Wind Workforce Modernization and Training Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2415 To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to establish a grant program for training wind technicians, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES AUGUST 1, 2019 Ms. ERNST (for herself and Mr. KING) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to establish a grant program for training wind technicians, 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 ‘‘Wind Workforce Mod- 4 ernization and Training Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. WIND TECHNICIAN TRAINING GRANT PROGRAM. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title XI of the Energy Policy Act 7 of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16411 et seq.) is amended by adding 8 at the end the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2415.IS S2415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2415 IS ‘‘SEC. 1107. WIND TECHNICIAN TRAINING GRANT PROGRAM. 1 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this sec- 2 tion, the term ‘eligible entity’ means a community college 3 or technical school that offers a wind training program. 4 ‘‘(b) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall estab- 5 lish a program under which the Secretary shall award 6 grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities to pur- 7 chase large pieces of wind component equipment (such as 8 nacelles, towers, and blades) for use in training wind tech- 9 nician students. 10 ‘‘(c) FUNDING.—Of the amounts made available to 11 the Secretary for administrative expenses to carry out 12 other programs under the authority of the Secretary, the 13 Secretary shall use to carry out this section $2,000,000 14 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2024.’’. 15 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 16 for the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58; 17 119 Stat. 601) is amended by inserting after the item re- 18 lating to section 1106 the following: 19 ‘‘Sec. 1107. Wind technician training grant program.’’. SEC. 3. VETERANS IN WIND ENERGY. 20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title XI of the Energy Policy Act 21 of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16411 et seq.) (as amended by section 22 2(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2415.IS S2415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2415 IS ‘‘SEC. 1108. VETERANS IN WIND ENERGY. 1 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 2 program to prepare veterans for careers in the wind en- 3 ergy industry that shall be modeled off of the Solar Ready 4 Vets pilot program formerly administered by the Depart- 5 ment of Energy and the Department of Defense. 6 ‘‘(b) FUNDING.—Of the amounts made available to 7 the Secretary for administrative expenses to carry out 8 other programs under the authority of the Secretary, the 9 Secretary shall use to carry out this section $2,000,000 10 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2024.’’. 11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 12 for the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58; 13 119 Stat. 601) (as amended by section 2(b)) is amended 14 by inserting after the item relating to section 1107 the 15 following: 16 ‘‘Sec. 1108. Veterans in wind energy.’’. SEC. 4. STUDY AND REPORT ON WIND TECHNICIAN WORK- 17 FORCE. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy (referred 19 to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall convene a task 20 force comprised of 1 or more representatives of each of 21 the stakeholders described in subsection (b) that shall— 22 (1) conduct a study to assess the needs of wind 23 technicians in the workforce; 24 (2) create a comprehensive list that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2415.IS S2415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2415 IS (A) lists each type of wind technician posi- 1 tion available in the United States; and 2 (B) describes the skill sets required for 3 each type of position listed under subparagraph 4 (A); and 5 (3) not later than 1 year after the date of en- 6 actment of this Act, make publicly available and 7 submit to Congress a report that— 8 (A) describes the results of that study; 9 (B) includes the comprehensive list de- 10 scribed in paragraph (2); and 11 (C) provides recommendations— 12 (i) for creating a credentialing pro- 13 gram that may be administered by commu- 14 nity colleges, technical schools, and other 15 training institutions; and 16 (ii) that reflect best practices for wind 17 technician training programs, as identified 18 by representatives of the wind industry. 19 (b) STAKEHOLDERS DESCRIBED.—The stakeholders 20 referred to in subsection (a) are— 21 (1) the Department of Defense; 22 (2) the Department of Education; 23 (3) the Department of Energy; 24 (4) the Department of Labor; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2415.IS S2415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2415 IS (5) the Department of Veterans Affairs; 1 (6) technical schools and community colleges 2 that have wind technician training programs; and 3 (7) the wind industry. 4 (c) FUNDING.—Of the amounts made available to the 5 Secretary for administrative expenses to carry out other 6 programs under the authority of the Secretary, the Sec- 7 retary shall use to carry out this section $500,000. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2415.IS S2415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS