II 

Calendar No. 351 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 876 

To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to require the Secretary of Energy 

to establish a program to prepare veterans for careers in the energy 

industry, including the solar, wind, cybersecurity, and other low-carbon 

emissions sectors or zero-emissions sectors of the energy industry, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 26, 2019 

Ms. DUCKWORTH (for herself, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. BENNET, Mr. GARDNER, and 

Mr. CRAPO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

DECEMBER 17, 2019 

Reported by Ms. MURKOWSKI, with amendments 

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to require the 

Secretary of Energy to establish a program to prepare 

veterans for careers in the energy industry, including 

the solar, wind, cybersecurity, and other low-carbon emissions sectors or zero-emissions sectors of the energy industry, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Energy Jobs for our 

3 Heroes Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. ENERGY-READY VETS PROGRAM. 

5 Title XI of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 

6 16411 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 1107. ENERGY-READY VETS PROGRAM. 

9 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en10 sure that veterans have the credentials and training nec11 essary to secure careers in the energy industry. 

12 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 ‘‘(1) ACTIVE MILITARY, NAVAL, OR AIR SERV14 ICE.—The term ‘active military, naval, or air service’ 

15 has the meaning given such term in section 101 of 

16 title 38, United States Code. 

17 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANT.—The term ‘eligi18 ble participant’ means a veteran who— 

19 ‘‘(A) was discharged or released from serv20 ice in the active military, naval, or air service 

21 during the most recent 1-year period; or 

22 ‘‘(B)(i) was discharged or released from 

23 service in the active military, naval, or air serv24 ice during the 2-year period immediately pre25 ceding the most recent 1-year period; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) receives the approval of the Secretary 

2 to participate in the program. 

3 ‘‘(3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means 

4 the Energy-Ready Vets Program established under 

5 subsection (c)(1). 

6 ‘‘(4) UNIFORMED SERVICES.—The term ‘uni7 formed services’ has the meaning given such term in 

8 section 10(a) of title 10, United States Code. 

9 ‘‘(5) VETERAN.—The term ‘veteran’ has the 

10 meaning given such term in section 101 of title 38, 

11 United States Code. 

12 ‘‘(c) ESTABLISHMENT; IMPLEMENTATION.— 

13 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es14 tablish a program, to be known as the ‘Energy15 Ready Vets Program’, to prepare eligible partici16 pants for careers in the energy industry. 

17 ‘‘(2) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary shall 

18 ensure that the program is implemented by an ad19 ministrator, to be appointed by the Secretary from 

20 among individuals with experience relating to mili21 tary service. 

22 ‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATION OF PROGRAM.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in partner24 ship with the Secretary of Defense, shall carry out 

25 the program through the SkillBridge program of the 


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1 Department of Defense, under which the Secretary 

2 shall provide standardized training courses, based, to 

3 the maximum extent practicable, on existing indus4 try-recognized certification and training programs, 

5 to prepare eligible participants in the program for 

6 careers in the energy industry, including— 

7 ‘‘(A) in the solar energy industry, ca8 reers— 

9 ‘‘(i) as solar photovoltaic system in10 stallers; 

11 ‘‘(ii) as solar technicians; 

12 ‘‘(iii) as system inspectors; and 

13 ‘‘(iv) in other areas relating to the 

14 solar energy industry; 

15 ‘‘(B) in the wind energy industry, ca16 reers— 

17 ‘‘(i) in wind energy operations; 

18 ‘‘(ii) in wind energy development; 

19 ‘‘(iii) in wind energy manufacturing; 

20 ‘‘(iv) as wind energy technicians; 

21 ‘‘(v) in the support of all parts of the 

22 wind energy supply chain; and 

23 ‘‘(vi) in other areas relating to the 

24 wind energy industry; 


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1 ‘‘(C) in the cybersecurity sector of the en2 ergy industry, careers in— 

3 ‘‘(i) cybersecurity preparedness; 

4 ‘‘(ii) cyber incident response and re5 covery; 

6 ‘‘(iii) grid modernization, security, 

7 and maintenance; 

8 ‘‘(iv) resilience planning; and 

9 ‘‘(v) other areas relating to the cyber10 security sector of the energy industry; 

11 ‘‘(D) careers in other low-carbon emissions 

12 sectors or zero-emissions sectors of the energy 

13 industry identified by the Secretary; and 

14 ‘‘(E) careers in sectors that plan, develop, 

15 construct, maintain, and expand energy indus16 try infrastructure. 

17 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the 

19 program, the Secretary shall ensure that the 

20 courses described in paragraph (1)— 

21 ‘‘(i) provide— 

22 ‘‘(I) job training; 

23 ‘‘(II) employment skills training, 

24 including providing comprehensive 


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1 wraparound support services to eligi2 ble participants that— 

3 ‘‘(aa) enhance the training 

4 experience and promote the pro5 fessional development of eligible 

6 participants; and 

7 ‘‘(bb) help eligible partici8 pants transition into the work9 force; and 

10 ‘‘(III) opportunities for intern11 ships of not longer than 180 days; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(ii) are carried out primarily 

14 through— 

15 ‘‘(I) internships; or 

16 ‘‘(II) applied, work-based train17 ing. 

18 ‘‘(B) EXAM REQUIREMENT.—As a require19 ment for completing a course described in para20 graph (1), the Secretary shall require each eligi21 ble participant in the course to earn an applica22 ble industry-recognized entry-level certificate or 

23 other credential. 

24 ‘‘(e) RECOGNITION OF ENTITIES.—The Secretary 

25 and the administrator of the program appointed under 


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1 subsection (c)(2), working jointly, shall establish and carry 

2 out a program to recognize commercial entities that hire 

3 eligible participants who receive certifications or other cre4 dentials under the program, based on the proportion 

5 that— 

6 ‘‘(1) the number of such eligible participants 

7 hired by the commercial entity; bears to 

8 ‘‘(2) the number of such eligible participants 

9 hired by all commercial entities. 

10 ‘‘(f) ESTABLISHMENT OF INDUSTRY-RECOGNIZED

11 CERTIFICATION AND TRAINING PROGRAMS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of subsection 

13 (d), if an appropriate industry-recognized certifi14 cation and training program does not exist, the Sec15 retary shall establish a grant program to assist the 

16 industry in developing such an industry-recognized 

17 certification and training program. 

18 ‘‘(2) FUNDING.—Out of the amounts made 

19 available under subsection (g)(1), the Secretary shall 

20 use such sums as are necessary to carry out para21 graph (1). 

22 ‘‘(g) FUNDING.— 

23 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

24 There are authorized to be appropriated to the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S876.RS S876

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1 retary such sums as are necessary to carry out this 

2 section. 

3 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION OF FUNDING.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara5 graph (B), the Secretary shall allocate to each 

6 facility of the Department of Defense partici7 pating in the program an amount based on a 

8 percentage of how many participants enroll in 

9 courses at the facility. 

10 ‘‘(B) APPLICATIONS.—A facility of the De11 partment of Defense participating in the pro12 gram and desiring funding under subparagraph 

13 (A) shall annually submit an application for 

14 such funding. 

15 ‘‘(f) ESTABLISHMENT OF INDUSTRY-RECOGNIZED

16 CERTIFICATION AND TRAINING PROGRAMS.—For purposes 

17 of subsection (d), if an appropriate industry-recognized cer18 tification and training program does not exist, the Sec19 retary shall establish a grant program to assist the industry 

20 in developing such an industry-recognized certification and 

21 training program. 

22 ‘‘(h)(g) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

23 date on which the program is established, and annually 

24 thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 


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1 describing the activities carried out under, and accom2 plishments of, the program. program, including— 

3 ‘‘(1) the number of veterans enrolled in the pro4 gram; 

5 ‘‘(2) the regional distribution of those veterans; 

6 ‘‘(3) the cost of certification under the program; 

7 ‘‘(4) the rate of job placement; 

8 ‘‘(5) the rate of job retention; and 

9 ‘‘(6) the average salaries of veterans who were 

10 enrolled in the program.’’. 


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Calendar No. 351 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 876 

A BILL 

To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to require 

other purposes. emissions sectors of the energy industry, and for and other low-carbon emissions sectors or zerodustry, including the solar, wind, cybersecurity, to prepare veterans for careers in the energy inthe Secretary of Energy to establish a program 

DECEMBER 17, 2019 

Reported with amendments 


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