsection (a) or for commitments to 
        develop plans for sustainable use of such tropical forests.
            ``(2) Management of protected areas.--Each recipient of a 
        grant under this subsection shall participate in the ongoing 
        management of the area or areas protected pursuant to such 
        grant.
            ``(3) Retention of proceeds.--Notwithstanding any other 
        provision of law, a grantee (or any subgrantee) of the grants 
        referred to in section (a) may retain, without deposit in the 
        Treasury of the United States and without further appropriation 
        by Congress, interest earned on the proceeds of any resulting 
        debt-for-nature exchange pending the disbursements of such 
        proceeds and interest for approved program purposes, which may 
        include the establishment of an endowment, the income of which 
        is used for such purposes.
    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this section.''.
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