Stopping PRC Environmental Exploitation and Degradation Act

The Department of State report titled “China’s Environment Abuses” states that the People’s Republic of China (referred to as the “PRC”), “threatens the global economy and global health by unsustainably exploiting natural resources and exporting its willful disregard for the environment through its One Belt, One Road initiative”.

During the past 20 years, the People’s Republic of China has significantly increased its economic and business activities in sub-Saharan Africa. While legal systems across countries vary, business entities are generally bound by the laws of their home country, the host country, and international law. Chinese business entities are notorious for consciously violating the laws of their host countries and international law.

PRC and Chinese private sector companies (hereafter referred to as “PSCs”) destructive, and at times illegal, mining, drilling, logging, and fishing practices in sub-Saharan Africa cause high levels of concern and harm across sub-Saharan Africa. Many PRC-linked entities and Chinese PSCs in sub-Saharan Africa operate with little regard for ecology, public health, and the well-being of local residents and wildlife.

The World Wildlife Fund has found that One Belt, One Road corridors overlap with, and thus may adversely affect, over 1,700 key biodiversity areas or important bird areas and the habitat ranges of 265 threatened species.

Adverse environmental, ecological, and public health incidents connected to lax PRC-linked entities and PSCs business practices have been reported throughout sub-Saharan Africa including, but not limited to, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

As early as 2014, in Ethiopia’s Somali “Ogaden” region, reports of a deadly disease spread across the communities surrounding a PRC-linked natural gas plant. Local healthcare professionals suspect that the illness is caused by hazardous chemical waste from the PRC-linked gas drilling operation that poisoned the drinking water supply. The illness results in the yellowing of the eyes, bleeding from the nose and mouth, a fever, and then death. Over 2,000 deaths suspected of being attributable to this waste have been reported according to Voice of America.

Beginning in 2016, multiple Gambian communities have faced adverse environmental and economic impacts from fishmeal processing factories owned partially or fully by PRC citizen investors. Golden Lead in Gunjur, JXYG in Kartong, and Nessim in Sanyang are accused of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (“IUU”) fishing practices, discharging untreated waste into waterways and nearby community gardens, and emitting odors. Overfishing leads to dumping of dead fish which then wash onto beaches, disrupting the local fish market economy and threatening a critical food supply for Gambians. Locals also report that contaminated wastewater from the fishmeal factories is dumped into freshwater sources, allowing a harmful algae bloom to spread turning the water red.

The involvement of Chinese nationals in illegal, small-scale gold mining in Ghana, known as “galamsey”, is threatening Ghana’s cocoa industry and subsistence farming. Between 2008 and 2016 an estimated 50,000 PRC citizens migrated to Ghana to work in the mining sector. The PRC has been accused of encouraging the goldrush migration to Ghana and has been unhelpful in Ghana’s efforts to crack down on the harmful, illegal mining by PRC citizens. These miners are shifting techniques to sophisticated imported machinery supplied by PRC citizen investors and introducing alternative gold extraction processes, such as cyanide washing, which have had devastating environment impacts especially to Ghana’s waterways and cocoa farms. Ghana’s National Food Buffer Stock Company Limited, the state-owned company responsible for managing the government’s emergency food security reserves, estimates that galamsey activities have negatively affected or destroyed more than 19,000 hectares (46,950 acres) of cocoa plantations.

In 2021, local riverine communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo accused a PRC mining company of polluting the Aruwimi River, an important tributary of the Congo River. Locals reported water discolored by waste disposal. The incident sparked an increase in sickness, and dead fish began floating in the river, which locals consumed. The PRC mining firm planned to remediate the issue by relocating 10,000 people away from their communities and livelihoods.

The PRC's involvement in fisheries can threaten Africa's sovereignty over natural resources through beneficial ownership agreements, coercive licensing arrangements, and investments in ports, fishmeal, and cold storage facilities. PRC-owned vessels frequently reflag to other nations, obscuring ownership and responsibility for vessels’ actions.

ensure that United States-registered corporate entities abide by United States, host country, and international environmental protection and labor laws and regulatory guidelines;

oppose the actions of PRC-linked entities and PSCs that do not abide by host country and international environmental protection and labor laws in their business dealings in sub-Saharan Africa and that instead aim to exploit the natural resource endowments of these countries, irrespective of the damage done to local communities; and

work with willing African governments to encourage development of a mitigation strategy for the negative environmental, ecological and public health impact of PRC-linked entities and Chinese PSCs, including holding violators accountable.

outline major founded instances of adverse environmental, ecological, and public health incidents that can be linked to the People’s Republic of China and Chinese PSC’s adverse business practices in sub-Saharan Africa;

identify specific sub-Saharan African countries where the opportunity is greatest for increased collaboration on environmental remediation and ecological restoration to address and mitigate PRC-linked entities and Chinese PSCs environmental degradation; and

include a plan detailing how increased United States technical assistance would assist the countries identified in paragraph (2) in combating the environmental degradation caused by PRC-linked entities and Chinese PSCs to positively impact the most at-risk communities.

In general— Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the President may impose the sanctions described in subsection (b) with respect to any foreign person the President determines, based on credible evidence and consistent with United States foreign policy interests, is responsible for a severe, adverse environmental, ecological, or public health incident in sub-Saharan Africa and is—

Sanctions described— The sanctions described in this subsection are the following:

Exception relating to the provision of humanitarian assistance— Sanctions under this section may not be imposed with respect to transactions or the facilitation of transactions for—

Exception To comply with united nations headquarters agreement and law enforcement objectives— Sanctions under subsection (b)(1) shall not apply to an individual if admitting the individual into the United States would further important law enforcement objectives or is necessary to permit the United States to comply with the Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force November 21, 1947, between the United Nations and the United States, or other applicable international obligations of the United States.

Exceptions for intelligence activities— Sanctions under this section shall not apply to any activity subject to the reporting requirements under title V of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.) or any authorized intelligence activities of the United States.

Enforcement of blocking of property— A person that knowingly violates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of a sanction described in subsection (b)(2) that is imposed by the President or any regulation, license, or order issued to carry out such a sanction shall be subject to the penalties set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same extent as a person that commits an unlawful act described in subsection (a) of that section.

Waiver— The President may waive the application of subsection (b) if the President—

Definitions— In this section: