I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2827

To consolidate and improve governmental environmental research by

organizing a National Institute for the Environment, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

DECEMBER 21, 1995

Mr. SAXTON (for himself, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr.

BARTON of Texas, Mr. GOSS, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. KLUG, Mr.

EHLERS, Mr. BLUTE, Mr. DELLUMS, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island,

Mr. SABO, Mr. OLVER, Mr. YATES, Mr. WARD, Mr. TORKILDSEN, Mr.

DAVIS, Mr. GILCHREST, Mr. SHAYS, Mrs. MORELLA, and Mrs. ROUKEMA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Science

A BILL

To consolidate and improve governmental environmental research by organizing a National Institute for the Environment, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sound Science for the

5 Environment Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) The United States lacks an effective mecha2 nism for providing and communicating a comprehen3 sive, objective, and credible scientific understanding

4 of environmental issues in a timely manner to policy5 makers and the public.

6 (2) An appropriate understanding of the diverse

7 scientific issues that underlie the environmental

8 problems facing the United States is essential to

9 finding environmentally and economically sound so10 lutions to these problems.

11 (3) To be useful, this understanding requires

12 the integration of ongoing assessments of the state

13 of scientific knowledge with credible problem-focused

14 research, the communication of scientific informa15 tion, and the appropriate education and training of

16 environmental scientists, engines, and other profes17 sionals.

18 (4) A healthy environment is essential to an en19 hanced quality of life, a competitive economy, and

20 national security.

21 (5) It is imperative that our Nation wisely ex22 pend its fiscal resources by eliminating duplication

23 of certain Federal environmental research, and by

24 consolidating Federal environmental science pro25 grams resulting in a more cost-effective and efficient
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1 use of resources, to achieve a better integration of

2 an overall national environmental research strategy.

3 SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

4 The purpose of this Act is to consolidate certain gov5 ernmental environmental science functions and create an

6 independent institute to—

7 (1) improve the scientific basis for decision8 making on environmental issues by integrating the

9 functions of knowledge assessment, research, infor10 mation services, and education and training; and

11 (2) provide national leadership in environmental

12 science and research.

13 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE

14 FOR THE ENVIRONMENT.

15 There is hereby established as an independent agency

16 the National Institute for the Environment. The mission

17 of the Institute shall be to improve the scientific basis for

18 decisionmaking on environment issues.

19 SEC. 5. DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS.

20 The duties and functions of the Institute shall be—

21 (1) to initiate, facilitate, and where appropriate

22 perform comprehensive assessments of the current

23 state of knowledge of environmental issues and their

24 implications;
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1 (2) to establish a Center for Environmental As2 sessment with duties to—

3 (A) identify emerging issues and problems

4 by evaluating conditions and trends of the state

5 of the environment;

6 (B) determine the state of environmental

7 knowledge by identifying what is known about

8 particular issues and the voids in the current

9 knowledge base;

10 (C) evaluate implications of that knowledge

11 and communicate scientific understanding of

12 environmental issues to decisionmakers and the

13 public;

14 (D) identify areas of research that would

15 provide the scientific information needed by

16 decisionmakers and the public on critical envi17 ronmental issues and evaluate constraints which

18 may affect the conduct of this research, includ19 ing the limitations in technological, human, and

20 economic resources;

21 (E) assist the Board and Director of the

22 Institute in setting goals and priorities for the

23 Institute; and
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1 (F) cooperate with and utilize the National

2 Academy of Sciences and similar scientific orga3 nizations where appropriate;

4 (3) to award competitively peer-reviewed grants,

5 and where appropriate contracts, competitively for

6 extramural scientific research;

7 (4) to establish a Directorate of Research with

8 duties to—

9 (A) fund issue-oriented research on—

10 (i) environmental resources (including

11 inventories, monitoring, and characteriza12 tion);

13 (ii) environmental systems (including

14 mechanisms, processes, and effects); and

15 (iii) environmental sustainability (in16 cluding strategies, methods, and tech17 niques);

18 (B) ensure that such research is discipli19 nary, multidisciplinary, and interdisciplinary,

20 and organized around priority environmental is21 sues, including the human dimensions associ22 ated with environmental problems;

23 (5) to establish a National Library for the En24 vironment as a universally accessible, easy to use,

25 electronic, state-of-the-art information system for
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1 scientists, decisionmakers, and the public, which

2 shall—

3 (A) link existing information networks and

4 collections of environmental information, such

5 as libraries, specialized information centers,

6 data and statistical centers, government and

7 private sector repositories of information, and

8 individual experts;

9 (B) provide quality-assured data and infor10 mation by maintaining information about data

11 sets, including who generated the information,

12 by what methods they were collected, and

13 whether the methods and information were

14 peer-reviewed;

15 (C) conduct targeted information programs

16 by developing products and packaging informa17 tion, in various media that are most accessible

18 to specific groups or needs; and

19 (D) provide long-term maintenance and

20 management of the Nation’s environmental in21 formation resources, through the promotion and

22 development of policies and standards for man23 aging and providing access to environmental

24 data and information; and
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1 (6) to sponsor education and training of envi2 ronmental scientists and professionals and to im3 prove the public environmental literacy, including by

4 establishing a Directorate of Education and Train5 ing with duties to—

6 (A) award competitive scholarships,

7 traineeships, fellowships, and other arrange8 ments at universities, colleges, and other insti9 tutions for study and research in disciplinary

10 and interdisciplinary environmental sciences,

11 and for improving environmental literacy;

12 (B) support curriculum and program devel13 opment, along with teacher training programs,

14 at colleges, universities, and public institutions;

15 (C) actively involve women, minorities,

16 members of other underrepresented groups, and

17 affected communities; and

18 (D) sponsor public environmental edu19 cation programs, including using the National

20 Library for the Environment and other means

21 to disseminate knowledge about the environ22 ment.

23 SEC. 6. BOARD OF GOVERNORS.

24 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be a Board of

25 Governors for the Institute which shall establish goals, pri-
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1 orities, and policies of the Institute and serve in the na2 tional interest.

3 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—

4 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Board shall be com5 posed of 18 members who shall be appointed by the

6 President by and with the advice and consent of the

7 Senate.

8 (2) REPRESENTATION.—The members of the

9 Board shall be comprised of approximately equal

10 numbers of non-Federal scientists and users of sci11 entific information on the environment, and shall in12 clude individuals—

13 (A) who as scientists, users of scientific in14 formation, or those who are affected by environ15 mental issues, are individuals from diverse

16 groups, including State, tribal, and local gov17 ernments, business, environmental and citizens

18 groups, academia, other organizations, and the

19 public;

20 (B) have an established record of distin21 guished service and expertise in their fields; and

22 (C) who among the scientists represent the

23 diversity of fields that study the environmental.

24 (c) SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS.—In making appoint25 ments under this section, the President shall seek to pro-
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1 vide for representation on the Board of women, minority

2 groups, and individuals recommended by the National

3 Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineer4 ing, and other groups.

5 (d) TERMS.—Members of the Board shall serve the

6 following terms:

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para8 graph (2), a member of the Board shall serve for a

9 6-year term.

10 (2) INITIAL TERMS.—Of the initial members of

11 the Board, as specified by the President at the time

12 of appointment—

13 (A) 6 members shall serve an initial term

14 of 2 years;

15 (B) 6 members shall serve an initial term

16 of 4 years; and

17 (C) 6 members shall serve an initial term

18 of 6 years.

19 (3) SUBSEQUENT TERMS.—An individual may

20 not serve as a member of the Board for more than

21 2 consecutive 6-year terms.

22 (e) MEETINGS.—Meetings of the Board may be called

23 by the Chair or a majority of its members at any time,

24 and should occur no less than 4 times a year.
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1 (f) CHAIR.—The Chair of the Board shall be elected

2 by the Board from among its members.

