Blue Collar and Green Collar Jobs Development Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4061 To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish and carry out a comprehensive, nationwide, energy-related industries jobs program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 25, 2019 Mr. RUSH (for himself, Mr. HUDSON, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. UPTON, and Mr. LARSON of Connecticut) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish and carry out a comprehensive, nationwide, energy-related indus- tries jobs 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 ‘‘Blue Collar and Green 4 Collar Jobs Development Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. ENERGY WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of ap- 7 propriations for such purpose, the Secretary shall estab- 8 lish and carry out a comprehensive, nationwide program 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4061.IH H4061 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4061 IH to improve education and training for jobs in energy-re- 1 lated industries in order to increase the number of skilled 2 workers trained for such jobs. 3 (b) DIRECT ASSISTANCE.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program 5 established under subsection (a), the Secretary may 6 provide— 7 (A) financial assistance awards, technical 8 assistance, and other assistance the Secretary 9 determines appropriate, to educational institu- 10 tions and covered organizations and programs, 11 including those serving unemployed energy 12 workers; and 13 (B) internships, fellowships, traineeships, 14 and apprenticeships at the Department of En- 15 ergy, including at the Department of Energy 16 national laboratories. 17 (2) DISTRIBUTION.—Subject to subsection (c), 18 the Secretary shall distribute assistance described in 19 paragraph (1) in a manner proportional to the needs 20 of energy-related industries and demand for jobs in 21 energy-related industries, consistent with informa- 22 tion developed under subsection (e). 23 (c) PRIORITY.—In carrying out the program estab- 24 lished under subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4061.IH H4061 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4061 IH (1) prioritize the education and training of indi- 1 viduals from underrepresented communities for jobs 2 in energy-related industries, including in providing 3 internships, fellowships, traineeships, apprentice- 4 ships, and employment at the Department of En- 5 ergy, including at the Department of Energy na- 6 tional laboratories; and 7 (2) in providing research grants and technical 8 assistance to educational institutions, give priority to 9 minority-serving institutions. 10 (d) COLLABORATION AND OUTREACH.—In carrying 11 out the program established under subsection (a), the Sec- 12 retary shall— 13 (1) collaborate with— 14 (A) to the maximum extent possible, State 15 workforce development boards, to maximize pro- 16 gram efficiency; 17 (B) educational institutions and covered 18 organizations and programs; 19 (C) energy-related industries and covered 20 organizations and programs to increase the op- 21 portunities for, and enrollment of, students and 22 other candidates, including students of minor- 23 ity-serving institutions and unemployed energy 24 workers, to participate in industry internships, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4061.IH H4061 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4061 IH fellowships, traineeships, and apprenticeships; 1 and 2 (D) Federal-State Regional Commissions, 3 including the Appalachia Regional Commission, 4 the Delta Regional Authority, the Denali Com- 5 mission, the Northern Border Regional Com- 6 mission, the Northern Great Plains Regional 7 Commission, and the Southeast Crescent Re- 8 gional Commission; and 9 (2) conduct outreach activities to— 10 (A) encourage individuals from underrep- 11 resented communities and unemployed energy 12 workers to enter into the STEM fields; and 13 (B) encourage and foster collaboration, 14 mentorships, and partnerships among energy- 15 related industries, and covered organizations 16 and programs, that provide effective training 17 programs for jobs in energy-related industries 18 and educational institutions that seek to estab- 19 lish these types of programs in order to share 20 best practices and approaches that best suit 21 local, State, and national needs. 22 (e) CLEARINGHOUSE.