I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2054 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 regarding 

environmental education, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 22, 2009 

Mr. SARBANES (for himself, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. STARK, 

Mr. HARE, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. TIERNEY, Ms. LEE of 

California, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mrs. CAPPS, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. 

OLVER, Mr. HOLT, Mr. KIND, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. 

POLIS of Colorado, Mr. SESTAK, Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia, Mr. WU, 

Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. 

HINOJOSA, Mr. FILNER, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. BISHOP of New 

York, Mr. HONDA, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. ELLISON, Ms. CLARKE, Mr. SIRES, Mr. 

CUMMINGS, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. MICHAUD, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. EHLERS, and Mr. PERLMUTTER) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 

Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 regarding environmental education, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘No Child Left Inside Act of 2009’’. 

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. References. 

Sec. 4. Authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE I—ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY PLANS 

Sec. 101. Development, approval, and implementation of State environmental 

literacy plans. 

TITLE II—ESTABLISHMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION 

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT GRANT PROGRAMS 

Sec. 201. Environmental education professional development grant programs. 

TITLE III—ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION GRANT PROGRAM TO 

HELP BUILD NATIONAL CAPACITY 

Sec. 301. Environmental education grant program to help build national capacity. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) Environmental education is essential for— 

9 (A) enhancing student learning and prob10 lem solving skills, especially in science; 

11 (B) creating responsible and engaged citi12 zens; and 

13 (C) producing graduates who are prepared 

14 to address the challenges, adjustments, and op15 portunities that will be present in the life and 

16 the workforce of the 21st century due to threats 

17 to human health, economical development, bioVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:34 Apr 24, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2054.IH H2054

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1 logical diversity, and national security arising 

2 from environmental stresses. 

3 (2) Studies documenting the increasing indica4 tors of nature deficit show that time spent out of the 

5 classroom for learning during the school day is crit6 ical to the intellectual, emotional, and physical 

7 health of children and that providing students with 

8 quality opportunities to directly experience the nat9 ural world can improve students’ overall readiness to 

10 learn and academic performance, as well as self-es11 teem, personal responsibility, community involve12 ment, personal health (including child obesity 

13 issues), and understanding of nature. 

14 (3) Fewer and fewer students are becoming in15 volved in important environmental education 

16 courses, classwork, and field investigations as an un17 intended consequence of the No Child Left Behind 

18 Act of 2001. 

19 (4) Hands-on, experience-based environmental 

20 education as part of the school curriculum connects 

21 children to the natural world, and research supports 

22 that time spent outdoors lessens the symptoms of 

23 Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), 

24 reduces stress and aggression, helps children sleep 

25 better, and improves physical health. 


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1 (5) Environmental education ‘‘in the field’’ as 

2 part of the regular school curriculum gets kids out3 side contributing to healthy lifestyles through out4 door recreation, exercise, play and experience in the 

5 natural world that is critical to helping prevent obe6 sity and address other related health problems. 

7 (6) Environmental education for elementary 

8 and secondary school students is critical as our Na9 tion transitions to a green economy where manufac10 turing workers, as well as architects, engineers, 

11 planners, scientists, business managers, financial ex12 perts, lawyers, entrepreneurs, political leaders, re13 source managers, and others, must be environ14 mentally literate to succeed in a green economy. 

15 (7) Environmental education provides critical 

16 tools for a 21st century workforce by providing stu17 dents with the skills to understand complex environ18 mental issues so they may make informed decisions 

19 in their own lives and find solutions for real world 

20 challenges facing us as a nation. Business leaders 

21 also increasingly believe that an environmentally lit22 erate workforce is critical to their long-term success. 

23 Environmental education helps prepare students for 

24 real world challenges. 


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1 SEC. 3. REFERENCES. 

2 Except as otherwise specifically provided, whenever in 

3 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 

4 of an amendment to, or a repeal of, a section or other 

5 provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to 

6 a section or other provision of the Elementary and Sec7 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.). 

8 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

9 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to be ap10 propriated to carry out section 5622(g) and part E of title 

11 II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

12 1965, $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2010 and each of the 

13 4 succeeding fiscal years. 

14 (b) DISTRIBUTION.—With respect to any amount ap15 propriated under subsection (a) for a fiscal year— 

16 (1) not more than 70 percent of such amount 

17 shall be used to carry out section 5622(g) of the El18 ementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 for 

19 such fiscal year; and 

20 (2) not less than 30 percent of such amount 

21 shall be used to carry out part E of title II of such 

22 Act for such fiscal year. 


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1 TITLE I—ENVIRONMENTAL 

2 LITERACY PLANS 

3 SEC. 101. DEVELOPMENT, APPROVAL, AND IMPLEMENTA4 TION OF STATE ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY 

5 PLANS. 

6 Part D of title V (20 U.S.C. 7201 et seq.) is amended 

7 by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘Subpart 22—Environmental Literacy Plans 

9 ‘‘SEC. 5621. ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY PLAN REQUIRE10 MENTS. 

11 ‘‘In order for any State educational agency, or a local 

12 educational agency served by a State educational agency, 

13 to receive grant funds, either directly or through participa14 tion in a partnership with a recipient of grant funds, 

15 under this subpart or part E of title II, the State edu16 cational agency shall meet the requirements regarding an 

17 environmental literacy plan under section 5622. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 5622. STATE ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY PLANS. 

19 ‘‘(a) SUBMISSION OF PLAN.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

21 the date of enactment of the No Child Left Inside 

22 Act of 2009, a State educational agency subject to 

23 the requirements of section 5621 shall, in consulta24 tion with State environmental agencies and State 


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1 natural resource agencies, and with input from the 

2 public— 

3 ‘‘(A) submit an environmental literacy plan 

4 for prekindergarten through grade 12 to the 

5 Secretary for peer review and approval that will 

6 ensure that elementary and secondary school 

7 students in the State are environmentally lit8 erate; and 

9 ‘‘(B) begin the implementation of such 

10 plan in the State. 

11 ‘‘(2) EXISTING PLANS.—A State may satisfy 

12 the requirement of paragraph (1)(A) by submitting 

13 to the Secretary for peer review an existing State 

14 plan that has been developed in cooperation with a 

15 State environmental or natural resource manage16 ment agency, if such plan complies with this section. 

17 ‘‘(b) PLAN OBJECTIVES.—A State environmental lit18 eracy plan shall meet the following objectives: 

19 ‘‘(1) Prepare students to understand, analyze, 

20 and address the major environmental challenges fac21 ing the students’ State and the United States. 

22 ‘‘(2) Provide field experiences as part of the 

23 regular school curriculum and create programs that 

24 contribute to healthy lifestyles through outdoor 

25 recreation and sound nutrition. 


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1 ‘‘(3) Create opportunities for enhanced and on2 going professional development for teachers that im3 proves the teachers’— 

4 ‘‘(A) environmental subject matter knowl5 edge; and 

6 ‘‘(B) pedagogical skills in teaching about 

7 environmental issues, including the use of— 

8 ‘‘(i) interdisciplinary, field-based, and 

9 research-based learning; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) innovative technology in the 

11 classroom. 

12 ‘‘(c) CONTENTS OF PLAN.—A State environmental 

13 literacy plan shall include each of the following: 

14 ‘‘(1) A description of how the State educational 

15 agency will measure the environmental literacy of 

16 students, including— 

17 ‘‘(A) relevant State academic content 

18 standards and content areas regarding environ19 mental education, and courses or subjects where 

20 environmental education instruction will be in21 tegrated throughout the prekindergarten to 

22 grade 12 curriculum; and 

23 ‘‘(B) a description of the relationship of 

24 the plan to the secondary school graduation re25 quirements of the State. 


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1 ‘‘(2) A description of programs for professional 

2 development for teachers to improve the teachers’— 

3 ‘‘(A) environmental subject matter knowl4 edge; and 

5 ‘‘(B) pedagogical skills in teaching about 

6 environmental issues, including the use of— 

7 ‘‘(i) interdisciplinary, field-based, and 

8 research-based learning; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) innovative technology in the 

10 classroom. 

11 ‘‘(3) A description of how the State educational 

12 agency will implement the plan, including securing 

13 funding and other necessary support. 

14 ‘‘(d) PLAN UPDATE.—The State environmental lit15 eracy plan shall be revised or updated by the State edu16 cational agency and submitted to the Secretary not less 

17 often than every 5 years or as appropriate to reflect plan 

18 modifications. 

19 ‘‘(e) PEER REVIEW AND SECRETARIAL APPROVAL.— 

20 The Secretary shall— 

21 ‘‘(1) establish a peer review process to assist in 

22 the review of State environmental literacy plans; 

23 ‘‘(2) appoint individuals to the peer review 

24 process who— 


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1 ‘‘(A) are representative of parents, teach2 ers, State educational agencies, State environ3 mental agencies, State natural resource agen4 cies, local educational agencies, and nongovern5 mental organizations; and 

6 ‘‘(B) are familiar with national environ7 mental issues and the health and educational 

8 needs of students; 

9 ‘‘(3) include, in the peer review process, appro10 priate representatives from the Department of Com11 merce, Department of Interior, Department of En12 ergy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and 

13 other appropriate Federal agencies, to provide envi14 ronmental expertise and background for evaluation 

15 of the State environmental literacy plan; 

16 ‘‘(4) approve a State environmental literacy 

17 plan not later than 120 days after the plan’s sub18 mission unless the Secretary determines that the 

19 State environmental literacy plan does not meet the 

20 requirements of this section; 

21 ‘‘(5) immediately notify the State if the Sec22 retary determines that the State environmental lit23 eracy plan does not meet the requirements of this 

24 section, and state the reasons for such determina25 tion; 


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1 ‘‘(6) not decline to approve a State environ2 mental literacy plan before— 

3 ‘‘(A) offering the State an opportunity to 

4 revise the State environmental literacy plan; 

5 ‘‘(B) providing technical assistance in 

6 order to assist the State to meet the require7 ments of this section; and 

8 ‘‘(C) providing notice and an opportunity 

9 for a hearing; and 

10 ‘‘(7) have the authority to decline to approve a 

11 State environmental literacy plan for not meeting 

12 the requirements of this part, but shall not have the 

13 authority to require a State, as a condition of ap14 proval of the State environmental literacy plan, to— 

15 ‘‘(A) include in, or delete from, such State 

16 environmental literacy plan 1 or more specific 

17 elements of the State academic content stand18 ards under section 1111(b)(1); or 

19 ‘‘(B) use specific academic assessment in20 struments or items. 

21 ‘‘(f) STATE REVISIONS.—The State educational 

22 agency shall have the opportunity to revise a State envi23 ronmental literacy plan if such revision is necessary to sat24 isfy the requirements of this section. 

25 ‘‘(g) GRANTS FOR IMPLEMENTATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—From amounts 

2 appropriated for this subsection, the Secretary shall 

3 award grants, through allotments in accordance with 

4 the regulations described in paragraph (2), to States 

5 to enable the States to award subgrants, on a com6 petitive basis, to local educational agencies and eligi7 ble partnerships (as such term is defined in section 

8 2502) to support the implementation of the State 

9 environmental literacy plan. 

10 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall pro11 mulgate regulations implementing the grant pro12 gram under paragraph (1), which regulations shall 

13 include the development of an allotment formula 

14 that best achieves the purposes of this subpart. 

15 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—A State re16 ceiving a grant under this subsection may use not 

17 more than 2.5 percent of the grant funds for admin18 istrative expenses. 

