Mirador-Calakmul Basin Maya Security and Conservation Partnership Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 3131 To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish a Maya Security and Conservation Partnership program, to authorize appropriations for that program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 19, 2019 Mr. INHOFE (for himself, Mr. UDALL, and Mr. RISCH) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on For- eign Relations A BILL To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish a Maya Security and Conservation Partnership program, to authorize appropriations for that program, 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 ‘‘Mirador-Calakmul 4 Basin Maya Security and Conservation Partnership Act 5 of 2019’’. 6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7 Congress finds that— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:58 Dec 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3131.IS S3131 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3131 IS (1) the Mirador-Calakmul Basin (referred to in 1 this Act as the ‘‘Basin’’) is recognized scientifically 2 as, and has been termed, ‘‘the Cradle of Maya Civili- 3 zation’’, with over 100 ancient Maya cities dating 4 back almost 3,000 years, and includes the world’s 5 largest pyramids in volume, the tallest pyramids in 6 the Americas, the first paved ancient highway sys- 7 tems, the earliest and largest ancient Maya cities, 8 and the home of the ancient Ka’an (Kan) Kingdom, 9 which is recognized as one of the first organized po- 10 litical and economic states in the Americas; 11 (2) the Basin covers approximately 1,600,000 12 acres of pristine tropical forest within a geographi- 13 cally contained ecological system; 14 (3) the forest referred to in paragraph (2) is a 15 crucial economic resource for the people of Central 16 America and Mexico living in villages surrounding 17 the Basin; 18 (4) the Basin is a reservoir of genetic diversity 19 that can spark potential advances in medical, agri- 20 cultural, and industrial technology; and 21 (5) the Basin is centrally located within the 22 larger Selva Maya, a large block of adjacent pro- 23 tected areas within Guatemala, Mexico, and Belize, 24 within which increased crossboundary trafficking of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:58 Dec 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3131.IS S3131 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3131 IS timber, gold, wildlife, and other resources is taking 1 place with little central government control or law 2 enforcement. 3 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 4 It is the policy of the United States— 5 (1) that the United States encourages the gov- 6 ernments of Mexico and Guatemala— 7 (A) to prioritize the Basin; and 8 (B) to establish a formal joint program for 9 the security and conservation of the biodiversity 10 and archeological ruins of the Basin, com- 11 prising ‘‘the Cradle of Maya Civilization’’, 12 which would be the first ever binational security 13 and conservation program of its size and scale 14 in Latin America; 15 (2) to fund field-based tropical and archeo- 16 logical research, law enforcement, and sustainable 17 tourism activities within the Basin and surrounding 18 communities to support and strengthen protected 19 areas while enlisting local communities in those ac- 20 tivities; and 21 (3) that the implementation of and funding for 22 the policy described in paragraph (2) should empha- 23 size that— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:58 Dec 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3131.IS S3131 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3131 IS (A) United States investment under this 1 Act shall be in addition to existing United 2 States efforts; 3 (B) the governments of Guatemala and 4 Mexico, multilateral organizations such as the 5 Central American Bank for Economic Integra- 6 tion, local communities, and private sector orga- 7 nizations should have a leading role in fostering 8 the partnership to preserve and protect the 9 Basin; and 10 (C) United States funding should leverage 11 investments by the governments of Guatemala 12 and Mexico and regional research organizations. 13 SEC. 4. PRIORITY FOR INVESTMENTS IN THE BASIN. 14 The Secretary of the Interior shall prioritize contin- 15 ued tropical forest and archeological scientific research, 16 law enforcement, and sustainable tourism in the scientif- 17 ically recognized Basin in northern Guatemala and south- 18 ern Mexico by establishing a collaborative heritage con- 19 servation program and sustainable tourism model in col- 20 laboration with— 21 (1) the governments of Guatemala and Mexico; 22 and 23 (2) the ongoing scientific research team of 24 United States and international universities and in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:58 Dec 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3131.IS S3131 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3131 IS stitutions performing tropical and archaeological 1 work in the Basin. 2 SEC. 5. GRANT PROGRAM. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior, act- 4 ing through the Office of International Affairs of the De- 5 partment of the Interior (referred to in this section as the 6 ‘‘Secretary’’), as a contribution to the scientific investiga- 7 tion, heritage conservation, law enforcement, and sustain- 8 able tourism of the scientifically recognized Basin in Gua- 9 temala and Mexico, shall— 10 (1) establish a Maya Security and Conservation 11 Partnership program; and 12 (2) carry out a program to enter into coopera- 13 tive agreements or provide grants, as appropriate, to 14 support the Maya Security and Conservation Part- 15 nership program. 16 (b) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS AND GRANTS.—A 17 cooperative agreement or grant under subsection (a)(2) 18 shall, in part, support demonstrably effective, ongoing, 19 and collaborative research efforts involving a consortium 20 of United States and local universities and research insti- 21 tutions working in the Basin. 22 (c) GOAL.—The goal of the program established 23 under subsection (a)(1) shall be to create a sustainable 24 tourism model designed to provide low impact, controlled 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:58 Dec 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3131.IS S3131 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3131 IS access to the archaeological sites of the Basin with an em- 1 phasis on providing safe and secure economic opportunity 2 for the local communities in and around the Basin. 3 (d) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—Of the funds 4 made available to carry out this section for a fiscal year, 5 50 percent may not be used until, as determined by the 6 Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary, the 7 governments of Guatemala and Mexico have provided sig- 8 nificant direct investment to effectively counter illegal ac- 9 tivities within the region that encompasses the Basin, in- 10 cluding illegal logging and looting of archeological sites 11 along the Guatemala-Mexico border and within the Basin. 12 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 13 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 14 out this section $12,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 15 through 2026, to remain available until expended. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:58 Dec 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3131.IS S3131 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS