I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4270 
To amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to authorize State energy 
conservation plans to include programs to provide grants for planning, 
designing, and installing green roofs on elementary school and secondary 
school buildings, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 21, 2023 
Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ (for herself, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. 
BARRAGA´N, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. SCHRIER, Ms. CROCKETT, 
Mr. BOWMAN, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. CARSON, 
and Mrs. RAMIREZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to author-
ize State energy conservation plans to include programs 
to provide grants for planning, designing, and installing 
green roofs on elementary school and secondary school 
buildings, 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 ‘‘Public School Green 
Rooftop Program’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Department of Energy recognizes green 
roof technology is an effective, practical way to in-
crease the energy performance of buildings. 
(2) The Environmental Protection Agency ac-
knowledges green roofs can reduce building energy 
use compared to conventional roofs. 
(3) Greater weatherization and insulation of-
fered by green roofs reduce the demand for electrical 
power needed to moderate the temperature of a 
building, as roofs can be the source of the greatest 
heat loss in the winter and heat gain in the summer 
in buildings. 
(4) Green roofs can produce greater energy effi-
ciency on elementary school and secondary school 
buildings than on other structures because the di-
mensions of school buildings are unique and often 
have a significantly greater width than height. 
(5) The General Services Administration recog-
nizes green roofs can last 40 years or more before 
requiring replacement compared to 10 to 15 years 
for a conventional roof. 
(6) 
The 
General 
Services 
Administration 
(GSA), Department of Energy, and Environmental 
Protection Agency all recognize the integral role of 
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maintenance in a green roof’s continued energy effi-
ciency benefits and cost savings, and the GSA Public 
Buildings Service accordingly provides ongoing 
maintenance training to maximize the benefits of 
green roofs. 
(7) Green roofs can provide economic benefits, 
including 
decreased 
energy 
costs, 
water 
use, 
stormwater runoff, landfill waste, and building oper-
ating expenses that can save taxpayers money. 
(8) Green roofs can provide annual cost savings 
per square foot of the roof’s surface. 
(9) Green roofs on educational facilities can 
provide accessible sites to teach students at all levels 
of education about various subjects including 
science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), 
biodiversity, ecology, urban agriculture, stormwater 
management, sustainability, art, technology, and 
more. 
(10) Planning, designing, installing, and main-
taining green roofs can generate employment oppor-
tunities for properly trained personnel, while special-
ized green roofs can also provide employment oppor-
tunities for urban agriculture operations. 
(11) The Environmental Protection Agency, in 
collaboration with Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, 
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acknowledges landscape architects as leaders in 
planning and designing green roofs. 
(12) Green roofs can help stabilize neighbor-
hoods by providing community-wide benefits, includ-
ing those that address public health, food security, 
urban development, and economic growth. 
(13) By improving air and water quality and 
mitigating excess heat, among other benefits, green 
roofs 
can 
improve 
public 
health 
and 
lessen 
healthcare system stressors. 
(14) Green roofs can help reduce the impacts of 
climate change, including extreme heat and poor air 
quality, by sequestering harmful carbon and other 
pollutants in the atmosphere. 
(15) Green roofs can reduce the urban heat is-
land effect and city-wide ambient temperatures by 
up to 5°F because green roof temperatures can be 
30 to 40°F lower than those of conventional roofs. 
(16) The National Aeronautics and Space Ad-
ministration determined indoor summer building 
temperatures were cooler for buildings with green 
roofs. 
(17) As living systems, green roofs retain rain-
water in the soil, plants, and drainage layer and 
therefore can reduce stormwater runoff rates by up 
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to 65 percent and delay the time at which runoff oc-
curs, resulting in decreased stress on sewer systems 
and streams at peak flow periods and decreased pol-
lution in United States waterways. 
(18) Green roofs can enhance environmental 
justice by addressing the disproportionate impacts of 
excess heat and adding much-needed green space to 
the built environment in underserved communities. 
(19) Green roofs can enhance biodiversity by 
providing and creating habitats for various plants 
and wildlife such as pollinators and migratory birds. 
