I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5760 

To establish a climate resilience workforce, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023 

Ms. JAYAPAL (for herself, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. BOWMAN, 

Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. BUSH, Mr. CARSON, Mr. CARTER of 

Louisiana, Mr. CASAR, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Ms. CHU, Ms. CLARKE

of New York, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. CROCKETT, Mr. 

DESAULNIER, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 

HUFFMAN, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. LEE

of Pennsylvania, Ms. MENG, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OMAR, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. POCAN, Ms. PRESSLEY, 

Mr. QUIGLEY, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. THANEDAR, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. VARGAS, Mrs. 

WATSON COLEMAN, and Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Oversight and Accountability, the Judiciary, Transportation and Infrastructure, Ways and Means, Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Financial 

Services, 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 a climate resilience workforce, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Climate Resilience 

3 Workforce Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

5 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

Sec. 4. Office of Climate Resilience. 

Sec. 5. Climate Resilience Equity Advisory Board. 

Sec. 6. Center for the Climate Resilience Workforce. 

Sec. 7. Defining climate resilience sectors. 

Sec. 8. Disaggregation of data. 

TITLE I—NATIONAL CLIMATE RESILIENCE ACTION PLANNING 

Sec. 101. Interagency workgroup. 

Sec. 102. Climate Resilience Task Force. 

Sec. 103. Process and outcomes for development of national climate resilience 

action plan. 

Sec. 104. Federal agency climate resilience action plans. 

TITLE II—STATE, TRIBAL, LOCAL, AND COMMUNITY CLIMATE 

RESILIENCE ACTION PLANNING 

Sec. 201. Climate resilience planning grants. 

TITLE III—CLIMATE RESILIENCE WORKFORCE GRANTS 

Sec. 301. Job creation grants. 

Sec. 302. Workforce development training and hiring grants. 

Sec. 303. Virtual technical assistance and capacity building. 

TITLE IV—LABOR STANDARDS AND ENFORCEMENT 

Sec. 401. Minimum labor standards for climate resilience workers. 

Sec. 402. Good Climate Resilience Jobs Grant Program. 

Sec. 403. Climate Resilience Workers Commission. 

Sec. 404. Workers employed using Stafford Act funds. 

Sec. 405. Paid leave for Federal employees who are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. 

Sec. 406. GAO Report on Federal Prison Industry. 

TITLE V—REMOVING BARRIERS TO EMPLOYMENT 

Sec. 501. Immigration barriers. 

Sec. 502. Criminal justice barriers. 

Sec. 503. Drug testing barriers. 

Sec. 504. Taskforce on Worker Inclusion. 

TITLE VI—PROVISIONS RELATED TO CLIMATE RESILIENCE 

WORKERS INVOLVED IN DISASTER RECOVERY AND REBUILDING 


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Sec. 601. Supports for disaster recovery workers. 

Sec. 602. Pilot program providing Federal employment opportunities for formerly incarcerated firefighters. 

Sec. 603. Direct employment in FEMA CORE. 

1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) APPRENTICE.—The term ‘‘apprentice’’ 

4 means a participant in an apprenticeship program. 

5 (2) APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM.—The term 

6 ‘‘apprenticeship program’’ means an apprenticeship 

7 registered under the Act of August 16, 1937 (com8 monly known as the ‘‘National Apprenticeship Act’’; 

9 50 Stat. 664, chapter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.) 

10 that meets the standards of subpart A of part 29 

11 and part 30 of title 29, Code Federal Register (or 

12 any successor regulations on registered programs). 

13 (3) CLIMATE RESILIENCE.—The term ‘‘climate 

14 resilience’’— 

15 (A) means the ability and capacity of so16 cial, economic, and environmental systems, or17 ganized as natural ecosystems and human com18 munities, to anticipate, prepare for, adapt to, 

19 respond to, and recover from hazardous events, 

20 trends, or disturbances related to climate 

21 change; and 

22 (B) includes the ability to engage in an 

23 iterative process of— 


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1 (i) assessing how climate change will 

2 create new, or alter current climate related 

3 risks, and how such risks are distributed 

4 within and across natural ecosystems and 

5 human communities, including— 

6 (I) for human communities, risks 

7 shall be assessed by geography, race, 

8 ethnicity, socioeconomic status, health 

9 and other demographic and social fac10 tors, as applicable; and 

11 (II) for natural ecosystems, risks 

12 shall be assessed by geography, spe13 cies and ecosystem services, as appli14 cable; 

15 (ii) identifying human populations, 

16 animal and plant species, ecosystem serv17 ices and habitats that face disproportionate 

