National Environmental Education Training Program

 

The purpose of the teacher training program is to train education professionals in the development and delivery of environmental education and training programs and studies. As required by Public Law 101-619, funds are provided to universities, non-profit organizations, or a consortia of such institutions to deliver environmental education training and support for education professionals. The mission of the current teacher training program--ee360--is to train a cadre of culturally-diverse educational professionals who have the knowledge, skills and tools to develop and deliver high-quality environmental education in formal and non-formal settings and to strengthen the EE field. The goals of the current teacher training program--ee360-- are to: 1) Drive Educator Excellence; 2) Cultivating Collective Impact; 3) Mobilizing Access to High-Quality Resources and Networks; and 4) Maintaining Project Excellence through Evaluation, Communication and Management. ee360 supports this diverse cadre of environmental education leaders through certification, accreditation, leadership training, state-of-the-art education materials and research, networking opportunities, and an on-line hub

Active 66.950 Environmental Protection Agency B - Project Grants Fiscal Year 2016 The Expanding Capacity in Environmental Education program will complete the following accomplishments in FY 2016 by December 2016. Developing and delivering NPEEE Guidelines workshops, Developing new guidelines for working in communities, Online learning, Building State Capacity including awarding 10 capacity building grants to 10 states to develop replicable model programs to diversify and strengthen environmental education, maintain eePRO launched in January 2016 and complete the implementation of the communications plan. The Expanding Capacity in Environmental Education program will complete the following accomplishments in FY 2016 by December 2016. Developing and delivering NPEEE Guidelines workshops, developing new guidelines for working in communities, Online learning, Building State Capacity including awarding 10 capacity building grants to 10 states to develop replicable model programs to diversify and strengthen environmental education, maintain eePRO launched in January 2016 and complete the implementation of the communications plan.
Fiscal Year 2017 The ee360 Program will completed the following accomplishments, among others, in FY 2017: preservice and in-service training for environmental educators; leadership training for NAAEE Affiliate members from 6 states; re-tooling of the educator certification program at the state level; Community Guidelines training at the annual NAAEE conference; workshop on linking research to practice; and updating the current Guidelines series.
Fiscal Year 2018 The ee360 Program will complete the following accomplishments, among others, in FY 2018: preservice and in-service training for environmental educators; leadership training for NAAEE Affiliate members from10 states; re-tooling of the educator certification program at the state level; Community Guidelines training at the annual NAAEE conference; deployment of a searchable research database; workshop on linking research to practice; and updating the current Guidelines series. National Environmental Education Act, Section 5, Public Law 101-619 Assistance under this program is available to universities, non-profit organizations, or a consortia of such institutions to deliver environmental education training and support for education professionals. For certain competitive funding opportunities under this CFDA assistance listing, the Agency may limit eligibility to compete to a number or subset of eligible applicants consistent with the Agency's Assistance Agreement Competition Policy. Education (0-8), education (9-12), education (13+), nonprofit institutions. . Documentation of nonprofit status may be required. Applicants may be requested to demonstrate they have appropriate background, academic training, experience in the field, and necessary equipment to carry out projects. The Office of Environmental Education may ask applicants or principal investigators to provide curriculum vitae and relevant publications and documentation of past performance of grants similar to this one in size and scope. Preapplication coordination is required. A solicitation notice is issued for this program once every five years. The notice identifies the application process. Regarding pre-application/pre-proposal assistance with respect to competitive funding opportunities under this program description, EPA will generally specify the nature of the pre-application/pre-proposal assistance, if any, that will be available to applicants in the competitive announcement. For additional information, contact the individual(s) listed in the competitive announcement. 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. The solicitation notice which describes the application procedure for the training program that will operate from 01/01/2017 through 12/31/2021, subject to the availability of funds, was posted on http://www.grants.gov in late Spring 2016. The solicitation process for this program is conducted every five years. Applicants, except in limited circumstances approved by the Agency, must submit all initial applications for funding through https://www.grants.gov. This program is subject to the provisions of 2 CFR 200 and 1500. For competitive awards, EPA will review and evaluate applications, proposals, and/or submissions in accordance with the terms, conditions, and criteria stated in the competitive announcement. Competitions will be conducted in accordance with EPA policies/regulations for competing assistance agreements. The deadline for submitting proposals for this program is specified in each solicitation notice. It can take up to a year from time of application submission to award of an assistance agreement. The last award was made in late summer 2016 (for the solicitation published in Spring 2016). The next date that a solicitation notice for this program will be published in the Spring of 2021. Assistance agreement competition-related disputes will be resolved in accordance with the dispute resolution procedures published in 70 FR (Federal Register) 3629, 3630 (January 26, 2005), which can be found at http://www2.epa.gov/grants/dispute-resolution-procedures. Copies of these procedures may also be requested by contacting the individual(s) listed as "Information Contacts." Disputes relating to matters other than the competitive selection of recipients will be resolved under 2 CFR 1500 Subpart E, as applicable. Generally, EPA incrementally funds grants and cooperative agreements for surveys, studies, and investigations. Approval of subsequent funding increments is dependent on satisfactory project progress, continued relevance of the project to the Office of Environmental Education's program priorities, and the availability of funds. Priorities for selecting proposals are listed in Section 5 of Public Law 101-619, National Environmental Education Act. The evaluation and selection criteria for competitive awards under this CFDA assistance listing will be described in the competitive announcement. Funds shall be used to establish an education and training program which shall include, at a minimum: (1) classroom training in environmental education and studies including environmental sciences and theory, educational methods and practices, environmental career or occupational education, and topical environmental issues and problems; (2) demonstrations of the design and conduct of environmental field studies and assessments; (3) development of environmental education programs and curricula, including programs and curricula to meet the needs of diverse ethnic and cultural groups; (4) sponsorship and management of international exchanges of teachers and other educational professionals between the United States, Canada, and Mexico involved in environmental programs and issues; (5) maintenance or support of a library of environmental education materials, information, literature, and technologies, with electronic as well as hard copy accessibility; (6) evaluation and dissemination of environmental education materials, training methods, and related programs; (7) sponsorship of conferences, seminars, and related forums for the advancement and development of environmental education and training curricula and materials, including international conferences, seminars, and forums; (8) supporting effective partnerships, networks, and the use of distant learning technologies; and (9) such other activities as the Administrator determines to be consistent with the policies of the Act. Assistance agreement awards under this program may involve or relate to geospatial information. Further information regarding geospatial information may be obtained by viewing the following website: https://www.epa.gov/geospatial. Performance Reports: Baseline monitoring is required for all assistance agreements. Approximately 10% of all EPA assistance agreements will be chosen for advanced monitoring each year. Grants and cooperative agreements are subject to inspections and audits by the Comptroller General of the United States, the EPA Office of Inspector General, other EPA staff, or any authorized representative of the Federal government. Reviews by the EPA Project Officer and the Grants Specialist may occur each year. Financial records, including all documents to support entries on accounting records and to substantiate changes to each assistance agreement, must be kept available to personnel authorized to examine EPA assistance accounts. All records must be maintained until the expiration of 3 years from the date of submission of the final expenditure report. If questions still remain, such as those raised as the result of an audit, related records should be retained until the matter is completely resolved. Statutory formula is not applicable to this assistance listing.

Matching is mandatory. 25%. In accordance with the National Environmental Education Act (Public Law 101-619), federal funds for any project under this section shall not exceed 75 percent of the total cost of such project. The project has a 25 percent non-federal match required by statutory formula. For the purposes of this section, the non-Federal share of project costs may be provided by cash or by in-kind contributions and other non-cash support.

MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. The training program consists of an initial one year budget and project period. Subsequent incremental funding on an annual basis may be awarded for the next four years, for a total budget and project period of five years. This program operates on a five year basis. Funds are initially awarded for a one year project period. Subsequent incremental funding awards on an annual basis for the next four years. Contact the appropriate EPA Regional Office listed in Appendix IV of the Catalog or the Headquarters contact listed below. Ginger Potter
Office of the Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. (Mail Code: 1704A)
Washington, DC 20460 USA
potter.ginger@epa.gov
Phone: 202-564-0453
Fax: 202- 564-2753 https://www.epa.gov/education 68-0108-0-1-304 (Cooperative Agreements (Discretionary Grants)) FY 18$3,000,000.00; FY 19 Estimate Not Available FY 20 Estimate Not Available FY 17$2,157,500.00; FY 16$2,157,500.00; - This is a 5-year program; one recipient is selected every 5 years. The project is funded on an annual basis and the amount of the annual funding depends on Congressional appropriation. In this case, per the National Environmental Education Act, 25% of the annual appropriation and average financial assistance for the full 5-year project period is approximately $10,877,500.00. 2 CFR 200 and 1500 and 40 CFR Parts 32, 33, 45, 47; program guidance; Federal Register (Invitation for Pre-proposal, July 2, 1991); Public Law 101-619. Fiscal Year 2016 ) Continuation of EE Pro Phase II roll out 2) Ongoing work on fundamentals of EE online training 3) Ongoing NAAEE Accreditation pilot tested at one institution of higher learning. 4) Finalize EE Guidelines for Excellence. EE PRO was launched in January 2016. This is a resource that provides educators, and community leaders a one stop hub for finding and sharing EE resources, information and professional development opportunities.
Fiscal Year 2017 ee360 provided learning opportunities for educators through webinars, on-line courses and workshops. Topics for 2017 included: New Approaches to Public Engagement: Seeking Relevance, Responsibility and Resilience; eeWORKS: Demonstrating the Power of Environmental Education; and Introducing NAAEE's Guidelines for Excellence in Community Engagement.
Fiscal Year 2018 ee360 will continue with the success they had in the development of the EE Research Database-the first database globally to allow environmental educators to search and find research to support their practice. For FY18, ee360 will begin the development of a EE Evaluation Database that will help environmental educators find the information, tools and methodologies to support their program evaluation efforts.