I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4583 

To promote a 21st century energy and manufacturing workforce. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 23, 2016 

Mr. RUSH (for himself and Mr. HUDSON) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in 

addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 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 promote a 21st century energy and manufacturing 

workforce. 

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

3 SECTION 1. ENERGY AND MANUFACTURING WORKFORCE 

4 DEVELOPMENT. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy (in this 

6 Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall prioritize edu7 cation and training for energy and manufacturing-related 

8 jobs in order to increase the number of skilled workers 


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1 trained to work in energy and manufacturing-related 

2 fields, including by— 

3 (1) encouraging the Nation’s education system 

4 to equip students with the skills, mentorships, train5 ing, and technical expertise necessary to fill the em6 ployment opportunities vital to managing and oper7 ating the Nation’s energy and manufacturing indus8 tries, in collaboration with representatives from the 

9 energy and manufacturing industries (including the 

10 oil, gas, coal, nuclear, utility, pipeline, renewable, pe11 trochemical, manufacturing, and electrical construc12 tion sectors) to identify the areas of highest need in 

13 each sector and to develop guidelines for the skills 

14 necessary to develop a workforce trained to go into 

15 the following sectors of the energy and manufac16 turing sectors: 

17 (A) Energy efficiency industry, including 

18 work in energy efficiency, conservation, weath19 erization, or retrofitting, or as inspectors or 

20 auditors. 

21 (B) Pipeline industry, including work in 

22 pipeline construction and maintenance or work 

23 as engineers or technical advisors. 

24 (C) Utility industry, including work in the 

25 generation, transmission, and distribution of 


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1 electricity and natural gas, such as utility tech2 nicians, operators, lineworkers, engineers, sci3 entists, and information technology specialists. 

4 (D) Nuclear industry, including work as 

5 scientists, engineers, technicians, mathemati6 cians, or security personnel. 

7 (E) Oil and gas industry, including work 

8 as scientists, engineers, technicians, mathemati9 cians, petrochemical engineers, or geologists. 

10 (F) Renewable industry, including work in 

11 the development, manufacturing, and produc12 tion of renewable energy sources (such as solar, 

13 hydropower, wind, or geothermal energy). 

14 (G) Coal industry, including work as coal 

15 miners, engineers, developers and manufactur16 ers of state-of-the-art coal facilities, technology 

17 vendors, coal transportation workers and opera18 tors, or mining equipment vendors. 

19 (H) Manufacturing industry, including 

20 work as operations technicians, operations and 

21 design in additive manufacturing, 3–D printing, 

22 advanced composites, and advanced aluminum 

23 and other metal alloys, industrial energy effi24 ciency management systems, including power 

25 electronics, and other innovative technologies. 


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1 (I) Chemical manufacturing industry, in2 cluding work in construction (such as welders, 

3 pipefitters, and tool and die makers) or as in4 strument and electrical technicians, machinists, 

5 chemical process operators, chemical engineers, 

6 quality and safety professionals, and reliability 

7 engineers; 

8 (2) encouraging the Nation’s education system 

9 to equip students with the skills, mentorships, train10 ing, and technical expertise necessary to fill the em11 ployment opportunities vital to managing and oper12 ating the Nation’s energy and manufacturing indus13 tries; and 

14 (3) strengthening and more fully engaging De15 partment of Energy programs and labs in carrying 

16 out the Department’s workforce development initia17 tives including the Minorities in Energy Initiative. 

18 (b) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall make educating 

19 and training underrepresented groups for energy and 

20 manufacturing-related jobs a national priority. 

21 (c) CLEARINGHOUSE.—In carrying out this section, 

22 the Secretary shall establish a clearinghouse to— 

23 (1) maintain and update information and re24 sources on training and workforce development pro25 grams for energy and manufacturing-related jobs, 


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1 including job training and workforce development 

2 programs available to assist displaced and unem3 ployed energy and manufacturing workers transi4 tioning to new employment; and 

5 (2) act as a resource, and provide guidance, for 

6 schools, community colleges, universities (including 

7 minority serving institutions), workforce develop8 ment programs, labor-management organizations, 

9 and industry organizations that would like to de10 velop and implement energy and manufacturing-re11 lated training programs. 

