[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 117 (Thursday, June 25, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S3403]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 1900. Ms. ERNST submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
her to the bill S. 4049, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2021 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the appropriate place, insert following:
SEC. ____. WIND TECHNICIAN TRAINING, CAREERS, AND STUDY.
(a) Wind Technician Training Grant Program.--
(1) In general.--Title XI of the Energy Policy Act of 2005
(42 U.S.C. 16411 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``SEC. 1107. WIND TECHNICIAN TRAINING GRANT PROGRAM.
``(a) Definition of Eligible Entity.--In this section, the
term `eligible entity' means a community college or technical
school that offers a wind training program.
``(b) Grant Program.--The Secretary shall establish a
program under which the Secretary shall award grants, on a
competitive basis, to eligible entities to purchase large
pieces of wind component equipment (such as nacelles, towers,
and blades) for use in training wind technician students.
``(c) Funding.--Of the amounts made available to the
Secretary for administrative expenses to carry out other
programs under the authority of the Secretary, the Secretary
shall use to carry out this section $2,000,000 for each of
fiscal years 2020 through 2025.''.
(2) Clerical amendment.--The table of contents for the
Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-58; 119 Stat. 601)
is amended by inserting after the item relating to section
1106 the following:
``Sec. 1107. Wind technician training grant program.''.
(b) Veterans in Wind Energy.--
(1) In general.--Title XI of the Energy Policy Act of 2005
(42 U.S.C. 16411 et seq.) (as amended by subsection (a)(1))
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 1108. VETERANS IN WIND ENERGY.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish a program
to prepare veterans for careers in the wind energy industry
that shall be modeled off of the Solar Ready Vets pilot
program formerly administered by the Department of Energy and
the Department of Defense.
``(b) Funding.--Of the amounts made available to the
Secretary for administrative expenses to carry out other
programs under the authority of the Secretary, the Secretary
shall use to carry out this section $2,000,000 for each of
fiscal years 2020 through 2025.''.
(2) Clerical amendment.--The table of contents for the
Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-58; 119 Stat. 601)
(as amended by subsection (a)(2)) is amended by inserting
after the item relating to section 1107 the following:
``Sec. 1108. Veterans in wind energy.''.
(c) Study and Report on Wind Technician Workforce.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Energy (referred to in
this subsection as the ``Secretary'') shall convene a task
force comprised of 1 or more representatives of each of the
stakeholders described in paragraph (2) that shall--
(A) conduct a study to assess the needs of wind technicians
in the workforce;
(B) create a comprehensive list that--
(i) lists each type of wind technician position available
in the United States; and
(ii) describes the skill sets required for each type of
position listed under clause (i); and
(C) not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of
this Act, make publicly available and submit to Congress a
report that--
(i) describes the results of that study;
(ii) includes the comprehensive list described in
subparagraph (B); and
(iii) provides recommendations--
(I) for creating a credentialing program that may be
administered by community colleges, technical schools, and
other training institutions; and
(II) that reflect best practices for wind technician
training programs, as identified by representatives of the
wind industry.
(2) Stakeholders described.--The stakeholders referred to
in paragraph (1) are--
(A) the Department of Defense;
(B) the Department of Education;
(C) the Department of Energy;
(D) the Department of Labor;
(E) the Department of Veterans Affairs;
(F) technical schools and community colleges that have wind
technician training programs; and
(G) the wind industry.
(3) Funding.--Of the amounts made available to the
Secretary for administrative expenses to carry out other
programs under the authority of the Secretary, the Secretary
shall use to carry out this subsection $500,000.
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