To direct the Secretary of Education to provide grants to establish sustainability centers, charged with developing and implementing integrated environmental, economic, and social sustainability programs through administrative and operational practices as well as multidisciplinary research, education, and outreach at institutions of higher education.

Summary: Higher Education Sustainability Act of 2004 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to make grants to eligible institutions of higher education to establish university sustainability centers to develop and implement integrated environmental, economic, and social sustainability programs through administrative and operational practices as well as multidisciplinary research, education, and outreach.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Higher Education Sustainability Act 
of 2004''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Progress on sustainable development requires the 
        simultaneous achievement of a well functioning environmental 
        system, economic viability that creates new jobs and livable 
        communities that provide access to all for participation in 
        their governance.
            (2) The Nation has improved some challenging environmental 
        conditions through application of best technologies, but 
        serious problems persist that require new science, 
        technologies, and innovative policy approaches that are 
        flexible, and use market mechanisms, and engage relevant 
        stakeholders from the private and public sectors.
            (3) Achieving long-term economic prosperity requires 
        opportunities for employment and the maintenance of a healthy 
        environment for the workers.
            (4) The Nation's institutions of higher education have a 
        unique role to play in fostering new knowledge, evaluating 
        policies, and discovering new technologies to address the 
        persistent and often linked environmental, social and economic 
        problems that exist.
            (5) The Nation's higher education institutions are places 
        where approaches that integrate the environmental, social and 
        economic dimensions can be designed, tested, and refined for 
        application to real world settings in collaboration with 
        industry, government and the nonprofit sector.
            (6) The Nation's higher education institutions are uniquely 
        positioned to prepare the future labor force for successful 
        careers in the private and public sectors that contribute to 
        economic, environmental, and social sustainability.
            (7) The Nation's higher education institutions are uniquely 
        situated to be models of sustainable management and operations 
        that can provide examples to industry and government of 
        operational strategies that integrate the basic principles of 
        environmental, economic, and social sustainability.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to provide support to faculty, staff, and students at 
        institutions of higher education to establish both 
        administrative and educational sustainability programs on 
        campus;
            (2) to promote and enhance research by faculty and students 
        at institutions of higher education in sustainability practices 
        and innovations that assist and improve sustainability; and
            (3) to provide support to institutions of higher education 
        to work with community partners from the business, government, 
        and nonprofit sectors to design and implement sustainability 
        programs for application in the community and workplace.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.

    Title VII of the Higher Education Act of 1965 is amended by adding 
at the end the following new part:

              ``PART E--UNIVERSITY SUSTAINABILITY CENTERS

``SEC. 771. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall make grants to eligible 
entities to establish sustainability centers to design and implement 
sustainability practices including in the areas of energy management, 
green building, waste management, purchasing, transportation, and 
toxics management other aspects of sustainability that integrate campus 
operations with multidisciplinary educational programs and are 
applicable to the private and government sectors.
    ``(b) Period of Grant.--The provision of payments under a grant 
under subsection (a) may extend over a period of not more than 4 fiscal 
years.
    ``(c) Definition of Eligible Entities.--For purposes of this part, 
the term `eligible entity' means a comprehensive college or university 
that grants 4-year undergraduate degrees and masters and doctoral 
degrees.

``SEC. 772. APPLICATIONS.

    ``(a) In General.--To receive a grant under section 771(a), an 
eligible entity shall submit an application to the Secretary at such 
time, in such form, and containing such information as the Secretary 
may reasonably require.
    ``(b) Assurances.--Such application shall include assurances that 
the eligible entity--
            ``(1) has developed or shall develop a plan, including an 
        evaluation component, for the program component established 
        pursuant to section 773;
            ``(2) shall use Federal funds received from a grant under 
        section 771(a) to supplement, not supplant, non-Federal funds 
        that would otherwise be available for projects funded under 
        such section;
            ``(3) shall provide, with respect to any fiscal year in 
        which such entity receives funds from a grant under section 
        771(a), non-Federal funds or an in kind contribution in an 
        amount equal to 20 percent of funds from such grant, for the 
        purpose of carrying out the program component established in 
        section 773; and
            ``(4) shall collaborate with business, government, and the 
        nonprofit sectors in the development and implementation of its 
        sustainability plan.

``SEC. 773. USE OF FUNDS.

    ``Grants made under section 771 may be used by an eligible entity 
only for establishing a sustainability program--
            ``(1) to develop and implement administrative and 
        operations practices at institutions of higher education that 
        test, model, and analyze principles of sustainability;
            ``(2) to establish multidisciplinary education, research, 
        and outreach programs at institutions of higher education that 
        address the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of 
        sustainability;
            ``(3) to support research and teaching initiatives that 
        focus on multidisciplinary and integrated environmental, 
        economic, and social elements;
            ``(4) to establish initiatives in the areas of energy 
        management, green building, waste management, purchasing, 
        toxics management, transportation, and other aspects of 
        sustainability; and
            ``(5) to support student, faculty, and staff work at 
        institutions of higher education to implement, research, and 
        evaluate sustainable practices.

``SEC. 774. REPORTS.

    ``An eligible entity that receives a grant under section section 
771(a) shall submit to the Secretary, for each fiscal year in which the 
entity receives amounts from such grant, a report that describes the 
work conducted pursuant to section 773, research findings and 
publications, administrative savings experienced, and an evaluation of 
the program.

``SEC. 775. ALLOCATION REQUIREMENT.

    ``The Secretary may not make grants under section 771(a) to any 
eligible entity in an amount totaling more than 10 percent appropriated 
under section 776.

``SEC. 776. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    ``(a) In General.--There is authorized to be appropriated to carry 
out section 771(a) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2005 and such sums as 
may be necessary for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.
    ``(b) Availability.--Amounts appropriated under subsection (a) 
shall remain available until expended.''.