3 (g) REPORTS.—On January 31 following completion

4 of appointment of the members of the Board, and every

5 2 years thereafter, the Board shall report on the work,

6 findings, and accomplishments of the Institute, including

7 an indication of likely priorities of the Institute for the

8 2-year period following. Reports of findings on specific en9 vironmental matters may be issued by the Board at any

10 time, including periodic evaluation of the conditions and

11 trends of the environment. Reports of the Board shall be

12 transmitted to the President, the Congress, and Federal

13 agencies in a timely fashion and shall be available to the

14 general public.

15 (h) ADVISORY COMMITTEES.—The Board may estab16 lish such advisory committees as the Board considers nec17 essary. The Board shall consult with the Interagency Advi18 sory Committee established by section 9 and advisory com19 mittees established under this subsection, to ensure co20 ordination and to avoid duplication.

21 (i) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member of the Board

22 who is not an officer or employee of the United States

23 may receive travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of

24 subsistence, in the same manner as travel expenses are

25 allowed under section 5703 of title 5, United States Code,
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1 for persons serving intermittently in the Government serv2 ice.

3 (j) PROHIBITION OF COMPENSATION OF FEDERAL

4 EMPLOYEES.—Members of the Board who are full-time

5 officers or employees of the United States or Members of

6 Congress may not receive additional pay, allowances, or

7 benefits by reason of service on the Board.

8 SEC. 7. STAFF.

9 (a) DIRECTOR.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Institute shall be ad11 ministered by a Director, who shall be appointed by

12 the President by and with the advice and consent of

13 the Senate. In appointing the Director, the Presi14 dent—

15 (A) shall solicit nominations from the

16 Board and established scientific organizations;

17 and

18 (B) shall appoint an individual who has an

19 established record of distinguished service and

20 expertise in the environmental sciences.

21 (2) AUTHORITY.—The Director shall exercise

22 all authority granted to the Institute in this Act, in23 cluding powers delegated by the Board, and all ac24 tions of the Director shall be final and binding on

25 the Institute.
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1 (3) DUTIES.—The Director shall be responsible

2 for the integration of the duties and functions of the

3 Institute as described in section 5, and for ensuring

4 the full involvement of all relevant environmental

5 sciences and the full range of users in these duties.

6 (4) PAY; TERM OF OFFICE.—The Director shall

7 receive basic pay at a rate not to exceed the rate

8 provided for level II of the Executive Schedule under

9 section 5313 of title 5, United States Code, and

10 shall serve for a term of 6 years.

11 (5) MEMBER OF COUNCIL.—The Director shall

12 be a member on the National Science and Tech13 nology Council.

14 (6) EX-OFFICIO MEMBER OF BOARD.—The Di15 rector shall be a nonvoting, ex-officio member of the

16 Board.

17 (b) ASSISTANT DIRECTORS.—The Director shall ap18 point, in consultation with the Board, Assistant Directors

19 for the Center for Environmental Assessment, the Direc20 torate of Research, the National Library for the Environ21 ment, and the Directorate of Education and Training to

22 carry out the duties and functions of the Institute and

23 to ensure that all functions of the Institute are properly

24 integrated.
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1 SEC. 8. INTERAGENCY COOPERATION.

2 (a) ACQUISITION OF INFORMATION FROM OTHER

3 AGENCIES.—The Institute may acquire from the head of

4 any Federal agency unclassified data and nonproprietary

5 knowledge and information obtained and possessed by

6 other Federal agencies which the Institute considers useful

7 in the discharge of its duties. The head of each Federal

8 agency shall cooperate with the Institute to furnish all in9 formation required by the Director that is requested by

10 the Institute.

11 (b) ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND PRODUCTS OF IN12 STITUTE.—The Institute shall cooperate with all Federal

13 agencies to ensure that the information and products of

14 the Institute are useful and accessible to all agencies.

15 SEC. 9. INTERAGENCY ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established

17 an Interagency Advisory Committee to ensure that the en18 vironmental efforts of the Institute and other Federal

19 agencies are complementary.

20 (b) DUTIES.—The Interagency Advisory Committee

21 shall provide recommendations and advice to the Board

22 to help ensure that—

23 (1) the Institute’s priorities incorporate the

24 needs and activities of other agencies;
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1 (2) the activities of the Institute support and

2 complement and do not duplicate the existing pro3 grams of the agencies; and

4 (3) other Federal agencies are informed of the

5 scientific findings of the Institute.

