II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1769 

To require the Secretary of Energy to establish an offshore wind career 

training grant program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 10, 2019 

Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Ms. COLLINS, and Mr. CARPER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Energy to establish an offshore 

wind career training grant program, 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 ‘‘Offshore Wind Jobs 

5 and Opportunity Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. OFFSHORE WIND CAREER TRAINING GRANT PRO7 GRAM. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON2 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con3 gress’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Energy and Natural 

5 Resources of the Senate; 

6 (B) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

7 and Transportation of the Senate; 

8 (C) the Committee on Energy and Com9 merce of the House of Representatives; and 

10 (D) the Committee on Natural Resources 

11 of the House of Representatives. 

12 (2) COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—The term ‘‘commu13 nity college’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘junior 

14 or community college’’ in section 312 of the Higher 

15 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1058). 

16 (3) DISLOCATED WORKER.—The term ‘‘dis17 located worker’’ has the meaning given the term in 

18 section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor19 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102). 

20 (4) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti21 ty’’ means an entity that is— 

22 (A) an institution of higher education; or 

23 (B) a labor organization. 


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1 (5) GRANT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘grant pro2 gram’’ means the grant program established under 

3 subsection (d). 

4 (6) GRANTEE.—The term ‘‘grantee’’ means an 

5 eligible entity that has received a grant under this 

6 section. 

7 (7) INDIVIDUAL WITH A BARRIER TO EMPLOY8 MENT.—The term ‘‘individual with a barrier to em9 ployment’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

10 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 

11 (29 U.S.C. 3102). 

12 (8) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

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

14 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 

15 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

16 (9) LEAD APPLICANT.—The term ‘‘lead appli17 cant’’ means the eligible entity that is primarily re18 sponsible for the preparation, conduct, and adminis19 tration of the project for which a grant is awarded 

20 under this section. 

21 (10) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

22 means the Secretary of Energy. 

23 (11) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 

24 meaning given the term in section 101 of title 38, 

25 United States Code. 


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1 (b) IDENTIFICATION OF EDUCATIONAL AND CAREER

2 TRAINING NEEDS.—Not later than 120 days after the 

3 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consulta4 tion with representatives from the offshore wind industry, 

5 eligible entities, including eligible entities that are commu6 nity colleges, State and local governments, labor organiza7 tions, ports, and nonprofit organizations, shall identify the 

8 educational and career training needs with respect to the 

9 offshore wind industry, including needs relating to manu10 facturing, construction, installation, operation, engineer11 ing training and education, and maintenance activities 

12 with respect to the offshore wind industry. 

13 (c) GUIDELINES.—Not later than 1 year after the 

14 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall— 

15 (1) issue guidelines for the submission of grant 

16 proposals under this section, which shall include a 

17 list of the educational and career training needs 

18 identified under subsection (b); and 

19 (2) publish and maintain the guidelines de20 scribed in paragraph (1) on a public website of the 

21 Secretary. 

22 (d) ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT PROGRAM.—Not 

23 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 

24 the Secretary shall establish a grant program under which 

25 the Secretary may award offshore wind career training 


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1 grants to eligible entities for the purpose of developing, 

2 offering, or improving educational or career training pro3 grams that provide individuals who are enrolled in those 

4 programs with skills that are necessary for employment 

5 in the offshore wind industry. 

6 (e) ALLOCATION OF GRANTS.— 

7 (1) LIMITATION ON GRANT QUANTITY AND

8 SIZE.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary 

9 may not award to an eligible entity— 

10 (A) more than 1 grant for which the eligi11 ble entity is the lead applicant; or 

12 (B) a grant that is in an amount that is 

13 more than $2,500,000. 

14 (2) ALLOCATION TO COMMUNITY COLLEGES.— 

15 The Secretary shall ensure that, in a fiscal year, not 

16 less than 25 percent of the total amount that the 

17 Secretary awards in grants under this section is 

18 awarded to eligible entities that are community col19 leges. 

20 (f) PARTNERSHIPS.—An eligible entity seeking to re21 ceive a grant under this section may partner with 1 or 

22 more of the following: 

23 (1) Another eligible entity, including an eligible 

24 entity that is a community college. 

25 (2) A State or local government. 


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1 (3) A nonprofit organization. 

