§5508 Environmental Education Advisory Council and Task Force

Summary

Creates a National Environmental Education Advisory Council and a Federal Task Force on Environmental Education. The Advisory Council will give advice and recommendations to the Administrator about the Agency’s environmental education work and will be the Administrator’s official advisor on those matters. The Office of Environmental Education will provide staff help. The Administrator will appoint 11 members after talking with the Secretary. The 11 will include two people for K–12 education (one must be a classroom teacher), two from colleges and universities, two from nonprofit environmental education groups, two from State education and natural resources departments, two from business and industry, and one to represent senior Americans. A representative of the Secretary also serves on the Council. Members serve 3‑year terms; anyone filling a vacancy serves only the rest of that term. The first group of members will be staggered so four terms end 3 years after November 16, 1990, four end 2 years after that date, and three end 1 year after that date. While doing Council work, members may be paid up to the daily equivalent of the GS–18 rate and may get travel pay and per diem like other intermittent government workers. The conflict‑of‑interest rule at section 208(a) of title 18 does not bar members from participating in matters that affect the finances of employers they represent. The automatic termination rule in section 1013(a) of title 5 does not apply to the Council. The Federal Task Force will advise the Administrator on putting the chapter into action and make sure federal agencies coordinate their related activities. The Task Force includes the Departments of Education, Interior, and Agriculture; the Environmental Protection Agency; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; the Council on Environmental Quality; the Tennessee Valley Authority; and the National Science Foundation. The EPA chairs the Task Force, and the Administrator may invite other agencies to join meetings. After public review and comment, the Advisory Council must send Congress a report within 24 months of November 16, 1990, and every two years after that. The report must describe and assess environmental education nationwide; list activities done under the chapter in the prior two years; summarize major obstacles and recommend fixes; identify needed skills and training and recommend actions to meet those needs; and describe and assess programs for senior Americans and how they could be coordinated with nonprofit senior groups and existing institutions. The Task Force must review and comment on a draft of that report.