‘‘(12) encouraging mid-career environmental 
professionals to pursue careers in environmental 
education; and’’; and 
(2) in subsection (c)(1), by inserting ‘‘, in con-
sultation with the Secretary,’’ after ‘‘Administrator’’. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION.—Section 11(a) of the National 
Environmental Education Act (20 U.S.C. 5510(a)) is 
amended by striking ‘‘Act’’ and all that follows through 
the period at the end and inserting ‘‘Act, except for section 
11, $14,000,000 for fiscal year 2009.’’. 
(d) NATIONAL CAPACITY ENVIRONMENTAL EDU-
CATION GRANT PROGRAM; ACCOUNTABILITY.—The Na-
tional Environmental Education Act (20 U.S.C. 5501 et 
seq.) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating section 11 as section 13; 
and 
(2) by inserting after section 10 the following: 
‘‘SEC. 11. NATIONAL CAPACITY ENVIRONMENTAL EDU-
CATION GRANT PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized 
to award grants, on a competitive basis, to nonprofit 
organizations, State educational agencies, local edu-
cational agencies, municipalities, or institutions of 
higher education that have demonstrated expertise
and experience in the development of the institu-
tional, financial, intellectual, or policy resources 
needed to help the field of environmental education 
become more effective and widely practiced. Not-
withstanding any other provision of this section, a 
State educational agency, a local educational agency, 
an institution of higher education, a municipality, or 
a not-for-profit organization may use funds provided 
under this section to coordinate with any program or 
unit operated by a Federal Natural Resource Man-
agement Agency to carry out environmental edu-
cation programs based on the full range of the re-
sources and mission of the Agency. 
‘‘(2) DURATION.—The Secretary shall award 
each grant under this section for a period of not less 
than 1 year and not more than 3 years. 
‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—Grant funds made available 
under this section shall be used for 1 or more of the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(1) Developing and implementing challenging 
State academic content standards, student academic 
achievement standards, and State curriculum frame-
works in environmental education, including the 
need to balance conservation of the environment
with the development of the Nation’s energy re-
sources. 
‘‘(2) Replicating or disseminating information 
about proven and tested model environmental edu-
cation programs that— 
‘‘(A) use the environment as an integrating 
theme or content throughout the curriculum; 
‘‘(B) provide integrated, interdisciplinary 
instruction about natural, social, and economic 
systems along with field experience that pro-
vides students with opportunities to directly ex-
perience nature in ways designed to improve 
overall academic performance, self-esteem, per-
sonal responsibility, community involvement, 
personal health (including addressing child obe-
sity issues), or their understanding of nature; 
‘‘(C) provide integrated instruction on 
waste 
reduction, 
reuse, 
recycling, 
and 
composting programs and, when possible, pro-
mote such activities within the school; or 
‘‘(D) address issues of environmental jus-
tice, including policies and methods for elimi-
nating disparate enforcement of environmental 
laws and regulations, including with respect to 
low-income communities.
‘‘(3) Developing and implementing new policy 
approaches to environmental education, which shall 
include a discussion of— 
‘‘(A) the benefits and costs to the environ-
ment and to consumers regarding increasing
the
supply of energy produced in the United 
States from— 
‘‘(i) oil and gas drilling; 
‘‘(ii) nuclear power; 
‘‘(iii) new coal technologies; and 
‘‘(iv) clean renewable and alternative 
sources of energy, including wind,
solar, 
geothermal, hydropower,
and advanced 
biofuels; and 
‘‘(B) the best strategies for reducing en-
ergy consumption through
an enhanced em-
phasis on
efficiency and conservation. 
‘‘(4) Conducting studies of national significance 
that— 
‘‘(A) evaluate the effectiveness of teaching 
environmental education as a separate subject, 
and as an integrating concept or theme; 
‘‘(B) evaluate the effectiveness of using en-
vironmental education in helping students im-
prove their assessment scores in mathematics,
reading or language arts, science, and the other 
core academic subjects; or 
‘‘(C) evaluate ways to coordinate activities 
under this Act with existing Federal science 
teacher in-service training or professional devel-
opment programs. 
‘‘(5) Executing projects that advance wide-
spread State and local educational agency adoption 
and use of environmental education content stand-
ards, including adoption and use of such standards 
in textbook selection criteria. 
‘‘(6) Developing a State environmental literacy 
plan that includes the following: 
‘‘(A) A description of how the State edu-
cational agency will measure the environmental 
literacy of students, including— 
‘‘(i) relevant State academic content 
standards and content areas regarding en-
vironmental education, and courses or sub-
jects where environmental education in-
struction will take place; and 
‘‘(ii) a description of the relationship 
of the plan to the secondary school gradua-
tion requirements of the State.
‘‘(B) A description of programs for profes-
sional development for teachers to improve the 
teachers’— 
‘‘(i) environmental content knowledge; 
‘‘(ii) skill in teaching about environ-
mental issues; and 
‘‘(iii) field-based pedagogical skills. 
‘‘(C) A description of how the State edu-
cational agency will implement the plan, includ-
ing securing funding and other necessary sup-
port. 
‘‘(7) Developing evidence-based approaches to 
build capacity to increase the number of elementary 
and secondary environmental educators. 
‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.—Each municipality, nonprofit 
organization, State educational agency, local educational 
agency, or institution of higher education desiring a grant 
under this section shall submit to the Secretary an appli-
cation that contains a plan to initiate, expand, or improve 
environmental education programs in order to make 
progress toward meeting State standards for environ-
mental learning (to the extent such standards exist) and 
environmental literacy and contains an evaluation and ac-
countability plan for activities assisted under this section 
that includes rigorous objectives that measure the impact