Offshore Wind Jobs and Opportunity Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1769 To require the Secretary of Energy to establish an offshore wind career training grant program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 10, 2019 Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Ms. COLLINS, and Mr. CARPER) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on En- ergy and Natural Resources A BILL To require the Secretary of Energy to establish an offshore wind career training grant program, 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 ‘‘Offshore Wind Jobs 4 and Opportunity Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. OFFSHORE WIND CAREER TRAINING GRANT PRO- 6 GRAM. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1769.IS S1769 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1769 IS (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON- 1 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con- 2 gress’’ means— 3 (A) the Committee on Energy and Natural 4 Resources of the Senate; 5 (B) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 6 and Transportation of the Senate; 7 (C) the Committee on Energy and Com- 8 merce of the House of Representatives; and 9 (D) the Committee on Natural Resources 10 of the House of Representatives. 11 (2) COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—The term ‘‘commu- 12 nity college’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘junior 13 or community college’’ in section 312 of the Higher 14 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1058). 15 (3) DISLOCATED WORKER.—The term ‘‘dis- 16 located worker’’ has the meaning given the term in 17 section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor- 18 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102). 19 (4) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 20 ty’’ means an entity that is— 21 (A) an institution of higher education; or 22 (B) a labor organization. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1769.IS S1769 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1769 IS (5) GRANT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘grant pro- 1 gram’’ means the grant program established under 2 subsection (d). 3 (6) GRANTEE.—The term ‘‘grantee’’ means an 4 eligible entity that has received a grant under this 5 section. 6 (7) INDIVIDUAL WITH A BARRIER TO EMPLOY- 7 MENT.—The term ‘‘individual with a barrier to em- 8 ployment’’ has the meaning given the term in section 9 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 10 (29 U.S.C. 3102). 11 (8) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 12 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 13 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 14 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 15 (9) LEAD APPLICANT.—The term ‘‘lead appli- 16 cant’’ means the eligible entity that is primarily re- 17 sponsible for the preparation, conduct, and adminis- 18 tration of the project for which a grant is awarded 19 under this section. 20 (10) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 21 means the Secretary of Energy. 22 (11) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 23 meaning given the term in section 101 of title 38, 24 United States Code. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1769.IS S1769 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1769 IS (b) IDENTIFICATION OF EDUCATIONAL AND CAREER 1 TRAINING NEEDS.—Not later than 120 days after the 2 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consulta- 3 tion with representatives from the offshore wind industry, 4 eligible entities, including eligible entities that are commu- 5 nity colleges, State and local governments, labor organiza- 6 tions, ports, and nonprofit organizations, shall identify the 7 educational and career training needs with respect to the 8 offshore wind industry, including needs relating to manu- 9 facturing, construction, installation, operation, engineer- 10 ing training and education, and maintenance activities 11 with respect to the offshore wind industry. 12 (c) GUIDELINES.—Not later than 1 year after the 13 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall— 14 (1) issue guidelines for the submission of grant 15 proposals under this section, which shall include a 16 list of the educational and career training needs 17 identified under subsection (b); and 18 (2) publish and maintain the guidelines de- 19 scribed in paragraph (1) on a public website of the 20 Secretary. 21 (d) ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT PROGRAM.—Not 22 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 23 the Secretary shall establish a grant program under which 24 the Secretary may award offshore wind career training 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1769.IS S1769 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1769 IS grants to eligible entities for the purpose of developing, 1 offering, or improving educational or career training pro- 2 grams that provide individuals who are enrolled in those 3 programs with skills that are necessary for employment 4 in the offshore wind industry. 5 (e) ALLOCATION OF GRANTS.— 6 (1) LIMITATION ON GRANT QUANTITY AND 7 SIZE.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary 8 may not award to an eligible entity— 9 (A) more than 1 grant for which the eligi- 10 ble entity is the lead applicant; or 11 (B) a grant that is in an amount that is 12 more than $2,500,000. 13 (2) ALLOCATION TO COMMUNITY COLLEGES.— 14 The Secretary shall ensure that, in a fiscal year, not 15 less than 25 percent of the total amount that the 16 Secretary awards in grants under this section is 17 awarded to eligible entities that are community col- 18 leges. 19 (f) PARTNERSHIPS.—An eligible entity seeking to re- 20 ceive a grant under this section may partner with 1 or 21 more of the following: 22 (1) Another eligible entity, including an eligible 23 entity that is a community college. 24 (2) A State or local government. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1769.IS S1769 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 1769 IS (3) A nonprofit organization. 1 (g) USE OF GRANT.—An eligible entity may use a 2 grant awarded under this section to carry out— 3 (1) occupational skills training, including cur- 4 riculum development, on-the-job training, safety and 5 health training, and classroom training; 6 (2) incumbent worker and career ladder train- 7 ing and retraining, including skill upgrading and 8 transitional job strategizing; 9 (3) individual referral and tuition assistance for 10 a training program offered by a nonprofit organiza- 11 tion through which an individual may attain a recog- 12 nized postsecondary credential (as defined in section 13 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 14 (29 U.S.C. 3102)); 15 (4) customized training in conjunction with an 16 existing registered apprenticeship program, intern- 17 ship, or labor-management partnership; and 18 (5) other activities that the Secretary deter- 19 mines meet the purposes of this section. 20 (h) SUBMISSION PROCEDURE FOR GRANT PRO- 21 POSALS.—An eligible entity seeking to receive a grant 22 under this section shall submit a grant proposal to the 23 Secretary at such time, in such manner, and, in accord- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1769.IS S1769 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 1769 IS ance with the guidelines issued under subsection (c)(1), 1 containing such information as the Secretary may require. 2 (i) CRITERIA FOR AWARD OF GRANTS.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of 4 appropriations, the Secretary may award a grant 5 under this section only after an evaluation of— 6 (A) the merits of the grant proposal with 7 respect to the grant; 8 (B) the likely employment opportunities 9 available to individuals who complete the edu- 10 cational or career training program that the eli- 11 gible entity applying for the grant proposes to 12 develop, offer, or improve; 13 (C) prior demand for educational or career 14 training programs in the community served by 15 the eligible entity applying for the grant; and 16 (D) the availability and capacity of existing 17 educational or career training programs in the 18 community described in subparagraph (C) to 19 meet future demand for the educational or ca- 20 reer training programs. 21 (2) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 22 section, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible 23 entities that— 24 (A) are— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1769.IS S1769 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 1769 IS (i) institutions of higher education 1 that have formed partnerships with labor 2 organizations; or 3 (ii) labor organizations that have 4 formed partnerships with institutions of 5 higher education; 6 (B) have entered into a memorandum of 7 understanding with an employer in the offshore 8 wind industry to foster workforce development; 9 or 10 (C) will use the grant funds to assist indi- 11 viduals who are— 12 (i) dislocated workers, with a focus on 13 workers displaced from the offshore oil and 14 gas, onshore fossil fuel, nuclear energy, or 15 fishing industry; 16 (ii) veterans, members of the reserve 17 components of the Armed Forces, or 18 former members of those reserve compo- 19 nents; or 20 (iii) individuals with a barrier to em- 21 ployment. 22 (j) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.—A grant awarded 23 under this section may not be used to satisfy any non- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1769.IS S1769 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 1769 IS Federal funds matching requirement under any other pro- 1 vision of law. 2 (k) GRANTEE DATA COLLECTION.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—A grantee shall collect and 4 report to the Secretary on an annual basis the fol- 5 lowing information regarding the educational or ca- 6 reer training program for which the grantee receives 7 a grant under this section: 8 (A) The number of participants in the edu- 9 cational or career training program (referred to 10 in this subsection as ‘‘participants’’). 11 (B) The services received in that program 12 by the participants, including a description of 13 training, educational, and supportive services. 14 (C) The rate of job placement of partici- 15 pants in the offshore wind industry or related 16 fields that have completed the educational or 17 career training program. 18 (D) The rate at which participants are re- 19 tained in positions of employment 1 year after 20 the date on which the participant has completed 21 the program. 22 (l) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 23 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 18 24 months after the date on which the grant program 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1769.IS S1769 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 1769 IS is established, the Secretary shall submit to the ap- 1 propriate committees of Congress an initial report 2 describing the results of the grant program, includ- 3 ing a description of— 4 (A) the grantees that were awarded a 5 grant under this section; and 6 (B) the activities for which the grantees 7 described in subparagraph (A) used a grant 8 awarded under this section. 9 (2) ADDITIONAL REPORTS.—Not later than 2 10 years after the date on which the initial report is 11 submitted under paragraph (1), and every 2 years 12 thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the appro- 13 priate committees of Congress a report describing 14 the results of the grant program for the 2-year pe- 15 riod preceding the report. 16 (m) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 17 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 18 $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1769.IS S1769 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS