Sec. 6. Imposition of sanctions with respect to significant actions that exacerbate climate change
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It is the sense of Congress that the President should employ the authorities provided by this section to prioritize action against, and deterrence of, egregious behaviors that undermine efforts to limit the increase in global average temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The President may impose one or more of the sanctions described in subsection
(c)with respect to any foreign person the President determines, based on credible information— to be responsible for or complicit in, or to have directly or indirectly engaged in, a covered activity, including a government official who approves or implements policies or acts that serve to promote a covered activity; to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any foreign person in a matter relating to a covered activity, including for or on behalf of a government official described in paragraph (1); to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, a covered activity; or to be owned or controlled by a foreign person described in paragraph (1). The sanctions that may be imposed with respect to a foreign person under subsection
(b)are the following: In the case of a foreign person who is an individual— ineligibility to receive a visa to enter the United States or to be admitted to the United States; or if the individual has been issued a visa or other documentation, revocation, in accordance with section 221(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1201(i) ), of the visa or other documentation. The blocking, in accordance with the International Emergency Economic Powers Act ( 50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), of all transactions in all property and interests in property of the foreign person if such property and interests in property are in the United States, come within the United States, or are or come within the possession or control of a United States person. The requirements of section 202 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act ( 50 U.S.C. 1701 ) shall not apply for purposes of this paragraph. Any of the sanctions described in section 235 of the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act ( 22 U.S.C. 9529 ). In determining whether to impose sanctions under subsection (b), the President shall consider— information provided jointly by the chairperson and ranking member of each of the appropriate congressional committees; and credible information obtained by other countries and nongovernmental organizations that monitor environmental harm or violations of human rights. Not later than 120 days after receiving a request that meets the requirements of paragraph
(2)with respect to whether a foreign person has engaged in an action described in subsection (a), the President shall— determine if that person has engaged in such an action; and submit a classified or unclassified report to the chairperson and ranking member of the committee or committees that submitted the request with respect to that determination that includes— a statement of whether or not the President imposed or intends to impose sanctions with respect to the person; and if the President imposed or intends to impose sanctions, a description of those sanctions. A request under paragraph
(1)with respect to whether a foreign person has engaged in an action described in subsection
(b)shall be submitted to the President in writing jointly by the chairperson and ranking member of one of the appropriate congressional committees. Sanctions under this section shall not apply with respect 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 or law enforcement activities of the United States. This section shall not apply with respect to the admission of an individual to the United States if the admission of the individual is necessary to comply with United States obligations under the Agreement between the United Nations and the United States of America regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force November 21, 1947, under the Convention on Consular Relations, done at Vienna April 24, 1963, and entered into force March 19, 1967, or under other international obligations of the United States. The authority to block and prohibit all transactions in all property and interests in property under this section shall not include the authority to impose sanctions on the importation of goods. In this paragraph, the term good means any article, natural or man-made substance, material, supply or manufactured product, including inspection and test equipment, and excluding technical data. The President may exercise all authorities provided under sections 203 and 205 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act ( 50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) to carry out this section. A person that violates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of this section or any regulation, license, or order issued to carry out this section 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. Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that includes a list of each activity in a foreign country that— is initiated or negotiated in the year preceding submission of the report; and the Secretary determines is a covered activity, regardless of whether sanctions have been imposed with respect to the activity. In this section: The term appropriate congressional committees means— the Committee on Environment and Public Works and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; and the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives. The term carbon sink means a feature or process that absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases. The term covered activity means any activity in a foreign country that, on or after the date of the enactment of this Act— causes, or is likely to cause, significant excess greenhouse gas emissions associated with electrical power generation, including— construction, importation, or exportation of subcritical coal-fired power plants; or any action that significantly undermines, as a result of timing or magnitude, adoption in the country of high-efficiency, low-carbon, or renewable energy technology or infrastructure; causes, or is likely to cause, significant or illegal deforestation or loss of natural carbon sinks, including— establishment of incentives for, or promotion of, systematic deforestation; engagement in, or failure to combat, illegal logging, mining, or ranching; or unjust actions that limit or circumvent opposition to deforestation by individuals seeking to protect the environment, public health, or community land rights; or knowingly misrepresents the environmental impact of a project, investment, or product, including misrepresenting the amount of greenhouse gas emissions associated with the project, investment, or product, in the context of— assessments conducted by multilateral organizations, national governments, or investors; or public efforts to gain market advantage based on purported environmental advantages of a product. The term knowingly , with respect to conduct, a circumstance, or a result, means that a person has actual knowledge, or should have known, of the conduct, the circumstance, or the result. The term foreign person means a person that is not a United States person. The term subcritical coal-fired power plant means a coal-fired power plant with carbon intensity equal to or greater than 880 kilograms of carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour. The term United States person means— a United States citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence to the United States; or an entity organized under the laws of the United States or of any jurisdiction within the United States, including a foreign branch of such an entity.
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Sec. 6
Imposition of sanctions with respect to significant actions that exacerbate climate change
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