19 ‘‘(h) REPORTING.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 

21 after approval of a State environmental literacy 

22 plan, and every 2 years thereafter, the State edu23 cational agency shall submit to the Secretary a re24 port on the implementation of the State plan. 


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1 ‘‘(2) REPORT REQUIREMENTS.—The report re2 quired by this subsection shall be— 

3 ‘‘(A) in the form specified by the Sec4 retary; 

5 ‘‘(B) based on the State’s ongoing evalua6 tion activities; and 

7 ‘‘(C) made readily available to the public.’’. 

8 TITLE II—ESTABLISHMENT OF 

9 ENVIRONMENTAL EDU10 CATION PROFESSIONAL DE11 VELOPMENT GRANT PRO12 GRAMS 

13 SEC. 201. ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION PROFESSIONAL 

14 DEVELOPMENT GRANT PROGRAMS. 

15 Title II (20 U.S.C. 6601 et seq.) is amended by add16 ing at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘PART E—ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION PRO18 FESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT GRANT PRO19 GRAMS 

20 ‘‘SEC. 2501. PURPOSE. 

21 ‘‘The purpose of this part is to ensure the academic 

22 achievement of students in environmental literacy through 

23 the professional development of teachers and educators. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 2502. GRANTS FOR ENHANCING EDUCATION 

2 THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION. 

3 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.—In 

4 this section, the term ‘eligible partnership’ means a part5 nership that— 

6 ‘‘(1) shall include a local educational agency; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(2) may include— 

9 ‘‘(A) the teacher training department of an 

10 institution of higher education; 

11 ‘‘(B) the environmental department of an 

12 institution of higher education; 

13 ‘‘(C) another local educational agency, a 

14 public charter school, a public elementary 

15 school or secondary school, or a consortium of 

16 such schools; 

17 ‘‘(D) a Federal, State, regional, or local 

18 environmental or natural resource management 

19 agency that has demonstrated effectiveness in 

20 improving the quality of environmental edu21 cation teachers; or 

22 ‘‘(E) a nonprofit organization that has 

23 demonstrated effectiveness in improving the 

24 quality of environmental education teachers. 

25 ‘‘(b) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—From amounts 

2 appropriated for this subsection, the Secretary shall 

3 award grants, through allotments in accordance with 

4 the regulations described in paragraph (2), to States 

5 whose State environmental literacy plan has been 

6 approved under section 5622, to enable the States to 

7 award subgrants under subsection (c). 

8 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall pro9 mulgate regulations implementing the grant pro10 gram under paragraph (1), which regulations shall 

11 include the development of an allotment formula 

12 that best achieves the purposes of this subpart. 

13 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—A State re14 ceiving a grant under this subsection may use not 

15 more than 2.5 percent of the grant funds for admin16 istrative expenses. 

17 ‘‘(c) SUBGRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

18 ‘‘(1) SUBGRANTS TO ELIGIBLE PARTNER19 SHIPS.—From amounts made available to a State 

20 educational agency under subsection (b)(1), the 

21 State educational agency shall award subgrants, on 

22 a competitive basis, to eligible partnerships serving 

23 the State, to enable the eligible partnerships to carry 

24 out the authorized activities described in subsection 


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1 (e) consistent with the approved State environmental 

2 literacy plan. 

3 ‘‘(2) DURATION.—The State educational agency 

4 shall award each subgrant under this part for a pe5 riod of not more than 3 years beginning on the date 

6 of approval of the State’s environmental literacy 

7 plan under section 5622. 

8 ‘‘(3) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds 

9 provided to an eligible partnership under this part 

10 shall be used to supplement, and not supplant, funds 

11 that would otherwise be used for activities author12 ized under this part. 

13 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible partnership 

15 desiring a subgrant under this part shall submit an 

16 application to the State educational agency, at such 

17 time, in such manner, and accompanied by such in18 formation as the State educational agency may re19 quire. 

