II

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2034

To improve the quality of public elementary and secondary school libraries,

media centers, and facilities in order to help meet the National Education

Goals.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 20 (legislative day, APRIL 11), 1994

Ms. MOSELEY-BRAUN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

A BILL

To improve the quality of public elementary and secondary

school libraries, media centers, and facilities in order

to help meet the National Education Goals.

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 ‘‘Education Infrastruc5 ture Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) improving the quality of public elementary

9 and secondary school libraries, media centers, and
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1 facilities will help our Nation meet the National

2 Education Goals;

3 (2) Federal, State, and local funding for the re4 pair, renovation, alteration and construction of pub5 lic elementary and secondary school libraries, media

6 centers, and facilities has not adequately reflected

7 need; and

8 (3) the challenges facing our Nation’s public el9 ementary and secondary schools require the con10 certed and collaborative efforts of all levels of gov11 ernment and all sectors of the community.

12 SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

13 It is the purpose of this Act to help our Nation meet

14 the National Education Goals through the repair, renova15 tion, alteration and construction of public elementary and

16 secondary school libraries, media centers, and facilities,

17 used for academic or vocational instruction.

18 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

19 For purposes of this Act—

20 (1) the term ‘‘alteration’’ refers to any change

21 to an existing property for use for a different pur22 pose or function;

23 (2) the term ‘‘construction’’ refers to the erec24 tion of a building, structure, or facility, including the

25 concurrent installation of equipment, site prepara-
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1 tion, associated roads, parking, and utilities, which

2 provides area or cubage not previously available, in3 cluding—

4 (A) freestanding structures, additional

5 wings, or floors, enclosed courtyards or

6 entryways, and any other means to provide usa7 ble program space that did not previously exist;

8 and

9 (B) the complete replacement of an exist10 ing facility;

11 (3) the term ‘‘eligible local educational agency’’

12 means a local educational agency, as such term is

13 defined in section 1471 of the Elementary and Sec14 ondary Education Act of 1965, which demonstrates

15 in the application submitted under section 7 that

16 such agency—

17 (A) has urgent repair, renovation, alter18 ation and construction needs for its public ele19 mentary or secondary school libraries, media

20 centers, and facilities, used for academic or vo21 cational instruction; and

22 (B) serves large numbers or percentages of

23 disadvantaged students;
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1 (4) the term ‘‘renovation’’ refers to any change

2 to an existing property to allow its more efficient use

3 within such property’s designated purpose;

4 (5) the term ‘‘repair’’ refers to the restoration

5 of a failed or failing real property facility, compo6 nent, or a building system to such a condition that

7 such facility, component, or system may be used ef8 fectively for its designated purpose, if, due to the na9 ture or extent of the deterioration or damage to such

10 facility, component, or system, such deterioration or

11 damage cannot be corrected through normal mainte12 nance; and

13 (6) the term ‘‘Secretary’’, unless otherwise

14 specified, means the Secretary of Education.

15 SEC. 5. IMPROVEMENT OF PUBLIC ELEMENTARY AND SEC16 ONDARY EDUCATION FACILITIES PROGRAM

17 AUTHORIZED.

18 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORITY.—From amounts appro19 priated pursuant to the authority of subsection (b) in any

20 fiscal year, the Secretary shall award grants to eligible

21 local educational agencies having applications approved

22 under section 6 to carry out the authorized activities de23 scribed in section 7.

24 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

25 are to be appropriated $600,000,000 for fiscal year 1995,
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1 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal

2 years 1996 through 2004, to carry out this Act.

3 SEC. 6. APPLICATIONS.

4 Each eligible local educational agency desiring to re5 ceive a grant under this Act shall submit an application

6 to the Secretary. Each such application shall—

7 (1) contain an assurance that such application

8 was developed in consultation with parents and

9 classroom teachers; and

10 (2) include—

11 (A) a description of each architectural,

12 civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, or tele13 phone line, deficiency to be corrected with funds

14 provided under this Act, including the priority

15 for the repair of the deficiency;

16 (B) a description of the corrective action to

17 be supported with funds provided under this

18 Act;

19 (C) a cost estimate of the proposed correc20 tive action;

21 (D) an identification of the total amount

22 and percentage of such agency’s budget used in

23 the preceding fiscal year for the maintenance,

24 repair, renovation, alteration, and construction
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1 of public elementary and secondary school li2 braries, media centers, and facilities;

3 (E) a description of how such agency plans

4 to maintain the repair, renovation, alteration,

5 or construction supported with funds provided

6 under this Act;

7 (F) a description of the extent to which the

8 repair, renovation, alteration, or construction

9 will help the Secretary meet the goals described

10 in section 9(1)(A); and

11 (G) such other information as the Sec12 retary may reasonably require.

13 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.

