Wind Workforce Modernization and Training Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8957 To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to establish a grant program for training wind technicians, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 14, 2020 Ms. FINKENAUER (for herself, Mrs. AXNE, Mr. BACON, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, and Mr. COLE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, 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 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 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Dec 28, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8957.IH H8957 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8957 IH SEC. 2. WIND TECHNICIAN TRAINING GRANT PROGRAM. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title XI of the Energy Policy Act 2 of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16411 et seq.) is amended by adding 3 at the end the following: 4 ‘‘SEC. 1107. WIND TECHNICIAN TRAINING GRANT PROGRAM. 5 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 6 ‘‘(1) COVERED PARTICIPANT.—The term ‘cov- 7 ered participant’ means a participant enrolled, on 8 the date on which an eligible entity receives a grant 9 under this section, in the training program with re- 10 spect to which the grant is received. 11 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en- 12 tity’ means a provider of training services that— 13 ‘‘(A) is on the list of eligible providers of 14 training services described in section 122(d) of 15 the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 16 (29 U.S.C. 3152(d)), including joint labor-man- 17 agement organizations and postsecondary voca- 18 tional institutions; and 19 ‘‘(B) offers a training program for techni- 20 cians in the wind energy industry. 21 ‘‘(3) FINAL PARTICIPATION DATE.—The term 22 ‘final participation date’ means, for an eligible entity 23 receiving a grant under this section, the date on 24 which the last covered participant exits the training 25 program with respect to which the grant is received. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Dec 28, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8957.IH H8957 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8957 IH ‘‘(b) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall estab- 1 lish a program under which the Secretary shall award 2 grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities to pur- 3 chase large pieces of wind turbine component equipment 4 (such as nacelles, towers, and blades) for use in training 5 wind technician students. 6 ‘‘(c) REPORTING.—Not later than 1 year after the 7 final participation date, an eligible entity receiving a grant 8 under this section shall submit to the Secretary, with re- 9 spect to the covered participants, a report containing a 10 description of the levels of performance achieved with re- 11 spect to each of the primary indicators of performance de- 12 scribed in subclauses (I) through (VI) of section 13 116(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor- 14 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3141(b)(2)(A)(i)). 15 ‘‘(d) FUNDING.—Of the amounts made available to 16 the Secretary for administrative expenses to carry out 17 other programs under the authority of the Secretary, the 18 Secretary shall use to carry out this section $2,000,000 19 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2025.’’. 20 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 21 for the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58; 22 119 Stat. 601) is amended by inserting after the item re- 23 lating to section 1106 the following: 24 ‘‘Sec. 1107. Wind technician training grant program.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Dec 28, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H8957.IH H8957 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8957 IH SEC. 3. VETERANS IN WIND ENERGY. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title XI of the Energy Policy Act 2 of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16411 et seq.) (as amended by section 3 2(a)) is further amended by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘SEC. 1108. VETERANS IN WIND ENERGY. 6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 7 with the eligible entities defined in section 1107(a)(2), in- 8 cluding joint labor-management organizations and post- 9 secondary vocational institutions, shall design, establish, 10 and administer a program to prepare veterans for careers 11 in the wind energy industry by providing classroom in- 12 struction and work-based learning. 13 ‘‘(b) FUNDING.—Of the amounts made available to 14 the Secretary for administrative expenses to carry out 15 other programs under the authority of the Secretary, the 16 Secretary shall use to carry out this section $2,000,000 17 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2025.’’. 18 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 19 for the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58; 20 119 Stat. 601) (as amended by section 2(b)) is further 21 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 22 1107 the following: 23 ‘‘Sec. 1108. Veterans in wind energy.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Dec 28, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H8957.IH H8957 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8957 IH SEC. 4. STUDY AND REPORT ON WIND TECHNICIAN WORK- 1 FORCE. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy (referred 3 to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall convene a task 4 force comprised of 1 or more representatives of each of 5 the stakeholders described in subsection (b) that shall— 6 (1) conduct a study to assess the training needs 7 of technicians working in the wind energy industry; 8 (2) create a comprehensive list that— 9 (A) lists each type of wind energy industry 10 technician position available in the United 11 States; and 12 (B) describes the skill sets required for 13 each type of position listed under subparagraph 14 (A); and 15 (3) not later than 1 year after the date of en- 16 actment of this Act, make publicly available and 17 submit to Congress a report that— 18 (A) describes the results of that study; 19 (B) includes the comprehensive list de- 20 scribed in paragraph (2); and 21 (C) provides recommendations— 22 (i) for creating a credentialing pro- 23 gram for wind energy industry technicians 24 that may be administered by eligible enti- 25 ties (as defined in section 1107(a)(2) of 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Dec 28, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8957.IH H8957 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8957 IH the Energy Policy Act of 2005, as added 1 by section 2(a) of this Act); and 2 (ii) that reflect best practices for 3 training programs for technicians in the 4 wind energy industry, as identified by rep- 5 resentatives of the wind energy industry. 6 (b) STAKEHOLDERS DESCRIBED.—The stakeholders 7 referred to in subsection (a) are— 8 (1) the Department of Defense; 9 (2) the Department of Education; 10 (3) the Department of Energy; 11 (4) the Department of Labor; 12 (5) the Department of Veterans Affairs; 13 (6) eligible entities (as defined in section 14 1107(a)(2) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, as 15 added by section 2(a) of this Act), including joint- 16 labor management organizations and postsecondary 17 vocational institutions; and 18 (7) the wind energy industry. 19 (c) FUNDING.—Of the amounts made available to the 20 Secretary for administrative expenses to carry out other 21 programs under the authority of the Secretary, the Sec- 22 retary shall use to carry out this section $500,000. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Dec 28, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8957.IH H8957 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS