I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1315 

To amend title II of the Department of Energy Organization Act to reauthorize an office within the Department of Energy, to direct the Secretary 

of Energy to establish and carry out a comprehensive, nationwide energyrelated industries jobs program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 22, 2019 

Mr. RUSH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and Labor, 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 amend title II of the Department of Energy Organization 

Act to reauthorize an office within the Department of 

Energy, to direct the Secretary of Energy to establish 

and carry out a comprehensive, nationwide energy-related 

industries jobs program, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Blue Collar to Green Collar Jobs Development Act of 

6 2019’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—OFFICE OF ECONOMIC IMPACT, DIVERSITY, AND 

EMPLOYMENT 

Sec. 101. Name of office. 

Sec. 102. Energy workforce development programs. 

Sec. 103. Authorization. 

TITLE II—ENERGY WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT 

Sec. 201. Energy workforce development. 

Sec. 202. Energy workforce grant program. 

Sec. 203. Definitions. 

3 TITLE I—OFFICE OF ECONOMIC 

4 IMPACT, DIVERSITY, AND EM5 PLOYMENT 

6 SEC. 101. NAME OF OFFICE. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 211 of the Department of 

8 Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7141) is amended— 

9 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘MINOR10 ITY ECONOMIC IMPACT’’ and inserting ‘‘ECONOMIC

11 IMPACT, DIVERSITY, AND EMPLOYMENT’’; and 

12 (2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘Office of Mi13 nority Economic Impact’’ and inserting ‘‘Office of 

14 Economic Impact, Diversity, and Employment’’. 

15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con16 tents for the Department of Energy Organization Act is 

17 amended by amending the item relating to section 211 to 

18 read as follows: 

‘‘Sec. 211. Office of Economic Impact, Diversity, and Employment.’’. 


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1 SEC. 102. ENERGY WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PRO2 GRAMS. 

3 Section 211 of the Department of Energy Organiza4 tion Act (42 U.S.C. 7141) is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating subsections (f) and (g) as 

6 subsections (g) and (h), respectively; and 

7 (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(f) The Secretary, acting through the Director, shall 

10 establish and carry out the programs described in sections 

11 201 and 202 of the Blue Collar to Green Collar Jobs De12 velopment Act of 2019.’’. 

13 SEC. 103. AUTHORIZATION. 

14 Subsection (h) of section 211 of the Department of 

15 Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7141), as redesig16 nated by section 102 of this Act, is amended by striking 

17 ‘‘not to exceed $3,000,000 for fiscal year 1979, not to ex18 ceed $5,000,000 for fiscal year 1980, and not to exceed 

19 $6,000,000 for fiscal year 1981. Of the amounts so appro20 priated each fiscal year, not less than 50 percent shall be 

21 available for purposes of financial assistance under sub22 section (e).’’ and inserting ‘‘$100,000,000 for each of fis23 cal years 2020 through 2024.’’. 


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1 TITLE II—ENERGY WORKFORCE 

2 DEVELOPMENT 

3 SEC. 201. ENERGY WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of ap5 propriations, the Secretary, acting through the Director 

6 of the Office of Economic Impact, Diversity, and Employ7 ment, shall establish and carry out a comprehensive, na8 tionwide program to improve education and training for 

9 jobs in energy-related industries, including manufacturing, 

10 engineering, construction, and retrofitting jobs in such en11 ergy-related industries, in order to increase the number 

12 of skilled workers trained to work in such energy-related 

13 industries, including by— 

14 (1) encouraging underrepresented groups, in15 cluding religious and ethnic minorities, women, vet16 erans, individuals with disabilities, unemployed en17 ergy workers, and socioeconomically disadvantaged 

18 individuals to enter into the science, technology, en19 gineering, and mathematics (in this section referred 

20 to as ‘‘STEM’’) fields; 

21 (2) encouraging the Nation’s educational insti22 tutions to equip students with the skills, 

23 mentorships, training, and technical expertise nec24 essary to fill the employment opportunities vital to 


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1 managing and operating the Nation’s energy-related 

2 industries; 

3 (3) providing students and other candidates for 

4 employment with the necessary skills and certifi5 cations for skilled, semiskilled, and highly skilled 

6 jobs in such energy-related industries; 

7 (4) strengthening and more fully engaging De8 partment of Energy programs and laboratories in 

9 carrying out the Department’s Minorities in Energy 

10 Initiative; and 

11 (5) to the greatest extent possible, collaborating 

12 with and supporting existing State workforce devel13 opment programs to maximize program efficiency. 

14 (b) PRIORITY.—In carrying out the program estab15 lished under subsection (a), the Secretary shall prioritize 

16 the education and training of underrepresented groups for 

17 jobs in energy-related industries. 

