I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2883

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

for the establishment of a National Environmental Education Center.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 5, 1993

Mr. ENGEL (for himself and Mr. SERRANO) 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 to provide for the establishment of a National

Environmental Education Center.

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 ‘‘Environmental Edu5 cation Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL

7 EDUCATION CENTER.

8 Part A of title II of the Elementary and Secondary

9 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 2981 et seq.) is amend10 ed by adding at the end the following new subpart:
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1 ‘‘Subpart 3—National Environmental Education

2 Center

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education

4 shall, through a national competition, make grants to es5 tablish and support a center to be known as the ‘National

6 Environmental Education Center’ (in this Act referred to

7 as the ‘Center’). Notwithstanding any other provision of

8 law, assistance provided under a grant made under this

9 subsection may be used for purposes of constructing, ren10 ovating, or furnishing a building to be used for the Center.

11 ‘‘(b) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall

12 award the grants authorized under subsection (a) to an

13 applicant that demonstrates the ability to establish a Cen14 ter that would—

15 ‘‘(1) synthesize the available knowledge in envi16 ronmental education to develop and disseminate new

17 instructional models consistent with current environ18 mental and pedagogic thinking;

19 ‘‘(2) employ state-of-the-art technology so that

20 teachers have access to the best environmental edu21 cation curricula for immediate use in their class22 rooms;

23 ‘‘(3) furnish teachers, curriculum designers,

24 university staff, and wildlife biologists with a readily

25 accessible forum for sharing environmental edu26 cation ideas;
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1 ‘‘(4) use an unparalleled wildlife collection and

2 award-winning natural habitat exhibits to teach

3 basic biology and conservation ecology;

4 ‘‘(5) inspire and perpetuate extensive networks

5 of environmental science educators, nationally and

6 internationally;

7 ‘‘(6) foster productive partnerships between

8 educators in schools and environmental institutions

9 such as zoos, aquariums, and nature preserves;

10 ‘‘(7) offer workshops, courses, and seminars to

11 help strengthen and revive the national science cur12 ricula and inspire a new commitment to conserva13 tion;

14 ‘‘(8) generate instructional products in a variety

15 of media to promote environmental literacy;

16 ‘‘(9) develop and test model lesson plans, cur17 riculum packages, books, computer software, video18 tapes, audiotapes, slide sets, and laser discs; and

19 ‘‘(10) be located in a building that would con20 tain—

21 ‘‘(A) a teacher training resource and media

22 center;

23 ‘‘(B) laboratories for teaching habitat ecol24 ogy, animal care, and animal behavior;
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1 ‘‘(C) classrooms for early childhood, ele2 mentary, secondary, and adult education;

3 ‘‘(D) natural environment teaching labora4 tories;

5 ‘‘(E) a wildlife tour and environmental in6 formation headquarters;

7 ‘‘(F) a study center and library; and

8 ‘‘(G) offices for teachers and administra9 tors.

10 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

11 are authorized to be appropriated for purposes of carrying

12 out this subpart $25,000,000 for each of the fiscal years

13 1994, 1995, and 1996.’’.

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