II 

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, and Mr. GARDNER) 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 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Heroes Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ENERGY-READY VETS PROGRAM. 

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

3 16411 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

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

6 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en7 sure that veterans have the credentials and training nec8 essary to secure careers in the energy industry. 

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

10 ‘‘(1) ACTIVE MILITARY, NAVAL, OR AIR SERV11 ICE.—The term ‘active military, naval, or air service’ 

12 has the meaning given such term in section 101 of 

13 title 38, United States Code. 

14 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANT.—The term ‘eligi15 ble participant’ means a veteran who— 

16 ‘‘(A) was discharged or released from serv17 ice in the active military, naval, or air service 

18 during the most recent 1-year period; or 

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

20 service in the active military, naval, or air serv21 ice during the 2-year period immediately pre22 ceding the most recent 1-year period; and 

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

24 to participate in the program. 


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

2 the Energy-Ready Vets Program established under 

3 subsection (c)(1). 

4 ‘‘(4) UNIFORMED SERVICES.—The term ‘uni5 formed services’ has the meaning given such term in 

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

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

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

9 United States Code. 

10 ‘‘(c) ESTABLISHMENT; IMPLEMENTATION.— 

11 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es12 tablish a program, to be known as the ‘Energy13 Ready Vets Program’, to prepare eligible partici14 pants for careers in the energy industry. 

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

16 ensure that the program is implemented by an ad17 ministrator, to be appointed by the Secretary from 

18 among individuals with experience relating to mili19 tary service. 

20 ‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATION OF PROGRAM.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in partner22 ship with the Secretary of Defense, shall carry out 

23 the program through the SkillBridge program of the 

24 Department of Defense, under which the Secretary 

25 shall provide standardized training courses, based, to 


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1 the maximum extent practicable, on existing indus2 try-recognized certification and training programs, 

3 to prepare eligible participants in the program for 

4 careers in the energy industry, including— 

5 ‘‘(A) in the solar energy industry, ca6 reers— 

7 ‘‘(i) as solar photovoltaic system in8 stallers; 

9 ‘‘(ii) as solar technicians; 

10 ‘‘(iii) as system inspectors; and 

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

12 solar energy industry; 

13 ‘‘(B) in the wind energy industry, ca14 reers— 

15 ‘‘(i) in wind energy operations; 

16 ‘‘(ii) in wind energy development; 

17 ‘‘(iii) in wind energy manufacturing; 

18 ‘‘(iv) as wind energy technicians; 

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

20 wind energy supply chain; and 

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

22 wind energy industry; 

23 ‘‘(C) in the cybersecurity sector of the en24 ergy industry, careers in— 

25 ‘‘(i) cybersecurity preparedness; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) cyber incident response and re2 covery; 

3 ‘‘(iii) grid modernization, security, 

4 and maintenance; 

5 ‘‘(iv) resilience planning; and 

6 ‘‘(v) other areas relating to the cyber7 security sector of the energy industry; 

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

9 sectors or zero-emissions sectors of the energy 

10 industry identified by the Secretary; and 

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

12 construct, maintain, and expand energy indus13 try infrastructure. 

14 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

16 program, the Secretary shall ensure that the 

17 courses described in paragraph (1)— 

18 ‘‘(i) provide— 

19 ‘‘(I) job training; 

20 ‘‘(II) employment skills training, 

21 including providing comprehensive 

22 wraparound support services to eligi23 ble participants that— 

24 ‘‘(aa) enhance the training 

25 experience and promote the proVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Apr 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S876.IS S876

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1 fessional development of eligible 

2 participants; and 

3 ‘‘(bb) help eligible partici4 pants transition into the work5 force; and 

6 ‘‘(III) opportunities for intern7 ships of not longer than 180 days; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(ii) are carried out primarily 

10 through— 

11 ‘‘(I) internships; or 

12 ‘‘(II) applied, work-based train13 ing. 

14 ‘‘(B) EXAM REQUIREMENT.—As a require15 ment for completing a course described in para16 graph (1), the Secretary shall require each eligi17 ble participant in the course to earn an applica18 ble industry-recognized entry-level certificate or 

19 other credential. 

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

21 and the administrator of the program appointed under 

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

23 out a program to recognize commercial entities that hire 

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1 dentials under the program, based on the proportion 

2 that— 

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

4 hired by the commercial entity; bears to 

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

6 hired by all commercial entities. 

7 ‘‘(f) ESTABLISHMENT OF INDUSTRY-RECOGNIZED

8 CERTIFICATION AND TRAINING PROGRAMS.— 

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

10 (d), if an appropriate industry-recognized certifi11 cation and training program does not exist, the Sec12 retary shall establish a grant program to assist the 

13 industry in developing such an industry-recognized 

14 certification and training program. 

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

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

17 use such sums as are necessary to carry out para18 graph (1). 

19 ‘‘(g) FUNDING.— 

20 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

21 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec22 retary such sums as are necessary to carry out this 

23 section. 

24 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION OF FUNDING.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara2 graph (B), the Secretary shall allocate to each 

3 facility of the Department of Defense partici4 pating in the program an amount based on a 

5 percentage of how many participants enroll in 

6 courses at the facility. 

7 ‘‘(B) APPLICATIONS.—A facility of the De8 partment of Defense participating in the pro9 gram and desiring funding under subparagraph 

10 (A) shall annually submit an application for 

11 such funding. 

12 ‘‘(h) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

13 on which the program is established, and annually there14 after, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report de15 scribing the activities carried out under, and accomplish16 ments of, the program.’’. 

Æ 


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