I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5631 

To establish the Gulf Coast Conservation Corps under the direction of the 

President in order to create jobs cleaning up the oil spill and restoring 

the Gulf of Mexico and surrounding areas, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 29, 2010 

Mr. HASTINGS of Florida (for himself, Mr. MEEK of Florida, and Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

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

on Transportation and Infrastructure, 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 establish the Gulf Coast Conservation Corps under the 

direction of the President in order to create jobs cleaning 

up the oil spill and restoring the Gulf of Mexico and 

surrounding areas, 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 ‘‘Gulf Coast Conserva5 tion Corps Act of 2010’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) On April 20, 2010, the mobile offshore drill4 ing unit Deepwater Horizon, operated by BP, P.L.C. 

5 (in this Act referred to as ‘‘BP’’), exploded and 

6 sank, triggering the oil spill that is the worst envi7 ronmental disaster in the history of the United 

8 States. 

9 (2) Since then, BP has been unsuccessful in 

10 stemming the discharge of oil into the Gulf of Mex11 ico, currently estimated at a rate of up to 60,000 

12 barrels of oil per day. 

13 (3) Many who live in the area of the Gulf of 

14 Mexico are dependent on the Gulf for their liveli15 hoods. 

16 (4) The fishing industry, including seafood 

17 processing and related wholesale and retail busi18 nesses, supports over 200,000 jobs with related eco19 nomic activity of $5,500,000,000. 

20 (5) As of May 25, 2010, commercial and rec21 reational fishing were prohibited within a 54,096 

22 square-mile area, approximately 22 percent of Fed23 eral waters of the Gulf Exclusive Economic Zone. 

24 (6) The tourist industry contributed 620,000 

25 jobs and over $9,000,000,000 in wages to the Gulf 

26 region. 


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1 (7) The oil spill will require a dedicated and 

2 trained workforce working over an extended period 

3 of time to clean up and restore the damage. 

4 (8) Contracts and cooperative agreements be5 tween Federal agencies and State and local govern6 ments and other entities empower communities and 

7 are cost-effective tools that provide positive social 

8 and environmental benefits. The use of such con9 tracts and agreements should be encouraged as a 

10 means to rehabilitate public land affected or altered 

11 by the BP oil spill, and enhance and maintain envi12 ronmentally important land and water. 

13 (9) Joint collaborations between the Federal 

14 agencies, private businesses, and local, State, and 

15 Federal service and conservation corps are particu16 larly beneficial, as the collaborations provide the op17 portunity to prepare for productive lives while en18 gaged in meaningful and educational public service 

19 opportunities, and the public with cost-saving human 

20 resources to assist in conserving, maintaining, and 

21 protecting public land. 

22 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

23 The purposes of this Act are— 

24 (1) to create a Gulf Coast Conservation Corps 

25 to perform rehabilitation and enhancement projects 


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1 in any area of the Gulf of Mexico affected by the oil 

2 discharged as a result of the explosion on and sink3 ing of the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater 

4 Horizon by creating a workforce to collect the oil 

5 discharged, and restore affected wildlife and dam6 aged ecosystems, in such areas; 

7 (2) to create jobs in the Gulf of Mexico region 

8 that offer unemployed individuals a chance to obtain 

9 skills and experience so that they are better 

10 equipped to gain productive employment related to 

11 environmental restoration; and 

12 (3) to provide such individuals the opportunity 

13 to serve their communities and the Country. 

14 SEC. 4. GULF COAST CONSERVATION CORPS. 

15 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Gulf 

16 Coast Conservation Corps (in this Act referred to as the 

17 ‘‘Corps’’), which shall be administered by the President 

18 and shall carry out rehabilitation and enhancement 

19 projects described in subsection (b). 

20 (b) REHABILITATION AND ENHANCEMENT

21 PROJECTS.—The President, through the Corps, shall hire 

22 individuals that meet the requirements described in sub23 section (c) to carry out rehabilitation and enhancement 

24 projects involving the construction, maintenance, cleaning, 

25 and restoration (including the restoration of wildlife and 


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1 plantlife) in any area of the Gulf of Mexico affected by 

2 the oil discharged as a result of the explosion on and sink3 ing of the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon. 

4 (c) PARTICIPANTS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be selected as a partici6 pant in the Corps, an individual— 

7 (A) shall be otherwise unemployed; 

8 (B) shall be a citizen or legal permanent 

9 resident of the United States; 

10 (C) shall be physically capable of per11 forming the work required by the specific 

12 project, subject to any reasonable accommoda13 tions that may be made for such individual in 

14 accordance with the Americans with Disabilities 

15 Act; and 

16 (D) shall not be enrolled as a full-time stu17 dent in any institution of higher education, vo18 cational or job training school or program and 

19 may not prematurely terminate such enrollment 

20 to obtain employment under this Act. 

21 (2) NO DISPLACEMENT OF EXISTING EMPLOY22 EES OR POSITIONS OF PERMANENT EMPLOYMENT.— 

23 Individuals participating in the Corps whose posi24 tions are funded under this Act may not displace 


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1 other employees whose positions are not funded 

2 under this Act. 

3 (3) COMPENSATION.—Individuals participating 

4 in the Corps shall be compensated at the same rates, 

5 including periodic increases, as employees who are 

6 similarly situated in similar occupations and who 

7 have similar training, experience, and skills, and 

8 such rates shall be in accordance with applicable 

9 law, but in no event less than the higher of the rate 

10 specified in section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Stand11 ards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)) or the appli12 cable State or local minimum wage law. 

13 (4) NOT FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—Individuals 

14 participating in the Corps shall not be considered 

15 employees of the Federal Government. 

16 (d) AUTHORIZED USES OF FUNDS.—In admin17 istering the Corps, the President may carry out the fol18 lowing: 

19 (1) Enter into a contract or cooperative agree20 ment with— 

21 (A) any local, State, or Federal service or 

22 conservation corps, including a service or con23 servation corps carried out by the Corporation 

24 for National and Community Service under the 

25 national service laws; 


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1 (B) a department of natural resources, ag2 riculture, or marine (or an equivalent depart3 ment) of any State; or 

4 (C) a nongovernmental or private organiza5 tion; or 

6 (D) any other agency or organization that 

7 may assist the President in administering the 

8 Corps. 

9 (2) Provide the Corps with technical assistance, 

10 administrative support, and assistance in training 

11 participants. 

12 (3) Monitor and evaluate the Corps to ensure 

13 that the Corps is in compliance with the require14 ments of this Act. 

15 (4) Consult with international authorities on 

16 the best methods and practices for carrying out the 

17 projects described in subsection (b). 

18 (5) Carry out research and development activi19 ties to determine the best methods and practices for 

20 carrying out the projects described in subsection (b). 

21 SEC. 5. FUNDING FROM OIL SPILL LIABILITY TRUST FUND. 

22 The cost of carrying out this Act shall be treated as 

23 removal costs for purposes of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 

24 (33 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.), including section 1012 of that 


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1 Act (33 U.S.C. 2712; relating to the use of amounts in 

2 the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund). 

3 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The terms ‘‘discharge’’; 

6 ‘‘oil’’; and ‘‘removal’’ have the meanings given the 

7 terms in section 1001 of the Oil Pollution Act of 

8 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2701). 

9 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

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

11 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 

12 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

13 (3) NATIONAL SERVICE LAWS.—The term ‘‘na14 tional service laws’’ has the meaning given the term 

15 in section 101 of the National and Community Serv16 ice Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12511). 

17 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

18 the several States of the United States, the District 

19 of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

20 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

21 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

22 this Act $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2011 and 

23 2012. 

Æ 


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