2 (g) USE OF GRANT.—An eligible entity may use a 

3 grant awarded under this section to carry out— 

4 (1) occupational skills training, including cur5 riculum development, on-the-job training, safety and 

6 health training, and classroom training; 

7 (2) incumbent worker and career ladder train8 ing and retraining, including skill upgrading and 

9 transitional job strategizing; 

10 (3) individual referral and tuition assistance for 

11 a training program offered by a nonprofit organiza12 tion through which an individual may attain a recog13 nized postsecondary credential (as defined in section 

14 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 

15 (29 U.S.C. 3102)); 

16 (4) customized training in conjunction with an 

17 existing registered apprenticeship program, intern18 ship, or labor-management partnership; and 

19 (5) other activities that the Secretary deter20 mines meet the purposes of this section. 

21 (h) SUBMISSION PROCEDURE FOR GRANT PRO22 POSALS.—An eligible entity seeking to receive a grant 

23 under this section shall submit a grant proposal to the 

24 Secretary at such time, in such manner, and, in accordVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1769.IS S1769

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1 ance with the guidelines issued under subsection (c)(1), 

2 containing such information as the Secretary may require. 

3 (i) CRITERIA FOR AWARD OF GRANTS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of 

5 appropriations, the Secretary may award a grant 

6 under this section only after an evaluation of— 

7 (A) the merits of the grant proposal with 

8 respect to the grant; 

9 (B) the likely employment opportunities 

10 available to individuals who complete the edu11 cational or career training program that the eli12 gible entity applying for the grant proposes to 

13 develop, offer, or improve; 

14 (C) prior demand for educational or career 

15 training programs in the community served by 

16 the eligible entity applying for the grant; and 

17 (D) the availability and capacity of existing 

18 educational or career training programs in the 

19 community described in subparagraph (C) to 

20 meet future demand for the educational or ca21 reer training programs. 

22 (2) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 

23 section, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible 

24 entities that— 

25 (A) are— 


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1 (i) institutions of higher education 

2 that have formed partnerships with labor 

3 organizations; or 

4 (ii) labor organizations that have 

5 formed partnerships with institutions of 

6 higher education; 

7 (B) have entered into a memorandum of 

8 understanding with an employer in the offshore 

9 wind industry to foster workforce development; 

10 or 

11 (C) will use the grant funds to assist indi12 viduals who are— 

13 (i) dislocated workers, with a focus on 

14 workers displaced from the offshore oil and 

15 gas, onshore fossil fuel, nuclear energy, or 

16 fishing industry; 

17 (ii) veterans, members of the reserve 

18 components of the Armed Forces, or 

19 former members of those reserve compo20 nents; or 

21 (iii) individuals with a barrier to em22 ployment. 

23 (j) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.—A grant awarded 

24 under this section may not be used to satisfy any nonVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1769.IS S1769

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1 Federal funds matching requirement under any other pro2 vision of law. 

3 (k) GRANTEE DATA COLLECTION.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—A grantee shall collect and 

5 report to the Secretary on an annual basis the fol6 lowing information regarding the educational or ca7 reer training program for which the grantee receives 

8 a grant under this section: 

9 (A) The number of participants in the edu10 cational or career training program (referred to 

11 in this subsection as ‘‘participants’’). 

12 (B) The services received in that program 

13 by the participants, including a description of 

14 training, educational, and supportive services. 

15 (C) The rate of job placement of partici16 pants in the offshore wind industry or related 

17 fields that have completed the educational or 

18 career training program. 

19 (D) The rate at which participants are re20 tained in positions of employment 1 year after 

21 the date on which the participant has completed 

22 the program. 

23 (l) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

24 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 18 

25 months after the date on which the grant program 


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1 is established, the Secretary shall submit to the ap2 propriate committees of Congress an initial report 

3 describing the results of the grant program, includ4 ing a description of— 

5 (A) the grantees that were awarded a 

6 grant under this section; and 

7 (B) the activities for which the grantees 

8 described in subparagraph (A) used a grant 

9 awarded under this section. 

10 (2) ADDITIONAL REPORTS.—Not later than 2 

11 years after the date on which the initial report is 

12 submitted under paragraph (1), and every 2 years 

13 thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the appro14 priate committees of Congress a report describing 

15 the results of the grant program for the 2-year pe16 riod preceding the report. 

17 (m) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

18 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

19 $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024. 

Æ 


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