I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4526 

To require the Secretary of Energy to establish and carry out a comprehensive 

program to improve education and training for energy-related jobs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 30, 2014 

Mr. RUSH (for himself, Mr. WHITFIELD, and Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Energy to establish and carry 

out a comprehensive program to improve education and 

training for energy-related jobs. 

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 ‘‘21st Century Energy 

5 Workforce Development Jobs Initiative Act of 2014’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) There are, currently and for well into the 

9 future, significant opportunities for African-AmeriVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:04 May 01, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4526.IH H4526

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1 cans and Hispanic-Americans throughout the energy 

2 industry at each level of education and training, but 

3 raising the educational achievement for large seg4 ments of the upcoming generation is resource inten5 sive and will take decades to achieve, although the 

6 payoff of an increased skilled labor pool would be 

7 enormous to society in general and United States in8 dustry in particular. 

9 (2) African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans 

10 represent an important talent pool to help meet the 

11 demands of the projected growth in the energy in12 dustry, and workforce training and education in 

13 business, finance, science, technology, engineering, 

14 and mathematics will prove vital in achieving this 

15 growth, as noted by the American Petroleum Insti16 tute. 

17 (3) Improving minority preparation in science, 

18 technology, engineering, and mathematics related 

19 disciplines at the primary and secondary school lev20 els is crucial to increasing the share of minority 

21 science-based degree attainment in 4-year and 2- 

22 year programs of higher education, as well as for in23 creasing attainment of vocational certificates. 

24 (4) The rates at which African-Americans and 

25 Hispanic-Americans attain employment in the enVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:04 May 01, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4526.IH H4526

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1 ergy industry is in part related to the choice of the 

2 field of study for college degrees (4-year or 2-year) 

3 and vocational certificates. 

4 (5) Data from the National Center for Edu5 cation Statistics suggest that, over the 2001 through 

6 2010 period, African-American and Hispanic-Amer7 ican students chose and completed 4-year college de8 grees applicable to employment in the oil and nat9 ural gas industry at rates one-fifth and one-half, re10 spectively, the rates of the total student population. 

11 (6) With respect to 2-year associate degrees 

12 and certificates, data from the National Center for 

13 Education Statistics suggest that over the same time 

14 period, African-American and Hispanic-American 

15 students chose and completed programs of study/ 

16 training applicable to employment in the oil and nat17 ural gas industry at rates roughly one-tenth above 

18 and one-third below, respectively, the rates of the 

19 total student population. 

20 (7) The American Petroleum Institute projects 

21 525,000 new job opportunities in the oil and natural 

22 gas industry by 2020, with 166,000, or 31 percent 

23 of such jobs, expected to be held by African-Amer24 ican and Hispanic-American workers, and, with for25 ward looking policies, that number could increase to 


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1 a projected 811,000 new job opportunities, with 

2 more than 285,000, or 35 percent, of such jobs 

3 being filled by minorities, by 2030. 

4 (8) The American Petroleum Institute projects 

5 that more than 50 percent of all jobs created in the 

6 oil and natural gas industry by 2020 would be high7 paying skilled and semiskilled blue collar jobs, with 

8 a significant range of opportunities at the scientific/ 

9 managerial level requiring a college degree. 

10 (9) The American Petroleum Institute projects 

11 that over half of the future potential job growth in 

12 the oil and natural gas industry, approximately 

13 417,000 jobs, is expected in the Gulf region, with 

14 the East region expected to contribute nearly 

15 140,000 job opportunities, the Rockies region nearly 

16 116,000 job opportunities, and the West, Alaska, 

17 and Central regions expected to contribute approxi18 mately 138,000 job opportunities combined. 

19 (10) The National Mining Association reports 

20 that the coal mining industry supported a total of 

21 805,680 jobs in 2011. That includes 204,580 direct 

22 jobs, including mine workers (143,520), support ac23 tivities (7,280), and transportation (53,780). 


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1 (11) Broad occupational categories of potential 

2 job creation in the upstream oil and gas industry in3 clude— 

4 (A) management, business, and financial 

5 jobs; 

6 (B) professional and related jobs; 

7 (C) service jobs; 

8 (D) sales and related jobs; 

9 (E) office and administrative support jobs; 

10 (F) skilled blue collar jobs; 

11 (G) semiskilled blue collar jobs; and 

12 (H) unskilled blue collar jobs. 

13 (12) Potential job creation in the upstream oil 

14 and gas industry by selected detailed occupational 

15 category include— 

16 (A) derrick, rotary drill, and service unit 

17 operators; 

18 (B) oil and gas roustabouts; 

19 (C) operating engineers and other con20 struction workers; 

21 (D) equipment operators; 

22 (E) construction laborers; 

23 (F) first-line supervisors/managers of con24 struction and extraction workers; 

25 (G) heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers; 


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1 (H) pump operators and wellhead pump2 ers; 

3 (I) helpers and other extraction workers; 

4 (J) petroleum engineers; and 

5 (K) secretaries. 