20 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 

21 under paragraph (1) shall include— 

22 ‘‘(A) the results of a comprehensive assess23 ment of the teacher quality and professional de24 velopment needs, with respect to the teaching 

25 and learning of environmental content; 


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1 ‘‘(B) an explanation of how the activities 

2 to be carried out by the eligible partnership are 

3 expected to improve student academic achieve4 ment and strengthen the quality of environ5 mental instruction; 

6 ‘‘(C) a description of how the activities to 

7 be carried out by the eligible partnership— 

8 ‘‘(i) will be aligned with challenging 

9 State academic content standards and stu10 dent academic achievement standards in 

11 environmental education, to the extent 

12 such standards exist, and with the State’s 

13 environmental literacy plan under section 

14 5622; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) will advance the teaching of 

16 interdisciplinary courses that integrate the 

17 study of natural, social, and economic sys18 tems and that include strong field compo19 nents in which students have the oppor20 tunity to directly experience nature; 

21 ‘‘(D) a description of how the activities to 

22 be carried out by the eligible partnership will 

23 ensure that teachers are trained in the use of 

24 field-based or service learning to enable the 

25 teachers— 


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1 ‘‘(i) to use the local environment and 

2 community as a resource; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) to enhance student under4 standing of the environment and academic 

5 achievement; 

6 ‘‘(E) a description of— 

7 ‘‘(i) how the eligible partnership will 

8 carry out the authorized activities de9 scribed in subsection (e); and 

10 ‘‘(ii) the eligible partnership’s evalua11 tion and accountability plan described in 

12 subsection (f); and 

13 ‘‘(F) a description of how the eligible part14 nership will continue the activities funded under 

15 this part after the grant period has expired. 

16 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—An eligible partner17 ship shall use the subgrant funds provided under this part 

18 for 1 or more of the following activities related to elemen19 tary schools or secondary schools: 

20 ‘‘(1) Creating opportunities for enhanced and 

21 ongoing professional development of teachers that 

22 improves the environmental subject matter knowl23 edge of such teachers. 

24 ‘‘(2) Creating opportunities for enhanced and 

25 ongoing professional development of teachers that 


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1 improves teachers’ pedagogical skills in teaching 

2 about the environment and environmental issues, in3 cluding in the use of— 

4 ‘‘(A) interdisciplinary, research-based, and 

5 field-based learning; and 

6 ‘‘(B) innovative technology in the class7 room. 

8 ‘‘(3) Establishing and operating environmental 

9 education summer workshops or institutes, including 

10 follow-up training, for elementary and secondary 

11 school teachers to improve their pedagogical skills 

12 and subject matter knowledge for the teaching of en13 vironmental education. 

14 ‘‘(4) Developing or redesigning more rigorous 

15 environmental education curricula that— 

16 ‘‘(A) are aligned with challenging State 

17 academic content standards in environmental 

18 education, to the extent such standards exist, 

19 and with the State environmental literacy plan 

20 under section 5622; and 

21 ‘‘(B) advance the teaching of interdiscipli22 nary courses that integrate the study of nat23 ural, social, and economic systems and that in24 clude strong field components. 


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1 ‘‘(5) Designing programs to prepare teachers at 

2 a school to provide mentoring and professional devel3 opment to other teachers at such school to improve 

4 teacher environmental education subject matter and 

5 pedagogical skills. 

6 ‘‘(6) Establishing and operating programs to 

7 bring teachers into contact with working profes8 sionals in environmental fields to expand such teach9 ers’ subject matter knowledge of, and research in, 

10 environmental issues. 

11 ‘‘(7) Creating initiatives that seek to incor12 porate environmental education within teacher train13 ing programs or accreditation standards consistent 

14 with the State environmental literacy plan under 

15 section 5622. 

16 ‘‘(8) Promoting outdoor environmental edu17 cation activities as part of the regular school cur18 riculum and schedule in order to further the knowl19 edge and professional development of teachers and 

20 help students directly experience nature. 

