I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2241 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture 

to establish a Civilian Climate Corps, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 26, 2021 

Mr. NEGUSE (for himself and Ms. SPANBERGER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, and Education and Labor, 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 direct the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 

of Agriculture to establish a Civilian Climate Corps, 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 Climate Corps 

5 Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) the United States has a strong history of 

2 citizen response to national calls to service in order 

3 to help the United States recover during a crisis; 

4 (2) more than 80 years ago, the United States 

5 rose to the challenge of the Great Depression with 

6 the creation of citizen service programs, such as the 

7 Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress 

8 Administration; 

9 (3) millions of participants in the Civilian Con10 servation Corps and the Works Progress Administra11 tion program benefitted from paid employment and 

12 opportunities to develop the skills of the participants 

13 while constructing units of the National Park Sys14 tem and public land infrastructure and producing 

15 cultural works still enjoyed today; 

16 (4) the signature programs of the Corporation 

17 for National and Community Service, which are the 

18 AmeriCorps State and National, AmeriCorps Na19 tional Civilian Community Corps, AmeriCorps 

20 VISTA, and National Senior Service Corps pro21 grams, can and should be expanded to meet current 

22 needs; 

23 (5) individuals in every State and territory have 

24 been infected with the COVID–19 virus and killed 


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1 by COVID–19, with more than 29,000,000 cases 

2 causing more than 500,000 deaths; 

3 (6) in response to the COVID–19 pandemic, 

4 States, Tribal governments, and cities across the 

5 United States have closed down businesses, schools, 

6 and public events, leading to a dramatic drop in eco7 nomic activity and a sharp projected decline in the 

8 United States economy; 

9 (7) more than 18,000,000 people in the United 

10 States are receiving unemployment benefits, with 

11 weekly unemployment filings continuing to increase; 

12 (8) young workers, women, workers with low 

13 educational attainment, part-time workers, and ra14 cial and ethnic minorities have experienced high un15 employment rates throughout the COVID–19 pan16 demic; 

17 (9) the United States and the world are facing 

18 a profound climate crisis and the impacts of climate 

19 change will continue to intensify according to cur20 rent trajectories; 

21 (10) the scientific community has made it clear 

22 that significant and rapid action is necessary to 

23 avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate 

24 change; 


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1 (11) on January 27, 2021, President Biden 

2 issued Executive Order 14008 (86 Fed. Reg. 7619 

3 (February 1, 2021)), which calls for the creation of 

4 a Civilian Climate Corps Initiative in which partici5 pants would work— 

6 (A) to conserve and restore public land and 

7 water; 

8 (B) to increase reforestation; 

9 (C) to increase carbon sequestration in the 

10 agricultural sector; 

11 (D) to protect biodiversity; 

12 (E) to improve access to recreation; 

13 (F) to bolster community resilience; and 

14 (G) to address climate change; 

15 (12) the Civilian Climate Corps presents a 

16 unique opportunity for flexible, locally driven re17 sponses to meet State and local employment, envi18 ronmental, and recovery needs; and 

19 (13) the Civilian Climate Corps would create 

20 conservation and resilience jobs that emphasize ac21 cessible training opportunities to help a generation 

22 of workers develop robust professional skills. 

23 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

24 In this Act: 


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1 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT2 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com3 mittees’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committees on Appropriations, 

5 Energy and Natural Resources, Agriculture, 

6 Nutrition, and Forestry, and Health, Edu7 cation, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; and 

8 (B) the Committees on Appropriations, 

9 Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Education 

10 and Labor of the House of Representatives. 

11 (2) CORPS.—The term ‘‘Corps’’ means the Ci12 vilian Climate Corps established under section 4(a). 

13 (3) DISPROPORTIONATELY IMPACTED COMMU14 NITY.—The term ‘‘disproportionately impacted com15 munity’’ means a community with significant rep16 resentation of communities of color, low-income com17 munities, or Tribal and Native American commu18 nities, that experiences, or is at risk of experiencing 

19 higher or more adverse human health or environ20 mental effects. 

21 (4) QUALIFIED YOUTH SERVICE OR CONSERVA22 TION CORPS.—The term ‘‘qualified youth service or 

23 conservation corps’’ means— 

24 (A) a program authorized under— 


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1 (i) the National and Community Serv2 ice Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12501 et seq.); 

3 (ii) title I of Public Law 91–378 

4 (commonly known as the ‘‘Youth Conserva5 tion Corps Act of 1970’’) (16 U.S.C. 1701 

6 et seq.); or 

7 (iii) the Public Lands Corps Act of 

8 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1721 et seq.), including 

9 the Indian Youth Service Corps authorized 

10 under section 210 of that Act (16 U.S.C. 

11 1727b); and 

12 (B) the Urban Youth Corps authorized 

13 under section 106 of the National and Commu14 nity Service Trust Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 

15 12656). 

16 (5) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 

17 means the Secretary of the Interior and the Sec18 retary of Agriculture, acting jointly. 

19 (6) TRIBAL AND NATIVE AMERICAN COMMU20 NITY.—The term ‘‘Tribal and Native American com21 munity’’ means a population of people who are mem22 bers of— 

23 (A) an Indian Tribe (as defined in section 

24 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu25 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)); 


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1 (B) an urban Indian (as defined in section 

2 4 of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act 

3 (25 U.S.C. 1603)) community; 

4 (C) a Native Hawaiian (as defined in sec5 tion 815 of the Native American Programs Act 

6 of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 2992c)) community; or 

7 (D) a Native American Pacific Islander (as 

8 defined in section 815 of the Native American 

9 Programs Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 2992c)) com10 munity. 

11 SEC. 4. CIVILIAN CLIMATE CORPS. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretaries, in coordina13 tion with the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary 

14 of Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of En15 ergy, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, 

16 the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Chief 

17 Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and 

18 Community Service, the Director of the Office of Manage19 ment and Budget, the Administrator of the Environmental 

20 Protection Agency, and the heads of other relevant Fed21 eral agencies, shall enter into an interagency agreement 

22 establishing a Civilian Climate Corps, to be operated in 

23 accordance with the National and Community Service Act 

24 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12501 et seq.) and the Domestic Vol25 unteer Service Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4950 et seq.). 


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1 (b) CONSULTATION.—The Secretaries shall consult 

2 with the National Association of Service and Conservation 

3 Corps and other relevant national service organizations for 

4 the purpose of identifying appropriate projects, activities, 

5 and workforce development outcomes for the Corps. 

6 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the date 

7 of enactment of this Act, the Secretaries, in coordination 

8 with the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of 

9 Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of En10 ergy, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, 

11 the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Chief 

12 Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and 

13 Community Service, the Director of the Office of Manage14 ment and Budget, the Administrator of the Environmental 

15 Protection Agency, and the heads of other relevant Fed16 eral agencies, shall submit to the appropriate congres17 sional committees a report that describes— 

18 (1) the proposed number of Corps members; 

19 and 

20 (2) the recommended amount of funding for the 

21 Corps for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2025. 

22 (d) DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS OF PARTICIPANTS.—In 

23 selecting members for the Corps, the Secretaries shall en24 sure that— 


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1 (1) members are from economically, geographi2 cally, and ethnically diverse backgrounds; and 

3 (2) veterans, individuals with disabilities, and 

4 people of various sexes, sexual orientations, and gen5 der identities are represented. 

6 SEC. 5. REQUIREMENTS FOR CORPS SERVICE PROJECTS. 

7 A service project carried out by the Corps shall— 

8 (1)(A) prioritize efforts to assist disproportion9 ately impacted communities; or 

10 (B) be carried out in partnership with a quali11 fied youth service or conservation corps; 

12 (2) be coordinated with Tribal and Native 

13 American communities to protect natural cultural 

14 resources; and 

15 (3) accomplish 1 or more of the following objec16 tives: 

17 (A) Conserving, monitoring, and restoring 

18 public land and water to help mitigate and 

19 adapt to climate change. 

20 (B) Addressing the needs of frontline com21 munities experiencing the worst effects of cli22 mate change. 

23 (C) Building resilience to climate change 

24 through nature-based solutions, such as living 

25 shorelines, wetlands, green stormwater infraVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2241.IH H2241

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1 structure, and sustainable forest management, 

2 to appropriately manage natural systems that 

3 buffer human communities from environmental 

4 harm. 

5 (D) Assisting natural disaster-prone com6 munities and disproportionately impacted com7 munities by replacing aging infrastructure with 

8 climate-ready upgrades, such as improved 

9 stream crossings and enhanced energy effi10 ciency for community facilities and housing. 

11 (E) Promoting traditional ecological knowl12 edge natural climate solutions, such as eco13 logically appropriate reforestation and seques14 tration and techniques, such as aquaponics and 

15 regenerative practices, in the agricultural sec16 tor, to help mitigate climate change by reducing 

17 atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. 

18 (F) Supporting the resilience of natural 

19 systems to climate change by protecting bio20 diversity through targeted conservation efforts 

21 and eradication of invasive species. 

22 (G) Increasing education of the general 

23 public on climate adaptation and mitigation, in24 cluding ways in which private landowners can 

25 initiate similar efforts on private land. 


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1 (H) Improving access to outdoor recreation 

2 to promote a continued national appreciation 

3 for the natural environment. 

4 (I) Addressing environmental degradation 

5 in disproportionately impacted communities. 

6 (J) Supporting the resilience of agricul7 tural and food supply systems to ensure reliable 

8 and equitable access to nutritious foods, par9 ticularly among disproportionately impacted 

10 communities. 

11 (K) Advancing the resiliency and carbon 

12 emission reductions of participating agencies 

13 through installation of small-scale clean energy 

14 equipment or facility weatherization projects on 

15 public land. 

16 (L) Addressing urban and suburban green17 ing and revitalization, including— 

18 (i) the preservation, restoration, and 

19 expansion of open spaces; 

20 (ii) the conversion of blacktops; 

21 (iii) the installations of green roofs; 

22 and 

23 (iv) the planting of trees. 


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1 SEC. 6. MATCHING FUNDS WAIVER. 

2 Any otherwise applicable matching funds require3 ments, including under section 212(a)(1) of the Public 

4 Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1729(a)(1)), shall 

5 be waived for projects carried out using amounts made 

6 available under this Act. 

7 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro9 priated such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act 

10 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2025. 

11 (b) RESERVATION OF FUNDS FOR INDIAN TRIBAL

12 AND NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITIES.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Of the amounts appro14 priated to carry out this Act for any fiscal year, the 

15 Secretaries shall reserve not less than 5 percent for 

16 projects carried out in Tribal and Native American 

17 communities. 

18 (2) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—The Secre19 taries shall consult with each applicable Tribal and 

20 Native American community with respect to any 

21 projects carried out with funds reserved for use in 

22 Tribal and Native American communities under this 

23 subsection. 

Æ 


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