18 risks and impacts of climate change, in19 cluding— 

20 (I) for human populations, iden21 tifying risks due to historic and ongo22 ing systemic racism, economic in23 equity, and environmental degradation 

24 and pollution; and 


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1 (II) for natural species and eco2 system services, identifying risks due 

3 to environmental degradation, pollu4 tion and other anthropogenic impacts; 

5 (iii) working to address the root 

6 causes that lead the entities identified in 

7 clause (ii) to be disproportionately vulner8 able to the risks and impacts of climate 

9 change; and 

10 (iv) prioritizing the natural species, 

11 ecosystem services and human populations 

12 identified in clause (ii) in taking steps to— 

13 (I) mitigate climate change by 

14 addressing its causes and impacts to 

15 the greatest extent possible as quickly 

16 as possible; 

17 (II) prepare for and adapt to the 

18 unavoidable impacts of climate change 

19 by ensuring that effective risk reduc20 tion and management and adaptation 

21 strategies can be implemented and 

22 maintained; and 

23 (III) recover from and rebuild 

24 after climate disasters in ways that 

25 minimize future risks and increase the 


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1 ability of natural ecosystems and 

2 human communities to face future 

3 risks with less harm. 

4 (4) CO-OPERATIVE.—The term ‘‘co-operative’’ 

5 has the meaning given such term in section 1381 of 

6 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

7 (5) COMMUNITY OF COLOR.—The term ‘‘com8 munity of color’’ means a census block group or se9 ries of geographically contiguous blocks in which the 

10 population of any of the following categories of indi11 viduals, individually or in combination, comprises 30 

12 percent or more of the population of persons in the 

13 census block group or series of geographically con14 tiguous blocks: 

15 (A) Black. 

16 (B) African American. 

17 (C) Asian. 

18 (D) Pacific Islander. 

19 (E) Other non-white race. 

20 (F) Hispanic. 

21 (G) Latino. 

22 (H) Linguistically isolated. 

23 (6) COVERED PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENT.— 

24 The term covered project labor agreement means a 

25 project labor agreement that— 


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1 (A) binds all contractors and subcontrac2 tors on the project through the inclusion of ap3 propriate specifications in all relevant solicita4 tion provisions and contract documents; 

5 (B) allows all contractors and subcontrac6 tors to compete for contracts and subcontracts 

7 without regard to whether they are otherwise a 

8 party to a collective bargaining agreement; 

9 (C) contains guarantees against strikes, 

10 lockouts, and other similar job disruptions; 

11 (D) sets forth effective, prompt, and mutu12 ally binding procedures for resolving labor dis13 putes arising during the covered project labor 

14 agreement; and 

15 (E) provides other mechanisms for labor16 management cooperation on matters of mutual 

17 interest and concern, including productivity, 

18 quality of work, safety, and health. 

19 (7) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

20 the director of the Office of Climate Resilience es21 tablished under section 4 of this Act. 

22 (8) FRONTLINE COMMUNITY.—The term 

23 ‘‘frontline community’’ means— 

24 (A) a community or population that, due 

25 to systemic racial or economic injustice, has 


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1 been made vulnerable to experience dispropor2 tionate exposure to environmental hazards, in3 cluding— 

4 (i) a low-income community; 

5 (ii) a community of color; and 

6 (iii) a Tribal or indigenous commu7 nity; 

8 (B) a community that has been primarily 

9 economically dependent on fossil fuel industries; 

10 and 

11 (C) a community or population that is vul12 nerable or systematically disadvantaged and 

13 therefore has a higher likelihood of being im14 pacted by environmental and climate injustice 

15 and inequitable climate actions, including— 

16 (i) linguistically isolated communities; 

17 (ii) individuals with limited English 

18 proficiency; 

19 (iii) immigrants and refugees; 

20 (iv) individuals with limited mobility; 

21 (v) individuals who are ill; 

22 (vi) vulnerable elderly populations; 

23 (vii) children, youth, and pregnant 

24 women; 

25 (viii) individuals with disabilities; 


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1 (ix) LGBTQ+ individuals; 

2 (x) institutionalized populations; 

3 (xi) individuals living in isolated rural 

4 areas; 

5 (xii) unhoused populations; and 

6 (xiii) workers whose job requires such 

7 worker to work outdoors. 

8 (9) GRASSROOTS COMMUNITY GROUP.—The 

9 term ‘‘grassroots community group’’ means a group 

10 of organized or connected individuals residing in the 

11 same census block group or series of geographically 

12 contiguous blocks that face the same or similar risks 

13 and impacts of climate change or other social, eco14 nomic, and environmental risks and impacts. 

15 (10) INTERIM CREDENTIAL.—The term ‘‘in16 terim credential’’ means a credential issued by a reg17 istration agency, upon request of the appropriate 

18 sponsor, as certification of competency attainment 

19 by a program participant during participation in a 

20 program under the national apprenticeship system. 

21 (11) LABOR ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘labor 

22 organization’’ has the meaning given such term in 

23 section 2(5) of the National Labor Relations Act (29 

24 U.S.C. 152(5)). 


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1 (12) LABOR, WORKER, AND WORKFORCE DE2 VELOPMENT STAKEHOLDERS.—The term ‘‘labor, 

3 worker, and workforce development stakeholders’’ 

4 shall include— 

5 (A) individuals who are members of popu6 lations facing barriers to employment who have 

7 shown leadership in addressing such barriers; 

8 (B) worker-driven entities dedicated to en9 suring collective worker voice and representa10 tion, including— 

11 (i) labor unions; 

12 (ii) worker centers; and 

13 (iii) worker associations; 

14 (C) organizations that advocate for im15 provement to worker rights and working condi16 tions, including organizations that work to ex17 pand collective bargaining, raise worker wages, 

18 improve workplace safety, reduce and end dis19 crimination and increase workplace equity; 

20 (D) individuals and organizations, includ21 ing potential employers, that possess knowledge 

22 of the jobs, skills, and occupations that pertain 

23 to climate resilience work, in order to inform 

24 workforce and training needs; and 


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1 (E) entities with proven track records in 

2 designing and participating in workforce devel3 opment and training programs resulting in 

4 higher wages and improved job security for 

5 workers, including— 

6 (i) community colleges; 

7 (ii) nonprofit organizations; and 

8 (iii) joint labor management partner9 ships. 

10 (13) LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘local 

11 government’’ means— 

12 (A) a county, municipality, city, town, 

13 township, local public authority, school district, 

14 special district, intrastate district, council of 

15 governments (regardless of whether the council 

16 of governments is incorporated as a nonprofit 

17 corporation under State law), regional or inter18 state governmental entity, or agency or instru19 mentality of a local government; or 

20 (B) an Indian Tribe or authorized Tribal 

21 organization, or Alaska Native village or organi22 zation that is not a Tribal Government. 

23 (14) LOW-INCOME COMMUNITY.—The term 

24 ‘‘low-income community’’ means any census block 

25 group in which 30 percent or more of the population 


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1 of such block group are individuals with an annual 

2 household income equal to, or less than, the greater 

3 of— 

4 (A) an amount equal to 80 percent of the 

5 median income of the area in which the house6 hold is located, as reported by the Department 

7 of Housing and Urban Development; and 

8 (B) 200 percent of the Federal poverty 

9 line. 

10 (15) NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 

11 ‘‘non-profit organization’’ means an organization 

12 under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 

13 Code of 1986. 

14 (16) POPULATION.—The term ‘‘population’’ 

15 means a census block group or series of geographi16 cally contiguous blocks representing certain common 

17 characteristics, including race, ethnicity, national or18 igin, income-level, health disparities, or other public 

19 health or socioeconomic attributes. 

20 (17) POPULATIONS FACING BARRIERS TO EM21 PLOYMENT.—The term ‘‘populations facing barriers 

22 to employment’’ means populations that have faced 

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1 secure employment due to failed economic policies, 

2 including— 

3 (A) undocumented individuals; 

4 (B) individuals with criminal records; 

5 (C) individuals who are formerly incarcer6 ated; 

7 (D) deindustrialized communities; and 

8 (E) demographic populations with unem9 ployment levels higher than the national aver10 age. 

11 (18) PRE-APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM.—The 

12 term ‘‘pre-apprenticeship program’’ means a train13 ing model or program that— 

14 (A) prepares individuals, focusing on 

15 underrepresented populations, to enter and suc16 ceed in a registered apprenticeship program; 

17 (B) has an articulation agreement with one 

18 or more registered apprenticeship programs; 

19 (C) that teaches a curriculum based on in20 dustry standards; and 

21 (D) that offers hands on training opportu22 nities that do not displace paid workers. 

23 (19) PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENT.—The term 

24 ‘‘project labor agreement’’ means a pre-hire collec25 tive bargaining agreement with one or more labor 


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1 organizations that establishes the terms and condi2 tions of employment for a specific project and is de3 scribed in section 8(f) of the National Labor Rela4 tions Act (29 U.S.C. 158(f)). 