12 (d) COLLABORATION.—In carrying out this section, 

13 the Secretary— 

14 (1) shall collaborate with schools, community 

15 colleges, universities (including minority serving in16 stitutions), workforce-training organizations, na17 tional laboratories, State energy offices, workforce 

18 investment boards, and the energy and manufac19 turing industries; 

20 (2) shall encourage and foster collaboration, 

21 mentorships, and partnerships among organizations 

22 (including industry, schools, community colleges, 

23 workforce-development organizations, and colleges 

24 and universities) that currently provide effective job 

25 training programs in the energy and manufacturing 


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1 fields and institutions (including schools, community 

2 colleges, workforce development programs, and col3 leges and universities) that seek to establish these 

4 types of programs in order to share best practices 

5 and approaches that best suit local, State, and na6 tional needs; and 

7 (3) shall collaborate with the Bureau of Labor 

8 Statistics, the Department of Commerce, the Bureau 

9 of the Census, and the energy and manufacturing 

10 industries to develop a comprehensive and detailed 

11 understanding of the energy and manufacturing 

12 workforce needs and opportunities by State and by 

13 region. 

14 (e) OUTREACH TO MINORITY SERVING INSTITU15 TIONS.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall— 

16 (1) give special consideration to increasing out17 reach to minority serving institutions (including his18 torically Black colleges and universities, predomi19 nantly Black institutions, Hispanic serving institu20 tions, Native American serving Nontribal Institu21 tions, and tribal institutions); 

22 (2) make existing resources available through 

23 program cross-cutting to minority serving institu24 tions with the objective of increasing the number of 


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1 skilled minorities and women trained to go into the 

2 energy and manufacturing sectors; 

3 (3) encourage industry to improve the opportu4 nities for students of minority serving institutions to 

5 participate in industry internships and cooperative 

6 work/study programs; and 

7 (4) partner with the Department of Energy lab8 oratories to increase underrepresented groups’ par9 ticipation in internships, fellowships, traineeships, 

10 and employment at all Department of Energy lab11 oratories. 

12 (f) OUTREACH TO DISPLACED AND UNEMPLOYED

13 ENERGY AND MANUFACTURING WORKERS.—In carrying 

14 out this section, the Secretary shall— 

15 (1) give special consideration to increasing out16 reach to employers and job trainers preparing dis17 placed and unemployed energy and manufacturing 

18 workers for emerging energy and manufacturing 

19 jobs; 

20 (2) make existing resources available through 

21 program cross-cutting to institutions serving dis22 placed and unemployed energy and manufacturing 

23 workers with the objective of training individuals to 

24 re-enter the energy and manufacturing workforce; 


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1 (3) encourage the energy and manufacturing in2 dustries to improve opportunities for displaced and 

3 unemployed energy and manufacturing workers to 

4 participate in internships and cooperative work/study 

5 programs; and 

6 (4) work closely with the energy and manufac7 turing industries to identify energy and manufac8 turing operations, such as coal-fired power plants 

9 and coal mines, scheduled for closure and to provide 

10 early intervention assistance to workers employed at 

11 such energy and manufacturing operations by— 

12 (A) giving special consideration to employ13 ers and job trainers preparing such workers for 

14 emerging energy and manufacturing jobs; 

15 (B) making existing resources available 

16 through program cross-cutting to institutions 

17 serving such workers with the objective of train18 ing them to re-enter the energy and manufac19 turing workforce; and 

20 (C) encouraging the energy and manufac21 turing industries to improve opportunities for 

22 such workers to participate in internships and 

23 cooperative work/study programs. 

24 (g) ENROLLMENT IN TRAINING AND APPRENTICE25 SHIP PROGRAMS.—In carrying out this section, the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:47 Feb 24, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4583.IH H4583

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1 retary shall work with industry and community-based 

2 workforce organizations to help identify students and 

3 other candidates, including from underrepresented com4 munities such as minorities, women, and veterans, to en5 roll into training and apprenticeship programs for energy 

6 and manufacturing-related jobs. 

7 SEC. 2. REPORT. 

8 Five years after the date of enactment of this Act, 

9 the Secretary shall publish a comprehensive report to the 

10 Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 

11 Representatives and the Senate Energy and Natural Re12 sources Committee on the outlook for energy and manu13 facturing sectors nationally. The report shall also include 

14 a comprehensive summary of energy and manufacturing 

15 job creation as a result of the enactment of this Act. 

16 SEC. 3. USE OF EXISTING FUNDS. 

17 Amounts required for carrying out this Act shall be 

18 derived from amounts appropriated under authority pro19 vided by previously enacted law. 

Æ 


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