§262m–7 Assessment of Environmental Impact of Proposed Multilateral Development Bank Actions

Summary

The Secretary of the Treasury must tell the United States Executive Director at each multilateral development bank not to vote for any proposal (for example, a loan, credit, grant, or guarantee) that would likely cause significant environmental harm unless, after talking with the Secretary of State, USAID, and the EPA, the Secretary finds that for at least 120 days before the vote an environmental assessment was finished and given to the bank’s board and that the assessment or a public summary (with secret business information removed) was made available to affected people and local NGOs and announced in the country and on the bank’s website. The Secretary must also push other countries and the banks to make environmental assessments available to governments and the public at least 120 days before board decisions, encourage public review, make sure assessments go through U.S. agency review, consider comments from other federal agencies and the public, and ask banks to set up systematic assessment procedures within 18 months after December 19, 1989 using recognized guidance. The Treasury must work with other federal agencies to give the banks free U.S. staff help for training, advice, studies, public documents, and including NGOs, and encourage other countries to do the same. A progress report is due by the end of the 1-year period beginning on December 19, 1989, and a detailed report is due by January 1, 1993; both reports must be shared with bank members, borrowers, and the public. The term “multilateral development bank” covers institutions such as the World Bank and its related agencies, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Asian Development Bank, the Inter‑American and African development banks, the International Finance Corporation, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, other similar institutions named by law, and their subsidiaries.