[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4270 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4270
To amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to authorize State
energy conservation plans to include programs to provide grants for
planning, designing, and installing green roofs on elementary school
and secondary school buildings, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 21, 2023
Ms. Velazquez (for herself, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Lynch, Ms.
Barragan, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Schrier, Ms. Crockett, Mr.
Bowman, Ms. Strickland, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Carson, and Mrs.
Ramirez) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to authorize State
energy conservation plans to include programs to provide grants for
planning, designing, and installing green roofs on elementary school
and secondary school buildings, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Public School Green Rooftop
Program''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Department of Energy recognizes green roof
technology is an effective, practical way to increase the
energy performance of buildings.
(2) The Environmental Protection Agency acknowledges green
roofs can reduce building energy use compared to conventional
roofs.
(3) Greater weatherization and insulation offered by green
roofs reduce the demand for electrical power needed to moderate
the temperature of a building, as roofs can be the source of
the greatest heat loss in the winter and heat gain in the
summer in buildings.
(4) Green roofs can produce greater energy efficiency on
elementary school and secondary school buildings than on other
structures because the dimensions of school buildings are
unique and often have a significantly greater width than
height.
(5) The General Services Administration recognizes green
roofs can last 40 years or more before requiring replacement
compared to 10 to 15 years for a conventional roof.
(6) The General Services Administration (GSA), Department
of Energy, and Environmental Protection Agency all recognize
the integral role of maintenance in a green roof's continued
energy efficiency benefits and cost savings, and the GSA Public
Buildings Service accordingly provides ongoing maintenance
training to maximize the benefits of green roofs.
(7) Green roofs can provide economic benefits, including
decreased energy costs, water use, stormwater runoff, landfill
waste, and building operating expenses that can save taxpayers
money.
(8) Green roofs can provide annual cost savings per square
foot of the roof's surface.
(9) Green roofs on educational facilities can provide
accessible sites to teach students at all levels of education
about various subjects including science, technology,
engineering, and math (STEM), biodiversity, ecology, urban
agriculture, stormwater management, sustainability, art,
technology, and more.
(10) Planning, designing, installing, and maintaining green
roofs can generate employment opportunities for properly
trained personnel, while specialized green roofs can also
provide employment opportunities for urban agriculture
operations.
(11) The Environmental Protection Agency, in collaboration
with Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, acknowledges landscape
architects as leaders in planning and designing green roofs.
(12) Green roofs can help stabilize neighborhoods by
providing community-wide benefits, including those that address
public health, food security, urban development, and economic
growth.
(13) By improving air and water quality and mitigating
excess heat, among other benefits, green roofs can improve
public health and lessen healthcare system stressors.
(14) Green roofs can help reduce the impacts of climate
change, including extreme heat and poor air quality, by
sequestering harmful carbon and other pollutants in the
atmosphere.
(15) Green roofs can reduce the urban heat island effect
and city-wide ambient temperatures by up to 5F because green
roof temperatures can be 30 to 40F lower than those of
conventional roofs.
(16) The National Aeronautics and Space Administration
determined indoor summer building temperatures were cooler for
buildings with green roofs.
(17) As living systems, green roofs retain rainwater in the
soil, plants, and drainage layer and therefore can reduce
stormwater runoff rates by up to 65 percent and delay the time
at which runoff occurs, resulting in decreased stress on sewer
systems and streams at peak flow periods and decreased
pollution in United States waterways.
(18) Green roofs can enhance environmental justice by
addressing the disproportionate impacts of excess heat and
adding much-needed green space to the built environment in
underserved communities.
(19) Green roofs can enhance biodiversity by providing and
creating habitats for various plants and wildlife such as
pollinators and migratory birds.
SEC. 3. GREEN ROOF GRANT PROGRAMS.
Section 362 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C.
6322) is amended--
(1) in subsection (d)--
(A) in paragraph (17), by striking ``; and'' and
inserting a semicolon;
(B) by redesignating paragraph (18) as paragraph
(19); and
(C) by inserting after paragraph (17) the
following:
``(18) in accordance with subsection (h), programs to
provide financial assistance, including grants, for planning,
designing, installing, maintaining, and monitoring green roofs
on elementary school and secondary school buildings; and''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(h) Green Roof Grant Programs.--
``(1) Grants for planning assistance.--
``(A) Grant programs.--Under a program to provide
financial assistance as provided for under subsection
(d)(18), a State may make grants to eligible entities
to pay the costs of planning and design assistance for
a green roof as described in subparagraph (B).
``(B) Allowable use of funds for grants for
planning assistance.--An eligible entity receiving a
grant pursuant to subparagraph (A) may use the grant
for any of the following purposes:
``(i) Identification of opportunities to
use green roofs on elementary school and
secondary school buildings, including
performing site analyses for locating green
roofs.
``(ii) Determination of, and plans to
obtain, permits relating to a green roof on an
elementary school or secondary school building.