SEC. 3. GREEN ROOF GRANT PROGRAMS. 
Section 362 of the Energy Policy and Conservation 
Act (42 U.S.C. 6322) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (d)— 
(A) in paragraph (17), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 
and inserting a semicolon; 
(B) by redesignating paragraph (18) as 
paragraph (19); and 
(C) by inserting after paragraph (17) the 
following: 
‘‘(18) in accordance with subsection (h), pro-
grams to provide financial assistance, including 
grants, for planning, designing, installing, maintain-
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ing, and monitoring green roofs on elementary 
school and secondary school buildings; and’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(h) GREEN ROOF GRANT PROGRAMS.— 
‘‘(1) GRANTS FOR PLANNING ASSISTANCE.— 
‘‘(A) GRANT
PROGRAMS.—Under a pro-
gram to provide financial assistance as provided 
for under subsection (d)(18), a State may make 
grants to eligible entities to pay the costs of 
planning and design assistance for a green roof 
as described in subparagraph (B). 
‘‘(B) ALLOWABLE
USE
OF
FUNDS
FOR 
GRANTS FOR PLANNING ASSISTANCE.—An eligi-
ble entity receiving a grant pursuant to sub-
paragraph (A) may use the grant for any of the 
following purposes: 
‘‘(i) Identification of opportunities to 
use green roofs on elementary school and 
secondary school buildings, including per-
forming site analyses for locating green 
roofs. 
‘‘(ii) Determination of, and plans to 
obtain, permits relating to a green roof on 
an elementary school or secondary school 
building. 
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‘‘(iii) Architectural, landscape archi-
tectural, and engineering analysis for a 
green roof on an elementary school or sec-
ondary school building, including— 
‘‘(I) plans for assessing the 
structural loading capacity of the ele-
mentary school or secondary school 
building, accounting for vegetation; 
and 
‘‘(II) design services, including 
the creation of design plans and con-
struction documents for a green roof 
on the elementary school or secondary 
school building. 
‘‘(iv) Cost estimation of the planning, 
designing, installing, and maintaining of a 
green roof on an elementary school or sec-
ondary school building, including an energy 
savings analysis. 
‘‘(v) Administrative costs, including 
reimbursement for grant writing services 
used to obtain a grant under this para-
graph. 
‘‘(2) PUBLIC SCHOOL GREEN ROOF INSTALLA-
TION GRANT PROGRAM.— 
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‘‘(A) PUBLIC
SCHOOL
GREEN
ROOF
IN-
STALLATION PROGRAM.—Under a program to 
provide financial assistance as provided for 
under subsection (d)(18), a State may award 
grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible enti-
ties to carry out projects to install a green roof 
on an elementary school or secondary school 
building. 
‘‘(B) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant 
pursuant to subparagraph (A), an eligible entity 
shall submit to a State an application— 
‘‘(i) at such time, and in such man-
ner, as the State may require; 
‘‘(ii) that includes— 
‘‘(I) a strategy for increasing en-
ergy efficiency and reducing heat re-
flection of the applicable elementary 
school or secondary school building; 
‘‘(II) a description and method-
ology of the eligible entity’s plan for 
the installation, operation, and main-
tenance of a green roof on an elemen-
tary school or secondary school build-
ing, including a plan to meet the re-
quirements of title III of the Ameri-
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cans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 
U.S.C. 12101 et seq); 
‘‘(III) a letter of compliance from 
each applicable local regulatory body 
that documents the green roof is 
planned and designed, and will be 
constructed in accordance with local 
standards and regulations, including 
occupancy, fire, stormwater compli-
ance, and building codes; 
‘‘(IV) cost estimation of the plan-
ning, designing, installing, and main-
taining of the green roof on the ele-
mentary school or secondary school 
building, including an energy savings 
analysis; and 
‘‘(V) the hiring criteria and 
qualifications for personnel to design, 
construct, install, and maintain the 
green roof, including a plan for hir-
ing— 
‘‘(aa) local workforce train-
ees; 
‘‘(bb) at least one Green 
Roof Professional as accredited 
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by the Green Roof Industry As-
sociation, or a professional li-
censed by a State or an appro-
priate accreditation; and 
‘‘(cc) low-income individuals, 
individuals registered with a one- 
stop center, and returning citi-
zens. 