18 (c) DIRECT ASSISTANCE.—In carrying out the pro19 gram established under subsection (a), the Secretary shall 

20 provide direct assistance (including financial assistance 

21 awards, technical expertise, and internships) to edu22 cational institutions, local workforce development boards, 

23 State workforce development boards, nonprofit organiza24 tions, labor organizations, and apprenticeship programs. 

25 The Secretary shall distribute such direct assistance in a 


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1 manner proportional to the needs of, and demand for jobs 

2 in, energy-related industries, consistent with information 

3 obtained under subsections (e)(3) and (i). 

4 (d) CLEARINGHOUSE.—In carrying out the program 

5 established under subsection (a), the Secretary shall estab6 lish a clearinghouse to— 

7 (1) maintain and update information and re8 sources on training programs for jobs in energy-re9 lated industries, including manufacturing, engineer10 ing, construction, and retrofitting jobs in such en11 ergy-related industries; and 

12 (2) act as a resource for educational institu13 tions, local workforce development boards, State 

14 workforce development boards, nonprofit organiza15 tions, labor organizations, and apprenticeship pro16 grams that would like to develop and implement 

17 training programs for such jobs. 

18 (e) COLLABORATION AND REPORT.—In carrying out 

19 the program established under subsection (a), the Sec20 retary— 

21 (1) shall collaborate with educational institu22 tions, local workforce development boards, State 

23 workforce development boards, nonprofit organiza24 tions, labor organizations, apprenticeship programs, 

25 and energy-related industries; 


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1 (2) shall encourage and foster collaboration, 

2 mentorships, and partnerships among industry, local 

3 workforce development boards, State workforce de4 velopment boards, nonprofit organizations, labor or5 ganizations, and apprenticeship programs that cur6 rently provide effective training programs for jobs in 

7 energy-related industries and educational institutions 

8 that seek to establish these types of programs in 

9 order to share best practices and approaches that 

10 best suit local, State, and national needs; and 

11 (3) shall collaborate with the Bureau of Labor 

12 Statistics, the Department of Commerce, the Bureau 

13 of the Census, and energy-related industries to— 

14 (A) develop a comprehensive and detailed 

15 understanding of the workforce needs of such 

16 energy-related industries, and job opportunities 

17 in such energy-related industries, by State and 

18 by region; and 

19 (B) publish an annual report on job cre20 ation in the energy-related industries described 

21 in subsection (i)(2). 

22 (f) GUIDELINES FOR EDUCATIONAL INSTITU23 TIONS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program 

25 established under subsection (a), the Secretary, in 


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1 collaboration with the Secretary of Education, the 

2 Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, and 

3 the National Science Foundation, shall develop vol4 untary guidelines or best practices for educational 

5 institutions to help provide graduates with the skills 

6 necessary for jobs in energy-related industries, in7 cluding manufacturing, engineering, construction, 

8 and retrofitting jobs in such energy-related indus9 tries. 

10 (2) INPUT.—The Secretary shall solicit input 

11 from energy-related industries in developing guide12 lines or best practices under paragraph (1). 

13 (3) ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND CONSERVATION

14 INITIATIVES.—The guidelines or best practices devel15 oped under paragraph (1) shall include grade-spe16 cific guidelines for teaching energy efficiency tech17 nology, manufacturing efficiency technology, commu18 nity energy resiliency, and conservation initiatives to 

19 educate students and families. 

20 (4) STEM EDUCATION.—The guidelines or best 

21 practices developed under paragraph (1) shall pro22 mote STEM education in educational institutions as 

23 it relates to job opportunities in energy-related in24 dustries. 


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1 (g) OUTREACH TO MINORITY-SERVING INSTITU2 TIONS.—In carrying out the program established under 

3 subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 

4 (1) give special consideration to increasing out5 reach to minority-serving institutions; 

6 (2) make resources available to minority-serving 

7 institutions with the objective of increasing the num8 ber of skilled minorities and women trained for jobs 

9 in energy-related industries, including manufac10 turing, engineering, construction, and retrofitting 

11 jobs in such energy-related industries; 

12 (3) encourage energy-related industries to im13 prove the opportunities for students of minority14 serving institutions to participate in industry intern15 ships and cooperative work-study programs; and 

16 (4) partner with the Department of Energy lab17 oratories to increase underrepresented groups’ par18 ticipation in internships, fellowships, traineeships, 

19 and employment at all Department of Energy lab20 oratories. 

21 (h) OUTREACH TO DISPLACED AND UNEMPLOYED

22 ENERGY WORKERS.—In carrying out the program estab23 lished under subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 

24 (1) give special consideration to increasing out25 reach to employers and job trainers preparing disVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:18 Mar 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1315.IH H1315

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1 placed and unemployed energy workers for emerging 

2 jobs in energy-related industries, including manufac3 turing, engineering, construction, and retrofitting 

4 jobs in such energy-related industries; 

5 (2) make resources available to institutions 

6 serving displaced and unemployed energy workers 

7 with the objective of increasing the number of indi8 viduals trained for jobs in energy-related industries, 

9 including manufacturing, engineering, construction, 

10 and retrofitting jobs in such energy-related indus11 tries; and 

12 (3) encourage energy-related industries to im13 prove opportunities for displaced and unemployed 

14 energy workers to participate in industry internships 

15 and cooperative work-study programs. 

16 (i) GUIDELINES TO DEVELOP SKILLS FOR AN EN17 ERGY INDUSTRY WORKFORCE.—In carrying out the pro18 gram established under subsection (a), the Secretary shall, 

19 in collaboration with energy-related industries— 

20 (1) identify the areas with the greatest demand 

21 for workers in each such industry; and 

22 (2) develop guidelines for the skills necessary 

23 for work in the following energy-related industries: 

24 (A) Energy efficiency industry, including 

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1 erization, retrofitting, or as inspectors or audi2 tors. 

3 (B) Renewable energy industry, including 

4 work in the development, engineering, manufac5 turing, and production of renewable energy 

6 from renewable energy sources (such as solar, 

7 hydropower, wind, or geothermal energy). 

8 (C) Community energy resiliency industry, 

9 including work in the installation of rooftop 

10 solar, in battery storage, and in microgrid tech11 nologies. 

12 (D) Fuel cell and hydrogen energy indus13 try. 

14 (E) Manufacturing industry, including 

15 work as operations technicians, in operations 

16 and design in additive manufacturing, 3–D 

17 printing, and advanced composites and ad18 vanced aluminum and other metal alloys, indus19 trial energy efficiency management systems, in20 cluding power electronics, and other innovative 

21 technologies. 

22 (F) Chemical manufacturing industry, in23 cluding work in construction (such as welders, 

24 pipefitters, and tool and die makers) or as in25 strument and electrical technicians, machinists, 


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1 chemical process operators, engineers, quality 

2 and safety professionals, and reliability engi3 neers. 

4 (G) Utility industry, including work in the 

5 generation, transmission, and distribution of 

6 electricity and natural gas, such as utility tech7 nicians, operators, lineworkers, engineers, sci8 entists, and information technology specialists. 

9 (H) Alternative fuels industry, including 

10 work in biofuel development and production. 

11 (I) Pipeline industry, including work in 

12 pipeline construction and maintenance or work 

13 as engineers or technical advisors. 

14 (J) Nuclear industry, including work as 

15 scientists, engineers, technicians, mathemati16 cians, or security personnel. 

17 (K) Oil and gas industry, including work 

18 as scientists, engineers, technicians, mathemati19 cians, petrochemical engineers, or geologists. 

20 (L) Coal industry, including work as coal 

21 miners, engineers, developers and manufactur22 ers of state-of-the-art coal facilities, technology 

23 vendors, coal transportation workers and opera24 tors, or mining equipment vendors. 


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1 (j) ENROLLMENT IN TRAINING AND APPRENTICE2 SHIP PROGRAMS.—In carrying out the program estab3 lished under subsection (a), the Secretary shall work with 

4 industry, local workforce development boards, State work5 force development boards, nonprofit organizations, labor 

6 organizations, and apprenticeship programs to help iden7 tify students and other candidates, including from under8 represented communities such as minorities, women, and 

9 veterans, to enroll into training and apprenticeship pro10 grams for jobs in energy-related industries. 

11 (k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

12 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

13 $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024. 

14 SEC. 202. ENERGY WORKFORCE GRANT PROGRAM. 

15 (a) PROGRAM.— 

16 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subject to the avail17 ability of appropriations, the Secretary, acting 

18 through the Director of the Office of Economic Im19 pact, Diversity, and Employment, shall establish and 

20 carry out a program to provide grants to eligible 

21 businesses to pay the wages of new and existing em22 ployees during the time period that such employees 

23 are receiving training to work in the renewable en24 ergy sector, energy efficiency sector, or grid mod25 ernization sector. 


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1 (2) GUIDELINES.—Not later than 60 days after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in 

3 consultation with stakeholders, contractors, and or4 ganizations that work to advance existing residential 

5 energy efficiency, shall establish guidelines to iden6 tify training that is eligible for purposes of the pro7 gram established pursuant to paragraph (1). 

8 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

9 under the program established under subsection (a) or a 

10 business or labor management organization that is directly 

11 involved with energy efficiency or renewable energy tech12 nology, or working on behalf of any such business, shall 

13 provide services related to— 

14 (1) renewable electric energy generation, includ15 ing solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower, and other 

16 renewable electric energy generation technologies; 

17 (2) energy efficiency, including energy-efficient 

18 lighting, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, 

19 air source heat pumps, advanced building materials, 

20 insulation and air sealing, and other high-efficiency 

21 products and services, including auditing and inspec22 tion; 

23 (3) grid modernization or energy storage, in24 cluding smart grid, microgrid and other distributed 


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1 energy solutions, demand response management, and 

2 home energy management technology; or 

3 (4) fuel cell and hybrid fuel cell generation. 

4 (c) USE OF GRANTS.—An eligible business with— 

5 (1) 20 or fewer employees may use a grant pro6 vided under the program established under sub7 section (a) to pay up to— 

8 (A) 45 percent of an employee’s wages for 

9 the duration of the training, if the training is 

10 provided by the eligible business; and 

11 (B) 90 percent of an employee’s wages for 

12 the duration of the training, if the training is 

13 provided by an entity other than the eligible 

14 business; 

15 (2) 21 to 99 employees may use a grant pro16 vided under the program established under sub17 section (a) to pay up to— 

18 (A) 37.5 percent of an employee’s wages 

19 for the duration of the training, if the training 

20 is provided by the eligible business; and 

21 (B) 75 percent of an employee’s wages for 

22 the duration of the training, if the training is 

23 provided by an entity other than the eligible 

24 business; and 


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1 (3) 100 employees or more may use a grant 

2 provided under the program established under sub3 section (a) to pay up to— 

4 (A) 25 percent of an employee’s wages for 

5 the duration of the training, if the training is 

6 provided by the eligible business; and 

7 (B) 50 percent of an employee’s wages for 

8 the duration of the training, if the training is 

9 provided by an entity other than the eligible 

10 business. 

11 (d) PRIORITY FOR TARGETED COMMUNITIES.—In 

12 providing grants under the program established under 

13 subsection (a), the Secretary shall give priority to eligible 

14 businesses that— 

15 (1) recruit employees— 

16 (A) from the communities that the busi17 nesses serve; and 

18 (B) that are minorities, women, persons 

19 who are or were foster children, persons who 

20 are transitioning from fossil energy sector jobs, 

21 or veterans; and 

22 (2) provide trainees with the opportunity to ob23 tain real-world experience. 


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1 (e) LIMIT.—An eligible business may not receive 

2 more than $100,000 under the program established under 

3 subsection (a) per fiscal year. 

4 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

5 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

6 $70,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024. 

7 SEC. 203. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) APPRENTICESHIP.—The term ‘‘apprentice10 ship’’ means an apprenticeship registered under the 

11 Act of August 16, 1937 (commonly known as the 

12 ‘‘National Apprenticeship Act’’; 50 Stat. 664, chap13 ter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.). 

14 (2) EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION.—The term 

15 ‘‘educational institution’’ means an elementary 

16 school, secondary school, or institution of higher 

17 education. 

18 (3) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND SECONDARY

19 SCHOOL.—The terms ‘‘elementary school’’ and ‘‘sec20 ondary school’’ have the meanings given such terms 

21 in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary 

22 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

23 (4) ENERGY-RELATED INDUSTRY.—The term 

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1 turing, utility, alternative fuels, pipeline, nuclear en2 ergy, oil, gas, and coal industries. 

3 (5) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

4 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

5 meaning given such term in section 102 of the High6 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 

7 (6) LABOR ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘labor 

8 organization’’ has the meaning given such term in 

9 section 2 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 

10 U.S.C. 152). 

11 (7) LOCAL WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

12 BOARD.—The term ‘‘local workforce development 

13 board’’ means a local board, as defined in section 3 

14 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 

15 (29 U.S.C. 3102). 

16 (8) MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 

17 term ‘‘minority-serving institution’’ means an insti18 tution of higher education that is of one of the fol19 lowing: 

20 (A) Hispanic-serving institution (as de21 fined in section 502(a)(5) of the Higher Edu22 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a(a)(5))). 

23 (B) Tribal College or University (as de24 fined in section 316(b) of the Higher Education 

25 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b))). 


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1 (C) Alaska Native-serving institution (as 

2 defined in section 317(b) of the Higher Edu3 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059d(b))). 

4 (D) Native Hawaiian-serving institution 

5 (as defined in section 317(b) of the Higher 

6 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059d(b))). 

7 (E) Predominantly Black Institution (as 

8 defined in section 318(b) of the Higher Edu9 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059e(b))). 

10 (F) Native American-serving nontribal in11 stitution (as defined in section 319(b) of the 

12 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

13 1059f(b))). 

14 (G) Asian American and Native American 

15 Pacific Islander-serving institution (as defined 

16 in section 320(b) of the Higher Education Act 

17 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059g(b))). 

18 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

19 the Secretary of Energy. 

20 (10) STATE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

21 BOARD.—The term ‘‘State workforce development 

22 board’’ means a State board, as defined in section 

23 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 

24 (29 U.S.C. 3102). 

Æ 


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