Providing Recovery Opportunities & Mitigating Industry’s Shifting Economics (PROMISE) Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4318 To provide economic stabilization resources to distressed rural communities directly impacted by the closure of an electric generating station, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 12, 2019 Mr. O’HALLERAN (for himself, Mr. STANTON, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, and Mr. GALLEGO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Edu- cation and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide economic stabilization resources to distressed rural communities directly impacted by the closure of an electric generating station, 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 ‘‘Providing Recovery 4 Opportunities & Mitigating Industry’s Shifting Economics 5 (PROMISE) Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Sep 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4318.IH H4318 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4318 IH SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 2 Sec. 1. Short title. Sec. 2. Table of contents. Sec. 3. Definitions. TITLE I—CLOSURE OF ELECTRIC GENERATING STATIONS Sec. 101. Closure of electric generating stations. TITLE II—WORKFORCE INNOVATION AND OPPORTUNITY ACT Sec. 201. Dislocated Worker Project. TITLE III—FUNDS FOR LOSS OF REVENUES Sec. 301. Funds for loss of revenues. TITLE IV—SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTED FEDERAL COMMUNITY ECONOMIC ADJUSTMENT PROGRAM Sec. 401. Function of the Secretary. Sec. 402. Functions of program. Sec. 403. Economic Adjustment Committee. Sec. 404. Office of Economic Adjustment of the Department of the Interior. Sec. 405. Responsibilities of executive agencies. SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 3 In this Act, the following apply: 4 (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 5 means the Department of the Interior. 6 (2) ELECTRIC GENERATING STATION OWNED IN 7 PART BY THE DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘electric 8 generating station owned in part by the Depart- 9 ment’’ means an electric generating station in which 10 the Department or any of its subagencies owns or 11 has the right to use more than 20 percent of the 12 electricity generated at a facility that currently pro- 13 duces over 2,000 megawatts of electricity. 14 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:17 Sep 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4318.IH H4318 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4318 IH (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 1 the Secretary of the Interior. 2 TITLE I—CLOSURE OF ELECTRIC 3 GENERATING STATIONS 4 SEC. 101. CLOSURE OF ELECTRIC GENERATING STATIONS. 5 (a) REUSE STUDIES.—Whenever the Secretary or the 6 operator of an electric generating station owned in part 7 by the Department announces that an electric generating 8 station owned in part by the Department is a candidate 9 for closure or that a final decision has been made to close 10 an electric generating station owned in part by the De- 11 partment and the Secretary determines, because of the lo- 12 cation, facilities, or other particular characteristics of the 13 electric generating station that it may be suitable for some 14 specific Federal, State, Tribal, or local use potentially ben- 15 eficial to the Nation, the Secretary may conduct such 16 studies, including the preparation of an environmental im- 17 pact statement in accordance with the National Environ- 18 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and 19 consultations with Indian Tribes as required by the De- 20 partment, in connection with the electric generating sta- 21 tion and such potential use as may be necessary to provide 22 information sufficient to make sound conclusions and rec- 23 ommendations regarding the possible use of the property. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Sep 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4318.IH H4318 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4318 IH (b) ADJUSTMENT AND DIVERSIFICATION ASSIST- 1 ANCE.— 2 (1) ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE UNDER OTHER 3 PROGRAMS.—The Secretary may make grants, con- 4 clude cooperative agreements, and supplement funds 5 available under Federal programs administered by 6 agencies other than the Department in order to as- 7 sist State, Tribal, and local governments in planning 8 community adjustments and economic diversification 9 required by— 10 (A) the proposed or actual establishment, 11 realignment, or closure of an electric generating 12 station owned in part or whole by the Depart- 13 ment; and 14 (B) a publicly announced planned major 15 reduction in Department spending that would 16 directly and adversely affect a community, if 17 the Secretary determines that an action de- 18 scribed in subparagraph (A) or this subpara- 19 graph is likely to have a direct and significantly 20 adverse consequence on the affected community. 