1.This Act may be cited as
the Mekong River Protection Act of
2011
.
2.Opposition of
the United States to loans and assistance from the World Bank and the Asian
Development Bank with respect to the construction of hydroelectric dams and
electricity transmission systems in the Mekong River Basin
(a)The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United
States Executive Directors of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to
use the voice and vote of the United States to oppose the provision of any loan
or financial or technical assistance for a project for the construction of
hydroelectric dams or electricity transmission systems in the Mekong River
Basin unless, not later than 21 days before a vote to provide such a loan or
such assistance, the Secretary of the Treasury submits the report described in
subsection (b) to the committees specified in subsection (c).
(b)The report described in this subsection is a report
that, based on information provided by the Bank considering providing a loan or
other assistance with respect to a project described in subsection (a),
provides the following assurances with respect to the project:
(1)The project will
be carried out in a manner that adheres to the safeguard policies of the Bank
with respect to protecting the environment, ensuring the safety of dams, the
involuntary resettlement of people displaced by dams, indigenous peoples, and
the reduction of poverty.
(2)The project will
not result in significant adverse effects on—
(A)water flows along
the Mekong River mainstream and its tributaries or the seasonal changes in the
flow of the river; or
(B)local or regional
public health, food security, or the environment.
(3)The project
includes a plan to incorporate the benefits gained by the generation of
electricity and irrigation projects into the local and national economies in
the area surrounding the site of the project.
(4)The project
includes a contingency plan to address the effects on income and food
insecurity that might arise from disruptions along the Mekong River during the
construction phase of the project.
(5)The project was
developed taking into consideration assessments of the environmental and
socioeconomic impact of the project on the Mekong River Basin region and the
results of those assessments have been made available to all countries along
the Mekong River.
(6)The development
of the project included consultations with the governments of the countries
along the Mekong River and appropriate regional multilateral institutions and
community organizations.
(c)The committees specified in this subsection are—
(1)the Committee on
Foreign Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
(2)the Committee on
Financial Services and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives.
(d)In this section, the term World Bank means
the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International
Development Association.