I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2914
To improve governmental environmental research and information by
organizing a National Institute for the Environment, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 7, 1997
Mr. SAXTON (for himself, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. EVANS,
Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. KIL-
DEE, Mr. GOSS, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. DELLUMS, Mr.
SHAYS, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. UNDERWOOD, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. WOOLSEY,
Mr. EHLERS, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. ACKER-
MAN, Mr. DAVIS of Virginia, Ms. RIVERS, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. FRANKS of
New Jersey, Mr. GILCHREST, Mr. YATES, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. PELOSI, Ms.
MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. FAWELL, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Mr.
BARRETT of Wisconsin, Ms. NORTON, and Mr. MORAN of Virginia) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science
A BILL
To improve governmental environmental research and infor-
mation by organizing a National Institute for the Envi-
ronment, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sound Science for the
Environment Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) A healthy environment is essential to an en-
hanced quality of life, a competitive economy, and
national security.
(2) The United States lacks an effective mecha-
nism for providing and communicating a comprehen-
sive, objective, and credible scientific understanding
of environmental issues to policymakers and the
public in a timely manner.
(3) An appropriate understanding of the diverse
scientific issues that underlie the environmental
problems facing the United States is essential to
finding environmentally and economically sound so-
lutions to these problems.
(4) To be useful, this understanding requires
the integration of ongoing assessments of the state
of scientific knowledge with credible problem-focused
research, the communication of scientific informa-
tion, and the appropriate education and training of
environmental scientists, engineers, and other pro-
fessionals.
(5) These scientific activities are best carried
out through a neutral institution without regulatory
and management responsibilities where the public
and private organizations and individuals can estab-
may affect the conduct of this research, includ-
ing the limitations in technological, human, and
economic resources;
(E) assist the Board and Director of the
Institute in setting goals and priorities for the
Institute; and
(F) cooperate with and utilize the National
Academy of Sciences and similar scientific orga-
nizations where appropriate;
(3) to award competitively peer-reviewed grants,
and where appropriate contracts, competitively for
extramural scientific research;
(4) to establish an Office of Research with du-
ties to—
(A) fund issue-oriented research on—
(i) environmental resources (including
inventories, monitoring, and characteriza-
tion);
(ii) environmental systems (including
mechanisms, processes, and effects); and
(iii) environmental sustainability (in-
cluding strategies, methods, and tech-
niques); and
(B) ensure that such research is discipli-
nary, multidisciplinary, and interdisciplinary,
and organized around priority environmental is-
sues, including the human dimensions associ-
ated with environmental problems;
(5) to establish a National Library for the En-
vironment as a universally accessible, easy to use,
electronic, state-of-the-art information system for
scientists, decisionmakers, and the public, which
shall—
(A) link existing information networks and
collections of environmental information, such
as libraries, specialized information centers,
data and statistical centers, government and
private sector repositories of information, and
individual experts;
(B) provide quality-assured data and infor-
mation by maintaining information about data
sets, including who generated the information,
by what methods they were collected, and
whether the methods and information were
peer-reviewed;
(C) conduct targeted information programs
by developing products and packaging informa-
tion, in various media that are most accessible
to specific groups or needs; and
(D) provide long-term maintenance and
management of the Nation’s environmental in-
formation resources, through the promotion and
development of policies and standards for man-
aging and providing access to environmental
data and information; and
(6) to sponsor education and training of envi-
ronmental scientists and professionals and to im-
prove the public environmental literacy, including by
establishing an Office of Education and Training
with duties to—
(A) 
award 
competitive 
scholarships,
traineeships, fellowships, and other arrange-
ments at universities, colleges, and other insti-
tutions for study and research in disciplinary
and interdisciplinary environmental sciences,
and for improving environmental literacy;
(B) support curriculum and program devel-
opment, along with teacher training programs,
at colleges, universities, and public institutions;
(C) actively involve women, minorities,
members of other underrepresented groups, and
affected communities; and
(D) sponsor public environmental edu-
cation programs, including using the National
Library for the Environment and other means
to disseminate knowledge about the environ-
ment.
SEC. 6. BOARD OF GOVERNORS.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be a Board of
Governors for the Institute which shall establish goals, pri-
orities, and policies of the Institute and serve in the na-
tional interest.