21 ‘‘(f) EVALUATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY PLAN.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible partnership 

23 receiving a subgrant under this part shall develop an 

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1 sisted under this part that includes rigorous objec2 tives that measure the impact of the activities. 

3 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The plan developed under 

4 paragraph (1) shall include measurable objectives to 

5 increase the number of teachers who participate in 

6 environmental education content-based professional 

7 development activities. 

8 ‘‘(g) REPORT.—Each eligible partnership receiving a 

9 subgrant under this part shall report annually, for each 

10 year of the subgrant, to the State educational agency re11 garding the eligible partnership’s progress in meeting the 

12 objectives described in the accountability plan of the eligi13 ble partnership under subsection (f).’’. 

14 TITLE III—ENVIRONMENTAL 

15 EDUCATION GRANT PRO16 GRAM TO HELP BUILD NA17 TIONAL CAPACITY 

18 SEC. 301. ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION GRANT PROGRAM 

19 TO HELP BUILD NATIONAL CAPACITY. 

20 Part D of title V (20 U.S.C. 7201 et seq.) (as amend21 ed by section 101) is further amended by adding at the 

22 end the following: 


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1 ‘‘Subpart 23—Environmental Education Grant 

2 Program 

3 ‘‘SEC. 5631. PURPOSES. 

4 ‘‘The purposes of this subpart are— 

5 ‘‘(1) to prepare children to understand and ad6 dress major environmental challenges facing the 

7 United States; and 

8 ‘‘(2) to strengthen environmental education as 

9 an integral part of the elementary school and sec10 ondary school curriculum. 

11 ‘‘SEC. 5632. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

12 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.—In 

13 this section, the term ‘eligible partnership’ means a part14 nership that— 

15 ‘‘(1) shall include a local educational agency; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(2) may include— 

18 ‘‘(A) the teacher training department of an 

19 institution of higher education; 

20 ‘‘(B) the environmental department of an 

21 institution of higher education; 

22 ‘‘(C) another local educational agency, a 

23 public charter school, a public elementary 

24 school or secondary school, or a consortium of 

25 such schools; 


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1 ‘‘(D) a Federal, State, regional, or local 

2 environmental or natural resource management 

3 agency, or park and recreation department, 

4 that has demonstrated effectiveness, expertise, 

5 and experience in the development of the insti6 tutional, financial, intellectual, or policy re7 sources needed to help the field of environ8 mental education become more effective and 

9 widely practiced; and 

10 ‘‘(E) a nonprofit organization that has 

11 demonstrated effectiveness, expertise, and expe12 rience in the development of the institutional, 

13 financial, intellectual, or policy resources needed 

14 to help the field of environmental education be15 come more effective and widely practiced. 

16 ‘‘(b) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized 

18 to award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible 

19 partnerships to enable the eligible partnerships to 

20 pay the Federal share of the costs of activities under 

21 this subpart. 

22 ‘‘(2) DURATION.—Each grant under this sub23 part shall be for a period of not less than 1 year and 

24 not more than 3 years. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 5633. APPLICATIONS. 

2 ‘‘Each eligible partnership desiring a grant under this 

3 subpart shall submit to the Secretary an application that 

4 contains— 

5 ‘‘(1) a plan to initiate, expand, or improve envi6 ronmental education programs in order to make 

7 progress toward meeting— 

8 ‘‘(A) challenging State academic content 

9 standards and student academic achievement 

10 standards in environmental education, to the 

11 extent such standards exist; and 

12 ‘‘(B) academic standards that are aligned 

13 with the State’s environmental literacy plan 

14 under section 5622; and 

15 ‘‘(2) an evaluation and accountability plan for 

16 activities assisted under this subpart that includes 

17 rigorous objectives that measure the impact of ac18 tivities funded under this subpart. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 5634. USE OF FUNDS. 

