[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3036 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3036

 To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 regarding 
            environmental education, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 12, 2007

 Mr. Sarbanes introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 regarding 
            environmental education, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``No Child Left 
Inside Act of 2007''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. References.
                 TITLE I--ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY PLANS

Sec. 101. State uses of funds.
   TITLE II--ESTABLISHMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION GRANT PROGRAMS

Sec. 201. Environmental education grant program for teacher training.
Sec. 202. Environmental education grant program to help build national 
                            capacity.
Sec. 203. Priority status for local educational agencies offering 
                            environmental magnet schools.
  TITLE III--ELIGIBILITY OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION ACTIVITIES UNDER 
                  EXISTING GRANT AND FUNDING PROGRAMS

Sec. 301. Environmental education as an eligible activity for teacher 
                            training programs.
Sec. 302. Environmental education as an authorized program in the fund 
                            for the improvement of education.
                   TITLE IV--AMENDMENTS TO OTHER LAWS

Sec. 401. Definitions.
Sec. 402. Department of Education Organization Act.
Sec. 403. National Assessment of Education Progress Act.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Environmental education is essential for--
                    (A) enhancing student learning and problem solving 
                skills, especially in science;
                    (B) creating responsible and engaged citizens; and
                    (C) producing graduates who are prepared to address 
                the challenges, adjustments, and opportunities that 
                will be present in the life and the workforce of the 
                21st century due to threats to human health, economical 
                development, biological diversity, and national 
                security arising from environmental stresses.
            (2) Studies documenting the increasing indicators of 
        nature-deficit disorder show that time spent out of the 
        classroom for learning during the school day is critical to the 
        intellectual, emotional, and physical health of children and 
        that providing students with quality opportunities to directly 
        experience the natural world can improve students' overall 
        academic performance, self-esteem, personal responsibility, 
        community involvement, personal health (including child obesity 
        issues), and understanding of nature.
            (3) Fewer and fewer students are becoming involved in 
        important environmental education courses, classwork, and field 
        investigations as an unintended consequence of the No Child 
        Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.).

SEC. 3. REFERENCES.

    Except as otherwise specifically provided, whenever in this Act an 
amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or a 
repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference shall be 
considered to be made to a section or other provision of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.).

                 TITLE I--ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY PLANS

SEC. 101. STATE USES OF FUNDS.

    Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 6601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

                 ``Part E--Environmental Literacy Plans

``SEC. 2501. STATE USES OF FUNDS.

    ``A State educational agency may use funds made available for State 
use for support for the development of the State Environmental Literacy 
Plan as described in section 2503.

``SEC. 2502. STATE APPLICATIONS.

    ``Any State that desires to receive assistance under sections 2601 
through 2603, section 5411, or sections 5621 through 5627, shall submit 
to the Secretary an application that includes the submission, reporting 
and implementation requirements relating to the State Environmental 
Literacy Plan as set forth in section 2503.

``SEC. 2503. STATE PLANS TO ENSURE THAT STUDENTS ARE ENVIRONMENTALLY 
              LITERATE.

    ``(a) Submission of Plan.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
the enactment of this section, State educational agencies, in 
consultation with State natural resource agencies and with input from 
the public, shall submit a K-12 plan to the United States Department of 
Education for peer review and approval that will ensure that high 
school graduates are environmentally literate. States may satisfy this 
requirement by submitting for peer review existing State plans that 
have been developed by or in cooperation with State environmental 
organizations provided they are in compliance with subsection (b) and 
(c).
    ``(b) Plan Objectives.--The objectives of the State Environmental 
Literacy Plans are as follows:
            ``(1) Prepare children to understand and address the major 
        environmental challenges facing the United States, such as the 
        relationship of the environment to national security, clean 
        energy, climate change, health risks, and natural disaster 
        resilience.
            ``(2) Reduce the risk of nature-deficit disorder in 
        students by restoring and increasing field experiences as part 
        of the regular school curriculum and create programs that 
        contribute to healthy life styles through outdoor recreation 
        and sound nutrition.
            ``(3) Create opportunities for enhanced and ongoing 
        professional development of teachers that improves the 
        environmental content knowledge, skill in teaching about 
        environmental issues, and field-based pedagogical skill base of 
        teachers.
    ``(c) Contents of Plan.--The plan shall include each of the 
following:
            ``(1) Relevant content standards, content areas, and 
        courses or subjects where instruction will take place.
            ``(2) A description of the relationship of the plan to 
        State graduation requirements.
            ``(3) A description of how the State education agency will 
        measure the environmental literacy of students.
            ``(4) A description of programs for professional 
        development of teachers to improve their environmental content 
        knowledge, skill in teaching about environmental issues, and 
        field-based pedagogical skills.
            ``(5) A description of how the State education agency will 
        implement the plan, including securing funding and other 
        necessary support.
    ``(d) Plan Update.--The State plan shall be revised or updated by 
the State education agency and submitted to the Secretary at least 
every 5 years or as appropriate to reflect plan modifications.
    ``(e) Peer Review and Secretarial Approval.--The Secretary shall--
            ``(1) establish a peer-review process to assist in the 
        review of State plans;
            ``(2) appoint individuals to the peer-review process who 
        are representative of parents, teachers, State educational and 
        environmental agencies, local educational agencies, and non-
        governmental organizations, and who are familiar with national 
        environmental issues and the health and educational needs of 
        students;
            ``(3) approve a State plan within 120 days of its 
        submission unless the Secretary determines that the plan does 
        not meet the requirements of this section;
            ``(4) immediately notify the State if the Secretary 
        determines that the State plan does not meet the requirements 
        of this Section of such determination and the reasons for such 
        determination;
            ``(5) not decline to approve a State's plan before--
                    ``(A) offering the State an opportunity to revise 
                its plan;
                    ``(B) providing technical assistance in order to 
                assist the State to meet the requirements of section 
                5123(c); and
                    ``(C) providing a hearing;
            ``(6) have the authority to disapprove a State plan for not 
        meeting the requirements of this part, but shall not have the 
        authority to require a State, as a condition of approval of the 
        State plan, to include in, or delete from, such plan one or 
        more specific elements of the State's academic content 
        standards or to use specific academic assessment instruments or 
        items.
    ``(f) State Revisions.--A State plan shall be revised by the State 
educational agency if it is necessary to satisfy the requirements of 
this section.
    ``(g) Reporting.--
            ``(1) In general.--2 years after approval of its plan and 
        every 2 years thereafter, the chief executive officer of the 
        State, in cooperation with the State educational agency, shall 
        submit to the Secretary a report on the implementation of the 
        State plan.
            ``(2) Special rule.--The report required by this subsection 
        shall be--
                    ``(A) in the form specified by the Secretary;
                    ``(B) based on the State's ongoing evaluation 
                activities; and
                    ``(C) made readily available to the public.''.

   TITLE II--ESTABLISHMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION GRANT PROGRAMS

SEC. 201. ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION GRANT PROGRAM.

    Title II of the elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as 
amended by title I, is further amended by adding at the end the 
following:

                ``Part F--Environmental Education Grants

``SEC. 2601. PURPOSE.

    ``(a) Purpose.--The purpose of this part is to ensure the academic 
achievement of students in environmental learning by--
            ``(1) encouraging institutions of higher education to 
        promote the status and stature of the environmental education 
        teaching profession by assuming greater responsibility for 
        improving environmental education teacher training through the 
        establishment of a comprehensive, integrated system of 
        recruiting, training, and advising environmental education 
        teachers; and
            ``(2) encouraging State educational agencies, local 
        educational agencies, elementary schools, and secondary schools 
        to participate in programs that--
                    ``(A) improve the environmental content knowledge, 
                skills in teaching about environmental issues, and 
                field-based pedagogical skill base of all teachers;
                    ``(B) focus on the development of teacher's 
                environmental knowledge and teaching skills as a 
                career-long process that continuously stimulates 
                teachers' intellectual growth and upgrades teachers' 
                proficiency in teaching about the environment;
                    ``(C) develop more rigorous environmental education 
                teacher training curricula that are aligned with 
                challenging State and local academic content standards; 
                or
                    ``(D) provide environmental education experiences 
                that utilize outdoor activities and facilities for 
                students to directly experience nature.

``SEC. 2602. GRANTS FOR ENHANCING EDUCATION THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL 
              EDUCATION.

