I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 579 

To provide for grants from the Secretary of Education to State and local 

educational agencies for EnergySmart schools and Energy Star programs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 15, 2009 

Mr. HOLT (for himself, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. LEE of California, 

Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. BERMAN, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. HONDA, 

Mr. INSLEE, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. SIRES, Mr. VAN

HOLLEN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. PALLONE, 

Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. GORDON of Tennessee, Mr. POLIS of Colorado, Mr. 

CARNAHAN, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia, Mr. WU, and 

Ms. CLARKE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To provide for grants from the Secretary of Education to 

State and local educational agencies for EnergySmart 

schools and Energy Star programs. 

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 ‘‘School Building En5 hancement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM. 

7 The Secretary of Education may provide grants— 


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1 (1) to State educational agencies and local edu2 cational agencies for providing intensive technical as3 sistance for, and assisting the implementation of, the 

4 EnergySmart Schools Program of the Department 

5 of Energy and the Energy Star for K–12 School 

6 Districts program of the Environmental Protection 

7 Agency; 

8 (2) to local educational agencies that become 

9 partners through the Energy Star for K–12 School 

10 Districts program of the Environmental Protection 

11 Agency; and 

12 (3) to State educational agencies for use in the 

13 development of State-level school energy efficiency 

14 quality plans, in partnership with the Department of 

15 Energy, including— 

16 (A) standards for school building design, 

17 construction, and renovation; and 

18 (B) proposals for the systematic improve19 ment (including benchmarks and timelines) of 

20 environmental conditions in and around schools 

21 throughout the State, including— 

22 (i) environmentally preferable pur23 chasing of products for instruction and 

24 maintenance; 


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1 (ii) increasing the use of alternative 

2 energy fuels in school buses; and 

3 (iii) maximization of transportation 

4 choices for students, staff, and other mem5 bers of the community. 

6 SEC. 3. FEDERAL SHARE. 

7 The Federal share of the cost of a project or activity 

8 carried out using funds from a grant under this Act shall 

9 not exceed 90 percent. 

10 SEC. 4. GRANT PRIORITY. 

11 In providing grants under section 2(1), the Secretary 

12 of Education shall give priority to projects to provide as13 sistance to school districts that have a demonstrated need 

14 for energy efficiency improvement. 

15 SEC. 5. DEFINITION. 

16 For purposes of this Act, the terms ‘‘State edu17 cational agency’’ and ‘‘local educational agency’’ have the 

18 meanings given those terms in section 9101 of the Ele19 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

20 7801). 

21 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

22 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec23 retary of Education to carry out this Act such sums as 


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1 may be necessary for the period encompassing fiscal years 

2 2009 through 2014. 

Æ 


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