Earth Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 219 To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to exclude from eligibility for the generalized system of preferences any country that fails to effectively enforce its environmental laws or meet its international environmental obligations, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 6, 2021 Mr. DOGGETT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to exclude from eligibility for the generalized system of preferences any country that fails to effectively enforce its environmental laws or meet its international environmental obligations, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Earth Act’’. 4 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 Feb 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H219.IH H219 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 219 IH SEC. 2. COMPLIANCE WITH ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS AND 1 REGULATIONS. 2 Section 502 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 3 2462) is amended— 4 (1) in subsection (b)(2)— 5 (A) by inserting after subparagraph (H) 6 the following new subparagraph: 7 ‘‘(I) Such country fails to effectively en- 8 force its environmental laws, regulations, or 9 other measures, or to fulfill its international en- 10 vironmental obligations, including as such obli- 11 gations relate to public health.’’; and 12 (B) in the matter following subparagraph 13 (I) (as added by subparagraph (A))— 14 (i) by striking ‘‘and (H)’’ and insert- 15 ing ‘‘(H)’’; and 16 (ii) by striking ‘‘shall not prevent’’ 17 and inserting ‘‘, and (I) shall not prevent’’; 18 and 19 (2) in subsection (c)— 20 (A) in paragraph (6)(B), by striking ‘‘and’’ 21 at the end; 22 (B) in paragraph (7), by striking the pe- 23 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 24 (C) by adding at the end the following new 25 paragraph: 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 Feb 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H219.IH H219 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 219 IH ‘‘(8) the extent to which such country effec- 1 tively enforces its environmental laws, regulations, 2 and other measures, and fulfills its international en- 3 vironmental obligations, including as such obliga- 4 tions relate to public health.’’. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 Feb 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H219.IH H219 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS