I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5567 

To enable projects that will aid in the development and delivery of related 

instruction associated with apprenticeship and preapprenticeship programs that are focused on serving the skilled technical workforce at 

DOE National Laboratories and certain facilities of the National Nuclear 

Security Administration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 18, 2018 

Mr. BEN RAY LUJA ́N of New Mexico (for himself, Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN

GRISHAM of New Mexico, Mr. FOSTER, and Mr. DESJARLAIS) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 

the Workforce 

A BILL 

To enable projects that will aid in the development and 

delivery of related instruction associated with apprenticeship and preapprenticeship programs that are focused 

on serving the skilled technical workforce at DOE National Laboratories and certain facilities of the National 

Nuclear Security Administration, 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 ‘‘DOE National Labs 

5 Jobs ACCESS Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY NATIONAL LABORATORY 

2 JOBS ACCESS PROGRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 

4 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy, 

5 in consultation with the Secretary of Labor, shall establish 

6 a program, to be known as the ‘‘DOE National Lab Jobs 

7 ACCESS Program’’, under which the Secretary shall pro8 vide eligible entities described in subsection (c), on a com9 petitive basis, grants for technical skills-based preappren10 ticeship and apprenticeship programs that provide em11 ployer-driven or recognized postsecondary credentials dur12 ing the 5-year grant period under this Act. 

13 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—A program that is funded 

14 under a grant awarded under this section shall develop 

15 and deliver customized and competency-based training 

16 that— 

17 (1) leads to recognized postsecondary creden18 tials to secondary school and postsecondary stu19 dents; 

20 (2) is focused on skills and qualifications need21 ed to meet the immediate and on-going needs of 

22 skilled-technician positions at the Department of 

23 Energy national laboratories and covered facilities of 

24 the National Nuclear Security Administration; and 


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1 (3) creates a registered apprenticeship or pre2 apprenticeship program with the Secretary of Labor 

3 or a State Department of Labor. 

4 (c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An entity that is eligible 

5 to receive a grant under this section shall be a workforce 

6 intermediary or an eligible sponsor of a preapprenticeship 

7 or an apprenticeship program that— 

8 (1) demonstrates experience in implementing 

9 and providing career planning and career pathways 

10 towards technical skills-based apprenticeship or pre11 apprenticeship training programs; 

12 (2) demonstrates the ability to recruit and sup13 port individuals who plan to work in relevant techni14 cian positions upon the successful completion of such 

15 programs; 

16 (3) provides students who complete such pro17 grams with a recognized postsecondary credential, 

18 such as a journeyman craft license or an industry 

19 recognized certification; 

20 (4) uses a customized training curriculum that 

21 is specifically aligned with employers, utilizing work22 place learning advisors and on-the-job training to 

23 the greatest extent possible; and 


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1 (5) demonstrates successful outcomes con2 necting graduates of such programs to careers rel3 evant to such programs. 

4 (d) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity seeking a 

5 grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary an 

6 application at such time, in such manner, and containing 

7 such information as the Secretary may require. 

8 (e) PRIORITY.—In selecting eligible entities to receive 

9 grants under this section, the Secretary shall prioritize eli10 gible entities that— 

11 (1) are members of an industry or sector part12 nership; 

13 (2) provide the training described in subsection 

14 (b)— 

15 (A) at an institution of higher education 

16 (such as a community college) that includes 

17 basic science, technology, and math education 

18 in the curriculum; 

19 (B) through an existing apprenticeship 

20 program registered with the Department of 

21 Labor or a State; or 

22 (C) with respect to a preapprenticeship 

23 program, at a local educational agency, a sec24 ondary school, an area career and technical 


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1 education school, or an appropriate community 

2 facility; 

3 (3) work with the Secretary of Defense or vet4 erans organizations to transition members of the 

5 Armed Forces and veterans to apprenticeship or 

6 preapprenticeship programs in a relevant sector; 

7 (4) plan to use the grant to carry out the train8 ing described in subsection (b) with an entity that 

9 receives State funding or is operated by a State 

10 agency; and 

11 (5) plan to use the grant to carry out the train12 ing described in subsection (b) for— 

13 (A) young adults ages 17 to 29, inclusive; 

14 or 

15 (B) individuals with barriers to employ16 ment. 

17 (f) ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATION.—In making grants 

18 under this section, the Secretary shall consider regional 

19 diversity. 

20 (g) LIMITATION ON APPLICATIONS.—An eligible enti21 ty may not submit, either individually or as part of a joint 

22 application, more than 1 application for a grant under this 

23 section during any 1 fiscal year. 

24 (h) LIMITATIONS ON AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The 

25 amount of a grant provided under this section for any 24- 


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1 month period of such 5-year grant period shall not exceed 

2 $500,000. 

3 (i) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal share 

4 of the cost of a customized training program carried out 

5 using a grant under this section shall be not less than 

6 25 percent of the total cost. 

7 (j) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary may 

8 provide technical assistance to eligible entities under sub9 section (c) to leverage the existing job training and edu10 cation programs of the Department of Labor and other 

11 relevant programs at appropriate Federal agencies. 

12 (k) REPORT.—Not less frequently than once every 2 

13 years, the Secretary of Labor shall submit to Congress, 

14 and make publicly available on the website of the Depart15 ment of Labor, a report on the program established under 

16 this section, including a description of— 

17 (1) any entity that receives a grant under this 

18 section; 

19 (2) any activity carried out using the grants 

20 under this section; 

21 (3) best practices used to leverage the invest22 ment of the Federal Government under this section; 

23 and 

24 (4) an assessment of the results achieved by the 

25 program established under this section, including the 


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1 rate of employment for participants after completing 

2 a job training and education program carried out 

3 using a grant under this section. 

4 (l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

5 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

6 $5,000,000 for each fiscal years 2019 through 2023. 

7 (m) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) AREA CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION

9 SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘area career and technical edu10 cation school’’ has the meaning given the term in 

11 section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Tech12 nical Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 2302). 

13 (2) APPRENTICESHIP.—The term ‘‘apprentice14 ship’’ means an apprenticeship registered under the 

15 Act of August 16, 1937 (commonly known as the 

16 ‘‘National Apprenticeship Act’’; 50 Stat. 664, chap17 ter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.). 

18 (3) COVERED FACILITIES OF THE NATIONAL

19 NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION.—The term 

20 ‘‘covered facilities of the National Nuclear Security 

21 Administration’’ means national security laboratories 

22 and nuclear weapons production facilities (as such 

23 terms are defined in section 4002 of the Atomic En24 ergy Defense Act (50 U.S.C. 2501)). 


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1 (4) COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—The term ‘‘commu2 nity college’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘junior 

3 or community college’’ in section 312(f) of the High4 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1058(f)). 

5 (5) ELIGIBLE SPONSOR.—The term ‘‘eligible 

6 sponsor’’ means a public organization or an organi7 zation described in section 501(c) of the Internal 

8 Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation 

9 under section 501(a) of that Code, that— 

10 (A) with respect to an apprenticeship pro11 gram, administers such program through a 

12 partnership that may include— 

13 (i) a business; 

14 (ii) an employer or industry associa15 tion; 

16 (iii) a labor-management organization; 

17 (iv) a local workforce development 

18 board or State workforce development 

19 board; 

20 (v) a two- or four-year institution of 

21 higher education that offers an educational 

22 program leading to an associate’s or bach23 elor’s degree in conjunction with a certifi24 cate of completion of apprenticeship; 


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1 (vi) the Armed Forces (including the 

2 National Guard and Reserves); 

3 (vii) a community-based organization; 

4 and 

5 (viii) an economic development agen6 cy; and 

7 (B) with respect to a preapprenticeship 

8 program, is a local educational agency, a sec9 ondary school, an area career and technical 