``(iii) Architectural, landscape
architectural, and engineering analysis for a
green roof on an elementary school or secondary
school building, including--
``(I) plans for assessing the
structural loading capacity of the
elementary school or secondary school
building, accounting for vegetation;
and
``(II) design services, including
the creation of design plans and
construction documents for a green roof
on the elementary school or secondary
school building.
``(iv) Cost estimation of the planning,
designing, installing, and maintaining of a
green roof on an elementary school or secondary
school building, including an energy savings
analysis.
``(v) Administrative costs, including
reimbursement for grant writing services used
to obtain a grant under this paragraph.
``(2) Public school green roof installation grant
program.--
``(A) Public school green roof installation
program.--Under a program to provide financial
assistance as provided for under subsection (d)(18), a
State may award grants, on a competitive basis, to
eligible entities to carry out projects to install a
green roof on an elementary school or secondary school
building.
``(B) Application.--To receive a grant pursuant to
subparagraph (A), an eligible entity shall submit to a
State an application--
``(i) at such time, and in such manner, as
the State may require;
``(ii) that includes--
``(I) a strategy for increasing
energy efficiency and reducing heat
reflection of the applicable elementary
school or secondary school building;
``(II) a description and
methodology of the eligible entity's
plan for the installation, operation,
and maintenance of a green roof on an
elementary school or secondary school
building, including a plan to meet the
requirements of title III of the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
(42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq);
``(III) a letter of compliance from
each applicable local regulatory body
that documents the green roof is
planned and designed, and will be
constructed in accordance with local
standards and regulations, including
occupancy, fire, stormwater compliance,
and building codes;
``(IV) cost estimation of the
planning, designing, installing, and
maintaining of the green roof on the
elementary school or secondary school
building, including an energy savings
analysis; and
``(V) the hiring criteria and
qualifications for personnel to design,
construct, install, and maintain the
green roof, including a plan for
hiring--
``(aa) local workforce
trainees;
``(bb) at least one Green
Roof Professional as accredited
by the Green Roof Industry
Association, or a professional
licensed by a State or an
appropriate accreditation; and
``(cc) low-income
individuals, individuals
registered with a one-stop
center, and returning citizens.
``(C) Priority.--In awarding grants pursuant to
subparagraph (A), a State shall give priority to--
``(i) projects to install a green roof on
buildings of elementary schools and secondary
schools in which not fewer than 30 percent of
students are from households with incomes below
the poverty line;
``(ii) projects that meet minimum
performance and nationally recognized standards
for green roofs and walls, including--
``(I) the Living Architecture
Performance Tool;
``(II) The Sustainable SITES
Initiative; and
``(III) other nationally recognized
standards; and
``(iii) projects to install a green roof on
buildings of elementary schools and secondary
schools located in a nonattainment area (as
defined in section 171(2) of the Clean Air Act
(42 U.S.C. 7501(2)).
``(D) Installation.--Not later than 4 years after
receiving a grant pursuant to subparagraph (A), an
eligible entity shall complete installation of a green
roof.
``(E) Maintenance and monitoring of
infrastructure.--Under a program described in
subparagraph (A), in addition to receiving a grant
under to install a green roof under such program, each
eligible entity that meets the installation
requirements of subparagraph (D) may receive additional
funding for a 5-year period for maintenance and
monitoring activities relating to the green roof, which
activities may include the following:
``(i) Monitoring and evaluating energy
performance and cost savings of the green roof.
``(ii) Monitoring and evaluating air
temperature of the green roof.
``(iii) Conducting routine inspections
throughout the year to assess the condition of
the green roof, including plant health and
replanting alternatives in consultation with a
landscape architect, horticulturalist,
agronomist, or other landscape professional as
appropriate.
``(3) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Elementary school.--The term `elementary
school' has the meaning given the term in section 8101
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
(20 U.S.C. 7801).
``(B) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity'
means--
``(i) a public elementary school or
secondary school;
``(ii) a local educational agency; or
``(iii) a partnership between a nonprofit
organization and an entity described in clause
(i) or (ii).
``(C) Green roof.--The term `green roof' means a
layer of vegetation planted over a waterproofing system
or waterproof management practice that is installed on
top of a flat or slightly-sloped roof that may support
plant growth, including--
``(i) an extensive green roof with a
growing media layer that is up to 6 inches
thick; or
``(ii) an intensive green roof with a
growing media layer that is 6 to 48 inches
thick.
``(D) Local educational agency.--The term `local
educational agency' has the meaning given the term in
section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
``(E) Low-income individual.--The term `low-income
individual' means, with respect to any calendar year,
any individual who lives in a household that has a
gross income that does not exceed 300 percent of the
poverty line.
``(F) Nonprofit organization.--The term `nonprofit
organization' means an organization described in
section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
which is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of
such Code.
``(G) One-stop center.--The term `one-stop center'
has the meaning given such term in section 3 of the
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C.
3102).
``(H) Poverty line.--The term `poverty line' has
the meaning given the term in section 8101 of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 7801).
``(I) Secondary school.--The term `secondary
school' has the meaning given the term in section 8101
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
(20 U.S.C. 7801).''.
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