I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2390

To establish the Financial Advisory Board, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 10, 1993

Mr. WALSH introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the

Committees on Energy and Commerce, Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs, Merchant Marine and Fisheries, Education and Labor, and Government Operations

A BILL

To establish the Financial Advisory Board, 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 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

7 (a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to re8 quire the establishment of an Environmental Financial

9 Advisory Board (hereinafter referred to as ‘‘the Board’’)

10 to provide expert advice and recommendations to the Ad-
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1 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency

2 (hereinafter referred to as ‘‘the Administrator’’) and to

3 the Congress on issues, trends, options, innovations, and

4 tax matters affecting the cost and financing of environ5 mental protection by State and local governments. The

6 Committee shall study methods to lower costs of environ7 mental infrastructure and services, increase investment in

8 public and private purpose environmental infrastructure,

9 and build State and local capacity to plan and pay for

10 environmental infrastructure and services.

11 (b) FURTHER PURPOSE.—It is the further purpose

12 of the Act to require the Administrator to establish and

13 support Environmental Finance Centers in institutions of

14 higher learning. These centers shall serve to improve the

15 capability of State and local governments to manage envi16 ronmental programs. The Environmental Finance Centers

17 shall receive Federal funding at first with the goal that

18 they eventually become financially self sufficient.

19 SEC. 3. ENVIRONMENTAL FINANCIAL ADVISORY BOARD.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) The Administrator shall es21 tablish an Environmental Financial Advisory Board to

22 provide expert advice on issues affecting the costs and fi23 nancing of environmental activities at the Federal, State,

24 and local level. The Board shall report to the Adminis-
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1 trator, and shall make its services and expertise available

2 to the appropriate Committees of Congress.

3 (2) The Board shall consist of thirty-five members

4 selected by the Administrator. The members of the Board

5 shall each serve for a term of two years, except that twenty

6 of the members initially appointed to the Board shall serve

7 for a term of one year. The members of the Board shall

8 be persons with expertise in financial matters and shall

9 be chosen from among elected officials, national trade and

10 environmental organizations, the finance, banking, and

11 legal communities, business and industry, and academia.

12 The members of the Board shall elect a Chair and Vice13 Chair, who shall each serve a term of two years.

14 (3) After establishing appropriate rules and proce15 dures for its operations, the Board shall—

16 (A) work with the Environmental Protection

17 Agency’s Science Advisory Board to identify and de18 velop methods to integrate risk and finance consider19 ations into environmental decisionmaking;

20 (B) identify and examine strategies to enhance

21 environmental protection in urban areas, reduce dis22 proportionate risk facing urban communities, and

23 promote economic revitalization and environmentally

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

3 financial services and environmental technologies;

4 (D) develop alternative financing mechanisms

5 to assist State and local governments in paying for

6 environmental programs;

7 (E) develop alternative financing mechanisms

8 and strategies to meet the unique needs of small and

9 economically disadvantaged communities; and

10 (F) undertake such other activities as the

11 Board determines will further the purposes of this

12 Act.

13 (4) The Board may recommend to the Administrator

14 and to the Congress legislative and policy initiatives to

15 make financing for environmental protection more avail16 able and less costly.

17 (5) The Board shall hold open meetings and seek

18 input from the public and other interested parties in ac19 cordance with provisions of the Federal Advisory Commit20 tee Act (5 U.S.C. Supp., App.), and shall otherwise be

21 subject to the provisions of such Act.

22 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

23 authorized to be appropriated the sum of $1,000,000 for

24 each of the fiscal years 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998

25 to carry out this section.
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1 SEC. 4. ENVIRONMENTAL FINANCE CENTERS.

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

3 and support Environmental Finance Centers in each of

4 the ten Federal regions. These centers shall coordinate

5 their activities with the Board, and are authorized to—

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

7 and local officials;

8 (2) publish newsletters, course materials, pro9 ceedings, and other publications relating to financing

10 of environmental infrastructure;

11 (3) initiate and conduct conferences, seminars,

12 and advisory panels on specific finance issues relat13 ing to environmental programs and projects;

14 (4) establish electronic database and contact

15 services to disseminate information to public entities

16 on financing alternatives for State and local environ17 mental programs;

18 (5) generate case studies and special reports;

19 (6) develop inventories and surveys of financial

20 issues and needs of State and local governments;

21 (7) identify financial programs, initiatives, and

22 alternative financing mechanisms for training

23 purposes;

24 (8) hold public meetings on finance issues; and

25 (9) collaborate with one another on projects and

26 exchange information.
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1 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

2 authorized to be appropriated the sum of $2,500,000 for

3 each of the fiscal years 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998

4 for the Environmental Finance Center program estab5 lished pursuant to this section. The Administrator is au6 thorized to grant such funds to institutions of higher

7 learning to carry out the provisions of this section.

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