21st Century Energy Workforce Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 398 To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a pilot competitive grant program for the development of a skilled energy workforce, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 9, 2019 Mr. NORCROSS (for himself and Mr. MCKINLEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a pilot com- petitive grant program for the development of a skilled energy workforce, 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 ‘‘21st Century Energy 4 Workforce Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds that— 7 (1) the energy sector is the third-largest indus- 8 try in the United States; 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Jan 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H398.IH H398 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 398 IH (2) 1,500,000 new skilled workers will be need- 1 ed in the energy sector over the next 15 years; and 2 (3) a skilled workforce is a critical component 3 of ensuring the growth of the energy sector in the 4 United States. 5 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM.—The term 8 ‘‘apprenticeship program’’ means— 9 (A) an apprenticeship program registered 10 with the Department of Labor as of the date of 11 enactment of this Act that has a completion 12 rate for participants of not less than 60 per- 13 cent; or 14 (B) an apprenticeship program not reg- 15 istered with the Department of Labor as of the 16 date of enactment of this Act, but that the Sec- 17 retary determines should be eligible for a grant 18 under section 5. 19 (2) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the Na- 20 tional Center of Excellence for the 21st Century 21 Workforce Advisory Board established under section 22 4(a). 23 (3) COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—The term ‘‘commu- 24 nity college’’ means a junior or community college 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Jan 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H398.IH H398 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 398 IH (as defined in section 312(f) of the Higher Edu- 1 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1058(f))). 2 (4) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 3 the pilot program established under section 5(a). 4 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 5 the Secretary of Energy. 6 (6) VETERANS SERVICE ORGANIZATION.—The 7 term ‘‘veterans service organization’’ means an orga- 8 nization recognized by the Secretary of Veterans Af- 9 fairs for the representation of veterans under section 10 5902 of title 38, United States Code. 11 SEC. 4. NATIONAL CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR THE 21ST 12 CENTURY WORKFORCE. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 14 nationwide advisory board, to be known as the ‘‘National 15 Center of Excellence for the 21st Century Workforce Advi- 16 sory Board’’, to foster strategic vision, guidance, and net- 17 works for the energy industry. 18 (b) REPRESENTATIVES.—The members of the Board 19 shall consist of energy sector stakeholders, including— 20 (1) representatives of relevant industries; 21 (2) experts in labor, economics, and workforce 22 development; 23 (3) representatives of States and units of local 24 government; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Jan 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H398.IH H398 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 398 IH (4) representatives of elementary and secondary 1 education and postsecondary education; and 2 (5) representatives of labor organizations. 3 (c) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Board are— 4 (1) to support and develop training and science 5 education programs that— 6 (A) meet the industry and labor needs of 7 the energy sector; and 8 (B) provide opportunities for students to 9 become qualified for placement in traditional 10 and clean energy sector jobs; 11 (2) to align apprenticeship programs and indus- 12 try certifications to further develop succession plan- 13 ning in the energy sector; 14 (3) to integrate educational standards to de- 15 velop foundational skills for elementary and sec- 16 ondary education and postsecondary education to 17 create a pipeline between education and career; and 18 (4) to support the replication of existing model 19 energy curricula. 20 SEC. 5. ENERGY WORKFORCE PILOT GRANT PROGRAM. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 22 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consulta- 23 tion with the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of 24 Education, shall establish a pilot program to award grants 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Jan 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H398.IH H398 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 398 IH on a competitive basis to eligible entities for job training 1 to obtain an industry-recognized credential. 2 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 3 under this section, an entity shall be a public or nonprofit 4 organization that— 5 (1) includes an advisory board of proportional 6 participation, as determined by the Secretary, of rel- 7 evant organizations, including— 8 (A) relevant energy industry organizations, 9 including public and private employers; 10 (B) labor organizations; and 11 (C) elementary and secondary education 12 and postsecondary education organizations; 13 (2) demonstrates experience in implementing 14 and operating job training and education programs; 15 (3) demonstrates the ability to recruit and sup- 16 port individuals who plan to work in the energy in- 17 dustry in the successful completion of relevant job 18 training and education programs; and 19 (4) provides students who complete the job 20 training and education program with an industry- 21 recognized credential. 