Title 20 — EducationRelease 119-73not60

§5503 Office of Environmental Education

Title 20 › Chapter 65— NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION › § 5503

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Administrator must create an Office of Environmental Education inside the Environmental Protection Agency. The office must run and support programs that help people learn about the natural world and the places people build, and how people and the environment affect each other, including global issues. It must work with other federal agencies, nonprofits, schools, colleges, and public broadcasters to make and share model curricula, books, media, training, seminars, teleconferences, and workshops. The office must also manage federal grants, internships, fellowships, and awards, give staff help to an advisory council and task force, check training needs for environmental jobs, coordinate related federal programs (including park, forest, and refuge programs), and share information with state and local education and resource agencies. The office must be led by a Director who is in the Senior Executive Service. The headquarters team must have no fewer than 6 and no more than 10 full-time equivalent employees. Each EPA regional office must have one full-time equivalent employee supporting the office.

Full Legal Text

Title 20, §5503

Education — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Administrator shall establish an Office of Environmental Education within the Environmental Protection Agency.

(b)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)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.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

20 U.S.C. § 5503

Title 20 — Education

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60