[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 584 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]


        H.R.584

                       One Hundred Ninth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE FIRST SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
            the fourth day of January, two thousand and five


                                 An Act


 
  To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to recruit volunteers to 
   assist with, or facilitate, the activities of various agencies and 
               offices of the Department of the Interior.

    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 ``Department of the Interior Volunteer 
Recruitment Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to authorize the Secretary of the 
Interior to recruit and use volunteers to assist with, or facilitate, 
the programs of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the United States 
Geological Survey, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Office of the 
Secretary.

SEC. 3. VOLUNTEER AUTHORITY.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior may recruit, train, 
and accept, without regard to the civil service classification laws, 
rules, or regulations, the services of individuals, contributed without 
compensation as volunteers, for aiding in or facilitating the 
activities administered by the Secretary through the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs, the United States Geological Survey, the Bureau of 
Reclamation, and the Office of the Secretary.
    (b) Restrictions on Activities of Volunteers.--
        (1) In general.--In accepting such services of individuals as 
    volunteers, the Secretary shall not permit the use of volunteers in 
    law enforcement work, in regulatory and enforcement work, in 
    policymaking processes, or to displace any employee.
        (2) Private property.--No volunteer services authorized by this 
    Act may be conducted on private property unless the officer or 
    employee charged with supervising the volunteer obtains appropriate 
    consent to enter the property from the property owner.
        (3) Hazardous duty.--The Secretary may accept the services of 
    individuals in hazardous duty only upon a determination by the 
    Secretary that such individuals are skilled in performing hazardous 
    duty activities.
        (4) Supervision.--The Secretary shall ensure that an 
    appropriate officer or employee of the United States provides 
    adequate and appropriate supervision of each volunteer whose 
    services the Secretary accepts.
    (c) Provision of Services and Costs.--The Secretary may provide for 
services and costs incidental to the utilization of volunteers, 
including transportation, supplies, uniforms, lodging, subsistence 
(without regard to place of residence), recruiting, training, 
supervision, and awards and recognition (including nominal cash 
awards).
    (d) Federal Employment Status of Volunteers.--
        (1) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a 
    volunteer shall not be deemed a Federal employee and shall not be 
    subject to the provisions of law relating to Federal employment, 
    including those provisions relating to hours of work, rates of 
    compensation, leave, unemployment compensation, and Federal 
    employee benefits.
        (2) Volunteers shall be deemed employees of the United States 
    for the purposes of--
            (A) the tort claims provisions of title 28, United States 
        Code;
            (B) subchapter I of chapter 81 of title 5, United States 
        Code; and
            (C) claims relating to damage to, or loss of, personal 
        property of a volunteer incident to volunteer service, in which 
        case the provisions of section 3721 of title 31, United States 
        Code, shall apply.
        (3) Volunteers under this Act shall be subject to chapter 11 of 
    title 18, United States Code, unless the Secretary, with the 
    concurrence of the Director of the Office of Government Ethics, 
    determines in writing published in the Federal Register that the 
    provisions of that chapter, except section 201, shall not apply to 
    the actions of a class or classes of volunteers who carry out only 
    those duties or functions specified in the determination.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.