I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4648 

To provide for the establishment of a pilot program to train individuals 

for employment in the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 9, 2014 

Mr. RUIZ (for himself, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mrs. 

NAPOLITANO, Mrs. NEGRETE MCLEOD, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, 

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. HAHN, Mr. SIRES, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Ms. LEE of 

California, Mr. PASTOR of Arizona, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Mr. GUTIE ́RREZ, Mr. HONDA, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. AL

GREEN of Texas, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. HORSFORD, Mrs. CAPPS, and Ms. 

MATSUI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment of a pilot program to train 

individuals for employment in the renewable energy and 

energy efficiency industries. 

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 to as the ‘‘Renewable Energy 

5 Jobs Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ALTERNATIVE ENERGY TRAINING AND EMPLOY2 MENT PROGRAM. 

3 (a) PILOT PROGRAM.—The Secretary of Labor shall 

4 carry out a pilot program to award competitive grants to 

5 States to train individuals for careers in the renewable en6 ergy and energy efficiency industries. 

7 (b) GRANT AWARDS.—The Secretary shall award 

8 grants under the pilot program to the five States with the 

9 highest installed alternative energy power capacity. 

10 (c) APPLICATION.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State that desires a grant 

12 under the pilot program shall submit an application 

13 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

14 accompanied by such information as the Secretary 

15 may reasonably require. 

16 (2) CONTENTS.—A grant application under the 

17 pilot program shall include the following: 

18 (A) Evidence of the installed alternative 

19 energy power capacity for wind, solar, and geo20 thermal facilities in that State. 

21 (B) A description of how the funds will be 

22 used to establish and administer a program de23 signed to provide skills training or on-the-job 

24 training for a significant number of individuals 

25 and ensure lasting and sustainable employment 


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1 in the renewable energy and energy efficiency 

2 industries. 

3 (C) A description of the State’s option to 

4 coordinate with its State and local workforce in5 vestment boards and Energy Efficiency Indus6 try Councils in carrying out a program funded 

7 by a grant under this Act, including through 

8 partnerships of local boards with renewable en9 ergy and energy efficiency employers and other 

10 appropriate providers of training services. 

11 (D) A description of the skills training, on12 the-job training, or both that may be offered to 

13 individuals by grant recipients, and how this 

14 training will lead to an industry-recognized cer15 tificate or similar credential. 

16 (E) A description of how the State plans 

17 to prioritize grants among grant recipients. 

18 (F) A description of how the grant may be 

19 used to support existing programs focused on 

20 renewable energy job creation. 

21 (d) GRANT AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall ensure 

22 that grants are of sufficient size to enable States to carry 

23 out all required activities. 

24 (e) DURATION OF GRANT.—A grant under this sec25 tion shall be for a period of 3 years. 


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1 (f) USE OF FUNDS.—A State receiving a grant under 

2 this section shall use the grant funds to— 

3 (1) reimburse a renewable energy and energy 

4 efficiency employer for the cost of providing on-the5 job training; 

6 (2) reimburse any of the following entities for 

7 the cost of providing skills training (or on-the-job 

8 training if in partnership with an energy efficient 

9 employer)— 

10 (A) a labor organization; 

11 (B) a postsecondary educational institu12 tion; or 

13 (C) nonprofit organizations; and 

14 (3) conduct outreach to inform renewable en15 ergy and energy efficiency employers, labor organiza16 tions, postsecondary educational institutions, non17 profit organizations, and the general public, includ18 ing individuals in rural areas and Indian tribes, of 

19 their eligibility or potential eligibility for participa20 tion in the program. 

21 (g) CONDITIONS.—Under the pilot program, a grant 

22 to a State shall be subject to the following conditions: 

23 (1) The State shall repay to the Secretary, on 

24 such date as shall be determined by the Secretary, 


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1 any amount received under the pilot program that is 

2 not used for the purposes described in subsection (f). 

3 (2) The State shall submit to the Secretary, at 

4 such times and containing such information as the 

5 Secretary shall require, reports on the use of grant 

6 funds. 

7 (h) REQUIREMENTS OF GRANT RECIPIENTS.—In 

8 order to receive a grant made by a State under the pilot 

9 program, an entity described in subsection (f) shall— 

10 (1) submit an application to the State that in11 cludes such other information and assurances as the 

12 State may require; and 

13 (2) agree to submit to the State, for each quar14 ter, a report containing such information as the Sec15 retary may specify. 

16 (i) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.— 

17 (1) FEDERAL ADMINISTRATION.—Of the 

18 amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization 

19 of appropriations under subsection (l), 2 percent 

20 shall be made available to the Secretary for adminis21 trative costs associated with implementing and eval22 uating the pilot program under this section and for 

23 preparing and submitting the report required under 

24 subsection (j). 


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1 (2) STATE ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary 

2 shall determine the appropriate maximum amount of 

3 each grant awarded under this section that may be 

4 used by the recipient for administrative and report5 ing costs. 

6 (j) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall sub7 mit to Congress an annual report on the pilot program 

8 for each year of the grant period. The report on the pilot 

9 program shall include a detailed description of activities 

10 carried out under this section and an evaluation of the 

11 program, and how many participants were employed by 

12 renewable energy and energy efficiency employers within 

13 6 months of completing the training. 

14 (k) APPROPRIATIONS.—There is authorized to be ap15 propriated to the Secretary $10,000,000 for each of fiscal 

16 years 2015 through 2017, for the purpose of carrying out 

17 the pilot program. 

18 (l) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

19 (1) The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ has the meaning 

20 given that term in section 102 of the Federally Rec21 ognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 

22 479a). 

23 (2) The term ‘‘installed alternative energy 

24 power capacity’’ means the amount of wind, solar, 


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1 and geothermal power generation, expressed in 

2 megawatts, installed in a State. 

3 (3) The term ‘‘labor organization’’ has the 

4 meaning given such term in section 2 of the Na5 tional Labor Relations Act. 

6 (4) The term ‘‘on-the-job training’’ means 

7 training by renewable energy and energy efficiency 

8 employers, a labor organization, a postsecondary 

9 educational institution, or a nonprofit organization 

10 that is provided to a paid participant while engaged 

11 in productive work that— 

12 (A) provides knowledge or skills essential 

13 to the full and adequate performance of the job; 

14 (B) provides reimbursement to the em15 ployer for the costs of providing the training 

16 and additional supervision related to the train17 ing; and 

18 (C) is limited in duration as appropriate to 

19 the occupation for which the participant is 

20 being trained, taking into account the content 

21 of the training, the prior work experience of the 

22 participant, and the service strategy of the par23 ticipant, as appropriate. 

24 (5) The term ‘‘postsecondary educational insti25 tution’’ has the meaning given such term in section 


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1 101 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 

2 U.S.C. 2801). 

3 (6) The term ‘‘renewable energy and energy ef4 ficiency employer’’ means an entity that employs in5 dividuals in a trade or business in the renewable en6 ergy and energy efficiency industries. 

7 (7) The term ‘‘renewable energy and energy ef8 ficiency industries’’ means any of the following in9 dustries: 

10 (A) The energy-efficient building, construc11 tion, or retrofits industry. 

12 (B) The renewable electric power industry, 

13 including the wind, solar, and geothermal en14 ergy industries. 

15 (C) The energy efficiency assessment in16 dustry that serves the residential, commercial, 

17 or industrial sectors. 

18 (8) The term ‘‘skills training’’ means training 

19 by a labor organization, a postsecondary educational 

20 institution, or a nonprofit organization that provides 

21 the knowledge and skills essential to specific jobs in 

22 the renewable energy and energy efficiency indus23 tries. 

24 (9) The term ‘‘State’’ includes each of the sev25 eral States, the District of Columbia, the CommonVerDate Mar 15 2010 20:59 May 19, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4648.IH H4648

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1 wealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Com2 monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the 

3 Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the 

4 Marshall Islands, the Republic of Palau, and the ter5 ritories and possessions of the United States. 

6 (10) The term ‘‘workforce investment board’’ 

7 refers to a State or local workforce investment board 

8 established pursuant to the Workforce Investment 

9 Act of 1998 (20 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.) that coordi10 nates job training programs for that State or local 

11 area under that Act. 

Æ 


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