10 education school, a State workforce develop11 ment board, a local workforce development 

12 board, or a community-based organization, that 

13 administers such program with any required co14 ordination and necessary approvals from the 

15 Secretary of Labor or a State Department of 

16 Labor. 

17 (6) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘local edu18 cational agency’’ and ‘‘secondary school’’ have the 

19 meanings given the terms in section 8101 of the Ele20 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

21 U.S.C. 7801). 

22 (7) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

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

24 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 

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


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1 (8) JOURNEYMAN.—A skilled worker who has 

2 successfully completed an official apprenticeship 

3 qualification in a building trade or craft. They are 

4 considered competent and authorized to work in that 

5 field as a fully qualified employee. A journeyman 

6 earns their license by education, supervised experi7 ence, and examination. 

8 (9) PREAPPRENTICESHIP.—The term ‘‘preap9 prenticeship’’, used with respect to a program, 

10 means an initiative or set of strategies that— 

11 (A) is designed to prepare individuals to 

12 enter and succeed in an apprenticeship pro13 gram; 

14 (B) is carried out by an eligible sponsor 

15 described in paragraph (5) that has a docu16 mented partnership with one or more sponsors 

17 of apprenticeship programs; and 

18 (C) includes each of the following: 

19 (i) Training (including a curriculum 

20 for the training), aligned with industry 

21 standards related to apprenticeships, and 

22 reviewed and approved annually by spon23 sors of the apprenticeships within the doc24 umented partnership, that will prepare in25 dividuals by teaching the skills and comVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Apr 24, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5567.IH H5567

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1 petencies needed to enter one or more ap2 prenticeship programs. 

3 (ii) Provision of hands-on training and 

4 theoretical education to individuals that— 

5 (I) is carried out in a manner 

6 that includes proper observation of su7 pervision and safety protocols; and 

8 (II) is carried out in a manner 

9 that does not displace a paid em10 ployee. 

11 (iii) A formal agreement with a spon12 sor of an apprenticeship program that 

13 would enable participants who successfully 

14 complete the preapprenticeship program to 

15 enter directly into the apprenticeship pro16 gram (if a place in the program is avail17 able and if the participant meets the quali18 fications of the apprenticeship program), 

19 and includes agreements concerning earn20 ing credit towards the apprenticeship pro21 gram. 

22 (10) RELATED INSTRUCTION.—The term ‘‘re23 lated instruction’’ means an organized and system24 atic form of instruction designed to provide an ap25 prentice with the knowledge of the theoretical and 


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1 technical subjects related to the occupation of the 

2 apprentice or the instruction needed to prepare an 

3 individual to enter and succeed in an apprenticeship 

4 program. 

5 (11) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

6 means the Secretary of Energy in consultation with 

7 the Secretary of Labor. 

8 (12) WIOA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘career plan9 ning’’, ‘‘community-based organization’’, ‘‘cus10 tomized training’’, ‘‘economic development agency’’, 

11 ‘‘individuals with barriers to employment’’, ‘‘industry 

12 or sector partnership’’, ‘‘local workforce development 

13 board’’, ‘‘on-the-job training’’, ‘‘recognized postsec14 ondary credential’’, ‘‘State workforce development 

15 board’’, and ‘‘workplace learning advisor’’ have the 

16 meanings given such terms in section 3 of the Work17 force Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 

18 3102). 

19 (13) WORKFORCE INTERMEDIARY.—The term 

20 ‘‘workforce intermediary’’— 

21 (A) means an organization that proactively 

22 addresses workforce needs using a dual cus23 tomer approach, which considers the needs of 

24 both employees and employers; and 


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1 (B) may include a faith-based and commu2 nity organization, an employer organizations, a 

3 community college, a temporary staffing agen4 cy, a State workforce development board, a 

5 local workforce development board, or a labor 

6 organization. 

Æ 


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