republic-os/legal/us/code/title-20/chapter-66/section-5607b.md

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LegalText	20 U.S.C. § 5607b	Use of the National Center by Federal agency or other entity	us	united_states_code	code_section	20	EDUCATION	66	MORRIS K. UDALL AND STEWART L. UDALL FOUNDATION	5607b	20 U.S.C. § 5607b	current	119-100	2026-06-26	official	https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc20@119-100.zip	/us/usc/t20/s5607b	data/legal/raw/us/code/title-20/usc20.xml	cfec43c2001dca99a9ca95291085ee137d7167777c3d7ae1af156814bcbe37d6	6022872c5d6a3398d1728f82f8cefcb58db9f5ff548e2a636450be1e4a8bb052	c7eec966492ea4d6a326adf1f5e285a3782f552daf4cf485adfeeccae50282ff	2026-07-04	official	legal us-code

20 U.S.C. § 5607b - Use of the National Center by Federal agency or other entity

Text

(a) Authorization A Federal agency may use the Foundation and the National Center to provide assessment, mediation, collaboration, or other related services in connection with a dispute or conflict related to the environment, public lands, or natural resources, or with a Federal, State, or tribal process or procedure that may result in a dispute or conflict.

(b) Payment (1) In general A Federal agency may enter into a contract and expend funds to obtain the services of the National Center.

(2) Payment into Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund A payment from an executive agency on a contract entered into under paragraph (1) shall be paid into the Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund established under section 5607a of this title.

(c) Notification and concurrence (1) Notification An agency or instrumentality of the Federal Government shall notify the chairperson of the President’s Council on Environmental Quality when using the Foundation or the National Center to provide the services described in subsection (a).

(2) Notification descriptions In a matter involving two or more agencies or instrumentalities of the Federal Government, notification under paragraph (1) shall include a written description of—

(A) the issues and parties involved;

(B) prior efforts, if any, undertaken by the agency to resolve or address the issue or issues;

(C) all Federal agencies or instrumentalities with a direct interest or involvement in the matter and a statement that all Federal agencies or instrumentalities agree to mediation, collaboration, and dispute resolution; and

(D) other relevant information.

(3) Concurrence (A) In general In a matter that involves two or more agencies or instrumentalities of the Federal Government (including branches or divisions of a single agency or instrumentality), the agencies or instrumentalities of the Federal Government shall obtain the concurrence of the chairperson of the President’s Council on Environmental Quality before using the Foundation or National Center to provide the services described in subsection (a).

(B) Indication of concurrence or nonconcurrence The chairperson of the President’s Council on Environmental Quality shall indicate concurrence or nonconcurrence under subparagraph (A) not later than 20 days after receiving notice under paragraph (2).

(d) Exceptions (1) Legal issues and enforcement (A) In general A dispute or conflict involving agencies or instrumentalities of the Federal Government (including branches or divisions of a single agency or instrumentality) that concern purely legal issues or matters, interpretation or determination of law, or enforcement of law by one agency against another agency shall not be submitted to the Foundation or National Center.

(B) Applicability Subparagraph (A) does not apply to a dispute or conflict concerning—

(i) agency implementation of a program or project;

(ii) a matter involving two or more agencies with parallel authority requiring facilitation and coordination of the various Government agencies; or

(iii) a nonlegal policy or decisionmaking matter that involves two or more agencies that are jointly operating a project.

(2) Other mandated mechanisms or avenues A dispute or conflict involving agencies or instrumentalities of the Federal Government (including branches or divisions of a single agency or instrumentality) for which Congress by law has mandated another dispute resolution mechanism or avenue to address or resolve shall not be submitted to the Foundation or National Center.

(e) Non-Federal entities (1) Non-Federal entities, including state 11 So in original. Probably should be capitalized. and local governments, Native American tribal governments, nongovernmental organizations and persons, as defined in section 1 of title 1, may use the Foundation and the National Center to provide assessment, mediation, or other related services in connection with a dispute or conflict involving the Federal government 1 related to the environment, public lands, or natural resources.

(2) Payment into the environmental dispute resolution fund.— Entities utilizing services pursuant to this subsection shall reimburse the National Center for the costs of services provided. Such amounts shall be deposited into the Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund established under section 5607a of this title.

(f) Agency management or control Use of the Foundation or National Center to provide independent and impartial assessment, mediation, or other dispute or conflict resolution under this section shall not be considered to be the establishment or use of an advisory committee within the meaning of chapter 10 of title 5.

(Pub. L. 102–259, § 11, as added Pub. L. 105–156, § 7, Feb. 11, 1998, 112 Stat. 10; amended Pub. L. 105–277, div. A, § 101(h) [title V, § 517(a)], Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681–480, 2681–512; Pub. L. 111–90, § 9, Nov. 3, 2009, 123 Stat. 2978; Pub. L. 116–94, div. P, title III, § 307, Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 3190; Pub. L. 117–286, § 4(a)(151), Dec. 27, 2022, 136 Stat. 4322.)

Notes

Editorial Notes

Prior ProvisionsA prior section 11 of Pub. L. 102–259 was renumbered section 13 and is classified to section 5609 of this title.

Amendments2022—Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 117–286 substituted “chapter 10 of title 5.” for “the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).” 2019—Pub. L. 116–94, § 307(1), substituted “the National Center” for “the Institute” in section catchline. Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 116–94, § 307(2), substituted “National Center” for “Institute” and “resources, or with a Federal, State, or tribal process or procedure that may result in a dispute or conflict.” for “resources.” and inserted “collaboration,” after “mediation,”. Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 116–94, § 307(3), substituted “National Center” for “Institute”. Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 116–94, § 307(4)(A), substituted “National Center” for “Institute”. Subsec. (c)(2)(C). Pub. L. 116–94, § 307(4)(B), inserted “mediation, collaboration, and” after “agree to”. Subsec. (c)(3)(A). Pub. L. 116–94, § 307(4)(C), substituted “National Center” for “Institute”. Subsec. (d)(1)(A), (2). Pub. L. 116–94, § 307(5), substituted “National Center” for “Institute”. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 116–94, § 307(6), substituted “National Center” for “Institute” in pars. (1) and (2). Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 116–94, § 307(7), substituted “National Center” for “Institute”. 2009—Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 111–90 added subsec. (f). 1998—Pub. L. 105–277, § 101(h) [title V, § 517(a)(1)], inserted “or other entity” after “Federal agency” in section catchline. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 105–277, § 101(h) [title V, § 517(a)(2)], added subsec. (e).