---
kind: "section"
citation: "20 U.S.C. § 5503"
title: "20"
title_heading: "Education"
number: "5503"
heading: "Office of Environmental Education"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/20/5503"
units:
  - "Chapter 65 — National Environmental Education"
---

# §5503. Office of Environmental Education

- (a) **Establishment—** The [Administrator](/usc/20/5502.md?p=1) shall establish an Office of Environmental Education within the Environmental Protection [Agency](/usc/20/5502.md?p=2).
- (b) **Duties and functions—** The Office of Environmental Education shall—
  - (1) develop and support programs and related efforts, in consultation and coordination with other Federal [agencies](/usc/20/5502.md?p=2), 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](/usc/20/5502.md?p=2), not-for-profit educational and environmental organizations, State [agencies](/usc/20/5502.md?p=2), 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](/usc/20/5504.md);
  - (5) manage Federal grant assistance provided to local education [agencies](/usc/20/5502.md?p=2), institutions of higher education, other not-for-profit organizations, and [noncommercial education broadcasting entities](/usc/20/5502.md?p=7), under [section 5505 of this title](/usc/20/5505.md);
  - (6) administer the environmental internship and fellowship programs provided for in [section 5506 of this title](/usc/20/5506.md);
  - (7) administer the environmental awards program provided for in [section 5507 of this title](/usc/20/5507.md);
  - (8) provide staff support to the Advisory Council and Task Force provided for in [section 5508 of this title](/usc/20/5508.md);
  - (9) assess, in coordination with other Federal [agencies](/usc/20/5502.md?p=2), the demand for professional skills and training needed to respond to current and anticipated environmental problems and cooperate with appropriate institutions, organizations, and [agencies](/usc/20/5502.md?p=2) to develop training programs, curricula, and continuing education programs for teachers, school [administrators](/usc/20/5502.md?p=1), and related professionals;
  - (10) assure the coordination of Federal statutes and programs administered by the [Agency](/usc/20/5502.md?p=2) 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](/usc/20/1221.md?p=c-3) of Education, the Federal Interagency Committee on Education, and with other Federal [agencies](/usc/20/5502.md?p=2), including [Federal natural resource management agencies](/usc/20/5502.md?p=9), 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](/usc/20/5502.md?p=2), State education and natural resource [agencies](/usc/20/5502.md?p=2), and others; and
  - (13) otherwise provide for the implementation of this chapter.
- (c) **Director and staff—** 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](/usc/20/5502.md?p=2) regional office.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 101–619, § 4, Nov. 16, 1990, 104 Stat. 3327.)