— 23 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—In carrying out the pro- 24 gram established under subsection (a), the Sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4061.IH H4061 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4061 IH retary, in collaboration with the Commissioner of the 1 Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Secretary of Com- 2 merce, the Director of the Bureau of the Census, 3 and energy-related industries, shall establish a clear- 4 inghouse to— 5 (A) develop, maintain, and update informa- 6 tion and other resources, by State and by re- 7 gion, on— 8 (i) training programs for jobs in en- 9 ergy-related industries; and 10 (ii) the current and future workforce 11 needs of energy-related industries, and job 12 opportunities in such energy-related indus- 13 tries, including identification of jobs in en- 14 ergy-related industries for which there is 15 the greatest demand; and 16 (B) act as a resource for educational insti- 17 tutions and covered organizations and programs 18 that would like to develop and implement train- 19 ing programs for such jobs. 20 (2) REPORT.—The Secretary shall annually 21 publish a report on the information and other re- 22 sources developed, maintained, and updated on the 23 clearinghouse established under paragraph (1). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4061.IH H4061 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4061 IH (f) GUIDELINES TO DEVELOP SKILLS FOR AN EN- 1 ERGY INDUSTRY WORKFORCE.— 2 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program 3 established under subsection (a), the Secretary, in 4 collaboration with the Secretary of Education, the 5 Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, and 6 the National Science Foundation, shall develop vol- 7 untary guidelines or best practices for educational 8 institutions to help provide students with the skills 9 necessary for jobs in energy-related industries, in- 10 cluding jobs in— 11 (A) the energy efficiency industry, includ- 12 ing jobs in energy efficiency (including architec- 13 ture, design, and construction of new energy ef- 14 ficient buildings), conservation, weatherization, 15 retrofitting, inspecting, auditing, and software 16 development; 17 (B) the renewable energy industry, includ- 18 ing jobs in the development, engineering, manu- 19 facturing, and production of energy from re- 20 newable energy sources (such as solar, hydro- 21 power, wind, and geothermal energy); 22 (C) the community energy resiliency indus- 23 try, including jobs in the installation of rooftop 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4061.IH H4061 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4061 IH solar, in battery storage, and in microgrid tech- 1 nologies; 2 (D) the fuel cell and hydrogen energy in- 3 dustry; 4 (E) the advanced automotive technology 5 industry, including jobs relating to electric vehi- 6 cle batteries, connectivity and automation, and 7 advanced combustion engines; 8 (F) the manufacturing industry, including 9 jobs as operations technicians, in operations 10 and design in additive manufacturing, 3-D 11 printing, and advanced composites and ad- 12 vanced aluminum and other metal alloys, and in 13 industrial energy efficiency management sys- 14 tems, including power electronics, and other in- 15 novative technologies; 16 (G) the chemical manufacturing industry, 17 including jobs in construction (such as welders, 18 pipefitters, and tool and die makers), as instru- 19 ment and electrical technicians, machinists, 20 chemical process operators, engineers, quality 21 and safety professionals, and reliability engi- 22 neers; 23 (H) the utility industry, including jobs in 24 smart grid technology, cybersecurity manage- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4061.IH H4061 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4061 IH ment, and the generation, transmission, and 1 distribution of electricity and natural gas, such 2 as electricians and utility dispatchers, techni- 3 cians, operators, lineworkers, engineers, sci- 4 entists, and information technology specialists; 5 (I) the alternative fuels industry, including 6 jobs in biofuel and bioproducts development and 7 production; 8 (J) the pipeline industry, including jobs in 9 pipeline construction and maintenance and jobs 10 as engineers and technical advisors; 11 (K) the nuclear energy industry, including 12 jobs as scientists, engineers, technicians, mathe- 13 maticians, and security personnel; 14 (L) the oil and gas industry, including jobs 15 as scientists, engineers, technicians, mathemati- 16 cians, petrochemical engineers, and geologists; 17 and 18 (M) the coal industry, including jobs as 19 coal miners, engineers, developers and manufac- 20 turers of state-of-the-art coal facilities, tech- 21 nology vendors, coal transportation workers and 22 operators, and mining equipment vendors. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4061.IH H4061 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4061 IH (2) INPUT.—The Secretary shall solicit input 1 from energy-related industries in developing guide- 2 lines or best practices under paragraph (1). 