[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 58 Introduced in House (IH)]







111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 H. R. 58

                       To promote green schools.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 6, 2009

 Mr. Kirk (for himself and Mr. Carney) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition 
      to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
                       To promote green schools.

    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 ``Green Schools Act''.

SEC. 2. GREEN SCHOOLS GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment.--The Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection Agency shall establish a program for making grants of up to 
$10,000 per project to local educational agencies for projects for 
green school construction and improvements.
    (b) Matching Funds.--A grant shall be made for a project under 
subsection (a) only if at least 50 percent of the costs of the project 
will be paid from non-Federal sources.
    (c) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
            (1) the term ``green school construction and improvements'' 
        means construction methods, systems, technologies, or facility 
        improvements that create a healthy learning environment while 
        saving natural resources and money, including--
                    (A) sustainable site improvements;
                    (B) water conservation strategies or systems;
                    (C) energy conservation strategies or systems;
                    (D) sustainable materials, including low-emitting, 
                reused, recycled, regionally harvested, and rapidly 
                renewable materials; and
                    (E) strategies or systems that improve indoor 
                environmental quality, including improvements to 
                acoustics, ventilation, thermal comfort, daylighting, 
                and mold prevention; and
            (2) the term ``local educational agency'' has the meaning 
        given that term in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary 
        Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
Agency for carrying out this section $5,000,000 for each of the fiscal 
years 2009 through 2013.

SEC. 3. EXTENSION AND GREENING OF QUALIFIED ZONE ACADEMY BONDS.

    (a) Extension.--Paragraph (1) of 54E(c) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 (relating to national limitation) is amended by striking 
``2008 and 2009'' and inserting ``each of calendar years 2008 through 
2013''.
    (b) Greening.--Paragraph (3) of section 54E(d) of such Code 
(defining qualified purpose) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new sentence:
        ``In the case of bonds issued after the date of the enactment 
        of this sentence, any rehabilitation, repair, or provision of 
        equipment shall be treated as a qualified purpose only if such 
        rehabilitation, repair, or provision, as the case may be, is 
        described in section 2(c) of the Green Schools Act, as in 
        effect on such date.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply to obligations issued after December 31, 2008.
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