20 U.S.C. § 5509 : US Code - Section 5509: National Environmental Education and Training Foundation

Search 20 U.S.C. § 5509 : US Code - Section 5509: National Environmental Education and Training Foundation

(a) Establishment and purposes
(1) Establishment
(A) There is hereby established the National Environmental
Education and Training Foundation. The Foundation is established
in order to extend the contribution of environmental education
and training to meeting critical environmental protection needs,
both in this country and internationally; to facilitate the
cooperation, coordination, and contribution of public and private
resources to create an environmentally advanced educational
system; and to foster an open and effective partnership among
Federal, State, and local government, business, industry,
academic institutions, community based environmental groups, and
international organizations.
(B) The Foundation is a charitable and nonprofit corporation
whose income is exempt from tax, and donations to which are tax
deductible to the same extent as those organizations listed
pursuant to section 501(c) of title 26. The Foundation is not an
agency or establishment of the United States.
(2) Purposes
The purposes of the Foundation are -
(A) subject to the limitation contained in the final sentence
of subsection (d) of this section, to encourage, accept,
leverage, and administer private gifts for the benefit of, or
in connection with, the environmental education and training
activities and services of the United States Environmental
Protection Agency;
(B) to conduct such other environmental education activities
as will further the development of an environmentally conscious
and responsible public, a well-trained and environmentally
literate workforce, and an environmentally advanced educational
system;
(C) to participate with foreign entities and individuals in
the conduct and coordination of activities that will further
opportunities for environmental education and training to
address environmental issues and problems involving the United
States and Canada or Mexico.
(3) Programs
The Foundation will develop, support, and/or operate programs
and projects to educate and train educational and environmental
professionals, and to assist them in the development and delivery
of environmental education and training programs and studies.
(b) Board of Directors
(1) Establishment and membership
(A) The Foundation shall have a governing Board of Directors
(hereafter referred to in this section as "the Board"), which
shall consist of 13 directors, each of whom shall be
knowledgeable or experienced in the environment, education and/or
training. The Board shall oversee the activities of the
Foundation and shall assure that the activities of the Foundation
are consistent with the environmental and education goals and
policies of the Environmental Protection Agency and with the
intents and purposes of this chapter. The membership of the
Board, to the extent practicable, shall represent diverse points
of view relating to environmental education and training.
(B) The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
shall, pursuant to paragraph (2), appoint the Director of the
Office of Environmental Education established pursuant to section
5502 of this title as an ex-officio member of the Board. Ex
officio membership shall also be offered to other Federal
agencies or departments with an interest and/or experience in
environmental education and training.
(C) Appointment to the Board shall not constitute employment
by, or the holding of an office of, the United States for the
purposes of any Federal law.
(2) Appointment and terms
(A) Members of the Board shall be appointed by the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
(B) Within 90 days of November 16, 1990, and as appropriate
thereafter, the Administrator shall publish in the Federal
Register an announcement of appointments of Directors of the
Board. At the same time, the Administrator shall transmit a copy
of such announcement to the Education and Labor Committee and the
Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives
and the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the United
States Senate. Such appointments shall become final and effective
90 days after publication in the Federal Register.
(C) The directors shall be appointed for terms of 4 years,
except that the Administrator, in making the initial appointments
to the Board, shall appoint 5 directors to a term of 2 years, 4
directors to a term of 3 years, and 4 directors to a term of 4
years. The Administrator shall appoint an individual to serve as
a director in the event of a vacancy on the Board within 60 days
of said vacancy in the manner in which the original appointment
was made. No individual may serve more than 2 consecutive terms
as a director.
(3) Chair
The Chair shall be elected by the Board from its members for a
2-year term.
(4) Quorum
A majority of the current membership of the Board shall
constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
(5) Meetings
The Board shall meet at the call of the Chair at least twice a
year. If a Director misses three consecutive regularly scheduled
meetings, that individual may be removed from the Board and that
vacancy filled in accordance with this subsection.
(6) Reimbursement of expenses
Members of the Board shall serve without pay, but may be
reimbursed for the actual and necessary traveling and subsistence
expenses incurred by them in the performance of the duties of the
Foundation.
(7) General powers
(A) The Board may complete the organization of the Foundation
by -
(i) appointing officers and employees;
(ii) adopting a constitution and bylaws consistent with the
purposes of the Foundation and the provisions of this section;
and
(iii) undertaking such other acts as may be necessary to
carry out the provisions of this section.
(B) The following limitations apply with respect to the
appointment of officers and employees of the Foundation:
(i) Officers and employees may not be appointed until the
Foundation has sufficient funds to pay for their service.
Officers and employees of the Foundation shall be appointed
without regard to the provisions of title 5 governing
appointments in the competitive service, and may be paid
without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 or subchapter
III of chapter 53 of title 5 relating to classification and
General Schedule pay rates, except that no individual so
appointed may receive pay in excess of the annual rate of basic
pay in effect for grade GS-18 of the General Schedule.
(ii) The first officer or employee appointed by the Board
shall be the Executive Director of the Foundation who -
(I) shall serve, at the direction of the Board, as the
Secretary of the Board and the Foundation's chief executive
officer; and
(II) shall be experienced in matters relating to
environmental education and training.
(c) Rights and obligations of Foundation
(1) In general
The Foundation -
(A) shall have perpetual succession;
(B) may conduct business throughout the several States,
territories, and possessions of the United States and abroad;
(C) shall have its principal offices in the District of
Columbia or in the greater metropolitan area; and
(D) shall at all times maintain a designated agent authorized
to accept service of process for the Foundation.
The service of notice to, or service of notice upon, the agent
required under paragraph (4), or mailed to the business address
of such agent, shall be deemed as service upon or notice to the
Foundation.
(2) Seal
The Foundation shall have an official seal selected by the
Board which shall be judicially noticed.
(3) Powers
To carry out its purposes under subsection (a) of this section,
the Foundation shall have, in addition to the powers otherwise
given it under this section, the usual powers of a corporation
acting as a trustee, including the power -
(A) to accept, receive, solicit, hold, administer, and use
any gift, devise, or bequest, either absolutely or in trust, of
real or personal property or any income therefrom or other
interest therein;
(B) to acquire by purchase or exchange any real or personal
property or interest therein;
(C) unless otherwise required by the instrument of transfer,
to sell, donate, lease, invest, reinvest, retain, or otherwise
dispose of any property or income therefrom;
(D) to sue, or to be sued, and complain or defend itself in
any court of competent jurisdiction, except that the Directors
of the Board shall not be personally liable, except for gross
negligence;
(E) to enter into contracts or other arrangements with public
agencies and private organizations and persons and to make such
payments as may be necessary to carry out its functions; and
(F) to do any and all acts necessary and proper to carry out
the purposes of the Foundation.
(d) Conditions on donations
(1) For the purposes of this section, a gift, devise, or bequest
may be accepted by the Foundation even though it is encumbered,
restricted, or subject to beneficial interests of private persons
if any current future interest therein is for the benefit of the
Foundation.
(2) No donation, gift, devise, bequest, property (either real or
personal), voluntary services, or any other thing of value may be
accepted by the Foundation if it -
(A) is contingent upon the transmission by the Foundation of
materials or information prepared by the donor or a third party
in such a fashion as to convey a particular point of view
favorable to the economic interests of the donor or its
constituents or associates; or
(B) in the judgment of the Board carries with it an explicit or
implied requirement on the part of the Foundation to do a
specific act or make general representations which are to the
benefit of the donor and which are not consistent with the
environmental and education goals and policies of the
Environmental Protection Agency and with the intents and purposes
of this chapter.
(3) No materials bearing "logos", letterhead or other means of
identification associated with a donor or third party may be
transmitted by the Foundation, for use in environmental education
and training except as required pursuant to subsection (f) of this
section.
(e) Administrative services and support
Subject to the requirements of this subsection, the Administrator
may provide personnel, facilities, and other administrative
services to the Foundation, including reimbursement of expenses
under subsection (b)(6) of this section, not to exceed then current
Federal Government per diem rates, for a period of up to 4 years
from November 16, 1990, and may accept reimbursement therefor, to
be deposited in the Treasury to the credit of the appropriations
then current and chargeable for the costs of providing such
services. With respect to personnel, the Administrator may provide
no more than 1 full-time employee to serve the Foundation in a
policy capacity, and may provide clerical and other support staff
at a level equivalent to 2 full-time equivalent employees to the
Foundation, for a period not to exceed 2 years from the date of
initial assignment of any personnel for this purpose.
(f) Omitted
(g) Volunteer status
The Administrator may accept, without regard to the civil service
classification laws, rules, or regulations, the services of the
Foundation, the Board, and the officers and employees of the Board,
without compensation from the Environmental Protection Agency, as
volunteers in the performance of the functions authorized herein,
in the manner provided for under this section.
(h) Audits and petition of Attorney General for equitable relief
For purposes of section 10101 of title 36, the Foundation shall
be treated as a corporation in part B of subtitle II of title 36.
(i) United States release from liability
The United States shall not be liable for any debts, defaults,
acts, or omissions of the Foundation nor shall the full faith and
credit of the United States extend to any obligation of the
Foundation.
(j) Amendment and repeal
The Congress expressly reserves the right to repeal or amend this
section at any time.