National Environmental Education Act - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish an Office of Environmental Education within EPA to carry out this Act.
Establishes an Environmental Education and Training Program to train educational professionals in the development and delivery of environmental education and training programs and studies. Directs the Administrator to make an annual grant to an institution of higher education and nonprofit research institution to establish and operate such program. Sets forth application and eligibility requirements and criteria to be considered in awarding such grants.
Authorizes the Administrator to enter into cooperative agreements or provide grants to support projects to design, demonstrate, and disseminate practices related to environmental education and training. Outlines activities eligible for grant support and priorities in awarding such grants. Requires the Administrator to publish a solicitation of environmental education grants. Authorizes local education agencies, colleges or universities, State education or environmental agencies, nonprofit agencies, or noncommercial educational broadcasting entities to apply for such grants. Limits Federal funds for demonstration projects to 75 percent of the total cost, except in specified instances. Limits such grants to $250,000 and requires 25 percent of all funds obligated to be for grants of no more than $5,000.
Requires the Administrator to provide for internships by postsecondary students with Federal agencies involved in environmental issues. Directs the Administrator, to the extent practicable, to support at least 150 internships annually. Makes eligible for participation in such program students enrolled at accredited colleges or universities who have successfully completed at least four courses or the equivalent in environmental sciences.
Requires the Administrator to provide for a series of national awards recognizing outstanding contributions to environmental education to include: (1) the Theodore Roosevelt Award for environmental teaching or administration; (2) the Henry David Thoreau Award for literature on the environment and pollution problems; and (3) the Rachel Carson Award for film, print, or broadcast media for public education and information on environmental issues or problems. Provides that recipients of such awards shall be nominated by the Environmental Education Advisory Council. Authorizes the Administrator to provide for the President's Environmental Youth Awards to be given to young people in grades kindergarten through twelfth for outstanding projects to promote local environmental awareness. Requires the regional administrator of each EPA office to present an "Outstanding Environmental Educator Award" annually to a teacher or faculty member from a local education agency, college or university, or nonprofit organization in recognition of an outstanding contribution to environmental education.
Establishes a National Environmental Education Advisory Council and a Federal Task Force on Environmental Education. Requires the Council to report biennially to the Congress on: (1) the extent and quality of national environmental education; (2) activities conducted pursuant to this Act; (3) obstacles to improving environmental education; (4) training and skills needed to respond to environmental problems; and (5) the extent and quality of environmental education available to senior Americans.
Establishes the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation to: (1) encourage, accept, and administer gifts in connection with EPA environmental education and training activities; (2) undertake other activities to further the development of an environmentally conscious public, a well-trained and environmentally literate workforce, and an environmentally advanced educational system; and (3) participate with, and assist, foreign governments and entities in conducting environmental education and training activities.
Authorizes and allocates appropriations.
Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Select Education.
Subcommittee Hearings Held.
Executive Comment Requested from Education, EPA.
Executive Comment Received from EPA.
Ordered to be Reported (Amended).
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Subcommittee on Select Education Discharged.
Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Education and Labor. H. Rept. 101-671.
Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Education and Labor. H. Rept. 101-671.
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 414.
Mr. Jontz moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
Mr. Goodling demanded a second on the motion to suspend the rules.
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Considered under suspension of the rules.
On ordering a second Agreed to without objection.
DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate.
Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
Received in the Senate. Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 894.