22 U.S.C. § 262m–7 — Assessment of environmental impact of proposed multilateral development bank actions

(a) Assessment required before favorable vote on proposal The Secretary of the Treasury must instruct the U.S. Executive Director of each multilateral development bank not to vote for any proposal — including a loan, credit, grant, or guarantee — likely to significantly affect the environment. This restriction applies unless the Secretary, after consulting the Secretary of State and the heads of AID and the Environmental Protection Agency, determines that, for at least 120 days before the vote: (1) An assessment of the proposed action's environmental impacts — including combined and cumulative impacts — and of alternatives, has been finished by the borrower or the bank and given to the bank's board. (2) That assessment, or a comprehensive summary of it with sensitive business information removed, has been made available to affected groups and local non-governmental organizations, and notice of its availability has been posted in the country and on the bank's website. (b) Access to assessments in all member countries The Secretary of the Treasury must seek policies and procedures, through talks and negotiations with other member countries and bank management, giving government agencies and interested members of the public in those countries access to environmental assessments or comprehensive summaries that discuss a project or program's environmental impact. These must be available at least 120 days before the board acts, and public participation in reviewing the environmental information should be encouraged. (c) Consideration of assessment The Secretary of the Treasury must: (1) Make sure an environmental impact assessment, or comprehensive summary as described in subsection (a), accompanies loan proposals through the agency review process. (2) Consider recommendations from all other interested federal agencies and members of the public. (d) Development of procedures for systematic environmental assessment The Secretary of the Treasury, working with other federal agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency, the State Department, and the Council on Environmental Quality, must: (1) Instruct the U.S. Executive Director of each multilateral development bank to start discussions with that bank's other directors and propose that the bank develop, within 18 months of December 19, 1989, a procedure for systematically assessing the environmental impact of development projects it finances, taking into account United Nations Environmental Programme guidelines and other assessment procedures. (2) When deciding the U.S. position on any bank action, develop and set procedures for considering the environmental impact assessment described in subsection (a), interagency and public review of it, and any other environmental review or consultation required by other law. (e) Use of United States personnel The Secretary of the Treasury, working with the Secretaries of State and the Interior, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality, the head of AID, and the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, must: (1) Make U.S. government personnel available to the banks, free of charge, to train bank staff in environmental impact assessment, give advice on environmental issues, prepare environmental studies for projects with potentially major impacts, and prepare documents for public release and procedures to include non-governmental organizations in environmental review. (2) Encourage other member countries to offer similar assistance. (f) Reports (1) In general — The Secretary of the Treasury must submit to the Senate Committees on Foreign Relations and Environment and Public Works, and the House Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs: a progress report, by the end of the one-year period starting December 19, 1989, on U.S. efforts to encourage consistent, timely environmental impact assessment by the banks, and on the banks' progress in building assessment policies and procedures; and a detailed report on the same subject by January 1, 1993. (2) Availability of reports — These reports must be made available to the banks' member governments and borrowers, and to the public. (g) Multilateral development bank defined In this title, "multilateral development bank" means the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Development Association, the International Finance Corporation, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, the African Development Bank, the African Development Fund, the Asian Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Inter-American Investment Corporation, any other institution (other than the International Monetary Fund) named in section 262r(c)(2) of this title, and any subsidiary of any of these.