(b) MEMBERSHIP.—
(1) APPOINTMENT.—The Board shall be com-
posed of 18 members who shall be appointed by the
President by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate.
(2) REPRESENTATION.—The members of the
Board shall be comprised of approximately equal
numbers of scientists and users of scientific informa-
tion on the environment. Scientists shall represent
the diversity of fields that study the environment.
The users of scientific information shall have experi-
ence in dealing with environmental science and pol-
icy issues and represent broad perspectives and view-
points. The membership of the Board shall reflect
the geographic diversity of the Nation and shall in-
clude individuals from diverse groups, including
State, tribal, and local governments, labor, business,
environmental and citizens groups, academia, other
organizations, and the public. All members of the
Board shall be individuals with an established record
of distinguished service and expertise in their fields.
(c) SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS.—(1) In making ap-
pointments under this section, the President shall seek to
provide for representation on the Board of women, minor-
ity groups, and individuals recommended by the National
Science Board, the National Academy of Sciences, the Na-
tional Academy of Engineering, and associations of sci-
entists, State, local, and tribal governmental officials, en-
vironmental advocates, other citizens, and representatives
of business interests and labor.
(2) One member of the National Science Board shall
be designated to serve as a member of the Governing
Board and to be a liaison between the National Science
Board and the Board.
(d) TERMS.—Members of the Board shall serve the
following terms:
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), a member of the Board shall serve for a
6-year term.
(2) INITIAL TERMS.—Of the initial members of
the Board, as specified by the President at the time
of appointment—
(A) 6 members shall serve an initial term
of 2 years;
(B) 6 members shall serve an initial term
of 4 years; and
(C) 6 members shall serve an initial term
of 6 years.
(3) SUBSEQUENT TERMS.—An individual may
not serve as a member of the Board for more than
2 consecutive 6-year terms.
(e) MEETINGS.—Meetings of the Board may be called
by the Chair or a majority of its members at any time,
and should occur no less than 4 times a year.
(f) CHAIR.—The Chair of the Board shall be elected
by the Board from among its members.
(g) REPORTS.—On January 31 following completion
of appointment of the members of the Board, and every
2 years thereafter, the Board shall report on the work,
findings, and accomplishments of the Institute, including
an indication of likely priorities of the Institute for the
2-year period following. Reports of findings on specific en-
vironmental matters may be issued by the Board at any
time, including periodic evaluation of the conditions and
trends of the environment. Reports of the Board shall be
submitted to the National Science Board for transmittal
to the President, the Congress, the National Science
Foundation, and other Federal agencies in a timely fash-
ion and shall be available to the general public.
(h) ADVISORY COMMITTEES.—The Board may estab-
lish such advisory committees as the Board considers nec-
essary. The Board shall consult with the Interagency Advi-
sory Committee established by section 9 and advisory com-
mittees established under this subsection, to ensure co-
ordination and to avoid duplication.
(i) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member of the Board
who is not an officer or employee of the United States
may receive travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of
subsistence, in the same manner as travel expenses are
allowed under section 5703 of title 5, United States Code,
for persons serving intermittently in the Government serv-
ice.
(j) PROHIBITION OF COMPENSATION OF FEDERAL
EMPLOYEES.—Members of the Board who are full-time
officers or employees of the United States or Members of
Congress may not receive additional pay, allowances, or
benefits by reason of service on the Board.
SEC. 7. MANAGEMENT AND STAFF.
(a) DIRECTOR.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Institute shall be ad-
ministered by a Director, who shall be selected by
the Board, approved by the National Science Board,
of Research, the National Library for the Environment,
and the Office of Education and Training to carry out
the duties and functions of the Institute and to ensure
that all functions of the Institute are properly integrated.
(c) OTHER STAFF.—The Director shall have respon-
sibility for hiring and dismissal of additional staff in ac-
cord with the personnel policies of the contracting organi-
zation.
(d) CONTRACTING INSTITUTION.—The Institute shall
be operated by a nonprofit organization under contract
with the National Science Foundation. The contract shall
be awarded competitively, based on merit, for 5-year peri-
ods.
SEC. 8. RELATION WITH NATIONAL SCIENCE BOARD.
The National Science Board shall—
(1) recommend to the President names for the
Board including one member of the National Science
Board who will serve as a member of the Board; and
(2) approve the selection of the Director by the
Board.