3 (3) ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND CONSERVATION 4 INITIATIVES.—The guidelines or best practices devel- 5 oped under paragraph (1) shall include grade-spe- 6 cific guidelines for elementary schools and secondary 7 schools for teaching energy efficiency technology, ar- 8 chitecture, design, and construction of new energy- 9 efficient buildings and building energy retrofits, 10 manufacturing efficiency technology, community en- 11 ergy resiliency, and conservation initiatives. 12 (4) STEM EDUCATION.—The guidelines or best 13 practices developed under paragraph (1) shall pro- 14 mote STEM education in educational institutions as 15 it relates to job opportunities in energy-related in- 16 dustries listed under such paragraph. 17 (5) PROHIBITION.—Nothing in this subsection 18 shall be construed to authorize the Secretary or any 19 other officer or employee of the Federal Government 20 to require or coerce a State, local educational agen- 21 cy, or educational institution to adopt or carry out 22 the guidelines or best practices developed under 23 paragraph (1). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4061.IH H4061 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4061 IH (g) CONSOLIDATION.—To the extent practicable, the 1 Secretary shall, to avoid duplication of efforts, carry out 2 the Equity in Energy Initiative of the Department of En- 3 ergy, the Minority Educational Institution Student Part- 4 nership Program of the Department of Energy, and any 5 other program of the Department of Energy that the Sec- 6 retary determines appropriate, through the program es- 7 tablished under subsection (a). 8 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 9 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 10 $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024. 11 SEC. 3. ENERGY WORKFORCE GRANT PROGRAM. 12 (a) PROGRAM.— 13 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subject to the avail- 14 ability of appropriations for such purpose, the Sec- 15 retary shall establish and carry out a program to 16 provide grants to eligible entities to pay the eligible 17 wages of, or eligible stipends for, individuals during 18 the time period that such individuals are receiving 19 training to work for an eligible business. 20 (2) GUIDELINES.—Not later than 60 days after 21 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in 22 consultation with eligible businesses, shall establish 23 guidelines that identify— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4061.IH H4061 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 4061 IH (A) criteria for wages and stipends to meet 1 to be eligible for purposes of the program estab- 2 lished pursuant to paragraph (1); and 3 (B) training that is eligible for purposes of 4 the program established pursuant to paragraph 5 (1). 6 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—For purposes of this section: 7 (1) ELIGIBLE BUSINESS.—The term ‘‘eligible 8 business’’ means a business that provides services 9 related to— 10 (A) renewable electric energy generation, 11 including solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower, 12 and other renewable electric energy generation 13 technologies; 14 (B) energy efficiency, including energy-effi- 15 cient lighting, heating, ventilation, and air con- 16 ditioning, air source heat pumps, advanced 17 building materials, insulation and air sealing, 18 and other high-efficiency products and services, 19 including auditing and inspection, architecture, 20 design, and construction of new energy efficient 21 buildings and building energy retrofits; 22 (C) grid modernization or energy storage, 23 including smart grid, microgrid and other dis- 24 tributed energy solutions, demand response 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4061.IH H4061 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 4061 IH management, and home energy management 1 technology; 2 (D) advanced fossil energy technology, in- 3 cluding— 4 (i) advanced resource development; 5 (ii) carbon capture, storage, and use; 6 (iii) low-carbon power systems; 7 (iv) efficiency improvements that sub- 8 stantially reduce emissions; and 9 (v) direct air capture; 10 (E) nuclear energy, including research, de- 11 velopment, demonstration, and commercial ap- 12 plication relating to nuclear energy; 13 (F) cybersecurity for the energy sector, in- 14 cluding infrastructure, emergency planning, co- 15 ordination, response, and restoration; 16 (G) alternative fuels, including biofuel and 17 bioproduct development and production; 18 (H) advanced automotive technology, in- 19 cluding electric vehicle batteries, connectivity 20 and automation, and ad [Text truncated for display. 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