Grant program

(a) In general As part of the Climate Change Resiliency Program established under section 202, the Secretary of Education shall establish a program to make grants to State educational agencies, in partnership with local educational agencies and local nonprofit organizations, for the development and implementation of statewide, regional, or local climate resiliency plans or climate resiliency projects for public elementary schools and secondary schools, BIE schools, and schools funded by BIE, with the aim of enabling public schools to serve as community resiliency centers. (b) Climate resiliency plans and projects Each climate resiliency plan or climate resiliency project under subsection (a) shall include 1 or more of the following depending on the needs of the schools and surrounding communities to be served: (1) Improvements to school buildings and grounds, including projects such as— (A) installing on-site distributed generation that combines energy efficient devices, energy storage, and renewable energy to allow the school to access essential energy during power outages and optimize use of on-site and off-site energy sources for emissions reductions; (B) upgrading school kitchen facilities to support the preparation of scratch-cooked student meals that use whole ingredients and are rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains; (C) projects that generate and maintain publicly accessibly integrated sustainability data and building management platforms; (D) improving walkability and accessibility on school grounds and in all school buildings; (E) acquiring relevant disaster response equipment and carrying out disaster response training; (F) procuring electric school buses; (G) installing public charging infrastructure for electric school buses and electric vehicles; (H) establishing or improving dedicated infrastructure for safe transportation by bicycle, including bicycle lanes and parking spots; (I) enhancing multi-modal access to support the needs of all students, families, and staff, whether they walk, bike, use transit, or use other means of transportation to and from school; (J) establishing or improving vehicle speed reduction infrastructure; and (K) a project involving the installation of high-speed internet infrastructure, in coordination with the E-rate program of the Federal Communications Commission set forth under subpart F of part 54 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation)— (i) in order to provide universal internet access for schools served by the grantee, BIE schools, and schools funded by BIE; (ii) with an upload speed that allows for the full execution of activities related to virtual teaching and learning, including the access and use of interactive online learning modules and textbooks, online professional learning courses, videoconferencing, and assistive technology; (iii) including the ongoing costs associated with providing that internet infrastructure and access; (iv) with respect to which, schools are encouraged to partner with municipal and other public or nonprofit entities to support internet access; and (v) with respect to which the school will ensure that all internet service providers with which the school contracts for the project include open access infrastructure. (2) Green infrastructure projects and projects to increase food supply resiliency, such as— (A) wetlands, drainage ponds, and any other green infrastructure to protect schools from projected severe effects with respect to extreme weather, natural disasters, or climate change-related events, including sea-level rise, flooding, and increased risk of wildfire; (B) green rooftops and walls that meet the minimum performance standard specified within the Living Architecture Performance Tool (LAPT) rating system, implemented or completed in consultation with at least one Green Roof Professional (GRP) as accredited by the Green Roof Industry Association, particularly those that can provide temperature management and air quality improvements and reduce stormwater runoff; (C) indoor plantings, particularly those that can provide air quality improvements; (D) tree plantings and green playgrounds that, at appropriate times, can act as a green space for the community; (E) community gardens that may be used by the school to provide healthy food for students or by the community to provide healthy food for community residents; (F) procurement of local, organic, and sustainably produced food, including a focus on healthy, plant-based options; and (G) large scale food composting operations, and other projects to reduce single-use plastic and promote zero-waste options. (3) Projects to enable remote learning in the event that a school building is unusable due to a natural disaster, climate- or climate-change related event, severe weather, or infectious disease outbreaks. (4) Projects for climate resiliency education, including STEAM and social science education and career preparation, such as projects that combine upgrades to school buildings and grounds with career and technical education opportunities. (5) Any other type of plan or project carried out by the State educational agency that the Secretary of Education determines will increase the resiliency of a school or school infrastructure provided, operated, or owned by the State educational agency with respect to the events described in section 202(1). (c) Priority The Secretary of Education shall develop metrics to evaluate grant applications and give priority to applications for climate resiliency plans or climate resiliency projects that focus on improving schools in neighborhoods that experience low air quality, lack green space and healthy food, bear higher cumulative pollution burdens, or are at high risk of experiencing the adverse effects of climate change. (d) Components The Secretary of Education, directly or through partnerships with States and nonprofit organizations, shall provide technical assistance to support grantees in developing and implementing climate resiliency plans or climate resiliency projects