SEC. 9. COOPERATION WITH FEDERAL AGENCIES.
(a) ACQUISITION
OF INFORMATION FROM AGEN-
CIES.—The Institute may acquire from the head of any
Federal agency unclassified data and nonproprietary
knowledge and information obtained and possessed by
other Federal agencies which the Institute considers useful
in the discharge of its duties. The head of each Federal
agency shall cooperate with the Institute to furnish all in-
formation required by the Director that is requested by
the Institute.
(b) ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND PRODUCTS OF IN-
STITUTE.—The Institute shall cooperate with all Federal
agencies to ensure that the information and products of
the Institute are useful and accessible to all agencies.
SEC. 10. INTERAGENCY ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Committee on Environ-
ment and Natural Resources (CENR) of the National
Science and Technology Council or an equivalent body is
directed to serve as an interagency advisory committee to
ensure that the scientific efforts of the Institute and Fed-
eral agencies are complementary.
(b) DUTIES.—The Interagency Advisory Committee
shall provide recommendations and advice to the Board
to help ensure that—
(1) the Institute’s priorities incorporate the
needs and activities of agencies;
(2) the activities of the Institute support and
complement and do not duplicate the existing pro-
grams of the agencies; and
(3) Federal agencies are informed of the sci-
entific findings of the Institute.
(c) COMPOSITION.—The Interagency Advisory Com-
mittee shall consist of the members of the CENR and in
addition, if not represented on CENR, designees from
Federal organizations including the Environmental Pro-
tection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the Na-
tional Science Foundation, the Department of Defense,
the Department of Energy, the Department of the Inte-
rior, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of
Transportation, the National Aeronautics and Space Ad-
ministration, the National Science and Technology Coun-
cil, the Council on Environmental Quality, and the De-
partment of Housing and Urban Development.
(d) CHAIR.—The co-chairs of the CENR shall serve
as co-chairs of the committee.
SEC. 11. GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND OTHER AUTHORITIES.
(a) AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL ASSIST-
ANCE.—To carry out the duties of the Institute under this
Act, the Institute, subject to the availability of appropria-
tions, shall have the same authorities as the National
Science Foundation to enter into financial arrangements,
including competitively awarded grants, loans, cooperative
agreements, and contracts to institutions, teams, and cen-
ters, after rigorous peer review.
(b) PERSONS ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE FUNDING.—
Scientists, engineers, and other researchers are eligible to
receive funding from the Institute under subsection (a),
except that—
(1) scientists from Federal agencies shall not be
given a preference for funding based on their em-
ployment with the Federal Government; and
(2) the receipt of funding from the Institute
shall be subject to any criteria and other require-
ments prescribed by the Institute and the National
Science Foundation.
(c) RECEIPT OF FUNDING FROM OTHER PERSONS.—
To carry out projects and activities under this Act, the
Institute may, subject to guidelines established by govern-
ing board—
(1) receive funds from Federal agencies, State,
local, and tribal governments, international organiza-
tions, and private organizations and persons; and
(2) accept, use, and dispose of gifts, bequests,
or devises of services or property, both real and per-
sonal.
Funds provided under this subsection shall not be used
to reduce amounts available to the Institute from appro-
priations.
SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums
as may be necessary to the National Science Foundation
to be transferred to the National Institute for the Envi-
ronment to be used for purposes of this Act. No other
funds of the National Science Foundation may be trans-
ferred to the Institute.
SEC. 13. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act:
(1) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the
Board of Governors of the Institute, established by
section 6.
(2) DECISIONMAKERS.—The term ‘‘decision-
makers’’ means elected or appointed officials of Fed-
eral, State, tribal, and local governments, and simi-
lar individuals in the private sector.
(3) ENVIRONMENTAL
SCIENCES.—The term
‘‘environmental sciences’’ means the full range of
fields of study, including biological, physical, chemi-
cal, geological, and social sciences, engineering, and
humanities, relevant to the understanding of envi-
ronmental problems.
(4) INSTITUTE.—The term ‘‘Institute’’ means
the National Institute for the Environment estab-
lished by this Act.
(5) SCIENTIST.—The term ‘‘scientist’’ means a
practitioner of science relevant to the environment.
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