22 U.S.C. § 262m: Environmental impact statements; factors considered; promotion of activities by United States Executive Directors

The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States Executive Director of each multilateral development bank to vigorously and continuously urge that each bank identify and develop methods and procedures to insure that in addition to economic and technical considerations, unquantified environmental values be given appropriate consideration in decisionmaking, and include in the documents circulated to the Board of Executive Directors concerning each assistance proposal a detailed statement, to include assessment of the benefits and costs of environmental impacts and possible mitigating measures, on the environmental impact of the proposed action, any adverse environmental effects which cannot be avoided if the proposal is implemented, and alternatives to the proposed action. increases in the proportion of loans supporting environmentally beneficial policies, projects, and project components; the establishment of environmental programs in appropriate policy-based loans for the purpose of improving natural resource management, environmental quality, and protection of biological diversity; increases in the proportion of staff with professional training and experience in ecology and related areas and in the areas of anthropological and sociological impact analysis to ensure systematic appraisal and monitoring of environmental and sociocultural impacts of projects and policies; active and systematic encouragement of participation by borrowing countries nongovernmental environmental, community and indigenous peoples’ organizations at all stages of preparations for country lending strategies, policy based loans, and loans that may have adverse environmental or sociocultural impacts; and full availability to concerned or affected nongovernmental and community organization, early in the preparation phase and at all subsequent stages of planning of full documentary information concerning details of design and potential environmental and sociocultural impacts of proposed loans.