6 (13) The National Petroleum Council estimates 

7 that over the next decade 30,000 miles of new long8 distance natural gas pipelines will be needed to man9 age the new sources of shale natural gas supply, 

10 while a 2007 Census Bureau’s Survey of Business 

11 Owners estimated that a very small percentage of 

12 pipelines were owned by minority-owned and woman13 owned firms compared to the total owned by non14 minority males. 

15 (14) In 2013, the Energy Information Adminis16 tration estimated that relatively low natural gas 

17 prices, maintained by growing shale natural gas pro18 duction, will spur increased use of natural gas in the 

19 industrial and electric power sectors by 16 percent, 

20 from 6.8 trillion cubic feet per year in 2011 to 7.8 

21 trillion cubic feet per year in 2025, while total con22 sumption of natural gas in the United States will 

23 continue to grow in the electric power sector from 

24 16 percent of generation in 2000 to 30 percent in 


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1 2040, which will lead to a significant number of new 

2 jobs in the natural gas sector. 

3 (15) The Energy Information Administration 

4 estimates natural gas production in the United 

5 States will increase annually, outpacing domestic 

6 consumption and making the United States a net ex7 porter of natural gas by 2019, while continued low 

8 levels of liquefied natural gas imports, combined 

9 with increased United States exports of domestically 

10 sourced liquefied natural gas, position the United 

11 States as a net exporter of liquefied natural gas by 

12 2016, creating an abundance of new jobs and invest13 ment opportunities. 

14 (16) The Energy Information Administration 

15 estimates that coal-fired electricity generation will 

16 remain a dominant resource in the Nation’s total 

17 generation portfolio, representing 34 percent of 

18 United States baseload electricity in 2035. 

19 (17) In 2013, a report by the Bloomberg New 

20 Energy Finance research team estimated that clean 

21 energy investment is most likely to grow by 230 per22 cent to a projected $630 billion annually in 2030, 

23 driven by further improvements in the cost-competi24 tiveness of wind and solar technologies and an in25 crease in the roll-out of non-intermittent clean enVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:04 May 01, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4526.IH H4526

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1 ergy sources including hydropower, geothermal, and 

2 biomass, requiring additional investment in science, 

3 technology, engineering, and mathematics education. 

4 (18) A 2013 report by the Bloomberg New En5 ergy Finance research team estimated that renew6 able energy projects including wind, solar, hydro7 power, and biomass will account for 70 percent of 

8 new power generation capacity between 2012 and 

9 2030, and, by 2030, renewable energy will account 

10 for half of the generation capacity worldwide, up 

11 from 28 percent in 2012, requiring additional invest12 ment in supporting infrastructure, including long 

13 distance transmission systems, smart grids, storage, 

14 and demand response. 

15 (19) The Energy Information Administration 

16 states that since 2005 renewable energy has gar17 nered more than $1.3 trillion worth of investment 

18 and the Energy Information Administration esti19 mates that global energy consumption will increase 

20 by 47 percent between 2010 and 2035, with clean 

21 energy providing more than half of that new capac22 ity and attracting up to $5.9 trillion worth of invest23 ment, leading to new employment and investment 

24 opportunities. 


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1 SEC. 3. COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM FOR ENERGY-RELATED 

2 JOBS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY. 

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

4 Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall establish and 

5 carry out a comprehensive program to improve education 

6 and training for energy-related jobs in order to increase 

7 the number of skilled minorities and women trained to 

8 work in energy-related jobs, including by— 

9 (1) encouraging minority and women students 

10 to enter into the energy science, technology, engi11 neering, and mathematics (in this Act referred to as 

12 ‘‘STEM’’) fields; 

13 (2) ensuring that the Nation’s education system 

14 is equipping students with the skills, training, and 

15 technical expertise necessary to fill the employment 

16 opportunities vital to managing and operating the 

17 Nation’s energy industry; and 

18 (3) providing students and other candidates 

19 with the necessary skills and certifications for 

20 skilled, semiskilled, and highly skilled energy-related 

21 jobs. 

22 (b) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall make educating 

23 and training minorities and other workers for energy-re24 lated jobs a national priority under the program estab25 lished under subsection (a). 


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1 (c) DIRECT ASSISTANCE.—In carrying out the pro2 gram established under subsection (a), the Secretary shall 

3 provide direct assistance (including grants, technical ex4 pertise, mentorships, and partnerships) to community col5 leges, workforce development organizations, and minority6 serving institutions. 

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

8 established under subsection (a), the Secretary shall estab9 lish a clearinghouse to— 

10 (1) maintain and update information and re11 sources on training and workforce development pro12 grams for energy-related jobs; and 

13 (2) act as a resource, and provide guidance, for 

14 schools, community colleges, universities, workforce 

15 development programs, and industry organizations 

16 that would like to develop and implement energy-re17 lated training programs. 

18 (e) COLLABORATION.—In carrying out the program 

19 established under subsection (a), the Secretary— 

20 (1) shall collaborate with schools, community 

21 colleges, universities, workforce training organiza22 tions, national laboratories, unions, State energy of23 fices, and the energy industry; 

24 (2) shall encourage and foster collaboration, 

25 mentorships, and partnerships among organizations 


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1 (including unions, industry, schools, community col2 leges, workforce development organizations, and uni3 versities) that currently provide effective job training 

4 programs in the energy field and institutions (in5 cluding schools, community colleges, workforce devel6 opment programs, and universities) that seek to es7 tablish these types of programs in order to share 

8 best practices and approaches that best suit local, 

9 State, and national needs; and 

10 (3) shall collaborate with the Energy Informa11 tion Administration and the Bureau of the Census 

12 to develop a comprehensive and detailed under13 standing of the energy workforce needs and opportu14 nities by State and by region. 

15 (f) GUIDELINES FOR EDUCATIONAL INSTITU16 TIONS.— 

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

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

19 collaboration with the Secretary of Education and 

20 the Secretary of Labor, shall develop guidelines for 

21 educational institutions of all levels, including for el22 ementary and secondary schools and community col23 leges and for undergraduate, graduate, and post24 graduate university programs, to help provide gradVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:04 May 01, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4526.IH H4526

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1 uates with the skills necessary to work in energy-re2 lated jobs. 

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

4 from the oil, gas, coal, renewable, nuclear, utility, 

5 and pipeline industries in developing guidelines 

6 under paragraph (1). 

7 (3) ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND CONSERVATION

8 INITIATIVES.—The guidelines developed under para9 graph (1) shall include grade-specific guidelines for 

10 teaching energy efficiency and conservation initia11 tives to educate students and families. 

12 (4) STEM EDUCATION.—The guidelines devel13 oped under paragraph (1) shall promote STEM edu14 cation as it relates to job opportunities in energy-re15 lated fields of study in schools, community colleges, 

16 and universities nationally. 

17 (g) OUTREACH TO MSIS.—In carrying out the pro18 gram established under subsection (a), the Secretary 

19 shall— 

20 (1) give special consideration to increasing out21 reach to minority serving institutions (including his22 torically black colleges and universities, predomi23 nantly black institutions, Hispanic serving institu24 tions, and tribal institutions); 


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1 (2) make resources available to minority serving 

2 institutions with the objective of increasing the num3 ber of skilled minorities and women trained to go 

4 into the energy sector; and 

5 (3) encourage industry to improve the opportu6 nities for students of minority serving institutions to 

7 participate in industry internships and cooperative 

8 work/study programs. 

9 (h) GUIDELINES TO DEVELOP SKILLS FOR AN EN10 ERGY INDUSTRY WORKFORCE.—In carrying out the pro11 gram established under subsection (a), the Secretary shall 

12 collaborate with representatives from the energy industry 

13 (including the oil, gas, coal, nuclear, utility, pipeline, re14 newable, and nuclear sectors) to identify the areas of high15 est need in each sector and to develop guidelines for the 

16 skills necessary to develop a workforce trained to go into 

17 the following sectors of the energy industry: 

18 (1) Energy efficiency industry, including work 

19 in energy efficiency, conservation, weatherization, or 

20 retrofitting, or as inspectors or auditors. 

21 (2) Pipeline industry, including work in pipeline 

22 construction and maintenance or work as engineers 

23 or technical advisors. 


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1 (3) Utility industry, including as utility work2 ers, linemen, electricians, pole workers, or repair3 men. 

4 (4) Alternative fuels, including work in biofuel 

5 development and production. 

6 (5) Nuclear industry, including work as sci7 entists, engineers, technicians, mathematicians, or 

8 security personnel. 

9 (6) Oil and gas industry, including work as sci10 entists, engineers, technicians, mathematicians, pe11 trochemical engineers, or geologists. 

12 (7) Renewable industry, including work in the 

13 development and production of renewable energy 

14 sources (such as solar, hydropower, wind, or geo15 thermal energy). 

16 (8) Coal industry, including work as coal min17 ers, engineers, developers and manufacturers of 

18 state-of-the-art coal facilities, technology vendors, 

19 coal transportation workers and operators, and min20 ing equipment vendors. 

21 (i) ENROLLMENT IN TRAINING AND APPRENTICE22 SHIP PROGRAMS.—In carrying out the program estab23 lished under subsection (a), the Secretary shall work with 

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1 cluding from historically underserved communities such as 

2 minorities, women, and veterans, to enroll into training 

3 and apprenticeship programs for energy-related jobs. 

Æ 


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