[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1216 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1216

To amend Public Law 91-378 to authorize activities relating to Civilian 
             Conservation Centers, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 19, 2023

 Mr. Merkley (for himself, Mr. Daines, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Rounds, and Mr. 
King) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 
        to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend Public Law 91-378 to authorize activities relating to Civilian 
             Conservation Centers, 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 ``Civilian Conservation Center 
Enhancement Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CENTERS.

    Public Law 91-378 (16 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) is amended by adding at 
the end the following:

               ``TITLE III--CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CENTERS

``SEC. 301. DEFINITIONS.

    ``In this title:
            ``(1) Civilian conservation center.--The term `Civilian 
        Conservation Center' means any residential workforce 
        development or training facility for underserved youth operated 
        by the Department of the Interior or the Department of 
        Agriculture.
            ``(2) Covered graduate.--The term `covered graduate' means 
        an individual who successfully completed a training program at 
        a Civilian Conservation Center.
            ``(3) Covered student.--The term `covered student' means an 
        individual who is enrolled in a training program at a Civilian 
        Conservation Center.
            ``(4) Secretaries.--The term `Secretaries' means--
                    ``(A) the Secretary of Agriculture; and
                    ``(B) the Secretary of the Interior.

``SEC. 302. CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CENTERS WILDFIRE AND CONSERVATION 
              TRAINING PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Specialized Training Programs.--The Secretaries, in 
coordination with the Secretary of Labor, shall offer at Civilian 
Conservation Centers specialized training programs focused on--
            ``(1) forestry and rangeland management;
            ``(2) wildland firefighting; or
            ``(3) any other topic relating to the mission of the Forest 
        Service or the Department of the Interior or the public 
        interest.
    ``(b) Prioritization.--The Secretaries shall prioritize offering 
specialized training programs under subsection (a) at facilities 
described in section 147(d) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 
Act (29 U.S.C. 3197(d)).

``SEC. 303. WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PILOT.

    ``(a) In General.--
            ``(1) Experiment, research, or demonstration pilots.--The 
        Secretary of Agriculture, in coordination with the Secretary of 
        Labor, may carry out experimental, research, or demonstration 
        pilots to provide career and technical education curricula and 
        course offerings to advance the missions of the Department of 
        Agriculture at Civilian Conservation Centers operated by the 
        Department of Agriculture, including facilities described in 
        section 147(d) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 
        (29 U.S.C. 3197(d)).
            ``(2) Curricula and courses.--Curricula and courses 
        described in paragraph (1) include--
                    ``(A) incident management and emergency response 
                logistics;
                    ``(B) disaster response;
                    ``(C) forest products measurement;
                    ``(D) timber sale administration and preparation;
                    ``(E) heavy equipment operation;
                    ``(F) equipment and mechanical services;
                    ``(G) industrial electrical;
                    ``(H) machining;
                    ``(I) mill operations;
                    ``(J) forest restoration;
                    ``(K) habitat and water quality monitoring;
                    ``(L) watershed and habitat enhancement;
                    ``(M) range management;
                    ``(N) recreation access improvement;
                    ``(O) volunteers and visitors enhancement; and
                    ``(P) historic preservation.
    ``(b) Requirements.--In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary 
of Agriculture shall--
            ``(1) identify workforce needs in public land agencies, 
        forest, conservation, and recreation industries, and rural 
        communities, after consulting with State governments and 
        agencies, Federal emergency management and public land 
        agencies, local communities, institutions of higher education, 
        and Indian Tribes;
            ``(2) develop marketing, recruitment, and retention 
        materials for the curricula and courses offerings provided 
        under subsection (a); and
            ``(3) provide specialized staff necessary to teach 
        curricula and courses offerings provided under subsection (a), 
        to the extent practicable.

``SEC. 304. WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING WORKFORCE ENHANCEMENT.

    ``(a) Recruitment Goals and Investments.--
            ``(1) Recruitment goal.--The Secretaries--
                    ``(A) shall each set goals of--
                            ``(i) hiring 300 covered graduates annually 
                        to contribute to wildland firefighting or other 
                        critical workforce needs within the respective 
                        Department of each of the Secretaries;
                            ``(ii) a certain percentage of covered 
                        graduates annually attaining employment within 
                        the wildland firefighting, natural resources, 
                        forestry, or a related field; and
                            ``(iii) a certain percentage of covered 
                        graduates annually attaining employment; and
                    ``(B) may make investments to support the 
                recruitment, training, hiring, and retention of covered 
                graduates.
            ``(2) Signing bonus.--The Secretaries may provide for a 
        signing bonus to enable the successful employment and 
        transition of covered graduates, including for the purpose of 
        securing housing in rural and remote communities.
    ``(b) Direct Hire Authority.--For fiscal year 2023 and each fiscal 
year thereafter, the Secretaries may appoint, without regard to the 
provisions of subchapter I of chapter 33 of title 5, United States 
Code, other than sections 3303 and 3328 of that title, a covered 
graduate directly to a position for which the covered graduate meets 
Office of Personnel Management qualification standards.
    ``(c) Pathways to Employment.--The Secretaries shall ensure that 
appropriate career pathways are developed for covered graduates of 
relevant Civilian Conservation Center training programs.
    ``(d) Disadvantaged Youth Employment.--Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, the Secretaries may employ covered students at 
regular rates of pay for necessary hours of work.
    ``(e) Use of Covered Students for Contracts, Agreements, and 
Grants.--To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary of 
Agriculture shall encourage the use of covered students to fulfill 
obligations under contracts, agreements, and grants relevant to the 
training administered by the Forest Service at a unit of the National 
Forest System where a Civilian Conservation Center is located.

``SEC. 305. WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING HOUSING PILOT PROGRAM.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretaries shall establish a pilot program 
to employ covered students to improve and expand the housing stock 
owned by the Federal Government for the purpose of housing wildland 
firefighters, volunteers, partner crewmembers, interns, and other 
agency employees.
    ``(b) Requirements.--In carrying out the pilot program under 
subsection (a), the Secretaries shall--
            ``(1) identify properties currently owned by the Federal 
        Government that would be appropriate housing for wildland 
        firefighters, volunteers, partner crewmembers, interns, and 
        other agency employees;
            ``(2) identify areas where the construction of new housing 
        described in paragraph (1) would be appropriate and 
        sustainable; and
            ``(3) submit to Congress a prioritized list of projects for 
        renovation with a plan for how the Secretaries will employ 
        covered students to repair, renovate, and remediate the 
        properties identified under paragraph (1).

``SEC. 306. REPORT.

    ``Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this title, 
the Secretaries shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture, 
Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Agriculture 
of the House of Representatives a report--
            ``(1) describing underutilized capacity at Civilian 
        Conservation Centers, based on an assessment conducted by the 
        Secretaries; and
            ``(2) identifying the investments, improvements, and 
        efficiencies necessary to utilize the full capacity of Civilian 
        Conservation Centers.''.
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