article: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``International Clean Development Technology Fund Act of 2008''. SEC. 2. PURPOSE. The purpose of this Act is to promote and to leverage private financing for the development and international deployment of technologies that will contribute to sustainable economic growth and the stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. SEC. 3. INTERNATIONAL CLEAN DEVELOPMENT TECHNOLOGY FUND. (a) Establishment.--There is established in the Treasury of the United States a fund to be known as the International Clean Development Technology Fund (in this Act referred to as the ``Fund''). (b) Deposits to Fund.--The Fund shall consist of-- (1) amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization of appropriations under section 8; and (2) any amounts as are or may be appropriated, transferred, or credited to such Fund under any other provisions of law. (c) Expenditures From Fund.--Amounts in the Fund shall be available to the International Clean Development Technology Deployment Board established under section 4 for the purposes described under section 5, and shall remain available until expended. SEC. 4. INTERNATIONAL CLEAN DEVELOPMENT TECHNOLOGY BOARD. (a) Establishment.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall establish an International Clean Development Technology Board (in this Act referred to as the ``Board''). (b) Composition.--The Board shall be composed of-- (1) the Secretary of State, who shall act as the chair of the Board; (2) the Secretary of the Treasury; (3) the Secretary of Energy; (4) the Secretary of Commerce; (5) the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; (6) the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development; (7) the United States Trade Representative; and (8) other officials as determined appropriate by the President. (c) Administration of International Clean Development Technology Fund.--The Board shall administer the International Clean Development Technology Fund ensuring that-- (1) funds are deployed in a manner that best promotes the participation of, and investments by, the private sector; (2) funds are allocated in a manner consistent with commitments by the United States under international climate change agreements; (3) funds achieve the greatest greenhouse gas emissions mitigations with the lowest possible cost, consistent with paragraphs (1) and (2); and (4) assistance is targeted at reducing or eliminating the increased costs associated with deploying clean technologies in place of traditional technologies. SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE. (a) Assistance.--The Board, acting through the Secretary of State, may use the Fund to provide assistance under this section to qualified entities to support the purposes of this Act. (b) Form of Assistance.-- (1) In general.--Assistance under this section shall be provided-- (A) as direct assistance in the form of grants, concessional loans, cooperative agreements, contracts, insurance, or loan guarantees to or with qualified entities; (B) as indirect assistance to such entities through-- (i) funding for international clean technology funds supported by multilateral institutions; (ii) support from development and export promotion assistance programs of the United States Government; or (iii) support from international technology programs of the Department of Energy; or (C) in such other forms as the Board may determine appropriate. (2) Oversight by secretary of the treasury of assistance for multilateral trust funds.--In the case of assistance provided under paragraph (1)(B)(i) for a clean technology fund or similar fund that is a multilateral trust fund based at the World Bank, the Secretary of the Treasury shall use the voice, vote, and influence of the United States to promote-- (A) the use of the assistance in accordance with the purposes of this Act; and (B) a requirement that no single country be eligible to receive more than 15 percent of the funds awarded by such a fund in any three year period. (c) Use of Funds.--Assistance provided under this Act may be used for one or more of the following purposes: (1) Funding for capacity building programs, including-- (A) developing and implementing methodologies and programs for measuring and quantifying greenhouse gas emissions and verifying emissions mitigations; (B) assessing technology and policy options for greenhouse gas emissions mitigations; and (C) providing other forms of technical assistance to facilitate the qualification for, and receipt of, program funding under this Act. (2) Funding for technology programs to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in eligible countries. (d) Qualified Entities.--A qualified entity referred to in this section is-- (1) the national government of an eligible country; (2) a regional or local governmental unit of an eligible country; or (3) a nongovernmental organization or a private entity located or operating in an eligible country. (e) Selection of Projects.-- (1) In general.--The Board shall be responsible for selecting qualified entities to receive assistance under this section. (2) Notice and wait requirement.--Assistance may not be provided under this section until 30 days after the Board notifies the appropriate congressional committees of the proposed assistance, including-- (A) in the case of a capacity building program-- (i) a description of the capacity building program to be funded through such assistance; (ii) the terms and conditions of such assistance; and (iii) a description of how the capacity building program will contribute to the purposes of this Act; or (B) in the case of a technology program-- (i) a description of the technology program to be funded through such assistance; (ii) the terms and conditions of such assistance; (iii) an estimate of the additional amount of greenhouse gas emissions mitigations expected due to the use of such assistance; and (iv) a description of how the technology program will contribute to the purposes of this Act. (f) Participation by Governmental Entities.--In providing assistance under this Act to a national government or to a regional or local governmental unit, the Board should require as a condition of the assistance that such governmental entity make appropriate financial contributions to the budget of the project being funded, and that the project be part of an overall national, regional, or local strategy for the deployment of clean technology. SEC. 6. ELIGIBLE COUNTRIES. (a) Determination by the President.--The Board shall determine whether a country is eligible for technology program assistance under this Act based on the criteria in subsection (b). (b) Criteria.--A country shall be considered to be eligible for purposes of this Act if-- (1) the country is eligible to receive official development assistance according to the guidelines of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Co- operation and Development; and (2)(A) the country has made a binding commitment, pursuant to an international agreement to which the United States is a party, to undertake actions to produce measurable, reportable, and verifiable greenhouse gas emissions mitigations; or (B) the Board determines and certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that the country has in force binding national policies and measures capable of producing measurable, reportable, and verifiable greenhouse gas emissions mitigations. (c) Report.--Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Board shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report outlining the criteria to be used to determine whether a country is eligible for assistance under this Act pursuant to subsection (b)(2)(B). SEC. 7. ANNUAL REPORT. (a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Board shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on assistance provided under this Act. (b) Content.--Each report submitted under subsection (a) shall include a description of assistance provided during the reporting period, including-- (1) the aggregate amount of assistance provided for capacity building initiatives and technology deployment initiatives; and (2) a description of each initiative funded through such assistance, including the amount of assistance provided, the terms and conditions of such assistance, and the anticipated reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to be achieved as a result of technology deployment initiatives. (c) Performance Evaluations of Supported Multilateral Trust Funds.--The reports submitted under subsection (a) shall provide for the independent evaluation, not less frequently than once every three years, of the performance of each international clean technology fund provided assistance pursuant to section 5(b)(1)(B)(i). SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. There is authorized to be appropriated a total of $2,000,000,000 for fiscal years 2009 through 2011 to carry out this Act. SEC. 9. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DEFINED. In this Act, the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means-- (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on Finance, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the Committee on Environment and Public Works, and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Ways and Means, the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Committee on Natural Resources, the Committee on Financial Services, and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives. SEC. 10. CONSTRUCTION; AUTHORITIES OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to alter or affect authorities of the Secretary of State under-- (1) title V of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 1979 (Public Law 95-426; 22 U.S.C. 2656a et seq.); or (2) section 622(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2382(c)).
summary: International Clean Development Technology Fund Act of 2008 - Establishes in the Treasury the International Clean Development Technology Fund to provide assistance to qualified entities for: (1) capacity building programs such as greenhouse gas emissions measuring and related technology and policy assessments; and (2) greenhouse gas emissions mitigation in eligible countries.