22 (c) APPLICATIONS.—Eligible entities desiring a grant 23 under this section shall submit to the Secretary an appli- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Jan 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H398.IH H398 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 398 IH cation at such time, in such manner, and containing such 1 information as the Secretary may require. 2 (d) PRIORITY.—In selecting eligible entities to receive 3 grants under this section, the Secretary shall prioritize ap- 4 plicants that— 5 (1) house the job training and education pro- 6 grams in— 7 (A) a community college or institution of 8 higher education that includes basic science and 9 math education in the curriculum of the com- 10 munity college, institution of higher education; 11 or 12 (B) an apprenticeship program, and with 13 respect to such apprenticeship programs de- 14 scribed in section 3(1)(B), the Secretary shall 15 further prioritize such programs that can dem- 16 onstrate to the Secretary a completion rate for 17 participants of not less than 60 percent; 18 (2) work with the Secretary of Defense or vet- 19 erans organizations to transition members of the 20 Armed Forces and veterans to careers in the energy 21 sector; 22 (3) apply as a State or regional consortia to le- 23 verage best practices already available in the State 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Jan 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H398.IH H398 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 398 IH or region in which the community college or institu- 1 tion of higher education is located; 2 (4) have a State-supported entity included in 3 the application; 4 (5) include an apprenticeship program as part 5 of the job training and education program; 6 (6) develop a mentorship program for energy 7 professionals and elementary and secondary edu- 8 cation students; 9 (7) provide support services and career coach- 10 ing; 11 (8) provide introductory energy workforce devel- 12 opment training; or 13 (9) provide industry-affiliated pre-apprentice- 14 ship programs, including intensive skill-building pro- 15 grams and intensive short-term programs. 16 (e) ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATION.—In making 17 grants under this section, the Secretary shall consider re- 18 gional diversity. 19 (f) LIMITATION ON APPLICATIONS.—An eligible enti- 20 ty may not submit, either individually or as part of a joint 21 application, more than 1 application for a grant under this 22 section during any 1 fiscal year. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Jan 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H398.IH H398 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 398 IH (g) LIMITATIONS ON AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The 1 amount of a grant for any 1 year shall not exceed 2 $1,000,000. 3 (h) COSTS.— 4 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 5 the cost of a job training and education program 6 carried out using a grant under this section shall be 7 not greater than 65 percent. 8 (2) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.— 9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The non-Federal share 10 of the cost of a job training and education pro- 11 gram carried out using a grant under this sec- 12 tion shall consist of not less than 50 percent 13 cash. 14 (B) LIMITATION.—Not greater than 50 15 percent of the non-Federal contribution of the 16 total cost of a job training and education pro- 17 gram carried out using a grant under this sec- 18 tion shall be in the form of in-kind contribu- 19 tions of goods or services fairly valued. 20 (i) REDUCTION OF DUPLICATION.—Prior to submit- 21 ting an application for a grant under this section, each 22 applicant shall consult with the applicable agencies of the 23 Federal Government and coordinate the proposed activi- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Jan 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H398.IH H398 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 398 IH ties of the applicant with existing State and local pro- 1 grams. 2 (j) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall 3 provide technical assistance and capacity building to na- 4 tional and State energy partnerships, including the enti- 5 ties described in subsection (b)(1), to leverage the existing 6 job training and education programs of the Department 7 of Energy. 8 (k) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit to Con- 9 gress and make publicly available on the website of the 10 Department of Energy an annual report on the program 11 established under this section, including a description of— 12 (1) the entities receiving grants; 13 (2) the activities carried out using the grants; 14 (3) best practices used to leverage the invest- 15 ment of the Federal Government; 16 (4) the rate of employment for participants 17 after completing a job training and education pro- 18 gram carried out using a grant; and 19 (5) an assessment of the results achieved by the 20 program. 21 (l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 22 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 23 $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Jan 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H398.IH H398 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS