I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1309
To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to prohibit exchanges from
effecting transactions in securities issued by natural asset companies,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY13, 2025
Mr. G
REENof Tennessee (for himself, Ms. HAGEMAN, Mr. BURCHETT, Mr.
O
GLES, Mrs. MILLERof Illinois, Mr. ESTES, Mr. NORMAN, Mr.
N
EWHOUSE, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Mr. HIGGINSof Louisiana, Mr. ZINKE,
Mr. G
UEST, Mr. CRANE, Mr. BENTZ, Mr. CLINE, Mr. DOWNING, Mr.
W
EBERof Texas, Ms. MALOY, Mr. COLLINS, and Mr. VANDREW) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Finan-
cial Services
A BILL
To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to prohibit
exchanges from effecting transactions in securities issued
by natural asset companies, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protect America’s 4
Lands Act’’. 5
VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1309.IH H1309
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2
•HR 1309 IH
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION WITH RESPECT TO EFFECTING 1
TRANSACTIONS IN SECURITIES ISSUED BY 2
NATURAL ASSET COMPANIES. 3
Section 6 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 4
U.S.C. 78f) is amended by adding at the end the following: 5
‘‘(m) P
ROHIBITIONWITHRESPECT TOEFFECTING 6
T
RANSACTIONS IN SECURITIESISSUED BY NATURAL 7
A
SSETCOMPANIES.— 8
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for a 9
national securities exchange registered under sub-10
section (b) to effect a transaction in a security 11
issued by a natural asset company. 12
‘‘(2) N
ATURAL ASSET COMPANY DEFINED .—In 13
this subsection, the term ‘natural asset company’— 14
‘‘(A) means a company— 15
‘‘(i) that holds the rights to the eco-16
logical performance (including value from 17
natural assets and the production of eco-18
system services) of a defined land area and 19
has the authority to manage such area for 20
conservation, restoration, or sustainable 21
management; and 22
‘‘(ii) the primary purpose of which, 23
with respect to such defined land area, is 24
to— 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1309.IH H1309
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3
•HR 1309 IH
‘‘(I) manage, maintain, restore, 1
and grow the value of natural assets 2
and the production of ecosystem serv-3
ices in the area; or 4
‘‘(II) carry out activities that do 5
not cause any material adverse impact 6
on the condition of the natural assets 7
in the area and replenish the natural 8
resources used in the area; and 9
‘‘(B) includes any company that controls, 10
is controlled by, or is under common control 11
with another company described in subpara-12
graph (A).’’. 13
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1309.IH H1309
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB