I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8957 

To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to establish a grant program 

for training wind technicians, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 14, 2020 

Ms. FINKENAUER (for herself, Mrs. AXNE, Mr. BACON, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, 

and Mr. COLE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committee 

on Veterans’ Affairs, 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 the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to establish a 

grant program for training wind technicians, 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 ‘‘Wind Workforce Mod5 ernization and Training Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. WIND TECHNICIAN TRAINING GRANT PROGRAM. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title XI of the Energy Policy Act 

3 of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16411 et seq.) is amended by adding 

4 at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 1107. WIND TECHNICIAN TRAINING GRANT PROGRAM. 

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 ‘‘(1) COVERED PARTICIPANT.—The term ‘cov8 ered participant’ means a participant enrolled, on 

9 the date on which an eligible entity receives a grant 

10 under this section, in the training program with re11 spect to which the grant is received. 

12 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en13 tity’ means a provider of training services that— 

14 ‘‘(A) is on the list of eligible providers of 

15 training services described in section 122(d) of 

16 the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 

17 (29 U.S.C. 3152(d)), including joint labor-man18 agement organizations and postsecondary voca19 tional institutions; and 

20 ‘‘(B) offers a training program for techni21 cians in the wind energy industry. 

22 ‘‘(3) FINAL PARTICIPATION DATE.—The term 

23 ‘final participation date’ means, for an eligible entity 

24 receiving a grant under this section, the date on 

25 which the last covered participant exits the training 

26 program with respect to which the grant is received. 


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1 ‘‘(b) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall estab2 lish a program under which the Secretary shall award 

3 grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities to pur4 chase large pieces of wind turbine component equipment 

5 (such as nacelles, towers, and blades) for use in training 

6 wind technician students. 

7 ‘‘(c) REPORTING.—Not later than 1 year after the 

8 final participation date, an eligible entity receiving a grant 

9 under this section shall submit to the Secretary, with re10 spect to the covered participants, a report containing a 

11 description of the levels of performance achieved with re12 spect to each of the primary indicators of performance de13 scribed in subclauses (I) through (VI) of section 

14 116(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor15 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3141(b)(2)(A)(i)). 

16 ‘‘(d) FUNDING.—Of the amounts made available to 

17 the Secretary for administrative expenses to carry out 

18 other programs under the authority of the Secretary, the 

19 Secretary shall use to carry out this section $2,000,000 

20 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2025.’’. 

21 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

22 for the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58; 

23 119 Stat. 601) is amended by inserting after the item re24 lating to section 1106 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 1107. Wind technician training grant program.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. VETERANS IN WIND ENERGY. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title XI of the Energy Policy Act 

3 of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16411 et seq.) (as amended by section 

4 2(a)) is further amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 1108. VETERANS IN WIND ENERGY. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 

8 with the eligible entities defined in section 1107(a)(2), in9 cluding joint labor-management organizations and post10 secondary vocational institutions, shall design, establish, 

11 and administer a program to prepare veterans for careers 

12 in the wind energy industry by providing classroom in13 struction and work-based learning. 

14 ‘‘(b) FUNDING.—Of the amounts made available to 

15 the Secretary for administrative expenses to carry out 

16 other programs under the authority of the Secretary, the 

17 Secretary shall use to carry out this section $2,000,000 

18 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2025.’’. 

19 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

20 for the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58; 

21 119 Stat. 601) (as amended by section 2(b)) is further 

22 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

23 1107 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 1108. Veterans in wind energy.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. STUDY AND REPORT ON WIND TECHNICIAN WORK2 FORCE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy (referred 

4 to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall convene a task 

5 force comprised of 1 or more representatives of each of 

6 the stakeholders described in subsection (b) that shall— 

7 (1) conduct a study to assess the training needs 

8 of technicians working in the wind energy industry; 

9 (2) create a comprehensive list that— 

10 (A) lists each type of wind energy industry 

11 technician position available in the United 

12 States; and 

13 (B) describes the skill sets required for 

14 each type of position listed under subparagraph 

15 (A); and 

16 (3) not later than 1 year after the date of en17 actment of this Act, make publicly available and 

18 submit to Congress a report that— 

19 (A) describes the results of that study; 

20 (B) includes the comprehensive list de21 scribed in paragraph (2); and 

22 (C) provides recommendations— 

23 (i) for creating a credentialing pro24 gram for wind energy industry technicians 

25 that may be administered by eligible enti26 ties (as defined in section 1107(a)(2) of 


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1 the Energy Policy Act of 2005, as added 

2 by section 2(a) of this Act); and 

3 (ii) that reflect best practices for 

4 training programs for technicians in the 

5 wind energy industry, as identified by rep6 resentatives of the wind energy industry. 

7 (b) STAKEHOLDERS DESCRIBED.—The stakeholders 

8 referred to in subsection (a) are— 

9 (1) the Department of Defense; 

10 (2) the Department of Education; 

11 (3) the Department of Energy; 

12 (4) the Department of Labor; 

13 (5) the Department of Veterans Affairs; 

14 (6) eligible entities (as defined in section 

15 1107(a)(2) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, as 

16 added by section 2(a) of this Act), including joint17 labor management organizations and postsecondary 

18 vocational institutions; and 

19 (7) the wind energy industry. 

20 (c) FUNDING.—Of the amounts made available to the 

21 Secretary for administrative expenses to carry out other 

22 programs under the authority of the Secretary, the Sec23 retary shall use to carry out this section $500,000. 

Æ 


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