6 (c) COMPOSITION.—The Interagency Advisory Com7 mittee shall consist of the heads (or their designees of

8 other Federal agencies, including the Environmental Pro9 tection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

10 Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the Na11 tional Science Foundation, the Department of Defense,

12 the Department of Energy, the Department of the Inte13 rior, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of

14 Transportation, the National Aeronautics and Space Ad15 ministration, the National Science and Technology Coun16 cil, the Council on Environmental Quality, and the De17 partment of Housing and Urban Development.

18 (d) CHAIR.—The Interagency Advisory Committee

19 shall elect a Chair, who shall be a nonvoting, ex officio

20 member of the Board.

21 SEC. 10. GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND OTHER AUTHORITIES.

22 (a) AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL ASSIST23 ANCE.—To carry out the duties of the Institute under this

24 Act, the Institute, subject to the availability of appropria25 tions, may enter into various financial arrangements, in-
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1 cluding competitively awarded grants, loans, cooperative

2 agreements, and contracts to institutions, teams, and cen3 ters, after rigorous peer review.

4 (b) PERSONS ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE FUNDING.—

5 Scientists, engineers, and other researchers are eligible to

6 receive funding from the Institute under subsection (a),

7 except that—

8 (1) scientists from Federal agencies shall not be

9 given a preference for funding based on their em10 ployment with the Federal Government; and

11 (2) the receipt of funding from the Institute

12 shall be subject to any criteria and other require13 ments prescribed by the Institute.

14 (c) RECEIPT OF FUNDING FROM OTHER PERSONS.—

15 (1) RECEIPT.—To carry out particular projects

16 and activities under this Act the Institute may, sub17 ject to the approval of the Board—

18 (A) receive funds from other Federal agen19 cies; and

20 (B) accept, use, and dispose of gifts, be21 quests, or devises of services or property, both

22 real and personal.

23 (2) USE.—Funds received under this subsection

24 shall be deposited in the Treasury and shall be made
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1 available to the Institute to the extent provided in

2 appropriations Acts.

3 SEC. 11. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TRANSFERS OF FUNC4 TIONS TO INSTITUTE.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 12 months after

6 the date of the enactment of this Act, the President, in

7 consultation with the heads of other Federal departments

8 and independent agencies in the executive branch, shall—

9 (1) submit to the Congress recommendations

10 regarding existing Federal programs that are appro11 priate for transfer to the Institute; and

12 (2) include with those recommendations any

13 draft legislation the enactment of which is necessary

14 to accomplish those transfers.

15 (b) IDENTIFICATION OF APPROPRIATE PROGRAMS.—

16 In implementing subsection (a), the President shall con17 sider a program to be appropriate for transfer to the Insti18 tute if the program—

19 (1) is consistent with the mission of the Insti20 tute under section 4;

21 (2) is non-regulatory;

22 (3) supports achievement of comprehensive,

23 problem-focused, anticipatory, multidisciplinary, and

24 interdisciplinary science programs; and
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1 (4) supports achievement of extramural pro2 grams.

3 SEC. 12. DEFINITIONS.

4 As used in this Act:

5 (1) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the

6 Board of Governors of the Institute, established by

7 section 6.

8 (2) DECISIONMAKERS.—The term ‘‘decision9 makers’’ means elected or appointed officials of Fed10 eral, State, tribal, and local governments, and simi11 lar individuals in the private sector.

12 (3) ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES.—The term

13 ‘‘environmental sciences’’ means the full range of

14 fields of study, including biological, physical, chemi15 cal, geological, and social sciences, engineering, and

16 humanities, relevant to the understanding of envi17 ronmental problems.

18 (4) INSTITUTE.—The term ‘‘Institute’’ means

19 the National Institute for the Environment estab20 lished by this Act.

21 (5) SCIENTIST.—The term ‘‘scientist’’ means a

22 practitioner of science relevant to the environment.

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