‘‘(C) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants pur-
suant to subparagraph (A), a State shall give 
priority to— 
‘‘(i) projects to install a green roof on 
buildings of elementary schools and sec-
ondary schools in which not fewer than 30 
percent of students are from households 
with incomes below the poverty line; 
‘‘(ii) projects that meet minimum per-
formance and nationally recognized stand-
ards for green roofs and walls, including— 
‘‘(I) the Living Architecture Per-
formance Tool; 
‘‘(II) The Sustainable SITES 
Initiative®; and 
‘‘(III) other nationally recognized 
standards; and 
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‘‘(iii) projects to install a green roof 
on buildings of elementary schools and sec-
ondary schools located in a nonattainment 
area (as defined in section 171(2) of the 
Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7501(2)). 
‘‘(D) INSTALLATION.—Not later than 4 
years after receiving a grant pursuant to sub-
paragraph (A), an eligible entity shall complete 
installation of a green roof. 
‘‘(E) MAINTENANCE AND MONITORING OF 
INFRASTRUCTURE.—Under 
a 
program 
de-
scribed in subparagraph (A), in addition to re-
ceiving a grant under to install a green roof 
under such program, each eligible entity that 
meets the installation requirements of subpara-
graph (D) may receive additional funding for a 
5-year period for maintenance and monitoring 
activities relating to the green roof, which ac-
tivities may include the following: 
‘‘(i) Monitoring and evaluating energy 
performance and cost savings of the green 
roof. 
‘‘(ii) Monitoring and evaluating air 
temperature of the green roof. 
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‘‘(iii) Conducting routine inspections 
throughout the year to assess the condition 
of the green roof, including plant health 
and replanting alternatives in consultation 
with a landscape architect, horticulturalist, 
agronomist, or other landscape professional 
as appropriate. 
‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL.—The term 
‘elementary school’ has the meaning given the 
term in section 8101 of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
7801). 
‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligi-
ble entity’ means— 
‘‘(i) a public elementary school or sec-
ondary school; 
‘‘(ii) a local educational agency; or 
‘‘(iii) a partnership between a non-
profit organization and an entity described 
in clause (i) or (ii). 
‘‘(C) GREEN ROOF.—The term ‘green roof’ 
means a layer of vegetation planted over a wa-
terproofing system or waterproof management 
practice that is installed on top of a flat or 
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slightly–sloped roof that may support plant 
growth, including— 
‘‘(i) an extensive green roof with a 
growing media layer that is up to 6 inches 
thick; or 
‘‘(ii) an intensive green roof with a 
growing media layer that is 6 to 48 inches 
thick. 
‘‘(D) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The 
term ‘local educational agency’ has the meaning 
given the term in section 8101 of the Elemen-
tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 7801). 
‘‘(E) 
LOW-INCOME
INDIVIDUAL.—The 
term ‘low-income individual’ means, with re-
spect to any calendar year, any individual who 
lives in a household that has a gross income 
that does not exceed 300 percent of the poverty 
line. 
‘‘(F) 
NONPROFIT
ORGANIZATION.—The 
term ‘nonprofit organization’ means an organi-
zation described in section 501(c)(3) of the In-
ternal Revenue Code of 1986 which is exempt 
from taxation under section 501(a) of such 
Code. 
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‘‘(G) ONE-STOP CENTER.—The term ‘one- 
stop center’ has the meaning given such term in 
section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Op-
portunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102). 
‘‘(H) POVERTY LINE.—The term ‘poverty 
line’ has the meaning given the term in section 
8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 
‘‘(I) SECONDARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘sec-
ondary school’ has the meaning given the term 
in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
7801).’’. 
Æ 
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