[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5229 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5229
To authorize the President to establish the Civilian Conservation and
Climate Corps as a means of providing gainful employment to unemployed
and underemployed youth through the performance of useful public work,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 10, 2021
Ms. Kaptur (for herself, Ms. Norton, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Ms.
Schakowsky, and Ms. Houlahan) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Education and Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the President to establish the Civilian Conservation and
Climate Corps as a means of providing gainful employment to unemployed
and underemployed youth through the performance of useful public work,
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 ``21st Century Civilian Conservation
and Climate Corps Act''.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF CIVILIAN CONSERVATION AND
CLIMATE CORPS.
(a) Establishment and Purpose.--In order to relieve the acute
problem of youth unemployment in the United States, and to provide for
the restoration of depleted natural resources and the achievement of a
sustainable natural environment, the President may establish and
operate a Civilian Conservation and Climate Corps to employ otherwise
unemployed or underemployed youth aged 16 through 25, in carrying out
works of a public nature in connection with conservation projects to
meet the challenges of climate change, to be undertaken in consultation
with relevant government agencies and private not-for-profit
conservation organizations at the Federal, State, local, and Tribal
level throughout the United States and its territories. The President
may build on existing and new partnerships with Program Partners, such
as the existing network of conservation corps organizations working
across the United States. These projects may include, without
limitation--
(1) the development of environmental education and
recreation programs for children;
(2) the forestation of lands belonging to the United States
or a State;
(3) the weatherization and installation of energy saving
improvements in the homes and neighborhoods of low- and
moderate-income families, including solar panels;
(4) the prevention of forest fires, floods, and soil
erosion;
(5) the maintenance and improvement of existing public
parks, tree planting, and the construction and maintenance of
new public parks in cooperation with municipalities;
(6) plant pest and disease control using sustainable,
nonenvironmentally harmful practices;
(7) the establishment, maintenance, and/or improvement of
community gardens and urban farms along with public markets for
the sale of local agricultural products and distribution
networks to enhance the quality and quantity of fresh, local
food available to low income families;
(8) the construction, maintenance, repair, and supervision
of paths, trails, and fire-lanes in units of the National Park
System, public lands, and other lands under the jurisdiction of
the Secretary of the Interior and units of the National Forest
System;
(9) subcontracted work on labor-intensive components of
capital-intensive environmental projects; and
(10) such other work as is consistent with the
environmental goals and employment purposes of this Act.
(b) Role of Federal Agencies.--To operate the Civilian Conservation
and Climate Corps, the President may utilize existing Federal
departments and agencies, including the Department of Labor, the
Department of Defense, the National Guard Bureau, the Department of the
Interior, the Department of Agriculture, the Army Corps of Engineers,
the Department of Transportation, the Department of Energy, the
Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Housing and Urban
Development, the Department of Commerce, the Corporation for National
and Community Service, and other and Federal governmental corporations.
(c) Role of State and Local Government.--Projects carried out on
State and local public property shall be undertaken in consultation
with and subject to the sponsorship of appropriate State and local
government agencies.
(d) Role of Qualified Youth Service and Conservation Corps.--To
expedite the Civilian Conservation and Climate Corps' immediate impact,
the President shall extensively utilize qualified youth service and
conservation corps as defined in section 6(5)(d).
(e) Inclusion of Other Lands.--The President may extend the
activities of the Civilian Conservation and Climate Corps to lands
owned by a political subdivision of a State and lands in private
ownership, but only for the purpose of conducting such kinds of
cooperation work as are otherwise authorized by law and consistent with
the program's purposes.
(f) Contract Authority.--For the purpose of carrying out this Act,
the President may enter into such contracts or agreements with public
and private entities as may be necessary, including provisions for
utilization of existing State and local administrative agencies.
(g) Acquisition of Real Property.--The President, or the head of
any department or agency authorized by the President to construct any
project or to carry on any public works under this Act, may acquire
real property for such project or public work by purchase, donation,
condemnation, or otherwise.
(h) Education and Training.--The Program shall include a
prominently featured educational and training component providing
concerted support for participants to obtain a high school diploma if
they lack one and to receive specialized training to the extent
necessary to permit them to perform their jobs in a professionally
competent manner.
(i) Project Selection.--The Administrator of the Program shall
establish and administer a project selection process that is merit
based, consistent with the purposes of this Act, free of political
influence, and ensures that projects are fairly distributed among the
States and Federal lands.
(j) Inspector General.--The President shall establish an Office of
the Inspector General of the Civilian Conservation and Climate Corps
pursuant to the provisions of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5
U.S.C. App.).
SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATION OF CIVILIAN CONSERVATION AND CLIMATE CORPS.
(a) Employment Preference.--If the President determines that
amounts appropriated to the Civilian Conservation and Climate Corps
under this Act for a fiscal year will be insufficient to employ all of
the individuals described in section 2(a) who are seeking or likely to
seek employment in the Program and continue the employment of current
employees who desire to remain in the Program, the following order of
preference shall be observed in additional Program hiring:
(1) Unemployed veterans of the Armed Forces and unemployed
members of the reserve components and National Guard components
of the Armed Forces.
(2) Unemployed individuals who have exhausted their
entitlement to unemployment compensation.
(3) Unemployed citizens, who immediately before employment
in the Program, are eligible for unemployment compensation
payable under any State law or Federal unemployment
compensation law, including any additional compensation or
extended compensation under such laws.
(4) Members of Disadvantaged Population Groups.
(5) Other unemployed individuals, including individuals who
give up a job in order to enroll in the Program.
(b) Housing and Care of Employees.--The Program may administer both
residential and non-residential work projects or mixtures of the two,
depending on the location of the work projects and the characteristics
of the Program participants employed on the projects. Where housing is
provided, it shall include room, board, and appropriate supervision.
(c) Transportation.--The President may provide for the
transportation of persons employed in the Civilian Conservation and
Climate Corps to and from their places of employment.
(d) Non-Discrimination.--The Program shall comply with all Federal,
State, and local employment discrimination and employment protection
laws.
(e) Wages.--Program participants shall be paid wages comparable to
those paid public sector employees who do the same or comparable work,
less a discounted charge for room, board, and clothing to the extent
they are provided by the Program. All Program earnings shall be subject
to Federal, State, and local payroll and income taxes, except for those
that support benefits of a similar nature to those provided program
participants by the Program.
(f) Benefits.--Program participants shall be provided health care,
paid sick leave, and disability benefits free of charge while enrolled
in the program, and upon successful completion of 18 months or more of
employment in the program, shall be entitled to educational
assistance--
(1) furnished by the Administrator; and
(2) equivalent to educational assistance to which an
individual described in section 3311(b) of title 38, United
States Code, is entitled under chapter 33 of such title.
(g) Protection From Layoffs.--No individual whose employment is
funded under this Act may be employed in a position if--
(1) employing such individual will result in the layoff or
partial displacement (such as a reduction in hours, wages, or
employee benefits) of an existing employee of the employer; or
(2) such individual will perform the same or substantially
similar work that had previously been performed by an employee
of the employer who has been laid off within the preceding 12
months unless the employee has declined an offer of
reinstatement to the position the employee occupied immediately
prior to being laid off or partially displaced.
(h) Protection of Promotions.--No individual may be hired for a
position funded under this Act in a manner that infringes upon the
promotional opportunities of an existing employee of the Program
employer.
(i) Protection of Collective Bargaining Members.--No individual
whose employment is funded under this Act may perform work that
otherwise would be performed by the members of a collective bargaining
unit unless--
(1) the consent of the union is obtained; and
(2) negotiations have taken place with such union as to the
terms and conditions of such employment.
(j) Program Enrollment.--Enrollment goals for the program shall be
as follows:
(1) 250,000 individual enrollees by the end of the
Program's first 12 months of operation.
(2) 500,000 individual enrollees by the end of the
Program's first 24 months of operation.
