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Healthy Forest Youth Conservation Corps Act of 2004 (Introduced in Senate)
S 2253 IS
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2253
To permit young adults to perform projects to prevent fire and suppress fires, and provide disaster relief, on public land through a Healthy Forest Youth Conservation Corps.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 29, 2004
Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. DOMENICI, Mrs. BOXER, and Mr. DAYTON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
A BILL
To permit young adults to perform projects to prevent fire and suppress fires, and provide disaster relief, on public land through a Healthy Forest Youth Conservation Corps.
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 `Healthy Forest Youth Conservation Corps Act of 2004'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
(1) the natural fire regimes of forested public land have been altered by intensive fire suppression;
(2) fire suppression has led to increased risk of unnaturally severe wildfires that in recent years have destroyed thousands of homes, devastated agricultural crops and livestock, reduced biodiversity, and scorched thousands of areas of soil and natural resources;
(3) catastrophic wildfires pose a particular threat to communities and wildlife living close to forested wildland, known as the `wildland-urban interface';
(4) each year millions of public dollars are spent to fight severe wildfires and protect communities where municipal water supplies, human lives, and property are threatened;
(5) cooperative agreements between public agencies empower communities and are cost-effective tools that provide positive social and environmental benefits;
(6) cooperative agreements should be encouraged to prevent unnaturally severe fires, rehabilitate public land affected or altered by fires, and enhance and maintain environmentally important land and water; and
(7) joint collaborations between the public agencies and service and conservation corps are particularly beneficial, as the collaborations provide--
(A) young adults the opportunity to prepare for productive lives while engaged in meaningful and educational public service opportunities; and
(B) the public with cost-saving human resources to assist in conserving, maintaining, and protecting public land.
SEC. 3. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to allow service and conservation corps to contract directly with public land management agencies to perform rehabilitation and enhancement projects to prevent fire, rehabilitate public land affected or altered by fires, and suppress fires, and provide disaster relief;
(2) to offer young adults, ages 16 through 25, particularly those who are at-risk or economically disadvantaged, the opportunity to gain productive employment;
(3) to provide those young adults the opportunity to serve their communities and their country; and
(4) to expand educational opportunities by rewarding individuals who participate in the Healthy Forest Youth Conservation Corps with an increased ability to pursue higher education or employment.
SEC. 4. HEALTHY FOREST YOUTH CONSERVATION CORPS.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT- There is established a Healthy Forest Youth Conservation Corps.
(b) PARTICIPANTS- The Corps shall consist of low-income young adults who are enrolled as members of a service and conservation corps.
(c) CONTRACTS OR AGREEMENTS- The Secretary may enter into contracts or cooperative agreements directly with--
(1) any service and conservation corps to carry out rehabilitation and enhancement projects to prevent fire and suppress fires, rehabilitate public land affected or altered by fires, and provide disaster relief; or
(2) a department of natural resources, agriculture, or forestry (or an equivalent department) of any State that has entered into a contract or cooperative agreement with a service and conservation corps to carry out a project described in paragraph (1).
(1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary may enter into contracts or cooperative agreements with service and conservation corps to carry out rehabilitation and enhancement projects to prevent fire and suppress fires, rehabilitate public land affected or altered by fires, and provide disaster relief, including--
(A) a project relating to the National Fire Plan;
(B) a project relating to the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.); and
(C) other activities allowed under--
(i) a national forest and grassland land management plan; or
(ii) a Bureau of Land Management land use plan.
(2) PRIORITY- In entering into contractual or cooperative agreements with service and conservation corps under paragraph (1), each Secretary shall give priority to projects that will--
(A) reduce hazardous fuels on public land;
(B) restore public land affected or imminently threatened by disease or insect infestation;
(C) rehabilitate public land affected or altered by fires;
(D) assess windthrown public land or public land at high risk of reburn;
(E) work to address public land located within relative proximity to a municipal watershed and municipal water supply;
(F) provide related emergency assistance, such as natural disaster relief and the rescue of lost or injured persons;
(G) instill in members of the service and conservation corps a work ethic, and a sense of personal responsibility;
(H) be labor-intensive; and
(I) be planned and initiated promptly.
