II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1492 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish 

a pilot program to make grants to eligible institutions to develop, demonstrate, or disseminate information on practices, methods, or techniques 

relating to environmental education and training in the Chesapeake Bay 

watershed. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 26, 2005 

Mr. SARBANES (for himself, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. WARNER, and Mr. ALLEN) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to establish a pilot program to make grants 

to eligible institutions to develop, demonstrate, or disseminate information on practices, methods, or techniques relating to environmental education and training 

in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. 

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 ‘‘Chesapeake Bay Envi5 ronmental Education Pilot Program Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) increasing public environmental awareness 

4 and understanding through formal environmental 

5 education and meaningful bay or stream field experi6 ences are vital parts of the effort to protect and re7 store the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem; 

8 (2) using the Chesapeake Bay watershed as an 

9 integrating context for learning can help— 

10 (A) advance student learning skills; 

11 (B) improve academic achievement in core 

12 academic subjects; and 

13 (C)(i) encourage positive behavior of stu14 dents in school; and 

15 (ii) encourage environmental stewardship 

16 in school and in the community; and 

17 (3) the Federal Government, acting through the 

18 Secretary of Education, should work with the Under 

19 Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere, the Chesa20 peake Executive Council, State educational agencies, 

21 elementary schools and secondary schools, and non22 profit educational and environmental organizations 

23 to support development of curricula, teacher train24 ing, special projects, and other activities, to increase 

25 understanding of the Chesapeake Bay watershed and 

26 to improve awareness of environmental problems. 
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1 SEC. 3. CHESAPEAKE BAY ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION 

2 AND TRAINING GRANT PILOT PROGRAM. 

3 Title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

4 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) is amended by add5 ing at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘PART D—CHESAPEAKE BAY ENVIRONMENTAL 

7 EDUCATION AND TRAINING GRANT PILOT 

8 PROGRAM 

9 ‘‘SEC. 4401. DEFINITIONS. 

10 ‘‘In this part: 

11 ‘‘(1) BAY WATERSHED STATE.—The term ‘Bay 

12 Watershed State’ means each of the States of Dela13 ware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, 

14 and West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. 

15 ‘‘(2) CHESAPEAKE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL.—The 

16 term ‘Chesapeake Executive Council’ has the mean17 ing given the term in section 307(d) of the National 

18 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Authoriza19 tion Act of 1992 (15 U.S.C. 1511d(d)). 

20 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘eligi21 ble institution’ means— 

22 ‘‘(A) a public elementary school or sec23 ondary school located in a Bay Watershed 

24 State; and 
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1 ‘‘(B) a nonprofit environmental or edu2 cational organization located in a Bay Water3 shed State. 

4 ‘‘(4) PROGRAM.—The term ‘Program’ means 

5 the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Education and 

6 Training Grant Pilot Program established under sec7 tion 4402. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 4402. CHESAPEAKE BAY ENVIRONMENTAL EDU9 CATION AND TRAINING GRANT PILOT PRO10 GRAM. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 

12 grant program, to be known as the ‘Chesapeake Bay Envi13 ronmental Education and Training Grant Pilot Program’, 

14 to make grants to eligible institutions to pay the Federal 

15 share of the cost of developing, demonstrating, or dissemi16 nating information on practices, methods, or techniques 

17 relating to environmental education and training in the 

18 Chesapeake Bay watershed. 

19 ‘‘(b) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share referred 

20 to in subsection (a) shall be 50 percent. 

21 ‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary may offer to 

22 enter into a cooperative agreement or contract with the 

23 National Fish and Wildlife Foundation established by the 

24 National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Establishment Act 

25 (16 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.), the Under Secretary for Oceans 
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1 and Atmosphere, a State educational agency, or a non2 profit organization that carries out environmental edu3 cation and training programs, for administration of the 

4 Program. 

5 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible institution that re6 ceives a grant under the Program shall use the funds 

7 made available through the grant to carry out a project 

8 consisting of— 

9 ‘‘(1) design, demonstration, or dissemination of 

10 environmental curricula, including development of 

11 educational tools or materials; 

12 ‘‘(2) design or demonstration of field practices, 

13 methods, or techniques, including— 

14 ‘‘(A) assessments of environmental or eco15 logical conditions; and 

16 ‘‘(B) analyses of environmental pollution 

17 or other natural resource problems; 

18 ‘‘(3) understanding and assessment of a specific 

19 environmental issue or a specific environmental 

20 problem; 

21 ‘‘(4) provision of training or related education 

22 for teachers or other educational personnel, includ23 ing provision of programs or curricula to meet the 

24 needs of students in various age groups or at various 

25 grade levels; 
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1 ‘‘(5) provision of an environmental education 

2 seminar, teleconference, or workshop for environ3 mental education professionals or environmental 

4 education students, or provision of a computer net5 work for such professionals and students; 

6 ‘‘(6) provision of on-the-ground activities involv7 ing students and teachers, such as— 

8 ‘‘(A) riparian forest buffer restoration; and 

9 ‘‘(B) volunteer water quality monitoring at 

10 schools; 

11 ‘‘(7) provision of a Chesapeake Bay or stream 

12 outdoor educational experience; or 

13 ‘‘(8) development of distance learning or other 

14 courses or workshops that are acceptable in all Bay 

15 Watershed States and apply throughout the Chesa16 peake Bay watershed. 

17 ‘‘(e) REQUIRED ELEMENTS OF PROGRAM.—In car18 rying out the Program, the Secretary shall— 

19 ‘‘(1) solicit applications for projects; 

20 ‘‘(2) select suitable projects from among the 

21 projects proposed; 

22 ‘‘(3) supervise projects; 

23 ‘‘(4) evaluate the results of projects; and 
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1 ‘‘(5) disseminate information on the effective2 ness and feasibility of the practices, methods, and 

3 techniques addressed by the projects. 

4 ‘‘(f) SOLICITATION OF APPLICATIONS.—Not later 

5 than 90 days after the date on which amounts are first 

6 made available to carry out this part, and each year there7 after, the Secretary shall publish a notice of solicitation 

8 for applications for grants under the Program that speci9 fies the information to be included in each application. 

10 ‘‘(g) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a 

11 grant under the Program, an eligible institution shall sub12 mit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such 

13 form, and containing such information as the Secretary 

14 may require. 

15 ‘‘(h) PRIORITY IN SELECTION OF PROJECTS.—In 

16 making grants under the Program, the Secretary shall 

17 give priority to an applicant that proposes a project that 

18 will develop— 

19 ‘‘(1) a new or significantly improved environ20 mental education practice, method, or technique, in 

21 multiple disciplines, or a program that assists appro22 priate entities and individuals in meeting Federal or 

23 State academic standards relating to environmental 

24 education; 
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1 ‘‘(2) an environmental education practice, meth2 od, or technique that may have wide application; and 

3 ‘‘(3) an environmental education practice, meth4 od, or technique that addresses a skill or scientific 

5 field identified as a priority by the Chesapeake Exec6 utive Council. 

7 ‘‘(i) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—Under the 

8 Program, the maximum amount of a grant shall be 

9 $50,000. 

10 ‘‘(j) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 3 days before 

11 making a grant under this part, the Secretary shall pro12 vide notification of the grant to the appropriate commit13 tees of Congress. 

14 ‘‘(k) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the 

15 date of enactment of the Chesapeake Bay Environmental 

16 Education Pilot Program Act, the Secretary shall promul17 gate regulations concerning implementation of the Pro18 gram. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 4403. EVALUATION AND REPORT. 

20 ‘‘(a) EVALUATION.—Not later than December 31, 

21 2009, the Secretary shall enter into a contract with an 

22 entity that is not the recipient of a grant under this part 

23 to conduct a detailed evaluation of the Program. In con24 ducting the evaluation, the Secretary shall determine 
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1 whether the quality of content, delivery, and outcome of 

2 the Program warrant continued support of the Program. 

3 ‘‘(b) REPORT.—Not later than December 31, 2010, 

4 the Secretary shall submit a report to the appropriate 

5 committees of Congress containing the results of the eval6 uation. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 4404. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro9 priated to carry out this part $6,000,000 for each of fiscal 

10 years 2006 through 2009. 

11 ‘‘(b) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of the amounts 

12 made available under subsection (a) for each fiscal year, 

13 not more than 10 percent may be used for administrative 

14 expenses.’’. 

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