S. 1548 — Introduced in Senate

II 113th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1548 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES September 25 (legislative day, September 24), 2013Mr. Durbin (for himself, Mr. Brown, Mr. Cardin, Mrs. Feinstein, and Mr. Whitehouse) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To authorize the President to provide assistance to the Governments of Haiti and Armenia to reverse the effects of deforestation and restore within 20 years the extent of forest levels in Haiti and Armenia in existence during the year 1990, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Haiti and Armenia Reforestation Act of 2013. 2. Findings; purpose (a) Findings Congress finds that— (1) the established policy of the Federal Government is to support and seek protection of forests around the world that provide a wide range of benefits by— (A) harboring a major portion of the biological and terrestrial resources of Earth and providing habitats for almost 2/3 of all species on Earth, including species essential to medical research and agricultural productivity; (B) contributing to the livelihood of over 1,600,000,000 people through access to food, fresh water, clothing, traditional medicines, and shelter; (C) ensuring environmental functions such as biodiversity, water conservation, soil enrichment, water supply management, and climate regulation; and (D) storing carbon, where deforestation accounts for up to 20 percent of the global greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming; (2) while forests cover a little less than 1/3 of the land area on our planet, approximately 76 percent of the planet’s original primary forests have been destroyed or degraded; (3) in 1923, over 60 percent of the land of Haiti was forested but, by 2006, that percentage had decreased to approximately less than 2 percent as a result of— (A) an acceleration in the rate of deforestation in Haiti by more than 20 percent during the period beginning in 2000 and ending in 2005 compared to the period beginning in 1990 and ending in 1999; and (B) a loss of nearly 10 percent (approximately 11,000 hectares) of the forest cover and approximately 22 percent of the total forest and woodland habitat of Haiti; (4) while archeological data indicated that approximately 35 percent of Armenia was originally forested, less than 12 percent of Armenia’s territory was covered in forest in 1990, which has been reduced to approximately less than 7 percent by 2013 as a result of an energy crisis that crippled the nation in the 1990s and a loss of total of 24.5 percent (nearly 85,000 hectares) of forest cover during the period between 1990 and 2010; (5) poverty and economic pressures are— (A) two factors that underlie the deforestation of Haiti and Armenia; and (B) manifested particularly through the clearing of vast areas of forest for conversion to agricultural uses where 2/5 of the population of Haiti depend on the agricultural sector, which consists mainly of small-scale subsistence farming, and where wood and charcoal produced from cutting down trees accounts for a major supply toward Haiti’s and Armenia’s energy sectors; (6) 80 percent of the population of Haiti lives below the poverty line and 36 percent of the population of Armenia lives below the poverty line; (7) soil erosion represents a significant effect of the deforestation of Haiti and Armenia, as erosion has— (A) lowered the productivity on the land due to poor soils underlying the forests; (B) worsened the severity of droughts, landslides, and floods; (C) led to further deforestation; (D) significantly decreased the quality and, as a result, quantity of freshwater and clean drinking water available to populations; and (E) increased the pressure on the remaining land and trees in Haiti and Armenia; (8) forests provide cover to soften the effect of heavy rains and reduce erosion by anchoring the soil with their roots; (9) 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; (10) both Haiti and Armenia have faced natural disasters in recent years that have been at least partly exacerbated by the effects of deforestation, such as— (A) flooding in Armenia that has cost nearly $33,000,000 in damages each year and swept away or damaged thousands of homes, schools, health clinics, and other institutions, partly because of damage to forests through illegal loggings, landslides, and soil erosion; (B) hurricanes in Haiti that have killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands more, 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 slopes; and (C) the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, which destroyed much of the infrastructure of Port au Prince and had greater consequences because of deforestation, which reduced hillside stability and increased the likelihood of mud­slides, soil erosion, and flooding factors, which also negatively impacted the water supply and heightened concerns for the spread of waterborne diseases; (11) economic benefits for local communities from sustainable uses of forests are critical for the long-term sustainable management of forests in Haiti and Armenia; (12) on July 29, 2010, the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2010 (Public Law 111–212) was enacted into law, which included $25,000,000 for the reforestation and other restoration of Haiti’s key watersheds; and (13) reforestation efforts would provide new sources of jobs, income, and investments in both Haiti and Armenia 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. (b) Purpose The purpose of this Act is to provide assistance to the Government of Haiti and the Government of Armenia to develop and implement, or improve, nationally appropriate policies and actions— (1) to reduce deforestation and forest degradation and improve forest management and natural regeneration; (2) to increase annual rates of afforestation and reforestation in a sustainable, measurable, reportable, and verifiable manner— (A) to restore social and economic conditions for environmental recovery of— (i) 35 percent of Haiti’s and Armenia’s land surface areas within 7 years after the date of the enactment of this Act; and (ii) the forest cover of Haiti and Armenia to at least 7 percent in Haiti and at least 12 percent in Armenia (about each country’s respective levels in 1990) within 20 years after the date of the enactment of this Act; and (3) to improve sustainable resource management at the watershed scale. 3. Definitions In this Act: (1) Afforestation (A) In general The term af­for­es­ta­tion means the establishment of a new forest through the seeding of, or planting of trees on, a parcel of nonforested land. (B) Inclusion The term afforestation includes— (i) the introduction of a tree species to a parcel of nonforested land of which the species is not a native species; and (ii) the increase of tree cover through plantations. (2) Agroforestry (A) In general The term ag­ro­for­est­ry refers to systems in which perennial trees or shrubs are integrated with crops or livestock, and where perennials constitute a minimum 10 percent of ground cover. (B) Inclusion Actual forest cover resulting from agroforestry programs can be counted toward the total forest cover goal set forth in section (2)(b). (3) Appropriate committees of congress The term appropriate committees of Congress means— (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives. (4) Deforestation The term de­for­es­ta­tion refers to the conversion of forest to another land use or the long term reduction of the tree canopy. (5) Forest (A) In general The term forest means a terrestrial ecosystem containing native tree species generated and maintained primarily through natural ecological and evolutionary processes. (B) Exclusion The term forest does not include plantations, such as crops of trees planted primarily by humans for the purposes of harvesting. (6) Reforestation (A) In general The term re­for­es­ta­tion refers to the establishment of forest on lands that were previously considered as forest, but which have been deforested. (B) Inclusion of plantations The term reforestation includes the increase of tree cover through plantations. I Forestation and watershed management assistance to the government of haiti and the government of armenia 101. Forestation assistance (a) Authority (1) In general In accordance with section 118 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151p) and consistent with the provisions of paragraph (2), the President is authorized to provide assistance to the Government of Haiti and the Government of Armenia in the form of financial assistance, technology transfers, or capacity building assistance for the conduct of activities to develop and implement one or more forestation proposals under paragraph (2)— (A) to reduce the deforestation of Haiti and Armenia; and (B) to increase the rates of afforestation and reforestation in Haiti and Armenia. (2) Proposals (A) In general Assistance under this title may be provided to the Government of Haiti and the Government of Armenia to implement one or more proposals that contain— (i) a description of each policy and initiative to be carried out using the assistance; (ii) adequate documentation to ensure, as determined by the President, 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 proposals will further establish and enforce legal regimes, standards, and safeguards designed to ensure that members of local communities in affected areas, as partners and primary stakeholders, will be engaged in the design, planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the policies and initiatives; and (iii) a description of how the proposal or proposals support and aid forest restoration efforts consistent with the purpose set forth in section 2(b). (B) Determination of compatibility with certain programs In evaluating each proposal under subparagraph (A), the President shall ensure that each policy and initiative described in the proposal submitted by the Government of Haiti or the Government of Armenia under that subparagraph is compatible with— (i) broader development, poverty alleviation, sustainable energy usage, and natural resource conservation objectives and initiatives in Haiti or Armenia; (ii) the development, poverty alleviation, disaster risk management, and climate resilience programs of the United States Agency for International Development, including those involving technical support from the United States Forest Service; and (iii) activities of international organizations and multilateral development banks. (b) Eligible activities Any assistance received by the Government of Haiti or the Government of Armenia under subsection (a)(1) shall be conditional upon development and implementation of a proposal 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 agro-ecological zoning, mapping, land planning and permitting, sustainable agriculture, forestry, mining, and law enforcement; and (C) the clarification of land tenure and resource rights of affected communities, including local communities; (3) the development and support of institutional capacity to measure, verify, and report the activities carried out by the Government of Haiti and the Government of Armenia 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 land use change in Haiti and Armenia, as well as changes in the extent of natural forest cover, protected areas, mangroves, agroforestry, and agriculture; (B) the monitoring of the impacts of policies and initiatives on— (i) affected communities; (ii) the biodiversity of the environment of Haiti and Armenia; and (iii) the health of the forests of Haiti and Armenia; and (C) independent and participatory forest monitoring; and (4) the development of and coordination with watershed restoration programs in Haiti and Armenia, including— (A) agreements with the Government of Haiti and the Government of Armenia, nongovernmental organizations, or private sector partners to provide technical assistance, capacity building, or technology transfers which support the environmental recovery of Haiti’s and Armenia’s watersheds through forest restoration activities, provided that the assistance will help strengthen economic drivers of sustainable resource inventory mapping and management, reduce environmental vulnerability, and improve governance, planning, and community action of watersheds in Haiti and Armenia; (B) actions to support economic incentives for sustainable resource management, including enhanced incentives for the replacement of annual hillside cropping with perennial and non-erosive production systems; (C) enhanced extension services supporting the sustainable intensification of agriculture to increase farmer incomes and reduce pressure on degraded land; and (D) investments in watershed infrastructure to reduce environmental vulnerability, including the establishment of appropriate erosion control measures through reforestation activities in targeted watersheds or sub-watersheds. (c) Development of performance metrics (1) In general If the President provides assistance under subsection (a)(1), the President, in cooperation with the Government of Haiti and the Government of Armenia, 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 and the Government of Armenia; (B) the results of each policy and initiative with respect to the forests of Haiti and Armenia; and (C) impacts of reforestation policies and initiatives on the local communities of Haiti and Armenia. (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 the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report that describes the actions that the President has taken, and plans to take— (A) to engage with the Government of Haiti and the Government of Armenia, nongovernmental stakeholders, civil society, and public and private nonprofit organizations to implement this section; and (B) to enter into agreements with the Government of Haiti and the Government of Armenia under subsection (a)(1). (2) Biennial reports Not later than 2 years after the date on which the President first provides assistance to the Government of Haiti and the Government of Armenia under subsection (a)(1), and biennially thereafter, the President shall submit to Congress a report that describes the progress of the Government of Haiti and the Government of Armenia in implementing each policy and initiative contained in the proposal submitted under subsection (a)(2). (e) Additional assistance The President is authorized to provide financial and other assistance to the Government of Haiti and the Government of Armenia, local government bodies, or nongovernmental organizations for the purpose of— (1) providing local communities information relating to each policy and initiative to be carried out by the Government of Haiti and the Government of Armenia through funds made available under subsection (a)(1); (2) promoting effective participation by local communities in the design, implementation, and independent monitoring of each policy and initiative; and (3) promoting, consistent with supporting the sustainability of forestation activities, enhanced watershed governance, national planning, and community action programs that lead to increased— (A) development of a national watershed management policy for Haiti and Armenia with the appropriate government ministries and agencies; (B) establishment of an effective forum for donor coordination related to management and reforestation in Haiti and Armenia; (C) support for the National Center for Geospatial Information (CNIGS) and the United States Forest Service to provide technology, data, and monitoring support for improved watershed and forest resource management at a national scale in Haiti and Armenia; and (D) development of effective governance structures in Haiti and Armenia for stakeholder engagement, coordination of approaches, and land use planning and disaster mitigation at the watershed scale; and (4) meeting the goals of this Act, which, if findings indicate are not appropriately and efficiently being met, may cause the President to terminate direct funding to either the Government of Haiti or the Government of Armenia. (f) Minimum country reforestation fund percentage Not less than 85 percent of amounts provided for programs under this section shall be spent on actual reforestation activities in Haiti and Armenia, which may include the protection of reforested areas. (g) Termination of program The authority under this section shall terminate 7 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, unless the President certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that effective and sustainable programs are in place through the Government of Haiti or Government of Armenia or local governments in Haiti or Armenia, in potential partnership with international donors, nongovernmental organizations, or civil society groups, to protect and manage areas reforested pursuant to this Act, and that additional time is necessary to further the overarching goals of the Act. Upon making such certification, the authority may be extended for a total of two additional 7-year terms. II Grants for reforestation 201. Reforestation grant program (a) Establishment The President is authorized to establish a grant program to carry out the purposes of this Act, including reversing deforestation and improving reforestation and afforestation in Haiti and Armenia. (b) Grants authorized (1) In general The President is authorized to award grants and contracts 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 President may not award a grant under this section in an amount greater than $500,000 per year. (B) Exception The President may award a grant under this section in an amount greater than $500,000 per year if the President 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 President 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 forests; (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, to the extent that this does not result in the harvesting of forest growth and other renewable fuel technologies that reduce deforestation and improve human health; and (F) securing the involvement and commitment of local communities— (i) to protect forests in existence as of the date of enactment of this Act; and (ii) to partner in and carry out afforestation and reforestation activities. (2) Local community participation Activities to secure the participation of local communities under paragraph (1)(F) should include one or more of the following activities: (A) Creation of local jobs around protecting and managing reforested areas. (B) Collaboration to analyze biodiversity and ecosystem services integral to business decisions. (C) Cooperative conservation programs such as working with local water sources to ensure clean water through improved forestland and watershed or with food suppliers to ensure sustainable agroforestry products. (3) 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 President may reasonably require. (2) Content Each application submitted under paragraph (1) should be consistent with the findings and recommendations of either the 2007 United States Agency for International Development report entitled, Environmental Vulnerability in Haiti: Findings and Recommendations for Haiti or the 2009 United States Agency for International Development report entitled Biodiversity Analysis Update for Armenia Final Report: Prosperity, Livelihoods and Conserving Ecosystems (PLACE) IQC Task Order #4 for Armenia, and 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 and verification that the species to be used are not invasive. (3) Preference for certain projects In awarding grants under this section, preference shall be given to applicants that propose— (A) to develop market-based solutions to the difficulty of reforestation in Haiti and Armenia, 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 President shall collect and widely disseminate information about the effectiveness of the demonstration projects assisted under this section. 202. Forest protection programs 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 sections: 467. Pilot program for Haiti (a) Submission of list of areas of severely degraded natural resources The President, 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 forests are seriously degraded or threatened. (b) Review of list The President shall assess the lists 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 President is authorized to make grants on such terms and conditions as may be necessary to nongovernmental organizations for the purchase on the open market of discounted debt of the Government of Haiti, if a market is determined to be viable, in exchange for commitments by the Government of Haiti to restore forests identified by the Government under subsection (a) or for commitments to develop plans for sustainable use of such 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) Matching of grant funds Any United States funding provided to a nongovernmental organization for grant activities under this section shall be matched by an equal or greater amount of funding from the nongovernmental organization, which may include funding provided by other international donors, nongovernmental organizations, philanthropic bodies, corporations or other private entities, institutions of higher learning, or other non-United States Government sources. (4) Minimum country reforestation fund percentage Not less than 85 percent of grant funds provided under this section shall be spent on actual reforestation activities in Haiti, which may include the protection of reforested areas. (5) 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. (6) Termination of program The authority to make grants under the pilot program shall terminate five years after the date of the enactment of this Act. The authority may be renewed for one additional five-year period during the 20-year reforestation period targeted by this Act if the President determines and certifies to Congress that the pilot program is effective in meeting the goals of the Act and the commitment of the Government of Haiti to returning land in Haiti to long-term sustainable forests. The cumulative duration of the pilot program may not exceed ten total years. . 468. Pilot program for Armenia (a) Submission of list of areas of severely degraded natural resources The President, in cooperation with nongovernmental conservation organizations, shall invite the Government of Armenia to submit a list of areas within the territory of Armenia in which forests are seriously degraded or threatened. (b) Review of list The President shall assess the lists submitted by the Government of Armenia under subsection (a) and shall seek to reach agreement with the Government of Armenia for the restoration and future sustainable use of those areas. (c) Debt forgiveness agreement (1) Debt forgiveness The President is authorized to forgive debt owed to the United States by the Government of Armenia in exchange for commitments by the Government of Armenia to restore forests identified by the Government under subsection (a) or for commitments to develop plans for sustainable use of such forests. (2) Management of protected areas The Government of Armenia shall participate in the ongoing management of the area or areas protected pursuant to such debt relief. (3) Minimum country reforestation fund percentage Not less than 85 percent of funds that qualify under a debt relief agreement under this section shall be spent on actual reforestation activities in Armenia, which may include the protection of reforested areas. (4) Termination of program The authority to offer debt relief under the pilot program shall terminate five years after the date of the enactment of this Act. The authority may be renewed for 1 additional 5-year period during the 20-year reforestation period targeted by this Act if the President determines and certifies to Congress that the pilot program is effective in meeting the goals of the Act and the commitment of the Government of Armenia to returning land in Armenia to long-term sustainable forests. The cumulative duration of the pilot program may not exceed ten total years. . III Administrative provision 301. Delegation The President (or the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development or the Secretary of State as the President’s delegee) may draw, as appropriate, on the expertise of the United States Forest Service in designing and implementing programs pursuant to this Act relating to reforestation, watershed restoration, and monitoring of land use change.