Home | Media Center | New Funding for Environmental Education in FY 2010 Appropriations Bills

December 31, 2009

Congress recently passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2010 (H.Rpt. 111-366) which is expected to be signed by President Obama in the coming days.  The bill includes key increases for environmental and sustainability education programs.  At the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Office of Education received $12 million for the Environmental Literacy Grants program, an increase of $3.5 million (or more than 40 percent!).  The bill also funds the NOAA Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program at $9.7 million, the same as last year.  We will continue to push for additional funding for these programs with the Campaign for Environmental Literacy and other partners in FY 2011. 
 
At the Department of Education, we got some great news about funding for the University Sustainability Program (USP) - a newly authorized program that focuses on sustainability practices, research and education on college campuses.  USP will be one of six "invitational priorities" that will compete for $29 million in FY 2010 funding through the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE).  While our coalition and champions were pushing for $50 million for USP alone, this is a significant step forward since USP is one of just a handful of the more than 60 new programs that were created in the higher education reauthorization act last year that actually got funded.  Special thanks to our champions on the Hill - Senator John Kerry (D-MA), Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), and Congressman Vern Ehlers (R-MI), and to the Campaign for Environmental Literacy who led this effort with Second Nature, the American Association of Community Colleges, Earth Day Network, NWF and others.