14 Each eligible local educational agency receiving a

15 grant under this Act shall use such grant funds to help

16 our Nation meet the National Education Goals through

17 the repair, renovation, alteration, and construction of a

18 public elementary or secondary school library, media cen19 ter, or facility, used for academic or vocational instruction,

20 including—

21 (1) inspection of such library, center, or facility;

22 (2) repairing such library, center, or facility

23 that poses a health or safety risk to students;
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1 (3) upgrading of and alteration to such library,

2 center, or facility in order to accommodate new in3 structional technology;

4 (4) meeting the requirements of section 504 of

5 the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans

6 with Disabilities Act of 1990;

7 (5) removal or containment of severely hazard8 ous material such as asbestos, lead, and radon using

9 a cost-effective method;

10 (6) installation or upgrading of school security

11 and communications systems;

12 (7) energy conservation;

13 (8) meeting Federal, State, or local codes relat14 ed to fire, air, light, noise, waste disposal, building

15 height, or other codes passed since the initial con16 struction of such library, center, or facility; and

17 (9) replacing an old such library, center, or fa18 cility that is most cost-effectively torn down rather

19 than renovated.

20 SEC. 8. REQUIREMENTS.

21 (a) SPECIAL RULES.—

22 (1) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—An eligible

23 local educational agency may receive a grant under

24 this Act for any fiscal year only if the Secretary

25 finds that either the combined fiscal effort per stu-
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1 dent or the aggregate expenditures of that agency

2 and the State with respect to the provision of free

3 public education by such local educational agency for

4 the preceding fiscal year was not less than 90 per5 cent of such combined fiscal effort or aggregate ex6 penditures for the fiscal year for which the deter7 mination is made.

8 (2) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—An eligible

9 local educational agency shall use funds received

10 under this Act only to supplement the amount of

11 funds that would, in the absence of such Federal

12 funds, be made available from non-Federal sources

13 for the repair and construction of school facilities

14 used for educational purposes, and not to supplant

15 such funds.

16 (b) GENERAL LIMITATIONS.—

17 (1) REAL PROPERTY.—No part of any grant

18 funds under this Act shall be used for the acquisi19 tion of any interest in real property.

20 (2) MAINTENANCE.—Nothing in this Act shall

21 be construed to authorize the payment of mainte22 nance costs in connection with any projects con23 structed in whole or in part with Federal funds pro24 vided under this Act.
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1 (3) ENVIRONMENTAL SAFEGUARDS.—All

2 projects carried out with Federal funds provided

3 under this Act shall comply with all relevant Fed4 eral, State, and local environmental laws and regula5 tions.

6 (4) APPLICABILITY OF LAWS REGARDING INDI7 VIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.—Sections 504 and

8 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Amer9 icans with Disabilities Act of 1990 shall apply to

10 projects carried out with Federal funds provided

11 under this Act.

12 SEC. 9. CONTRACTS.

13 If a project assisted under this Act will be carried

14 out pursuant to a contract, the following limitations shall

15 apply:

16 (1) MINORITY PARTICIPATION.—The Secretary

17 shall establish—

18 (A) goals for the participation of small

19 business concerns as contractors or subcontrac20 tors that meet or exceed the governmentwide

21 goals established pursuant to section 15(g)(1)

22 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.

23 644(g)(1)) for the participation of such con24 cerns in contracts supported with funds under
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1 this Act (and subcontracts under such con2 tracts); and

3 (B) an evaluation process for such partici4 pation that gives significant weight to the goals

5 described in subparagraph (A).

6 (2) DAVIS-BACON.—All laborers and mechanics

7 employed by contractors or subcontractors in the

8 performance of any contract and subcontract for the

9 repair, renovation, alteration, or construction, in10 cluding painting and decorating, of any building or

11 work that is financed in whole or in part by a grant

12 under this Act, shall be paid wages not less than

13 those determined by the Secretary of Labor in ac14 cordance with the Act of March 3, 1931 (commonly

15 known as the Davis-Bacon Act); as amended (40

16 U.S.C. 276a–276a–5). The Secretary of Labor shall

17 have the authority and functions set forth in reorga18 nization plan of No. 14 of 1950 (15 FR 3176; 64

19 Stat. 1267) and section 2 of the Act of June 1,

20 1934 (commonly known as the Copeland Anti-Kick21 back Act) as amended (40 U.S.C. 276c, 48 Stat.

22 948).

23 SEC. 10. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.

24 The comprehensive regional centers established under

25 section 2203 of the Elementary and Secondary Education
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1 Act of 1965 may provide assistance in the repair, renova2 tion, alteration, and construction of public elementary or

3 secondary school libraries, media centers, or facilities to

4 eligible local educational agencies receiving assistance

5 under this Act.

6 SEC. 11. FEDERAL ASSESSMENT.

7 The Secretary shall reserve not more than 1 percent

8 of funds appropriated pursuant to the authority of section

9 5(b)—

10 (1) to collect such data as the Secretary deter11 mines necessary at the school, local, and State levels;

12 and

13 (2) to conduct studies and evaluations, includ14 ing national studies and evaluations, in order to—

15 (A) monitor the progress of projects sup16 ported with funds provided under this Act; and

17 (B) evaluate the state of American public

18 elementary and secondary school libraries,

19 media centers, and facilities; and

20 (3) to report to the Congress by July 1, 1997,

21 regarding the findings of the studies and evaluations

22 described in paragraph (2).

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