I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1195 

To establish a program to provide grants to nonprofit organizations to enable 

such organizations to assign and support volunteers to assist foreign 

countries in the administration of their natural resources in an environmentally sustainable manner. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 14, 2013 

Mr. MORAN (for himself and Mr. CRENSHAW) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish a program to provide grants to nonprofit organizations to enable such organizations to assign and support volunteers to assist foreign countries in the administration of their natural resources in an environmentally 

sustainable manner. 

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 ‘‘International Con5 servation Corps Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) There is a significant deficit in the capa2 bility of many developing countries to manage their 

3 natural resources sustainably, which is fundamental 

4 to achieving economic development, poverty allevi5 ation, conflict avoidance, good governance, and re6 gional security. 

7 (2) Developing countries with a great wealth of 

8 natural resources are facing a great risk of conflict. 

9 Issues that arise in these countries include corrup10 tion, disputes over control and distribution of the re11 sources and resulting wealth, fighting over and de12 struction of resources and resource-rich areas, and 

13 human rights abuses. 

14 (3) Developing countries that successfully man15 age their natural resource wealth, however, continue 

16 to benefit from these resources without resulting 

17 conflict. 

18 (4) It is in the security interest of the United 

19 States to share the vast experience and proven meth20 odologies that the United States has achieved over 

21 many decades with developing countries struggling 

22 to establish their own successful natural resource 

23 management programs and policies. 

24 (5) The many United States senior profes25 sionals retiring from both the public and private secVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:18 Mar 22, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1195.IH H1195

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1 tor with extensive experience and expertise in the 

2 field of natural resource management, acting in a 

3 voluntary capacity, presents a unique and important 

4 opportunity to help other countries develop the ca5 pacity to manage their natural resources 

6 sustainably. 

7 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in con10 sultation with the Secretary of State, shall establish a pro11 gram to provide grants to qualifying nonprofit organiza12 tions to enable such organizations to assign and support 

13 volunteers to assist foreign countries identified under sec14 tion 4 in the administration of their natural resources in 

15 an environmentally sustainable manner. 

16 (b) DETAILS OF THE PROGRAM.—The Secretary 

17 shall develop and implement the program such that it in18 cludes providing professional, scientific, and technical as19 sistance and training to aid foreign countries in their ef20 forts to— 

21 (1) develop, manage, and protect national 

22 parks, natural and cultural heritage sites, and other 

23 protected areas; 

24 (2) protect wildlife; and 


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1 (3) develop capacity to sustainably manage 

2 their natural resources. 

3 SEC. 4. IDENTIFICATION OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in con5 sultation with the Administrator of the United States 

6 Agency for International Development, shall— 

7 (1) identify foreign countries as appropriate for 

8 participation in the program; 

9 (2) notify such foreign countries of the pro10 gram; and 

11 (3) encourage such foreign countries to seek to 

12 participate in the program. 

13 SEC. 5. AWARD OF GRANTS TO QUALIFYING NONPROFIT 

14 ORGANIZATIONS. 

15 (a) APPLICATION.— 

16 (1) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—To be eligible to 

17 receive a grant under the program, a qualifying non18 profit organization shall submit to the Secretary an 

19 application including information regarding the ex20 pertise, past experience, and demonstrated capacity 

21 of the organization, as well as such other informa22 tion as the Secretary may require. 

23 (2) TIME, FORM, AND MANNER OF APPLICA24 TION.—The application described in paragraph 1 

25 shall be submitted to the Secretary at such time, 


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1 and in such form and manner, as the Secretary may 

2 require. 

3 (3) SOLICITATION OF APPLICATIONS.—The Sec4 retary shall solicit from qualifying nonprofit organi5 zations applications for grants in accordance with 

6 this section. 

7 (b) APPROVAL PROCESS.—As soon as is practicable 

8 after the date of receipt of an application by the Secretary 

9 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall approve or dis10 approve the application. 

11 (c) PROVISION OF GRANT.—As soon as is practicable 

12 after the date on which the Secretary approves an applica13 tion of a qualifying nonprofit organization under sub14 section (b), the Secretary shall provide a grant to such 

15 organization. 

16 SEC. 6. USE OF FUNDS. 

17 Any organization that receives a grant under section 

18 5 shall use funds received under such grant to— 

19 (1) recruit highly skilled and experienced volun20 teers to participate in the program; and 

21 (2) place such volunteers with foreign countries 

22 participating in the program to work in appropriate 

23 projects in the program, subject to section 8. 


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1 SEC. 7. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 

2 (a) SUBMISSION OF PERIODIC REPORTS.—At times 

3 specified by the Secretary, any organization that receives 

4 a grant under section 5 shall submit to the Secretary peri5 odic reports that include all information that the Secretary 

6 determines is necessary to evaluate the progress and suc7 cess of projects in the program for the purposes of ensur8 ing positive results, assessing problems, and fostering im9 provements. 

10 (b) INTERNET PUBLICATION OF REPORTS.—The 

11 Secretary shall make reports under subsection (a) avail12 able to the public through the Internet Web site of the 

13 Department of the Interior. 

14 SEC. 8. TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF VOLUNTEER SERVICE. 

15 (a) ASSIGNMENT OF VOLUNTEERS.—Except as oth16 erwise provided in this Act, the assignment of volunteers 

17 in appropriate projects in the program shall be on such 

18 terms and conditions as the Secretary may determine. 

19 (b) COMPENSATION OF VOLUNTEERS.—Volunteers 

20 selected for participation in projects in the program shall 

21 not be compensated except for a stipend to cover travel 

22 costs, health and travel insurance costs, living costs, and 

23 accommodations, awarded in such amounts as the Sec24 retary determines to be appropriate. 

25 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 

26 In this Act: 


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1 (1) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

2 the program established pursuant to section 3. 

3 (2) QUALIFYING NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.— 

4 The term ‘‘qualifying nonprofit organization’’ means 

5 an entity described in section 501(c) of the Internal 

6 Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under 

7 section 501(a) of such Code. 

8 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

9 the Secretary of the Interior. 

Æ 


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