1.This Act may be cited as the
Ocean, Coastal, and Watershed
Education Act
.
2.
(a)The Congress finds the following:
(1)The United States faces major challenges,
such as mitigating and adapting to the impacts of climate change, stewarding
critical coastal and marine resources including fish and wildlife habitat while
sustaining the commercial and recreational activities that depend on these
resources, and improving resilience to natural disasters, that collectively
threaten human health, sustainable economic development, environmental quality,
and national security.
(2)Communities in coastal watersheds are
particularly vulnerable to these increasingly urgent, interconnected, and
complex challenges and need support for teacher professional development and
experiential learning among students of all ages.
(3)These challenges can be met with the help
of comprehensive programs specifically targeted to engage coastal watershed
communities, schoolchildren, and the general public to develop engaged and
environmentally literate citizens who are better able to understand complex
environmental issues, assess risk, evaluate proposed plans, and understand how
individual decisions affect the environment at local, regional, national, and
global scales.
(4)The intrinsic social and conservation
values of wildlife-dependent and other outdoor recreation can play an important
role in outdoor educational programs that address the myriad of coastal and
ocean concerns, as well as instill a sustainable conservation ethic that will
enable them to face those challenges to the betterment of both the environment
and coastal communities.
(5)The economic importance of coastal areas
and resources to the overall economy of the United States is significant.
According to the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, coastal and ocean-related
activities support millions of American jobs and generate more than $1
trillion, or one tenth of the Nation’s annual gross domestic product.
Sustainable use of the Nation’s natural resources can provide additional
economic opportunities to the United States economy.
(b)The purpose of this Act is to advance
environmental literacy, develop public awareness and appreciation of the
economic, social, recreational, and environmental benefits of coastal
watersheds, and emphasize stewardship and sustainable economic development of
critical coastal and marine resources, including an understanding of how
climate change is impacting those resources, through the establishment
of—
(1)an Environmental Literacy Grant Program;
and
(2)regional programs under the B-WET
Program.
3.In this Act:
(1)The term Administrator
means
the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.
(2)The term bay-watershed
education
means environmental education focused on watersheds, with an
emphasis on stewardship and sustainable economic development of critical
coastal and marine resources, including an understanding of how climate change
is impacting those resources.
(3)The term B-WET Program
means
the Bay-Watershed Education and Training Program of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, as in effect immediately before the enactment of
this Act and modified under this Act or any subsequently enacted Act.
(4)The term eligible entity
means a State agency, local agency, school district, institution of higher
education, or for-profit or non-profit nongovernmental organization,
consortium, or other entity that the Administrator finds has demonstrated
expertise and experience in the development of the institutional, intellectual,
or policy resources to help environmental education become more effective and
widely practiced.
(5)The term environmental
education
means interdisciplinary formal and informal learning about
the relevant interrelationships between dynamic environmental and human
systems, including economic systems that depend on coastal, watershed and
marine resources for job creation and economic growth, that results in
increasing the learner’s capacity for decisionmaking, stewardship, and
sustainable economic development of natural and community resources.
(6)The term environmental
literacy
means the capacity to perceive and interpret the relative
health of environmental systems and the interrelationships between natural,
economic, and social systems and technology, and to assess options and take
appropriate action to maintain, restore, or improve the health of those systems
and promote sustainable economic development.
(7)The term high-leverage
projects
means projects supported by grants authorized under this Act
that use Federal, State and nongovernmental financial, technical, and other
resources in such a manner that the potential beneficial outcomes are highly
magnified or enhanced.
(8)The term State
means each of
the several States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, any other territory or possession
of the United States, and any Indian tribe.
4.Environmental literacy grant
program
(a)The Administrator shall establish a
national competitive grant program, to be known as the Environmental
Literacy Grant Program
, under which the Administrator shall provide,
subject to the availability of appropriations, financial assistance to—
(1)expand the adoption of coastal, ocean,
Great Lakes, and climate on all time scales education;
(2)build administrative and technical capacity
with coastal, ocean, and watershed communities and stakeholder groups to
enhance their effectiveness;
(3)encourage water-dependent,
wildlife-dependent, and other outdoor recreation, experiential learning, and
hands-on involvement with coastal and watershed resources as a method of
promoting stewardship and sustainable economic development of those
resources;
(4)develop and implement new approaches to
advance coastal, ocean, Great Lakes, and climate on all time scales education
and environmental literacy at national, regional, and local levels; and
(5)encourage formal and informal environmental
education about the systemic interrelationships between healthy coastal,
watershed, and marine resources and sustainable economic systems that depend on
such resources for job creation and economic development.
(b)In awarding grants under this section, the
Administrator shall give priority consideration to innovative, strategic,
high-leverage projects that demonstrate strong potential for being sustained in
the future by a grant recipient beyond the time period in which activities are
carried out with the grant.
(c)No later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act and after consultation with appropriate stakeholders, the
Administrator shall publish in the Federal Register guidelines regarding the
implementation of this grant program, including publication of criteria for
eligible entities, identification of national priorities, establishment of
performance measures to evaluate program effectiveness, information regarding
sources of non-Federal matching funds or in-kind contributions, and reporting
requirements for grant award recipients.
(d)Limitation on use of funds by
administratorOf the amounts
made available to implement this section—
(1)no less than 80 percent shall be used for
competitive grants or cooperative agreements;
(2)no more than 10 percent may be used by the
Administrator to implement the grant program; and
(3)no less than 10 percent of the annual funds
appropriated for the program authorized under this section shall be used to
fund contracts or cooperative agreements to conduct strategic planning, promote
communications among grant recipients and within communities, coordinate grant
activities to foster an integrated program, and oversee national evaluation
efforts.
5.
(a)The Administrator shall conduct the B-WET
Program, including each of the regional programs conducted or under active
consideration for creation under such program immediately before the enactment
of this Act.
(b)
(1)The Administrator may create new regional
programs under the B-WET Program in accordance with a strategy issued under
this subsection.
(2)
(A)The Administrator shall issue a strategy
for establishing such new regional programs.
(B)The strategy shall include the
following:
(i)Evaluation of the need for new regional
program in areas that are not served under the B-WET Program on the date of
enactment of this Act.
(ii)Identification of potential new regional
programs, including a listing of potential principal non-Federal
partners.
(iii)A comprehensive budget for future expansion
of the B-WET Program over the period for which appropriations are authorized
under this Act.
(iv)Such other information as the Administrator
considers necessary.
(C)Consultation and public
commentThe Administrator
shall consult with relevant stakeholders and provide opportunity for public
comment in the development of the strategy.
(D)The Administrator shall submit the strategy
to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate by not later
than 270 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
(3)In creating new regional programs under
this subsection, the Administrator shall give priority consideration to the
needs of—
(A)United States territories, including Guam,
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa;
(B)the Great Lakes States;
(C)Alaska; and
(D)the mid-Atlantic region.
(c)Modification of B-WET Program
(1)The Administrator may modify or realign
regional programs under the B-WET Program, based on—
(A)changes in regional needs;
(B)mutual interest between the Administrator
and relevant stakeholders within a region or regions;
(C)changes in resources available to the
Administrator to implement the B-WET Program; and
(D)other circumstances as determined necessary
by the Administrator.
(2)Consultation and public
commentThe Administrator
shall—
(A)consult with the persons conducting a
regional program and provide opportunity for public comment prior to making a
final decision to modify or realign such regional program; and
(B)publish public notice of such a decision no
less than 30-days before the effective date of such a modification or
realignment.
(d)Regional program managers
(1)Appointment of regional program
managerThe Administrator
shall be responsible for the selection, appointment, and when necessary
replacement of a regional program manager for each regional program under the
B-WET Program.
(2)To qualify for appointment as a regional
program manager, an individual must—
(A)reside in the region for which appointed;
and
(B)demonstrate competence and expertise in
bay-watershed education and training.
(3)Each regional program manager shall—
(A)be responsible for managing and
administering the B-WET Program in the region for which appointed, in
accordance with this Act;
(B)determine the most appropriate communities
within the region to be served by the B-WET Program;
(C)encourage water-dependent,
wildlife-dependent, and other outdoor recreation, experiential learning
experiences for students, and hands-on involvement with coastal and watershed
resources as a method of promoting stewardship and sustainable economic
development of those resources and complementing core classroom
curriculum;
(D)support communication and collaboration
among educators, natural resource planners and managers, and governmental and
nongovernmental stakeholders;
(E)share and distribute information regarding
educational plans, strategies, learning activities, and curricula to all
stakeholders within its region;
(F)provide financial and technical assistance
pursuant to the guidelines developed by the Administrator under this section;
and
(G)perform any additional duties as necessary
to carry out the functions of the program.
(e)No later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act and after consultation with appropriate stakeholders, the
Administrator shall publish in the Federal Register guidelines regarding the
implementation of the B-WET Program, as follows:
(1)The Administrator shall create guidelines
through which each regional program manager may enter into contracts (subject
to the availability of appropriations) to support projects to design,
demonstrate, evaluate, or disseminate practices, methods, or techniques related
to Bay-watershed education and training.
(2)Grant making and cooperative
agreements
(A)The Administrator shall create guidelines
through which each regional program manager may provide financial assistance in
the form of a grant (subject to the availability of appropriations) or
cooperative agreement to support projects that advance the purpose of this Act.
The guidelines shall include criteria for eligible entities, identification of
national priorities, establishment of performance measures to evaluate program
effectiveness, and reporting requirements for grant award recipients.
(B)In making grants under this paragraph, each
regional program manager shall give priority to those projects that
will—
(i)promote bay-watershed education throughout
the region concerned;
(ii)advance strategic initiatives to
incorporate bay-watershed education into formal and informal education
systems;
(iii)build capacity within bay-watershed
education communities and stakeholder groups for expanding and strengthening
their work;
(iv)build bay-watershed education into
professional development or training activities for educators; and
(v)broadly replicate existing, proven
bay-watershed education programs.
(f)
(1)In awarding grants under this section, the
regional program managers shall give priority consideration to a project for
which the Federal share does not exceed 75 percent of the aggregate cost of
such project.
(2)The non-Federal share of the costs of any
project supported by an award of grant funding under this section may be cash
or the fair market value of services, equipment, donations, or any other form
of in-kind contribution.
(3)The regional program
managers shall give priority consideration to a project that will be conducted
by or benefit any under-served community, any community that has an inability
to draw on other sources of funding because of the small population or low
income of the community, or any other person for any other reason the
Administrator considers appropriate and consistent with the purpose of this
Act.
(g)Regional program coordinationWithin the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, the Office of Education shall work with regional program
managers on the following regional B-WET Program functions:
(1)Strategic planning efforts.
(2)Integration and coordination of
programs.
(3)Coordination of national evaluation
efforts.
(4)Promotion of network wide
communications.
(5)Selection of new Regional Program
Managers.
(6)Management, tracking, and oversight of the
B-WET Program.
(h)Limitation on use of funds by
administratorOf the amounts
made available to implement this section—
(1)no less than 80 percent shall be used for
implementation of regional program activities, including the award of grants;
and
(2)no more than 20 percent may be used by the
Administrator to implement the regional programs and regional program
coordination.
6.Not later than December 31, 2011, and
biennially thereafter, the Administrator shall submit to Congress a report on
the grant programs authorized under this Act. Each such report shall include a
description of the eligible activities carried out with grants awarded under
the Act during the previous two fiscal years, an assessment of the success and
impact of such activities, and a description of the type of programs carried
out with such grant, disaggregated by State.
7.Authorization of appropriations
(a)Authorization of
appropriationsThere are
authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator—
(1)to carry out the Environmental Literacy
Grant Program authorized by section 4 (including administrative expenses for
preparing the report under section 6)—
(A)for fiscal year 2011, $13,200,000;
(B)for fiscal year 2012, $14,500,000;
(C)for fiscal year 2013, $16,000,000;
(D)for fiscal year 2014, $17,600,000;
and
(E)for fiscal year 2015, $19,300,000;
and
(2)to carry out the B-WET Program authorized
by section 5 (including administrative expenses for preparing the report under
section 6)—
(A)for fiscal year 2011, $10,700,000;
(B)for fiscal year 2012, $11,700,000;
(C)for fiscal year 2013, $12,900,000;
(D)for fiscal year 2014, $14,200,000;
and
(E)for fiscal year 2015, $15,600,000.
(b)None of the funds appropriated pursuant to
subsection (a) may be used for a congressional earmark
as defined in clause 9(e) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of
Representatives.
Passed the House of
Representatives March 19, 2010.
Lorraine C. Miller,
Clerk.