(3) 750,000 individual enrollees by the end of the
Program's first 36 months of operation.
All unemployed individuals aged 16 through 25 who seek employment in
the program and have legal authorization to work in the United States
by the end of the Program's first 48 months of operation.
SEC. 4. PROGRAM EVALUATION.
(a) Report to Congress.--The Administrator of the Program shall
submit a report to the House Appropriations Committee, Committee on
Education and Labor, and the Senate Appropriations Committee, and
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on the Program's
implementation and effects no later than 6 months after it is
established and every 6 months thereafter.
(b) Formal Program Evaluations.--During the Program's second and
fifth years of operations, a thorough evaluation of its performance
shall be undertaken by an independent non-governmental organization
with expertise concerning the evaluation of direct job creation
programs.
SEC. 5. APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) Appropriations for the Establishment and Operation of the
Program.--There are appropriated from the general fund of the Treasury,
without fiscal year limitation, such funds as are necessary to carry
out the purposes of this Act through the end of the fifth complete
fiscal year following its enactment.
(b) Use of Unobligated Funds Appropriated for Public Works.--
(1) Use of existing funds.--The President may use any
moneys previously appropriated for public works and unobligated
as of the date of the enactment of this Act to establish and
operate a Civilian Conservation and Climate Corps under this
Act.
(2) Use to relieve unemployment.--Not less than 50 percent
of the funds utilized pursuant to paragraph (1) must be used to
provide for the employment of individuals under this Act.
(3) Exceptions.--Paragraph (1) does not apply to--
(A) unobligated moneys appropriated for public
works on which actual construction has been commenced
as of the date of the enactment of this Act or may be
commenced within 90 days after that date; and
(B) maintenance funds for river and harbor
improvements already allocated as of the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(c) Duration of Availability.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to the
authorization of appropriations in subsection (a) or made available
under subsection (b) shall remain available until expended.
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Administrator of the program.--The term ``Administrator
of the Program'' means the individual designated by the
President or the President's designee to administer the Program
established by this Act.
(2) Disadvantaged population group.--The term
``Disadvantaged Population Group'' shall include groups
determined by the Administrator of the Program, following
consultation with relevant government and non-government
experts, to have suffered economic or social disadvantages that
impair their ability to find decent work compared to groups
whose members have not suffered similar disadvantages.
(3) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian Tribe'' has the
meaning given such term in section 102(17) of the Housing and
Community Development Act (42 U.S.C. 5302(17)).
(4) Program.--The term ``Program'' means the program
established under this Act.
(5) Program partner.--The term ``Program Partner'' means--
(A) a unit of local government;
(B) a land trust;
(C) a conservation nonprofit organization; or
(D) a qualified youth service and conservation
corps, including--
(i) an organization established under--
(I) the National and Community
Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12501 et
seq.);
(II) title I of Public Law 91-378
(commonly known as the ``Youth
Conservation Corps Act of 1970'') (16
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); or
(III) the Public Lands Corps Act of
1993 (16 U.S.C. 1721 et seq.),
including the Indian Youth Service
Corps authorized under section 210 of
such Act (16 U.S.C. 1727b);
(ii) the Urban Youth Corps authorized under
section 106(c)(3) of the National and Community
Service Trust Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 12656);
(iii) a qualified urban youth corps (as
defined in section 106(c)(3) of the National
and Community Service trust Act of 1993 (42
U.S.C. 12656(c)(3))); and
(iv) the Healthy Future Corps established
under section 122(a)(2)(A) of the National and
Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C.
12572(a)(2)(A)).
(6) State.--The term ``State'' means any State of the
United States, or any instrumentality thereof approved by the
Governor, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, other self-governing
or partially self-governing territories of the United States,
and Indian Tribes.
SEC. 7. TERMINATION.
The authority of the President to establish and operate a Civilian
Conservation and Climate Corps under this Act shall expire on September
30 of the fifth complete fiscal year following the enactment of this
Act.
<all>