    ``(a) Eligible Partnership Defined.--In this section, the term 
`eligible partnership' means a partnership that--
            ``(1) shall include a local educational agency; and
            ``(2) may include--
                    ``(A) teacher training department of an institution 
                of higher education;
                    ``(B) environmental department of an institution of 
                higher education;
                    ``(C) another local educational agency, a public 
                charter school, a public or private elementary school 
                or secondary school, or a consortium of such schools;
                    ``(D) a business; or
                    ``(E) a nonprofit or for-profit organization of 
                demonstrated effectiveness in improving the quality of 
                environmental education teachers, such as through 
                outdoor environmental education experiences.
    ``(b) Grants Authorized.--
            ``(1) Grants to eligible partnerships.--The Secretary is 
        authorized to award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible 
        partnerships to enable the eligible partnerships to carry out 
        the authorized activities described in subsection (d).
            ``(2) Duration.--The Secretary shall award each grant under 
        this part for a period of 3 years.
            ``(3) Supplement, not supplant.--Funds received under this 
        part shall be used to supplement, and not supplant, funds that 
        would otherwise be used for activities authorized under this 
        part.
    ``(c) Application Requirements.--
            ``(1) In general.--Each eligible partnership desiring a 
        grant under this part shall submit an application, at such 
        time, in such manner, and accompanied by such information as 
        the State educational agency may require.
            ``(2) Contents.--Each application submitted pursuant to 
        paragraph (1) shall include--
                    ``(A) the results of a comprehensive assessment of 
                the teacher quality and professional development needs, 
                with respect to the teaching and learning of 
                environmental content;
                    ``(B) a description of how the activities to be 
                carried out by the eligible partnership--
                            ``(i) will be aligned with challenging 
                        State academic content and student academic 
                        achievement standards in environmental 
                        education; and
                            ``(ii) will advance the teaching of 
                        interdisciplinary courses that integrate the 
                        study of natural, social, and economic systems 
                        and that include strong field components in 
                        which students have the opportunity to directly 
                        experience nature;
                    ``(C) an explanation of how the activities to be 
                carried out by the eligible partnership are expected to 
                improve student academic achievement and strengthen the 
                quality of environmental instruction;
                    ``(D) a description of how the activities to be 
                carried out by the eligible partnership will ensure 
                that teachers are trained in the use of field-based and 
                service learning to enable the teachers to use the 
                local environment and community as a resource, to 
                enhance student understanding, the relevance of 
                instruction, and academic achievement;
                    ``(E) a description of--
                            ``(i) how the eligible partnership will 
                        carry out the authorized activities described 
                        in subsection (d); and
                            ``(ii) the eligible partnership's 
                        evaluation and accountability plan described in 
                        subsection (f); and
                    ``(F) a description of how the eligible partnership 
                will continue the activities funded under this part 
                after the grant period has expired.
    ``(d) Authorized Activities.--An eligible partnership shall use the 
grant funds provided under this part for 1 or more of the following 
activities related to elementary schools or secondary schools:
            ``(1) Creating opportunities for enhanced and ongoing 
        environmental education professional development of teachers 
        that improves the environmental knowledge of such teachers.
            ``(2) Promoting skills for teaching about the environment 
        and environmental issues, including integrating reliable 
        research based research teaching methods and technology-based 
        teaching methods into the curriculum.
            ``(3) Establishing and operating environmental education 
        summer workshops or institutes, including follow-up training, 
        for elementary school and secondary school environmental 
        education teachers.
            ``(4) Developing or redesigning more rigorous environmental 
        education curricula that--
                    ``(A) are aligned with challenging State academic 
                content standards; and
                    ``(B) advance the teaching of interdisciplinary 
                courses that integrate the study of natural, social, 
                and economic systems and that include strong field 
                components.
            ``(5) Establishing environmental education distance 
        learning programs for teachers using curricula that are 
        innovative, content-based, and based on research that is 
        current as of the date of the program involved.
            ``(6) Designing programs to prepare teachers at a school to 
        provide environmental education professional development to 
        other teachers at the school and to assist beginning and other 
        teachers at the school, including (if applicable) a mechanism 
        to integrate the teacher's experiences from a summer workshop 
        or institute into the provision of professional development and 
        assistance.
            ``(7) Establishing and operating programs to bring teachers 
        into contact with working professionals in environmental fields 
        to expand such teachers' subject matter knowledge of and 
        research in environmental issues.
            ``(8) Designing programs to identify and develop exemplary 
        environmental education teachers in the kindergarten through 
        grade 12 classrooms.
            ``(9) Training environmental education teachers and 
        developing programs to encourage underrepresented individuals 
        in environmental careers to pursue postsecondary degrees in 
        majors leading to such careers.
            ``(10) Initiatives that seek to incorporate environmental 
        education within teacher training program accreditation 
        standards.
            ``(11) Promoting outdoor environmental education activities 
        as part of the regular school curriculum and schedule in order 
        to further the knowledge and development of teachers and 
        students.
    ``(e) Coordination and Consultation.--Grant recipients shall 
coordinate the use of such grant funds with any related activities 
carried out with funds made available under this part.
    ``(f) Evaluation and Accountability Plan.--
            ``(1) In general.--Each eligible partnership receiving a 
        grant under this part shall develop an evaluation and 
        accountability plan for activities assisted under this part 
        that includes rigorous objectives that measure the impact of 
        activities funded under this part.
            ``(2) Contents.--The plan developed pursuant to paragraph 
        (1) shall include measurable objectives to increase the number 
        of teachers who participate in environmental education content-
        based professional development activities.
    ``(g) Report.--Each eligible partnership receiving a grant under 
this part shall report annually to the Secretary regarding the eligible 
partnership's progress in meeting the objectives described in the 
accountability plan of the eligible partnership under subsection (f).

``SEC. 2603. AUTHORIZATIONS AND APPROPRIATIONS.

    ``There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this part 
$100,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and each of the 4 succeeding fiscal 
years.''.

SEC. 202. ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION GRANT PROGRAM TO HELP BUILD NATIONAL 
              CAPACITY.

    Part D of title V (20 U.S.C. 7241 et seq.) is amended by adding at 
the end the following:

          ``Subpart 22--Environmental Education Grant Program

``SEC. 5621. PURPOSE.

    ``The purposes of this subpart are as follows:
            ``(1) To responsibly prepare children to understand and 
        address major challenges facing the United States, such as 
        clean energy, climate change, environmental health risks, and 
        natural disaster resilience.
            ``(2) To support systemic education reform by strengthening 
        environmental education as an integral part of the elementary 
        school and secondary school curriculum.
            ``(3) To help ensure that all students meet challenging 
        State academic content and student academic achievement 
        standards in environmental learning.
            ``(4) To support the national effort to enable all students 
        to demonstrate competence in environmental learning.
            ``(5) To leverage and expand private and public support for 
        environmental education partnerships at national, State, and 
        local levels.
            ``(6) To award grants to initiate, expand, or improve 
        environmental education programs for all kindergarten through 
        12th grade students.
            ``(7) To reduce the risk of nature-deficit disorder in 
        students by restoring and increasing field experiences as part 
        of the regular school curriculum and schedule in order to 
        improve students' overall academic performance, self-esteem, 
        personal responsibility, community involvement, personal health 
        (including addressing child obesity issues), and understanding 
        of nature.

``SEC. 5622. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

    ``(a) Grants Authorized.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary is authorized to award 
        grants, on a competitive basis, to nonprofit organizations, 
        State educational agencies, local educational agencies, or 
        institutions of higher education that have demonstrated 
        expertise and experience in the development of the 
        institutional, financial, intellectual, or policy resources 
        needed to help the field of environmental education become more 
        effective and widely practiced.
            ``(2) Duration.--The Secretary shall award each grant under 
        this subpart for a period of not less than 1 year and not more 
        than 3 years.

``SEC. 5623. USE OF FUNDS.

    ``Grant funds made available under this subpart shall be used for 1 
or more of the following:
            ``(1) Developing and implementing challenging State 
        environmental education academic content standards, student 
        academic achievement standards, and State curriculum 
        frameworks.
            ``(2) Replicating or disseminating information about proven 
        and tested model environmental education programs that--
                    ``(A) use the environment as an integrating theme 
                or content throughout the curriculum; or
                    ``(B) provide integrated, interdisciplinary 
                instruction about natural, social, and economic systems 
                along with field experience that provides students with 
                opportunities to directly experience nature in ways 
                designed to improve overall academic performance, self-
                esteem, personal responsibility, community involvement, 
                personal health (including addressing child obesity 
                issues), or their understanding of nature.
            ``(3) Developing and implementing new policy approaches to 
        advancing environmental education at the State and national 
        level.
            ``(4) Conducting studies of national significance that--
                    ``(A) provide a comprehensive, systematic, and 
                formal assessment of the State of environmental 
                education practice in the United States;
                    ``(B) evaluate the effectiveness of teaching 
                environmental education as a separate subject, and as 
                an integrating concept or theme; or
                    ``(C) evaluate the effectiveness of using 
                environmental education in helping students improve 
                their assessment scores in mathematics, reading or 
                language arts, and the other core academic subjects.
            ``(5) Executing projects that advance widespread State and 
        local educational agency adoption and use of environmental 
        education content standards, including adoption and use of such 
        standards in textbook selection criteria.
            ``(6) Planning and initiating new State or national sources 
        of environmental education funding, such as--
                    ``(A) environmental education trust funds; and
                    ``(B) permanent funds with dedicated funding 
                sources.
            ``(7) Developing a State Environmental Literacy Plan.
            ``(8) Planning State initiatives to develop and promote 
        forums for exchange of information relating to Environmental 
        Education.

``SEC. 5624. APPLICATIONS.

    ``(a) In General.--Each nonprofit organization, State educational 
agency, local educational agency, or institution of higher education 
desiring a grant under this subpart shall submit to the Secretary an 
application that contains a plan to initiate, expand, or improve 
environmental education programs in order to make progress toward 
meeting State standards for environmental learning and contains an 
evaluation and accountability plan for activities assisted under this 
part that includes rigorous objectives that measure the impact of 
activities funded under this part.

``SEC. 5625. REQUIREMENTS.

    ``(a) Annual Report to the Secretary.--In order to continue 
receiving grant funds under this subpart after the first year of a 
multiyear grant under this subpart, the administrator of the grant 
shall submit to the Secretary an annual report that--
            ``(1) describes the activities assisted under this subpart 
        that were conducted during the preceding year; and
            ``(2) demonstrates that progress has been made in helping 
        schools to meet State standards for environmental education and 
        in accomplishing one or more of the purposes set forth in 
        section 5621 for the Environmental Education Grant Program, and
            ``(3) describes the results of the grantee's evaluation and 
        accountability plan.
    ``(b) Administrative Expenses.--Not more than 15 percent of the 
grant funds made available to a nonprofit organization, State 
educational agency, local educational agency, or institution of higher 
education under this subpart for any fiscal year may be used for 
administrative expenses.

``SEC. 5626. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

    ``(a) Federal Share.--The Federal share under this subpart shall 
not exceed--
            ``(1) 90 percent of the total cost of a program assisted 
        under this subpart for the first year for which the program 
        receives assistance under this subpart; and
            ``(2) 75 percent of such cost for the second and each 
        subsequent such year.
    ``(b) Proportionality.--To the extent practicable, the Secretary 
shall ensure that grants awarded under this subpart are equitably 
distributed among nonprofit organizations, State educational agencies, 
local educational agencies, and institutions of higher education, 
serving urban and rural areas.
    ``(c) Report to Congress.--Not later than one year after enactment 
of this bill, the Secretary shall submit a report to Congress that--
            ``(1) describes the programs assisted under this subpart;
            ``(2) documents the success of such programs in improving 
        national and State environmental education capacity; and
            ``(3) makes such recommendations as the Secretary 
        determines appropriate for the continuation and improvement of 
        the programs assisted under this subpart.
    ``(d) Availability of Funds.--Amounts made available to the 
Secretary to carry out this subpart shall remain available until 
expended.

``SEC. 5627. SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.

    ``Funds made available under this subpart shall be used to 
supplement, and not supplant, any other Federal, State, or local funds 
available for environmental education activities.''.

SEC. 203. PRIORITY STATUS FOR LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES OFFERING 
              ENVIRONMENTAL MAGNET SCHOOLS.

    Section 5306 (20 U.S.C. 7231e) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ``and'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period and inserting 
        ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) propose to create new environmental magnet school 
        programs or enhance existing environmental magnet school 
        programs.''.

  TITLE III--ELIGIBILITY OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION ACTIVITIES UNDER 
                  EXISTING GRANT AND FUNDING PROGRAMS

SEC. 301. ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AS AN ELIGIBLE ACTIVITY FOR TEACHER 
              TRAINING PROGRAMS.