(e) SUPPORTIVE SERVICES- Each Secretary may provide such services as the Secretary considers to be necessary to carry out this Act.
(f) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE- To carry out this Act, the Secretaries shall provide technical assistance, oversight, monitoring, and evaluation to or for--
(1) State departments of natural resources and agriculture (or equivalent agencies);
(2) service and conservation corps;
(3) in the case of Indian lands, the applicable Indian tribe;
(4) in the case of Hawaiian home lands, the applicable State agency in the State of Hawaii; and
(5) in the case of land under the jurisdiction of an Alaska Native Corporation, the applicable Alaska Native Corporation.
SEC. 5. USE OF FUNDS.
Funds made available under this Act may be used to support implementation, monitoring, training, technical assistance, and administrative work of local and State conservation corps that have entered into cooperative agreements with public land management agencies.
SEC. 6. NONCOMPETITIVE HIRING STATUS.
Each Secretary may grant credit for time served toward future Federal hiring, and provide noncompetitive hiring status, for former members of the Corps for not more than 120 days after service is complete.
SEC. 7. NONDISPLACEMENT.
The nondisplacement requirements of section 177(b) of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12637(b)) shall apply to activities carried out by the Corps under this Act.
SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.
(1) ALASKA NATIVE CORPORATION- The term `Alaska Native Corporation' means a Regional Corporation or Village Corporation, as those terms are defined in section 3 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602).
(2) CORPS- The term `Corps' means the Healthy Forest Youth Conservation Corps established under section 4.
(3) HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS- The term `Hawaiian home lands' has the meaning given the term in section 203 of Public Law 91-378 (commonly known as the `Youth Conservation Corps Act of 1970') (16 U.S.C. 1722).
(4) INDIAN LANDS- The term `Indian lands' has the meaning given the term in section 203 of Public Law 91-378 (commonly known as the `Youth Conservation Corps Act of 1970') (16 U.S.C. 1722).
(5) PUBLIC LAND- The term `public land' means--
(A) land of the National Forest System (as defined in section 11(a) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a))) administered by the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service;
(B) public lands (as defined in section 103 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702)), the surfaces of which are administered by the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the Bureau of Land Management;
(C) public lands, the surfaces of which are administered by the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service;
(D) land owned by a State or local agency;
(E) Indian lands, with the approval of the applicable Indian tribe;
(F) Hawaiian home lands, with the approval of the applicable State agency in the State of Hawaii; and
(G) land under the jurisdiction of an Alaska Native Corporation, with the approval of the applicable Alaska Native Corporation.
(6) SECRETARY- The term `Secretary' means--
(A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to land of the National Forest System described in paragraph (5)(A);
(B) the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to public lands described in paragraph (5)(B); and
(C) the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior jointly, with respect to land owned by a State or local agency described in paragraph (5)(C).
(7) SERVICE AND CONSERVATION CORPS- The term `service and conservation corps' means any organization established by a State or local government, nonprofit organization, or Indian tribe that--
(A) has a research-validated demonstrable capability to provide productive work to individuals;
(B) gives participants a combination of work experience, basic and life skills, education, training, and support services; and
(C) provides participants with the opportunity to develop citizenship values through service to their communities and the United States.
(8) STATE- The term `State' means--
(B) the District of Columbia;
(C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico;
(F) the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands;
(G) the Federated States of Micronesia;
(H) the Republic of the Marshall Islands;
(I) the Republic of Palau; and
(J) the United States Virgin Islands.
(9) YOUNG ADULTS- The term `young adults' means individuals between 16 and 25 years of age.
SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 through 2009.
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