20 ‘‘Grant funds made available under this subpart shall 

21 be used for 1 or more of the following: 

22 ‘‘(1) Developing and implementing State cur23 riculum frameworks for environmental education 

24 that meet— 

25 ‘‘(A) challenging State academic content 

26 standards and student academic achievement 


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1 standards for environmental education, to the 

2 extent such standards exist; and 

3 ‘‘(B) academic standards that are aligned 

4 with the State’s environmental literacy plan 

5 under section 5622. 

6 ‘‘(2) Replicating or disseminating information 

7 about proven and tested model environmental edu8 cation programs that— 

9 ‘‘(A) use the environment as an integrating 

10 theme or content throughout the curriculum; or 

11 ‘‘(B) provide integrated, interdisciplinary 

12 instruction about natural, social, and economic 

13 systems along with field experience that pro14 vides students with opportunities to directly ex15 perience nature in ways designed to improve 

16 students’ overall academic performance, per17 sonal health (including addressing child obesity 

18 issues), and understanding of nature. 

19 ‘‘(3) Developing and implementing new policy 

20 approaches to advancing environmental education at 

21 the State and national level. 

22 ‘‘(4) Conducting studies of national significance 

23 that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) provide a comprehensive, systematic, 

2 and formal assessment of the state of environ3 mental education in the United States; 

4 ‘‘(B) evaluate the effectiveness of teaching 

5 environmental education as a separate subject, 

6 and as an integrating concept or theme; or 

7 ‘‘(C) evaluate the effectiveness of using en8 vironmental education-based field-based learn9 ing, service learning or outdoor experiential 

10 learning in helping improve— 

11 ‘‘(i) student academic achievement in 

12 mathematics, reading or language arts, 

13 science, or other core academic subjects; 

14 ‘‘(ii) student behavior; 

15 ‘‘(iii) student attendance; and 

16 ‘‘(iv) secondary school graduation 

17 rates. 

18 ‘‘(5) Executing projects that advance wide19 spread State and local educational agency adoption 

20 and use of environmental education content stand21 ards. 

22 ‘‘SEC. 5635. REPORTS. 

23 ‘‘(a) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP REPORT.—In order to 

24 continue receiving grant funds under this subpart after 

25 the first year of a multiyear grant under this subpart, the 


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1 eligible partnership shall submit to the Secretary an an2 nual report that— 

3 ‘‘(1) describes the activities assisted under this 

4 subpart that were conducted during the preceding 

5 year; 

6 ‘‘(2) demonstrates that progress has been made 

7 in helping schools to meet the State academic stand8 ards for environmental education described in sec9 tion 5634(1); and 

10 ‘‘(3) describes the results of the eligible part11 nership’s evaluation and accountability plan. 

12 ‘‘(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 years 

13 after the date of enactment of the No Child Left Inside 

14 Act of 2009 and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall 

15 submit a report to Congress that— 

16 ‘‘(1) describes the programs assisted under this 

17 subpart; 

18 ‘‘(2) documents the success of such programs in 

19 improving national and State environmental edu20 cation capacity; and 

21 ‘‘(3) makes such recommendations as the Sec22 retary determines appropriate for the continuation 

23 and improvement of the programs assisted under 

24 this subpart. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 5636. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS. 

2 ‘‘(a) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of a 

3 grant under this subpart shall not exceed— 

4 ‘‘(1) 90 percent of the total costs of the activi5 ties assisted under the grant for the first year for 

6 which the program receives assistance under this 

7 subpart; and 

8 ‘‘(2) 75 percent of such costs for each of the 

9 second and third years. 

10 ‘‘(b) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Not more than 

11 7.5 percent of the grant funds made available to an eligible 

12 partnership under this subpart for any fiscal year may be 

13 used for administrative expenses. 

14 ‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts made 

15 available to the Secretary to carry out this subpart shall 

16 remain available until expended. 

17 ‘‘SEC. 5637. SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT. 

18 ‘‘Funds made available under this subpart shall be 

19 used to supplement, and not supplant, any other Federal, 

20 State, or local funds available for environmental education 

21 activities.’’. 

Æ 


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