National Climate Service Corps and Careers Network Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1928 To amend the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to establish a national climate service corps to help communities withstand and respond to changes in the Earth’s climate with respect to natural disas- ters, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 27, 2021 Ms. CORTEZ MASTO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to establish a national climate service corps to help com- munities withstand and respond to changes in the Earth’s climate with respect to natural disasters, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Climate Serv- 4 ice Corps and Careers Network Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1928.IS S1928 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1928 IS SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 1 The purpose of this Act is to establish a National 2 Climate Service Corps to carry out national service 3 projects under the National and Community Service Act 4 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12501) in order to— 5 (1) promote climate adaptation, mitigation, and 6 resiliency; 7 (2) provide young adults with opportunities to 8 give back to their communities through meaningful 9 service to their communities and the Nation; 10 (3) mobilize youth and young adults, especially 11 disadvantaged youth, to promote environmental sus- 12 tainability and mitigate the threat of climate change 13 in their communities; and 14 (4) provide a pathway to employment in the 15 private sector or otherwise within the clean energy 16 economy, following completion of service in the Na- 17 tional Climate Service Corps. 18 SEC. 3. NATIONAL CLIMATE SERVICE CORPS. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 122(a) of the National 20 and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12572(a)) 21 is amended— 22 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5) as 23 paragraphs (5) and (6), respectively; and 24 (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol- 25 lowing new paragraph: 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1928.IS S1928 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1928 IS ‘‘(4) NATIONAL CLIMATE SERVICE CORPS .— 1 ‘‘(A) PURPOSE.— 2 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The recipient may 3 carry out national service projects through 4 a National Climate Service Corps that im- 5 proves community adaptation, mitigation, 6 preparedness, response, and recovery from 7 natural disaster and other trends related 8 to climate change through activities such 9 as those described in subparagraph (B) 10 and improves performance on the indica- 11 tors described in subparagraph (C). 12 ‘‘(ii) SELECTION PRIORITY.—The re- 13 cipient shall, where appropriate, identify 14 and select projects from communities that 15 are disproportionately impacted by climate 16 and severe weather events, including from 17 communities of color, low-income commu- 18 nities, and Tribal communities. 19 ‘‘(B) ACTIVITIES.— 20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A Climate Service 21 Corps described in this paragraph may 22 carry out activities, including— 23 ‘‘(I) assessing community resil- 24 ience to the effects of climate change; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1928.IS S1928 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1928 IS ‘‘(II) supporting climate adapta- 1 tion and mitigation of the negative ef- 2 fects of climate change; 3 ‘‘(III) environmental sustain- 4 ability and resiliency; 5 ‘‘(IV) emergency preparedness; 6 ‘‘(V) promoting sustainable and 7 resilient communities; 8 ‘‘(VI) assisting with recovery 9 from disasters to rebuild in a manner 10 that provides improved resilience or 11 adaptation for future climate impacts; 12 ‘‘(VII) assisting with prevention, 13 recovery, or restoration of wildland, 14 rangeland, and wildland-urban inter- 15 face areas from the effects of wildfire 16 and associated impacts due to the ef- 17 fects of climate change; or 18 ‘‘(VIII) other relevant activities, 19 as determined by the Corporation. 20 ‘‘(ii) PARTICIPATION.—In addition to 21 the requirements for participants under 22 section 137, in carrying out national serv- 23 ice projects under this paragraph, the re- 24 cipient shall, to the extent practicable— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1928.IS S1928 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1928 IS ‘‘(I) select as participants— 1 ‘‘(aa) individuals who are at 2 least 17 but not more than 30 3 years of age at the time of begin- 4 ning the term of service, includ- 5 ing out of-school youth, disadvan- 6 taged youth (such as individuals 7 who are aging out of foster care, 8 individuals who have limited 9 English proficiency, homeless in- 10 dividuals, and individuals with 11 disabilities), and youth from com- 12 munities of color and Tribal com- 13 munities; or 14 ‘‘(bb) veterans who have not 15 reached the age of 36, at the 16 time of beginning the term of 17 service; and 18 ‘‘(II) provide each participant 19 with team-based, highly structured, 20 and adult-supervised service experi- 21 ence, education, career guidance, and 22 counseling, and employment training, 23 support services, and mentoring. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1928.IS S1928 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1928 IS ‘‘(C) NATIONAL CLIMATE SERVICE CORPS 1 INDICATORS.—The indicators for a National 2 Climate Service Corps program described in 3 this paragraph are— 4 ‘‘(i) the number of acres, homes, 5 buildings or infrastructure projects built, 6 retrofitted, improved, treated, or restored 7 for improved resilience, adaptation, or cur- 8 rent and future disaster recovery; 9 ‘‘(ii) the number of individuals edu- 10 cated about, prepared for, and receiving 11 training about natural disasters, other 12 trends related to climate change, or envi- 13 ronmentally conscious practices; 14 ‘‘(iii) the number of individuals as- 15 sisted, including those rescued, evacuated, 16 or provided shelter; 17 ‘‘(iv) the number of homes or build- 18 ings treated, including those boarded up, 19 tarped, mucked, or gutted during disaster 20 response; 21 ‘‘(v) the number of trees and plants 22 planted; 23 ‘‘(vi) the number of new technologies 24 that participants receive training on, and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1928.IS S1928 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1928 IS that are utilized and incorporated into re- 1 siliency projects; 2 ‘‘(vii) any additional indicator relating 3 to natural disaster and other trends that 4 the Corporation establishes, in consultation 5 (as appropriate), with the Secretaries of 6 the Departments of the Interior, Agri- 7 culture, Commerce, and Defense, the Di- 8 rector of the Federal Emergency Manage- 9 ment Agency, and the Administrator of the 10 Environmental Protection Agency; and 11 ‘‘(viii) any additional local indicator 12 applicable to a particular recipient and on 13 which an improvement in performance is 14 needed related to climate change.’’. 15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 122 of the 16 National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 17 12572), as amended by subsection (a), is further amend- 18 ed— 19 (1) in paragraph (b)(3), by striking ‘‘or (5)’’ 20 and inserting ‘‘(5), or (6)’’; and 21 (2) in paragraph (c)(1), by striking ‘‘(5)’’ and 22 inserting ‘‘(6)’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1928.IS S1928 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1928 IS SEC. 4. COOPERATION AMONG STATES FOR EMERGENCY 1 RESPONSE. 2 (a) AGREEMENTS BETWEEN STATES.—States that 3 provide subgrants to State or nonprofit entities that en- 4 gage in National Climate Service Corps activities under 5 section 122(a)(4) or States that have nonprofit organiza- 6 tions receiving funding under the national service laws and 7 that are engaging in similar activities (referred to as ‘‘par- 8 ticipating States’’) may enter into a compact with other 9 participating States to provide for mutual cooperation to 10 manage any emergency or disaster that is duly declared 11 by the affected State. 12 (b) PARTICIPATING STATE RESPONSIBILITIES.— 13 (1) REQUESTS FOR ASSISTANCE.—The author- 14 ized representative of a participating State may re- 15 quest assistance of the National Climate Service 16 Corps or of such nonprofit organizations of another 17 participating State by contacting the authorized rep- 18 resentative of that State. The provisions of the com- 19 pact described in subsection (a) shall only apply to 20 requests for assistance made by and to such author- 21 ized representatives. 22 (2) CONSULTATION.—The State officials of par- 23 ticipating States shall ensure— 24 (A) that there is frequent consultation be- 25 tween State officials who are assigned emer- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1928.IS S1928 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1928 IS gency management responsibilities, and other 1 appropriate representatives of the participating 2 States, with the relevant officials of affected ju- 3 risdictions and with the relevant officials of the 4 Federal Government; and 5 (B) the free exchange of information, 6 plans, and resource records relating to emer- 7 gency capabilities. 8 SEC. 5. CLIMATE RESILIENCY AMERICORPS VISTA. 