A bill to permit young adults to perform projects to prevent fire and suppress fires, and provide disaster relief, on public land through a Healthy Forest Youth Conservation Corps.

Summary: Healthy Forest Youth Conservation Corps Act of 2004 - Establishes A Healthy Forest Youth Conservation Corps to be comprised of low-income young adults between the ages of 16 and 25 to work on projects to prevent fire and suppress fires, and provide disaster relief on public land. Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to enter into contracts or cooperative agreements directly with any service and conservation corps or State department of natural resources, agriculture, or forestry to carry out projects to prevent fire and suppress fires, rehabilitate public land affected or altered by fires, and provide disaster relief.

Directs the Secretaries to give priority to certain projects, including projects that will: (1) reduce hazardous fuels on public lands; (2) restore public land affected or threatened by disease or insect infestation; (3) rehabilitate public land affected or altered by fires; (4) assess public land at a high risk of reburn; and (5) address public land located near a municipal watershed and water supply.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Healthy Forest Youth Conservation 
Corps Act of 2004''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the natural fire regimes of forested public land have 
        been altered by intensive fire suppression;
            (2) fire suppression has led to increased risk of 
        unnaturally severe wildfires that in recent years have 
        destroyed thousands of homes, devastated agricultural crops and 
        livestock, reduced biodiversity, and scorched thousands of 
        areas of soil and natural resources;
            (3) catastrophic wildfires pose a particular threat to 
        communities and wildlife living close to forested wildland, 
        known as the ``wildland-urban interface'';
            (4) each year millions of public dollars are spent to fight 
        severe wildfires and protect communities where municipal water 
        supplies, human lives, and property are threatened;
            (5) cooperative agreements between public agencies empower 
        communities and are cost-effective tools that provide positive 
        social and environmental benefits;
            (6) cooperative agreements should be encouraged to prevent 
        unnaturally severe fires, rehabilitate public land affected or 
        altered by fires, and enhance and maintain environmentally 
        important land and water; and
            (7) joint collaborations between the public agencies and 
        service and conservation corps are particularly beneficial, as 
        the collaborations provide--
                    (A) young adults the opportunity to prepare for 
                productive lives while engaged in meaningful and 
                educational public service opportunities; and
                    (B) the public with cost-saving human resources to 
                assist in conserving, maintaining, and protecting 
                public land.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

     The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to allow service and conservation corps to contract 
        directly with public land management agencies to perform 
        rehabilitation and enhancement projects to prevent fire, 
        rehabilitate public land affected or altered by fires, and 
        suppress fires, and provide disaster relief;
            (2) to offer young adults, ages 16 through 25, particularly 
        those who are at-risk or economically disadvantaged, the 
        opportunity to gain productive employment;
            (3) to provide those young adults the opportunity to serve 
        their communities and their country; and
            (4) to expand educational opportunities by rewarding 
        individuals who participate in the Healthy Forest Youth 
        Conservation Corps with an increased ability to pursue higher 
        education or employment.

SEC. 4. HEALTHY FOREST YOUTH CONSERVATION CORPS.

    (a)  Establishment.--There is established a Healthy Forest Youth 
Conservation Corps.
    (b) Participants.--The Corps shall consist of low-income young 
adults who are enrolled as members of a service and conservation corps.
    (c) Contracts or Agreements.--The Secretary may enter into 
contracts or cooperative agreements directly with--
            (1) any service and conservation corps to carry out 
        rehabilitation and enhancement projects to prevent fire and 
        suppress fires, rehabilitate public land affected or altered by 
        fires, and provide disaster relief; or
            (2) a department of natural resources, agriculture, or 
        forestry (or an equivalent department) of any State that has 
        entered into a contract or cooperative agreement with a service 
        and conservation corps to carry out a project described in 
        paragraph (1).
    (d)  Projects.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary may enter into contracts or 
        cooperative agreements with service and conservation corps to 
        carry out rehabilitation and enhancement projects to prevent 
        fire and suppress fires, rehabilitate public land affected or 
        altered by fires, and provide disaster relief, including--
                    (A) a project relating to the National Fire Plan;
                    (B) a project relating to the Healthy Forests 
                Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.); and
                    (C) other activities allowed under--
                            (i) a national forest and grassland land 
                        management plan; or
                            (ii) a Bureau of Land Management land use 
                        plan.
            (2) Priority.--In entering into contractual or cooperative 
        agreements with service and conservation corps under paragraph 
        (1), each Secretary shall give priority to projects that will--
                    (A) reduce hazardous fuels on public land;
                    (B) restore public land affected or imminently 
                threatened by disease or insect infestation;
                    (C) rehabilitate public land affected or altered by 
                fires;
                    (D) assess windthrown public land or public land at 
                high risk of reburn;
                    (E) work to address public land located within 
                relative proximity to a municipal watershed and 
                municipal water supply;
                    (F) provide related emergency assistance, such as 
                natural disaster relief and the rescue of lost or 
                injured persons;
                    (G) instill in members of the service and 
                conservation corps a work ethic, and a sense of 
                personal responsibility;
                    (H) be labor-intensive; and
                    (I) be planned and initiated promptly.
    (e) Supportive Services.--Each Secretary may provide such services 
as the Secretary considers to be necessary to carry out this Act.
    (f) Technical Assistance.--To carry out this Act, the Secretaries 
shall provide technical assistance, oversight, monitoring, and 
evaluation to or for--
            (1) State departments of natural resources and agriculture 
        (or equivalent agencies);
            (2) service and conservation corps;
            (3) in the case of Indian lands, the applicable Indian 
        tribe;
            (4) in the case of Hawaiian home lands, the applicable 
        State agency in the State of Hawaii; and
            (5) in the case of land under the jurisdiction of an Alaska 
        Native Corporation, the applicable Alaska Native Corporation.

SEC. 5. USE OF FUNDS.

    Funds made available under this Act may be used to support 
implementation, monitoring, training, technical assistance, and 
administrative work of local and State conservation corps that have 
entered into cooperative agreements with public land management 
agencies.

SEC. 6. NONCOMPETITIVE HIRING STATUS.

    Each Secretary may grant credit for time served toward future 
Federal hiring, and provide noncompetitive hiring status, for former 
members of the Corps for not more than 120 days after service is 
complete.

SEC. 7. NONDISPLACEMENT.

    The nondisplacement requirements of section 177(b) of the National 
and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12637(b)) shall apply to 
activities carried out by the Corps under this Act.

SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Alaska native corporation.--The term ``Alaska Native 
        Corporation'' means a Regional Corporation or Village 
        Corporation, as those terms are defined in section 3 of the 
        Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602).
            (2) Corps.--The term ``Corps'' means the Healthy Forest 
        Youth Conservation Corps established under section 4.
            (3) Hawaiian home lands.--The term ``Hawaiian home lands'' 
        has the meaning given the term in section 203 of Public Law 91-
        378 (commonly known as the ``Youth Conservation Corps Act of 
        1970'') (16 U.S.C. 1722).
            (4) Indian lands.--The term ``Indian lands'' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 203 of Public Law 91-378 
        (commonly known as the ``Youth Conservation Corps Act of 
        1970'') (16 U.S.C. 1722).
            (5) Public land.--The term ``public land'' means--
                    (A) land of the National Forest System (as defined 
                in section 11(a) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable 
                Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a))) 
                administered by the Secretary of Agriculture, acting 
                through the Chief of the Forest Service;
                    (B) public lands (as defined in section 103 of the 
                Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 
                U.S.C. 1702)), the surfaces of which are administered 
                by the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 
                Director of the Bureau of Land Management;
                    (C) public lands, the surfaces of which are 
                administered by the Secretary of the Interior, acting 
                through the Director of the United States Fish and 
                Wildlife Service;
                    (D) land owned by a State or local agency;
                    (E) Indian lands, with the approval of the 
                applicable Indian tribe;
                    (F) Hawaiian home lands, with the approval of the 
                applicable State agency in the State of Hawaii; and
                    (G) land under the jurisdiction of an Alaska Native 
                Corporation, with the approval of the applicable Alaska 
                Native Corporation.
            (6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means--
                    (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to 
                land of the National Forest System described in 
                paragraph (5)(A);
                    (B) the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to 
                public lands described in paragraph (5)(B); and
                    (C) the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary 
                of the Interior jointly, with respect to land owned by 
                a State or local agency described in paragraph (5)(C).
            (7) Service and conservation corps.--The term ``service and 
        conservation corps'' means any organization established by a 
        State or local government, nonprofit organization, or Indian 
        tribe that--
                    (A) has a research-validated demonstrable 
                capability to provide productive work to individuals;
                    (B) gives participants a combination of work 
                experience, basic and life skills, education, training, 
                and support services; and
                    (C) provides participants with the opportunity to 
                develop citizenship values through service to their 
                communities and the United States.
            (8) State.--The term ``State'' means--
                    (A) a State;
                    (B) the District of Columbia;
                    (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico;
                    (D) Guam;
                    (E) American Samoa;
                    (F) the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 
                Islands;
                    (G) the Federated States of Micronesia;
                    (H) the Republic of the Marshall Islands;
                    (I) the Republic of Palau; and
                    (J) the United States Virgin Islands.
            (9) Young adults.--The term ``young adults'' means 
        individuals between 16 and 25 years of age.

SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 
$25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 through 2009.