[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3587 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3587

 To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 
provide grants to hospitals and nonprofit health care institutions for 
   use in improving building and maintenance operations to engage in 
                 environmentally sustainable practices.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

           September 25 (legislative day, September 17), 2008

 Mrs. Clinton introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 
provide grants to hospitals and nonprofit health care institutions for 
   use in improving building and maintenance operations to engage in 
                 environmentally sustainable practices.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Greening the Healthcare Workforce 
Act of 2008''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, acting in 
        conjunction with the Secretary.
            (2) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means a 
        nonprofit hospital or nonprofit health care institution, as 
        identified by the Administrator, that submits an application 
        described in section 3(b).
            (3) Green guide.--The term ``Green Guide'' means the most 
        recent Green Guide for Health Care.
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Health and Human Services.

SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Administrator shall establish a program to 
provide grants to eligible entities for use in improving building and 
maintenance operations to engage in environmentally sustainable 
practices, including for--
            (1) the training of employees in environmentally sound 
        waste management practices, such as those recommended by the 
        Green Guide, or other consensus-based recommendations, as the 
        Administrator determines to be appropriate;
            (2) the training of employees in environmentally sound 
        chemical management practices, such as those recommended by the 
        Green Guide, or other consensus-based recommendations, as the 
        Administrator determines to be appropriate;
            (3) the conduct of activities to reduce use of mercury-
        containing medical supplies, and ensure proper disposal of any 
        mercury-containing medical supplies;
            (4) the conduct of minor improvements to both grounds and 
        facilities to improve energy efficiency, reduce water waste, 
        and improve indoor air quality, such as those recommended by 
        the Green Guide, or other consensus-based recommendations, as 
        the Administrator determines to be appropriate; and
            (5) the conduct of other activities, as approved by the 
        Administrator, that would assist in reducing the environmental 
        pollution and waste of eligible entities.
    (b) Application.--To be eligible to receive a grant under this 
section, an eligible entity shall submit to the Administrator an 
application in such form, at such time, and containing such information 
as the Administrator may require, including--
            (1) demonstrated evidence that the eligible entity has 
        evaluated the environmental policies, analyzed the building and 
        maintenance operations, and identified areas of improvement of 
        the eligible entity that could increase energy efficiency, 
        reduce waste, and improve environmental health for patients, 
        employees, and visitors to the eligible entity;
            (2) demonstrated evidence of existing efforts by the 
        eligible entity to address environmental pollution, reduce 
        waste, and increase energy efficiency; and
            (3) a detailed plan for the use of grant funding, including 
        a description of the manner in which outcomes will be measured 
        to demonstrate improvements to the environment as a result of 
        the use of the grant funding.
    (c) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of 
this Act, and annually thereafter, the Administrator shall submit to 
Congress and make available to the public (including on the website of 
the Environmental Protection Agency) a report that describes the 
progress made in carrying out this Act during the period covered by the 
report.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this Act $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
2009 through 2013.
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