21 (2) CONDITIONS.—In the case of a publicly an- 22 nounced planned reduction in the Department 23 spending, the closure or realignment of an electric 24 generating station, assistance may be made under 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Sep 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4318.IH H4318 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4318 IH paragraph (1) only if the reduction, closure or re- 1 alignment, cancellation or termination, or failure will 2 have a direct and significant adverse impact on a 3 community or its residents. 4 (3) COMMUNITY ADJUSTMENT AND ECONOMIC 5 DIVERSIFICATION PROGRAM.—(A) In the case of a 6 State or local government eligible for assistance 7 under paragraph (1), the Secretary may also make 8 grants, conclude cooperative agreements, and supple- 9 ment other Federal funds in order to assist the 10 State, Tribal, county, or local government to carry 11 out a community adjustment and economic diver- 12 sification program (including State industrial exten- 13 sion or modernization efforts to facilitate the eco- 14 nomic diversification of displaced workers) in addi- 15 tion to planning such a program. 16 (B) The Secretary shall establish criteria for 17 the selection of community adjustment and economic 18 diversification programs to receive assistance under 19 subparagraph (A). Such criteria shall include a re- 20 quirement that the State, Tribal, county, or local 21 government agree— 22 (i) to provide not less than 10 percent of 23 the funding for the program from non-Federal 24 sources; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Sep 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4318.IH H4318 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4318 IH (ii) to provide business planning and mar- 1 ket exploration services under the program to 2 displaced workers that seek modernization or 3 diversification assistance; and 4 (iii) to provide training, counseling, and 5 placement services for dislocated workers. 6 (C) The Secretary shall carry out this para- 7 graph in coordination with the Secretary of Com- 8 merce. 9 (4) COMMUNITY ADJUSTMENTS AND ECONOMIC 10 DIVERSIFICATION PLANNING.—(A) The Secretary 11 may also make grants, conclude cooperative agree- 12 ments, and supplement other Federal funds in order 13 to assist a State, Tribal, county government or local 14 government in planning community adjustments and 15 economic diversification even though the State, Trib- 16 al, county government or local government is not 17 currently eligible for assistance under paragraph (1) 18 if the Secretary determines that a substantial por- 19 tion of the economic activity or population of the ge- 20 ographic area to be subject to the advance planning 21 is dependent on expenditures of the Department. 22 (B) The Secretary may also make grants, con- 23 clude cooperative agreements, and supplement other 24 Federal funds in order to assist a State, Tribal, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Sep 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4318.IH H4318 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 4318 IH county, or local government in enhancing its capac- 1 ities— 2 (i) to assist communities, businesses, and 3 workers adversely affected by an action de- 4 scribed in paragraph (1); 5 (ii) to support local adjustment and diver- 6 sification initiatives; and 7 (iii) to stimulate cooperation between 8 statewide and local adjustment and diversifica- 9 tion efforts. 10 (C) The Secretary may also make grants, con- 11 clude cooperative agreements, and supplement other 12 Federal funds in order to assist a State, Tribal, 13 county, or local government in enhancing the capa- 14 bilities of the government to support efforts of the 15 Department to privatize, contract for, or diversify 16 the performance of family support services of the 17 Department in cases in which the capability of the 18 Department to provide such services is adversely af- 19 fected by an action described in paragraph (1). 20 (5) USE OF FUNDS FOR NON-FEDERAL CON- 21 TRIBUTION.—Funds provided to State, County, 22 Tribal, and local governments and regional organiza- 23 tions under this section may be used as part or all 24 of any required non-Federal contribution to a Fed- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Sep 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4318.IH H4318 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 4318 IH eral grant-in-aid program for the purposes stated in 1 paragraph (1). 2 (6) TIMELINE FOR APPROVAL OR REJECTION.— 3 (A) To the extent practicable, the Sec- 4 retary shall inform a State, Tribal, county, or 5 local government applying for assistance under 6 this subsection of the approval or rejection by 7 the Secretary of the application for such assist- 8 ance as follows: 9 (i) Before the end of the 7-day period 10 beginning on the date on which the Sec- 11 retary receives the application, in the case 12 of an application for a planning grant. 13 (ii) Before the end of the 30-day pe- 14 riod beginning on such date, in the case of 15 an application for assistance to carry out a 16 community adjustments and economic di- 17 versifications program. 18 (B) If an application under this paragraph 19 is rejected by the Secretary, the Secretary shall 20 promptly inform the State, county, Tribal or 21 local government of the reasons for the rejec- 22 tion of the application. 23 (c) RESEARCH AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The 24 Secretary may make grants to, or conclude cooperative 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Sep 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4318.IH H4318 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 4318 IH agreements or enter into contracts with, another Federal 1 agency, a State, Tribal, county, or local government, or 2 any private entity to conduct research and provide tech- 3 nical assistance in support of activities under this section. 4 (d) INTERIOR PILOT PROGRAM.— 5 (1) ASSISTANCE FOR DEFICIENCIES IN COMMU- 6 NITY INFRASTRUCTURE.—The Secretary may make 7 grants, conclude cooperative agreements, and supple- 8 ment funds available under Federal programs ad- 9 ministered by agencies other than the Department to 10 assist State, Tribal, county, and local governments 11 to address deficiencies in community infrastructure 12 supportive of economic development if the Secretary 13 determines that such assistance will enhance the 14 economy of the area affected by the closure of an 15 electric generating station owned in part or whole by 16 the Department. 17 (2) CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall establish 18 criteria for the selection of community infrastructure 19 projects to receive assistance under paragraph (1). 20 The criteria shall include a requirement that the 21 State, Tribal, county, or local government agree to 22 contribute not less than 30 percent of the funding 23 for the community infrastructure project, unless the 24 community infrastructure project is located in a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Sep 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4318.IH H4318 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 4318 IH rural area, in which case the Secretary may waive 1 the requirement for a State, Tribal, or local govern- 2 ment contribution. 3 (3) FUNDS AVAILABLE UNTIL EXPENDED.— 4 Amounts appropriated or otherwise made available 5 for assistance under paragraph (1) shall remain 6 available until expended. 7 (4) SUNSET.—The authority under this sub- 8 section shall expire 10 years after the date of the en- 9 actment of this Act. 10 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 11 (1) COMMUNITY ADJUSTMENT.—The terms 12 ‘‘community adjustment’’ and ‘‘economic diversifica- 13 tion’’ include the development of feasibility studies 14 and business plans for market diversification within 15 a community that is located or residing, as the case 16 may be, not more than 100 miles from an electric 17 generating facility, owned in part by the Department 18 or which the Department has rights to, or a coal 19 mine associated with such a facility, one or both of 20 which has closed adversely affected by an action de- 21 scribed in subsection (b)(1) by adversely affected 22 businesses and labor organizations located in the 23 community. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Sep 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4318.IH H4318 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 4318 IH (2) COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 1 ‘‘community infrastructure’’ means any transpor- 2 tation project; school, hospital, police, fire, emer- 3 gency response, or other community support facility; 4 or water, waste-water, telecommunications, electric, 5 gas, or other utility infrastructure project that has 6 a significant nexus to the closed electric generating 7 station and owned by a State, Tribal, county, or 8 local government. 9 (3) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘‘rural area’’ 10 means a city, town, or unincorporated area that has 11 a population of not more than 150,000 inhabitants. 12 TITLE II—WORKFORCE INNOVA- 13 TION AND OPPORTUNITY ACT 14 SEC. 201. DISLOCATED WORKER PROJECT. 15 Not later than 60 days after the date of the enact- 16 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor, in consultation 17 with the Secretary of the Interior, shall establish a dis- 18 located worker demonstration project under section 169(c) 19 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 20 U.S.C. 3224(c)) to assist communities impacted by the 21 electric generating station owned in part by the Depart- 22 ment. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Sep 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4318.IH H4318 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 4318 IH TITLE [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]