§ 5503. — Office of Environmental Education.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 20USC5503]
TITLE 20--EDUCATION
CHAPTER 65--NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
Sec. 5503. Office of Environmental Education
(a) Establishment
The Administrator shall establish an Office of Environmental
Education within the Environmental Protection Agency.
(b) Duties and functions
The Office of Environmental Education shall--
(1) develop and support programs and related efforts, in
consultation and coordination with other Federal agencies, to
improve understanding of the natural and built environment, and the
relationships between humans and their environment, including the
global aspects of environmental problems;
(2) support development and the widest possible dissemination of
model curricula, educational materials, and training programs for
elementary and secondary students and other interested groups,
including senior Americans;
(3) develop and disseminate, in cooperation with other Federal
agencies, not-for-profit educational and environmental
organizations, State agencies, and noncommercial educational
broadcasting entities, environmental education publications and
audio/visual and other media materials;
(4) develop and support environmental education seminars,
training programs, teleconferences, and workshops for environmental
education professionals, as provided for in section 5504 of this
title;
(5) manage Federal grant assistance provided to local education
agencies, institutions of higher education, other not-for-profit
organizations, and noncommercial education broadcasting entities,
under section 5505 of this title;
(6) administer the environmental internship and fellowship
programs provided for in section 5506 of this title;
(7) administer the environmental awards program provided for in
section 5507 of this title;
(8) provide staff support to the Advisory Council and Task Force
provided for in section 5508 of this title;
(9) assess, in coordination with other Federal agencies, the
demand for professional skills and training needed to respond to
current and anticipated environmental problems and cooperate with
appropriate institutions, organizations, and agencies to develop
training programs, curricula, and continuing education programs for
teachers, school administrators, and related professionals;
(10) assure the coordination of Federal statutes and programs
administered by the Agency relating to environmental education,
consistent with the provisions and purposes of those programs, and
work to reduce duplication or inconsistencies within these programs;
(11) work with the Department of Education, the Federal
Interagency Committee on Education, and with other Federal agencies,
including Federal natural resource management agencies, to assure
the effective coordination of programs related to environmental
education, including environmental education programs relating to
national parks, national forests, and wildlife refuges;
(12) provide information on environmental education and training
programs to local education agencies, State education and natural
resource agencies, and others; and
(13) otherwise provide for the implementation of this chapter.
(c) Director and staff
The Office of Environmental Education shall--
(1) be directed by a Director who shall be a member of the
Senior Executive Service;
(2) include a headquarters staff of not less than six and not
more than ten full-time equivalent employees; and
(3) be supported by one full-time equivalent employee in each
Agency regional office.
(Pub. L. 101-619, Sec. 4, Nov. 16, 1990, 104 Stat. 3327.)
