II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 718

To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to

establish an Environmental Financial Advisory Board and Environmental

Finance Centers, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 7 (legislative day, APRIL 5), 1995

Mr. MOYNIHAN (for himself and Mr. D’AMATO) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and

Public Works

A BILL

To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish an Environmental Financial Advisory Board and Environmental Finance Centers, 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 ‘‘Environmental Fi5 nance Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

7 The purpose of this Act is to require—
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1 (1)(A) the Administrator of the Environmental

2 Protection Agency to establish an Environmental Fi3 nancial Advisory Board to provide expert advice and

4 recommendations to Congress and the Administrator

5 on issues, trends, options, innovations, and tax mat6 ters affecting the cost and financing of environ7 mental protection by State and local governments;

8 and

9 (B) the Board to study methods to—

10 (i) lower costs of environmental infrastruc11 ture and services;

12 (ii) increase investment in public and pri13 vate environmental infrastructure; and

14 (iii) build State and local capacity to plan

15 and pay for environmental infrastructure and

16 services; and

17 (2)(A) the Administrator to establish and sup18 port Environmental Finance Centers in institutions

19 of higher education;

20 (B) the Centers to carry out activities to im21 prove the capability of State and local governments

22 to manage environmental programs; and

23 (C) the Administrator to provide Federal fund24 ing to the Centers, with a goal that the Centers will

25 eventually become financially self-sufficient.
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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

2 In this Act:

3 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis4 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ5 mental Protection Agency.

6 (2) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the En7 vironmental Financial Advisory Board established

8 under section 4.

9 (3) CENTER.—The term ‘‘Center’’ means an

10 Environmental Finance Center established under

11 section 5.

12 SEC. 4. ENVIRONMENTAL FINANCIAL ADVISORY BOARD.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall establish

14 an Environmental Financial Advisory Board to provide ex15 pert advice on issues affecting the costs and financing of

16 environmental activities at the Federal, State, and local

17 levels. The Board shall report to the Administrator, and

18 shall make the services and expertise of the Board avail19 able to Congress.

20 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall consist of

22 35 members appointed by the Administrator.

23 (2) TERMS.—A member of the Board shall

24 serve for a term of 2 years, except that 20 of the

25 members initially appointed to the Board shall serve

26 for a term of 1 year.
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1 (3) QUALIFICATIONS.—The members of the

2 Board shall be individuals with expertise in financial

3 matters and shall be chosen from among elected offi4 cials and representatives of national trade and envi5 ronmental organizations, the financial, banking, and

6 legal communities, business and industry, and aca7 demia.

8 (4) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON.—

9 The members of the Board shall elect a Chairperson

10 and Vice Chairperson, who shall each serve a term

11 of 2 years.

12 (c) DUTIES.—After establishing appropriate rules

13 and procedures for the operations of the Board, the Board

14 shall—

15 (1) work with the Science Advisory Board, es16 tablished by section 8 of the Environmental Re17 search, Development, and Demonstration Act of

18 1978 (42 U.S.C. 4365), to identify and develop

19 methods to integrate risk and finance considerations

20 into environmental decisionmaking;

21 (2) identify and examine strategies to enhance

22 environmental protection in urban areas, reduce dis23 proportionate risks facing urban communities, and

24 promote economic revitalization and environmentally

25 sustainable development;
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1 (3) develop and recommend initiatives to ex2 pand opportunities for the export of United States

3 financial services and environmental technologies;

4 (4) develop alternative financing mechanisms to

5 assist State and local governments in paying for en6 vironmental programs;

7 (5) develop alternative financing mechanisms

8 and strategies to meet the unique needs of small and

9 economically disadvantaged communities; and

10 (6) undertake such other activities as the Board

11 determines will further the purpose of this Act.

12 (d) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Board may rec13 ommend to Congress and the Administrator legislative and

14 policy initiatives to make financing for environmental pro15 tection more available and less costly.

16 (e) OPEN MEETINGS.—The Board shall hold open

17 meetings and seek input from the public and other inter18 ested parties in accordance with the Federal Advisory

19 Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) and shall otherwise be

20 subject to the Act.

21 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

22 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

23 $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1996 through 2000.
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1 SEC. 5. ENVIRONMENTAL FINANCE CENTERS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall establish

3 and support an Environmental Finance Center in an insti4 tution of higher education in each of the regions of the

5 Environmental Protection Agency.

6 (b) DUTIES AND POWERS.—A Center shall coordi7 nate the activities of the Center with the Board and

8 may—

9 (1) provide on-site and off-site training of State

10 and local officials;

11 (2) publish newsletters, course materials, pro12 ceedings, and other publications relating to financing

13 of environmental infrastructure;

14 (3) initiate and conduct conferences, seminars,

15 and advisory panels on specific financial issues relat16 ing to environmental programs and projects;

17 (4) establish electronic database and contact

18 services to disseminate information to public entities

19 on financing alternatives for State and local environ20 mental programs;

21 (5) generate case studies and special reports;

22 (6) develop inventories and surveys of financial

23 issues and needs of State and local governments;

24 (7) identify financial programs, initiatives, and

25 alternative financing mechanisms for training pur26 poses;
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1 (8) hold public meetings on finance issues; and

2 (9) collaborate with another Center on projects

3 and exchange information.

4 (c) GRANTS.—The Administrator may make grants

5 to institutions of higher education to carry out this

6 section.

7 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

8 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

9 $2,500,000 for each of fiscal years 1996 through 2000.

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