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March 18, 1998
(House)


H.R. 2870 - Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 1998
(Portman (R) OH and 44 cosponsors)

The Administration supports House passage of H.R. 2870, which would facilitate protection of tropical forests through debt restructuring with developing countries with tropical forests. The conservation of tropical forests is a major component of the Administration's environmental policy. This bill is consistent with U.S. bilateral environmental initiatives that have resulted in the protection of tropical forests in Central America and Indonesia, and with multilateral initiatives, such as the Global Environmental Facility, which leverages contributions of other countries to provide new resources for environmental projects.

The Administration, however, is concerned about the potential FY 1999 financing of this program. The Administration opposes reducing the requested amounts for the Global Environment Facility or bilateral environment programs, or shifting debt relief from Africa to other regions in order to finance activities envisioned in this bill. There would be serious consequences of cutbacks in other programs as well. Even under the best of circumstances, it would be difficult to have this program ready for implementation in FY 1999. In FY 2000 and FY 2001, there would be more flexibility to allocate additional funds to tropical forest preservation.