9 Section 103(a) of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act 10 of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4953(a)) is amended— 11 (1) in paragraph (12), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 12 end; 13 (2) in paragraph (13), by striking the period at 14 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 15 (3) after subsection (13), by adding the fol- 16 lowing: 17 ‘‘(14) in addressing the capacity of low-income 18 communities to implement projects that increase re- 19 silience, adaptation, and mitigation to changes to the 20 environment, including changes due to natural disas- 21 ters.’’. 22 SEC. 6. NONCOMPETITIVE HIRING AUTHORITY. 23 A qualified member of the National Climate Service 24 Corps under section 122 of the National and Community 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1928.IS S1928 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1928 IS Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12572) shall be eligible 1 for appointment in the competitive service in the same 2 manner as a Peace Corps volunteer as prescribed in Exec- 3 utive Order 11103 (22 U.S.C. 2504 note, relating to Pro- 4 viding for the Appointment of Former Peace Corps Volun- 5 teers to the Civilian Career Services). 6 SEC. 7. CLIMATE CAREERS NETWORK. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—As part of the Corporation’s Em- 8 ployers of National Service initiative, the Corporation shall 9 establish a program, in consultation with the Departments 10 of Energy, Agriculture, Education, Labor, Interior, Trans- 11 portation, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Na- 12 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and other 13 relevant Federal agencies, as determined to be appropriate 14 by the Corporation, to be known as the Climate Careers 15 Network, to— 16 (1) address the challenge of job placement in a 17 clean energy economy; and 18 (2) support individuals who have completed 19 service in the National Climate Service Corps, as 20 well as individuals in the United States of all ages 21 and backgrounds who want to get involved in grow- 22 ing green industries. 23 (b) ACTIVITIES OF THE CLIMATE CAREERS NET- 24 WORK.—As part of the Climate Careers Network program, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1928.IS S1928 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1928 IS the Corporation, in consultation with the Federal agencies 1 described in subsection (a), shall carry out the following 2 activities: 3 (1) Create and maintain a database that out- 4 lines opportunities for individuals who have com- 5 pleted service in the National Climate Service Corps 6 and other individuals, and that includes information 7 related to opportunities for those individuals in a 8 clean energy economy. 9 (2) Establish direct partnerships between the 10 Climate Careers Network program and existing in- 11 frastructure for relevant training and job placement 12 in order to connect individuals with new jobs and 13 lifelong careers, such as partnerships with 2 or more 14 of the following: 15 (A) Labor organizations or joint labor 16 management organizations. 17 (B) Employers. 18 (C) High schools and adult education pro- 19 grams. 20 (D) Nonprofit organizations with dem- 21 onstrated success in areas of clean energy and 22 climate change mitigation activities. 23 (E) Institutions of higher education. 24 (F) Community development organizations. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1928.IS S1928 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1928 IS (G) State and local workforce development 1 boards established under title I of the Work- 2 force Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 3 U.S.C. 3111 et seq.). 4 (H) Career and technical education pro- 5 viders, including those that award credentials 6 and build career pathways. 7 (I) Other entities that may provide rel- 8 evant direct employment opportunities. 9 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 10 (1) CORPORATION.—The term ‘‘Corporation’’ 11 means the Corporation for National and Community 12 Service established under section 191 of the Na- 13 tional and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 14 U.S.C. 12651). 15 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 16 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 17 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 18 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 19 (3) NATIONAL CLIMATE SERVICE CORPS.—The 20 term ‘‘National Climate Service Corps’’ means the 21 National Climate Service Corps described in section 22 122(a)(4) of the National and Community Service 23 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12572(a)(4)), as added by 24 section 3. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1928.IS S1928 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1928 IS SEC. 8. MATCHING FUNDS WAIVER. 1 Any otherwise applicable matching funds require- 2 ments, including under section 212(a)(1) of the Public 3 Lands Corps Act of 1993 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]