II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4877 

To amend Public Law 91–378 to authorize activities relating to Civilian 

Conservation Centers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself and Mr. DAINES) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend Public Law 91–378 to authorize activities relating 

to Civilian Conservation Centers, 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 ‘‘Civilian Conservation 

5 Center Enhancement Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CENTERS. 

7 Public Law 91–378 (16 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) is 

8 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘TITLE III—CIVILIAN 

2 CONSERVATION CENTERS 

3 ‘‘SEC. 301. DEFINITIONS. 

4 ‘‘In this title: 

5 ‘‘(1) CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CENTER.—The 

6 term ‘Civilian Conservation Center’ means any resi7 dential workforce development or training facility for 

8 disadvantaged youth operated by the Department of 

9 the Interior or the Department of Agriculture on 

10 Federal land. 

11 ‘‘(2) COVERED GRADUATE.—The term ‘covered 

12 graduate’ means an individual who successfully com13 pleted a training program at a Civilian Conservation 

14 Center. 

15 ‘‘(3) COVERED STUDENT.—The term ‘covered 

16 student’ means an individual who is enrolled in a 

17 training program at a Civilian Conservation Center. 

18 ‘‘(4) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘Secretaries’ 

19 means— 

20 ‘‘(A) the Secretary of Agriculture; and 

21 ‘‘(B) the Secretary of the Interior. 

22 ‘‘SEC. 302. CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CENTERS WILDFIRE 

23 AND CONSERVATION TRAINING PROGRAM. 

24 ‘‘(a) SPECIALIZED TRAINING PROGRAMS.—The Sec25 retaries, in coordination with the Secretary of Labor, shall 


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1 offer at Civilian Conservation Centers specialized training 

2 programs focused on— 

3 ‘‘(1) forestry and rangeland management; 

4 ‘‘(2) wildland firefighting; or 

5 ‘‘(3) any other topic relating to the mission of 

6 the Forest Service or the Department of the Interior 

7 or the public interest. 

8 ‘‘(b) PRIORITIZATION.—The Secretaries shall 

9 prioritize offering specialized training programs under 

10 subsection (a) at facilities described in section 147(d) of 

11 the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 

12 3197(d)). 

13 ‘‘SEC. 303. WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING WORKFORCE DEVEL14 OPMENT PILOT. 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

16 ‘‘(1) EXPERIMENT, RESEARCH, OR DEMONSTRA17 TION PILOTS.—The Secretaries, in coordination with 

18 the Secretary of Labor, may carry out experimental, 

19 research, or demonstration pilots to provide career 

20 and technical education curricula and course offer21 ings to advance the missions of the Department of 

22 the Interior and the Department of Agriculture at 

23 Civilian Conservation Centers, including facilities de24 scribed in section 147(d) of the Workforce InnovaVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:52 Sep 19, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4877.IS S4877

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1 tion and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3197(d)), on 

2 Federal land west of the 100th meridian. 

3 ‘‘(2) CURRICULA AND COURSES.—Curricula and 

4 courses described in paragraph (1) include— 

5 ‘‘(A) incident management and emergency 

6 response logistics; 

7 ‘‘(B) disaster response; 

8 ‘‘(C) forest products measurement; 

9 ‘‘(D) timber sale administration and prepa10 ration; 

11 ‘‘(E) heavy equipment operation; 

12 ‘‘(F) equipment and mechanical services; 

13 ‘‘(G) industrial electrical; 

14 ‘‘(H) machining; 

15 ‘‘(I) mill operations; 

16 ‘‘(J) forest restoration; 

17 ‘‘(K) habitat and water quality monitoring; 

18 ‘‘(L) watershed and habitat enhancement; 

19 ‘‘(M) range management; 

20 ‘‘(N) recreation access improvement; 

21 ‘‘(O) visitor services; and 

22 ‘‘(P) historic preservation. 

23 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out subsection 

24 (a), the Secretaries shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) identify workforce needs in public land 

2 agencies, forest, conservation, and recreation indus3 tries, and rural communities, after consulting with 

4 State governments and agencies, Federal emergency 

5 management and public land agencies, local commu6 nities, and Indian Tribes; 

7 ‘‘(2) develop marketing and recruitment mate8 rials for the curricula and courses offerings provided 

9 under subsection (a); and 

10 ‘‘(3) provide specialized staff necessary to teach 

11 curricula and courses offerings provided under sub12 section (a), to the extent practicable. 

13 ‘‘SEC. 304. WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING WORKFORCE EN14 HANCEMENT. 

15 ‘‘(a) RECRUITMENT GOALS AND INVESTMENTS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) RECRUITMENT GOAL.—The Secretaries— 

17 ‘‘(A) shall each set a goal of hiring 300 

18 covered graduates annually to contribute to 

19 wildland firefighting or other critical workforce 

20 needs; and 

21 ‘‘(B) may make investments to support the 

22 recruitment, training, hiring, and retention of 

23 covered graduates. 

24 ‘‘(2) SIGNING BONUS.—The Secretaries may 

25 provide for a signing bonus to enable the successful 


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1 employment and transition of covered graduates, in2 cluding for the purpose of securing housing in rural 

3 and remote communities. 

4 ‘‘(b) DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY.—For fiscal year 

5 2023 and each fiscal year thereafter, the Secretaries may 

6 appoint, without regard to the provisions of subchapter I 

7 of chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, other than 

8 sections 3303 and 3328 of that title, a covered graduate 

9 directly to a position for which the covered graduate meets 

10 Office of Personnel Management qualification standards. 

11 ‘‘(c) PATHWAYS TO EMPLOYMENT.—The Secretaries 

12 shall ensure that appropriate career pathways are devel13 oped for covered graduates of relevant Civilian Conserva14 tion Center training programs. 

15 ‘‘(d) DISADVANTAGED YOUTH EMPLOYMENT.—Not16 withstanding any other provision of law, the Secretaries 

17 may employ or otherwise contract with covered students 

18 at regular rates of pay for necessary hours of work. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 305. WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING HOUSING PILOT PRO20 GRAM. 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall establish 

22 a pilot program to employ covered students to improve and 

23 expand the housing stock owned by the Federal Govern24 ment for the purpose of housing wildland firefighters and 

25 other agency employees. 


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1 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out the pilot pro2 gram under subsection (a), the Secretaries shall— 

3 ‘‘(1) identify properties currently owned by the 

4 Federal Government that would be appropriate 

5 housing for wildland firefighters and other agency 

6 employees; 

7 ‘‘(2) identify areas where the construction of 

8 new housing described in paragraph (1) would be 

9 appropriate and sustainable; and 

10 ‘‘(3) submit to Congress a prioritized list of 

11 projects for renovation with a plan for how the Sec12 retaries will employ covered students to repair, ren13 ovate, and remediate the properties identified under 

14 paragraph (1). 

15 ‘‘SEC. 306. REPORT. 

16 ‘‘Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

17 of this title, the Secretaries shall submit to the Committee 

18 on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the 

19 Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep20 resentatives a report— 

21 ‘‘(1) describing underutilized capacity at Civil22 ian Conservation Centers, based on an assessment 

23 conducted by the Secretaries; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) identifying the investments, improvements, 

2 and efficiencies necessary to utilize the full capacity 

3 of Civilian Conservation Centers.’’. 

Æ 


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