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Title II — Grants for reforestation

S. 1548 · 113th Congress · Sep 25, 2013 · Lineage

II Grants for reforestation

Sec. 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.

Sec. 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.”