that— (1) provide hands-on education and applied STEAM and social science learning opportunities to students; (2) demonstrate a commitment to provide job training, registered apprenticeship programs, and contracting opportunities to residents and small businesses owned by residents of the community that the school serves; (3) identify and further community priority actions and conduct robust community engagement; (4) utilize climate change and community health data for proactive solutions; (5) employ nature-based solutions that focus on protection, restoration, or management of ecological systems to safeguard public health, provide clean air and water, increase natural hazard resilience, and sequester carbon; (6) increase equitable outcomes for and support strong partnerships with environmental justice communities and climate vulnerable populations; (7) achieve broad and multiple community benefits; and (8) monitor project success and maintaining the project into the future. (e) Existing initiatives The Secretary of Education may encourage and give priority to climate resiliency plans or climate resiliency projects that integrate with and inform existing sustainability initiatives, such as the Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools program. (f) Environmental health The Secretary of Education may develop and encourage metrics to support consistent reporting of environmental health best practices and other outcomes. (g) Coordination (1) Environmental protection agency and agriculture The Secretary of Education shall coordinate with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Secretary of Agriculture to provide technical guidance or assistance to State educational agencies in designing and carrying out climate resiliency plans or climate resiliency projects funded by the grant program as they relate to healthy schools. (2) Department of energy The Secretary of Education shall coordinate with the Secretary of Energy to develop metrics to evaluate grant applications and provide technical assistance to State and local educational agencies in designing and carrying out climate resiliency plans or climate resiliency projects. (h) Partners A recipient of a grant under this section to carry out a project described in subsection (b)(1)(K) shall, to the extent practicable, partner with local government and other public or nonprofit entities to support internet access, and all service providers shall use open access infrastructure. (i) Environmental justice communities The Secretary of Education shall ensure that not less than 50 percent of funds awarded under this section are used for projects located in environmental justice communities. (j) Wage rate requirements (1) In general Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all laborers and mechanics employed by contractors and subcontractors on projects funded directly by a grant under this section shall be paid wages at rates not less than those prevailing on projects of a similar character in the locality, as determined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Davis-Bacon Act). (2) Authority With respect to the labor standards specified in paragraph (1), the Secretary of Labor shall have the authority and functions set forth in Reorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 (64 Stat. 1267; 5 U.S.C. App.) and section 3145 of title 40, United States Code. (k) Use of american iron, steel, and manufactured products (1) Definitions In this subsection: (A) Manufactured product The term manufactured product means any construction material or end product (as those terms are defined in part 25.003 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation) that is not an iron or steel product, including— (i) electrical components; and (ii) non-ferrous building materials, including aluminum, polyvinylchloride, glass, fiber optics, plastic, wood, masonry, rubber, manufactured stone, any other non-ferrous metals, and any unmanufactured construction material. (B) Produced in the united states The term produced in the United States means the following: (i) When used with respect to a manufactured product, the product was manufactured in the United States and the cost of the components of that product that were mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States exceeds 60 percent of the total cost of all components of the product. (ii) When used with respect to iron or steel products, or an individual component of a manufactured product, all manufacturing processes for those iron or steel products or components, from the initial melting stage through the application of coatings, occurred in the United States, except that the term does not include— (I) steel or iron material or products manufactured abroad from semi-finished steel or iron from the United States; or (II) steel or iron material or products manufactured in the United States from semi-finished steel or iron of foreign origin. (2) Requirements A State that receives funds under this section shall ensure that any iron, steel, and manufactured products used in a project carried out with those funds are produced in the United States. (3) Waiver authority (A) In general The Secretary of Education may waive the requirement under paragraph (2) if the Secretary of Education determines that— (i) applying the requirement would be inconsistent with the public interest; (ii) iron, steel, and manufactured products produced in the United States are not produced in a sufficient and reasonably available quantity or are not of a satisfactory quality; or (iii) using iron, steel, and manufactured products produced in the United States will increase the cost of the applicable overall project by more than 25 percent. (B) Publication Before issuing a waiver under subparagraph (A), the Secretary of Education shall publish in the Federal Register a detailed written explanation of the waiver determination. (4) Consistency with international agreements This subsection shall be applied in a manner consistent with the obligations of the United States under international agreements.