[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1946 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1946

  To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to authorize the United States Trade 
  Representative to take discretionary action if a foreign country is 
 engaging in unreasonable acts, policies, or practices relating to the 
                  environment, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 22, 2015

   Mr. Blumenauer (for himself, Mr. Kind, Mr. Neal, Mr. Thompson of 
 California, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Mr. McDermott, Mr. Rangel, Mr. 
   Pascrell, Ms. Linda T. Saanchez of California, and Mrs. Davis of 
 California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to authorize the United States Trade 
  Representative to take discretionary action if a foreign country is 
 engaging in unreasonable acts, policies, or practices relating to the 
                  environment, 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 ``Trade and Environment Enforcement 
Act'' or ``Green 301 Act''.

SEC. 2. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN TRADE RELATIONS.

    Section 301(d)(3)(B) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 
2411(d)(3)(B)) is amended--
            (1) in clause (ii), by striking ``or'' at the end;
            (2) in clause (iii)(V), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``, or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new clause:
                            ``(iv) constitutes a persistent pattern of 
                        conduct that--
                                    ``(I) fails to effectively enforce 
                                the environmental laws of a foreign 
                                country;
                                    ``(II) waives or otherwise 
                                derogates from the environmental laws 
                                of a foreign country or weakens the 
                                protections afforded by such laws;
                                    ``(III) fails to provide for 
                                judicial or administrative proceedings 
                                giving access to remedies for 
                                violations of the environmental laws of 
                                a foreign country;
                                    ``(IV) fails to provide appropriate 
                                and effective sanctions or remedies for 
                                violations of the environmental laws of 
                                a foreign country; or
                                    ``(V) fails to implement 
                                environmental commitments in agreements 
                                to which a foreign country and the 
                                United States are a party.''.

SEC. 3. 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, and 
        every 2 years thereafter, 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.''.
    (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 new item:

``Sec. 311. Identification of foreign country trade practices that 
                            negatively affect the environment.''.
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