II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1516 

To establish a program under which the Administrator of the Environmental 

Protection Agency shall provide grants to eligible State consortia to 

establish and carry out municipal sustainability certification programs, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 7, 2011 

Mr. MENENDEZ introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To establish a program under which the Administrator of 

the Environmental Protection Agency shall provide 

grants to eligible State consortia to establish and carry 

out municipal sustainability certification programs, 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 ‘‘Sustainable States Act 

5 of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1516 IS

1 (1) local government leadership is critical in 

2 crafting and implementing effective, long-term solu3 tions to regionally distinct challenges, such as— 

4 (A) energy demand and supply; 

5 (B) water resource management; 

6 (C) waste production and management; 

7 (D) pollution; 

8 (E) environmental stewardship and con9 servation; and 

10 (F) economic competitiveness, growth, and 

11 development; 

12 (2) State-specific municipal sustainability cer13 tification programs provide a framework for con14 structive competition among the municipalities of a 

15 State that accelerates the development and dem16 onstration of effective local solutions to those chal17 lenges; and 

18 (3) public-private partnerships are successful 

19 means of sustaining the operation of municipal sus20 tainability certification programs which, as evidenced 

21 by the successful program in the State of New Jer22 sey— 

23 (A) reduce municipal costs; 

24 (B) create jobs; 

25 (C) drive local economic growth; and 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1516 IS

1 (D) yield environmental benefits. 

2 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

3 In this Act: 

4 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis5 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ6 mental Protection Agency. 

7 (2) MUNICIPAL SUSTAINABILITY CERTIFI8 CATION PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘municipal sustain9 ability certification program’’ means a program es10 tablished and carried out by a sustainable State con11 sortium that— 

12 (A) determines a set of State-specific 

13 benchmarks for use in evaluating sustainability; 

14 and 

15 (B) certifies a municipality as sustainable 

16 based on documented achievement of those 

17 benchmarks. 

18 (3) SUSTAINABLE STATE CONSORTIUM.—The 

19 term ‘‘sustainable State consortium’’ means a part20 nership consisting of local governments, a State, 1 

21 or more public universities, and any other municipal 

22 organizations, businesses, or nonprofit organizations 

23 selected by the consortium that is formed to estab24 lish a municipal sustainability certification program. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1516 IS

1 (4) TOP PERFORMER.—The term ‘‘top per2 former’’ means a municipality that— 

3 (A) has successfully completed a municipal 

4 sustainability certification program; and 

5 (B) is recognized by the Administrator for 

6 outstanding leadership in municipal sustain7 ability. 

8 SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR MUNICIPAL SUSTAINABILITY CERTIFI9 CATION PROGRAMS. 

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established a pro12 gram under which the Administrator shall provide 

13 grants to sustainable State consortia for use in es14 tablishing and carrying out municipal sustainability 

15 certification programs. 

16 (2) FLEXIBLE GUIDELINES FOR AWARD SELEC17 TION.—The Administrator shall establish flexible 

18 guidelines that reflect regional differences for use by 

19 sustainable State consortia in establishing State-spe20 cific municipal sustainability certification programs. 

21 (3) GRANTS.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

23 shall provide grants under this paragraph to 

24 sustainable State consortia for use in estabVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:54 Sep 08, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1516.IS S1516

smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1516 IS

1 lishing and carrying out municipal sustain2 ability certification programs. 

3 (B) ELIGIBILITY.—Not more than 1 sus4 tainable State consortium per State may apply 

5 for and receive a grant under this section. 

6 (C) NUMBER AND TERM OF GRANTS.—The 

7 Administrator shall provide not more than 20 

8 grants under this section, each of which shall 

9 have a term of 3 years. 

10 (D) LIMITATION ON AMOUNTS.—A grant 

11 provided under this section shall not exceed 

12 $600,000 during the term of the grant. 

13 (E) GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF

14 GRANT FUNDS.—The Administrator shall pro15 vide grants under this section in a manner that 

16 results in, to the maximum extent practicable, 

17 a geographical balance of funds provided, as de18 termined by the Administrator. 

19 (4) DATA AND REPORTS.—The Administrator 

20 shall annually— 

21 (A) collect and compile data from sustain22 able State consortia with respect to municipal 

23 actions undertaken to obtain municipal sustain24 ability certification; and 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1516 IS

1 (B) submit to Congress a concise report 

2 that describes, for the year covered by the re3 port, municipal actions undertaken to obtain 

4 municipal sustainability certification. 

5 (5) STATE AND LOCAL NEEDS.—The Adminis6 trator shall encourage sustainable State consortia— 

7 (A) to establish certification standards be8 yond the guidelines established by the Adminis9 trator; 

10 (B) to otherwise adapt the administration 

11 of the program established under this section to 

12 meet regional or local needs; and 

13 (C) to plan for public-private partnership 

14 agreements that will sustain the operation of 

15 the certification program of a State beyond the 

16 term of the grant. 

17 (b) ADMINISTRATION.— 

18 (1) FEES.—The Administrator shall not charge 

19 fees for certification, training, use of program tools, 

20 or any other participation in the program estab21 lished under this section. 

22 (2) WEB SITE.—The Administrator shall estab23 lish a Web site that allows for interactive dialogue 

24 and collaboration among community leaders and citiVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:54 Sep 08, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1516.IS S1516

smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1516 IS

1 zens engaged in municipal sustainability certifi2 cation. 

3 (c) FUNDING.— 

4 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

5 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

6 this section $4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 

7 through 2014. 

8 (2) OTHER FUNDING.—A sustainable State 

9 consortium or other entity that receives a grant 

10 under this section may seek additional foundation, 

11 nonprofit, private-sector, and other sources of fund12 ing to support additional program elements and mu13 nicipal incentives that are in addition to the min14 imum requirements for a grant under this section. 

15 SEC. 5. PROJECT GRANTS FOR TOP PERFORMERS. 

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established a pro18 gram under which the Administrator shall award 

19 project grants to municipalities certified by sustain20 able State consortia to extend the leadership of the 

21 municipalities in meeting sustainability challenges. 

22 (2) ACCOUNTING FOR REGIONAL DIF23 FERENCES.—To the maximum extent practicable, 

24 the Administrator shall take regional differences into 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 1516 IS

1 account when selecting top performers under this 

2 section. 

3 (3) GRANTS.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

5 shall select top performers from among the mu6 nicipalities that have achieved certification by 

7 sustainable State consortia to compete for indi8 vidual project grants. 

9 (B) ELIGIBILITY.—Not more than 2 top 

10 performers from any State may receive a grant 

11 under this section per fiscal year. 

12 (C) NUMBER OF GRANTS.—The Adminis13 trator shall provide not more than 20 grants 

14 under this section. 

15 (D) LIMITATION ON AMOUNTS.—A grant 

16 provided under this section shall not exceed 

17 $100,000 in the aggregate. 

18 (b) FUNDING.— 

19 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

20 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

21 this section $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 

22 through 2014. 

23 (2) OTHER FUNDING.—A top performer mu24 nicipality that receives a grant under this section 

25 may seek additional foundation, nonprofit, privateVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:54 Sep 08, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1516.IS S1516

smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 1516 IS

1 sector, and other sources of funding to support a 

2 project under this section. 

Æ 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS