Products & Policies | Ex-Im Bank Policies | Environment

Ex-Im Bank Environmental Requirements

The Charter of Ex-Im Bank requires the Bank to establish procedures to take into account the potential beneficial and adverse environmental effects of goods and services for which support is requested, consistent with the mandate to foster expansion of exports. The Charter also authorizes the Board of Directors, in its judgment, to grant or withhold financing support after taking into account the beneficial and adverse environmental effects of proposed transactions. In response to this mandate, Ex-Im Bank first issued a set of Environmental Procedures and Guidelines in February 1995 that set forth the environmental requirements applicable to Ex-Im Bank financed projects and explained the process by which the Bank would review transactions to determine their environmental effects.

In December 2003, agreement was reached among the Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which includes the United States, on adoption of a "Recommendation on Common Approaches on Environment and Officially Supported Export Credits" (The Common Approaches). Adherence to this Agreement is intended to ensure consideration of the environmental effects of projects on a consistent basis among the major ECAs.

Ex-Im Bank's Environmental Procedures and Guidelines were revised on July 1, 2004 in order to bring them into full compliance with the requirements of the Common Approaches. The Bank's Environmental Procedures include provisions for the environmental screening and categorization of all transactions with a repayment term in excess of two years, the environmental review of all long-term transactions involving physical projects, and the environmental review of medium term transactions that relate to projects that are located in, or are likely to have an impact on sensitive sites such as national parks or internationally protected areas such as wetlands and tropical forests.

The Environmental Procedures describe the type of transactions that require submission of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and the provisions for environmental transparency within Ex-Im Bank that include requirements for making the EIAs available to the public. All transactions subject to environmental review by Ex-Im Bank are expected to meet host country and applicable international environmental guidelines. The environmental guidelines generally applicable to Ex-Im Bank supported projects are those of the World Bank as referenced in a condensed form within Annex A of the Environmental Procedures. To facilitate adherence to these World Bank guidelines, Annex A of the Environmental Procedures contains industrial sector tables that describe the specific quantitative and qualitative environmental requirements applicable to projects undertaken within the respective sectors.

To address the specific environmental and safety requirements for transactions related to the nuclear sector, Ex-Im Bank has issued a set of Nuclear Procedures and Guidelines, which were revised on July 1, 2004. These Nuclear Procedures & Guidelines are set out in a separate document.

Applicants should refer to Ex-Im Bank's Environmental (or Nuclear) Procedures and Guidelines to obtain the scope and level of environmental information required by Ex-Im Bank. The Bank's Engineering and Environment Division, which is responsible for evaluating the environmental aspects of a project, is available to provide guidance to applicants on matters related to Ex-Im Bank's environmental policy and requirements.