II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3622 

To establish a grant program to promote the conservation of the Great 

Lakes and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 26 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 17), 2008 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. LEVIN, and Mr. BROWN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To establish a grant program to promote the conservation 

of the Great Lakes 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 ‘‘Great Lakes Conserva5 tion Education Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to establish a competitive 

8 grant program to increase knowledge about, raise aware9 ness of, and educate the public on the importance of conVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:14 Sep 29, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3622.IS S3622

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1 servation of the Great Lakes in order to improve the over2 all health of the Great Lakes. 

3 SEC. 3. GREAT LAKES EDUCATION GRANTS. 

4 (a) AUTHORITY TO AWARD.—The Secretary of Com5 merce is authorized to award grants to eligible entities to 

6 carry out eligible activities. 

7 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.—In this Act, the 

8 term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means an educational entity or a 

9 nonprofit nongovernmental organization, consortium, or 

10 other entity that the Secretary of Commerce finds has a 

11 demonstrated record of success in carrying out conserva12 tion education or outreach programs. 

13 (c) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITY DEFINED.—In this Act, the 

14 term ‘‘eligible activity’’ means an activity carried out in 

15 a State, or across multiple States, that is adjacent to one 

16 of the Great Lakes that provides hands-on or real world 

17 experiences to increase knowledge about, raise awareness 

18 of, or provide education regarding the importance of con19 servation of the Great Lakes and on actions individuals 

20 can take to promote such conservation, including— 

21 (1) educational activities for students that are 

22 consistent with elementary and secondary learning 

23 standards established by a State; 

24 (2) professional development activities for edu25 cators; 


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1 (3) Great Lakes conservation activities that 

2 have been identified by a State and adjacent States 

3 as a regional priority; or 

4 (4) Great Lakes stewardship and place-based 

5 education activities. 

6 (d) USE OF SUBCONTRACTORS.—An eligible entity 

7 awarded a grant under subsection (a) to carry out an eligi8 ble activity may utilize subcontractors to carry out such 

9 activity. 

10 SEC. 4. REPORTS. 

11 (a) REPORTS FROM GRANTEES.—The Secretary of 

12 Commerce may require an eligible entity awarded a grant 

13 under section 3(a) to submit to the Secretary a report de14 scribing each activity that was carried out with the grant 

15 funds. The Secretary may require such report to include 

16 information on any subcontractor utilized by the eligible 

17 entity to carry out an activity. 

18 (b) REPORTS FROM THE SECRETARY.—Not later 

19 than December 31, 2010, and once every 3 years there20 after, the Secretary of Commerce shall submit to Congress 

21 a report on the grant program authorized by section 3(a). 

22 Each such report shall include a description— 

23 (1) of the eligible activities carried out with 

24 grants awarded under section 3(a) during the preVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:14 Sep 29, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3622.IS S3622

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1 vious fiscal year and an assessment of the success of 

2 such activities; 

3 (2) of the type of education and outreach pro4 grams carried out with such grants, disaggregated 

5 by State; and 

6 (3) of the number of schools, and schools 

7 reached through a formal partnership with an eligi8 ble entity awarded such a grant, involved in carrying 

9 out such programs. 

10 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

11 There is authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000 

12 for each fiscal year to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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