    (a) Ensuring Environmental Education Is Included in Teacher 
Certification or Licensing Requirements.--Section 2113(c)(1)(C) (20 
U.S.C. 6613(c)(1)(C)) is amended by inserting ``environmental and'' 
after ``including''.
    (b) Addition of New Strategies for Professional Development.--
Section 2113(c)(10) (20 U.S.C. 6613(c)(10)) is amended by inserting 
``field-based learning, place-based learning, service learning, 
experiential learning,'' after ``peer networks,''.
    (c) Integration of Environmental Learning Into the Curricula.--
Section 2113(c) (20 U.S.C. 6613(c)) is further amended by adding at the 
end the following:
            ``(19) Encouraging and supporting the training of teachers 
        and administrators to effectively integrate environmental 
        education, including training in field-based learning, 
        learning, service learning, outdoor learning, and experiential 
        learning, into the curricula and instruction in order to 
        improve teaching, decision-making, school improvement efforts, 
        and accountability in all subjects.''.
    (d) Use of Local Funds for Training on Effective Integration of 
Environmental Education.--Section 2123(a)(3)(B) (20 U.S.C. 
6623(a)(3)(B)) is amended--
            (1) in clause (iv), by striking ``and'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (2) in clause (v), by striking the period and inserting ``; 
        and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(vi) provide training on how to 
                        effectively integrate environmental learning, 
                        including training in field-based learning, 
                        place-based learning, service learning, and 
                        experiential learning, into the curricula and 
                        instruction.''.

SEC. 302. ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AS AN AUTHORIZED PROGRAM IN THE FUND 
              FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF EDUCATION.

    Section 5411(b) (20 U.S.C. 7243(b)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraph (9) as paragraph (10); and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (8) the following:
            ``(9) Activities and programs that advance environmental 
        education, including interdisciplinary courses that integrate 
        the study of natural, social, and economic systems and the use 
        of the environment as an integrating theme for a school 
        curriculum, as well as field-based learning, learning, service 
        learning, outdoor learning, and experiential learning 
        programs.''.

                   TITLE IV--AMENDMENTS TO OTHER LAWS

SEC. 401. DEFINITIONS.

    (a) Individuals With Disabilities Education Act.--Section 602(10) 
of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1401(10)) 
is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by striking ``9101(23)'' and 
        inserting ``9101(24)''; and
            (2) In subparagraph (D)--
                    (A) in clause (ii), by striking ``9101(23)(C)(ii)'' 
                and inserting ``9101(24)(C)(ii)''; and
                    (B) in clause (iii), by striking 
                ``9101(23)(C)(ii)'' and inserting ``9101(24)(C)(ii)''.
    (b) National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002.--Section 
4(10) of the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 (42 
U.S.C. 1862n note) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``9101(26)'' and inserting ``9101(27)''; 
        and
            (2) by striking ``7801(26)'' and inserting ``7801(27)''.

SEC. 402. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ORGANIZATION ACT.

    (a) Office of Environmental Literacy.--Title II of the Department 
of Education Organization Act (20 U.S.C. 3411 et seq.) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 221. OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY.

    ``(a) Office of Environmental Literacy.--There shall be in the 
Department an Office of Environmental Literary (referred to in this 
section as `the Office').
    ``(b) Director.--
            ``(1) Appointment and reporting.--The Office shall be 
        headed by a Director of Environmental Literacy (in this section 
        referred to as the `Director'), who shall be appointed by the 
        Secretary.
            ``(2) Duties.--The Director shall--
                    ``(A) hold a national summit every five years to 
                develop a national plan for kindergarten through grade 
                12 environmental education and coordinate the resulting 
                implementation process for the plan;
                    ``(B) coordinate the development of voluntary 
                national standards and a national model curriculum;
                    ``(C) administer the Environmental Education Grant 
                Program under part E of title II of the Elementary and 
                Secondary Education Act of 1965;
                    ``(D) administer the Grant Program for Enhancing 
                Education through Environmental Education Partnerships 
                Program under part E of title II of the Elementary and 
                Secondary Education Act of 1965; and
                    ``(E) work in partnership with education activities 
                at the Environmental Protection Agency, the National 
                Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department 
                of the Interior, and the National Science Foundation to 
                advance kindergarten through grade 12 environmental 
                education.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1 of the 
Department of Education Organization Act (20 U.S.C. 3401 note) is 
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 220 the 
following new item:

``Sec. 221. Office of Environmental Literacy.''.

SEC. 403. NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF EDUCATION PROGRESS ACT.

    Section 303(b)(2)(D) of the National Assessment of Educational 
Progress Authorization Act (20 U.S.C. 9622(b)(2)(D)) is amended by 
striking ``foreign languages, and arts,'' and inserting ``foreign 
languages, arts, and environmental education,''.
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