5 (20) RECOGNIZED POST-SECONDARY CREDEN6 TIAL.—The term ‘‘recognized post-secondary creden7 tial’’ has the meaning given the term in section 3 of 

8 the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 

9 U.S.C. 3102), except that such term does not in10 clude a certificate of completion of an apprentice11 ship. 

12 (21) REGIONAL GOVERNMENTAL GROUP.—The 

13 term ‘‘regional governmental group’’ means a group 

14 of States that share borders or are in close prox15 imity to one another and share similar social, eco16 nomic, and environmental systems and risks and im17 pacts of climate change. 

18 (22) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes each 

19 of the several States, the District of Columbia, the 

20 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands of 

21 the United States, the Commonwealth of the North22 ern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micro23 nesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Re24 public of Palau, and the territories and possessions 

25 of the United States. 


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1 (23) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Tribal 

2 government’’ means the governing body of an Indian 

3 Tribe. 

4 (24) TRIBAL OR INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY.— 

5 The term ‘‘Tribal or indigenous community’’ means 

6 a population of people who are members of— 

7 (A) a federally recognized Indian Tribe; 

8 (B) a State recognized Indian Tribe; 

9 (C) an Alaskan Native or Native Hawaiian 

10 community or organization; and 

11 (D) any other community of indigenous 

12 people located in a State. 

13 (25) WORKER CENTER.—The term ‘‘worker 

14 center’’ means a non-profit organization or a co-op15 erative that— 

16 (A) has as one if its primary goals the im17 provement of worker rights, workplace safety, 

18 wages, working conditions, or employment ac19 cess, or the promotion of enhanced worker 

20 voice; and 

21 (B) which has some kind of formal mecha22 nism by which workers who stand to benefit 

23 from these improvements may directly partici24 pate in organizational decision-making. 


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1 SEC. 4. OFFICE OF CLIMATE RESILIENCE. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 60 days after 

3 the date of enactment of this Act, the President shall es4 tablish an Office of Climate Resilience (hereinafter re5 ferred to as the ‘‘Office’’) within the White House. 

6 (b) DIRECTOR.— 

7 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The President shall ap8 point a Director of the Office. 

9 (2) TERM.—The Director shall serve for a pe10 riod of 5 years. 

11 (3) TERMINATION.—The President may termi12 nate the Director prior to the end of the term de13 scribed in paragraph (2) for issues with perform14 ance. 

15 (c) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Office shall be to 

16 use information from all sectors involved in climate resil17 ience, including frontline community experience, scientific 

18 expertise, and labor organization input to coordinate Fed19 eral actions to support a climate resilient nation and oper20 ate as a Secretariat. 

21 (d) FUNCTIONS.—The Office shall— 

22 (1) convene the necessary Federal and external 

23 stakeholders to inform and develop a national cli24 mate resilience action plan; 


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1 (2) revise the plan described in paragraph (1) 

2 every 5 years, or more frequently if determined nec3 essary by the Director based on science; 

4 (3) support Federal agencies in developing and 

5 revising agency-specific climate resilience actions 

6 plans and compile such plans into a Federal Govern7 ment climate resilience action plan; 

8 (4) administer grants established under section 

9 201 of this Act; 

10 (5) coordinate with the Climate Resilience 

11 Workers Commission established under section 403 

12 of this Act to support compliance with the require13 ments of this Act; 

14 (6) coordinate with other Federal activities re15 lated to climate resilience, including efforts made by 

16 the National Environmental Justice Advisory Coun17 cil and the White House Environmental Justice Ad18 visory Council; and 

19 (7) evaluate the effectiveness of the national cli20 mate resilience action plan in achieving a climate re21 silient nation through annual assessments and an22 nual reporting to Congress. 

23 (e) STAFFING.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office 

25 shall appoint staff to organize the activities of and 


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1 provide support for the members of the Climate Re2 silience Equity Advisory Board established under 

3 section 5 of this Act, the interagency working group, 

4 and the Climate Resilience Task Force. 

5 (2) ADDITIONAL EMPLOYEES.—The Director 

6 may hire other employees as needed to exercise and 

7 fulfil the function and purpose of the Office. 

8 SEC. 5. CLIMATE RESILIENCE EQUITY ADVISORY BOARD. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 6 months after 

10 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Of11 fice of Climate Resilience shall establish a Climate Resil12 ience Equity Advisory Board (herein after referred to as 

13 the ‘‘Advisory Board’’). 

14 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Advisory Board 

15 shall be to advise and make recommendations to the Office 

16 of Climate Resilience to ensure that the knowledge, experi17 ences, and priorities of frontline communities are incor18 porated into Federal climate resilience efforts. 

19 (c) FUNCTIONS.—The Advisory Board shall— 

20 (1) participate in the planning process to de21 velop a national climate resilience action plan, in22 cluding by advising and making recommendations to 

23 the interagency workgroup, Climate Resilience Task 

24 Force, and labor, worker, and workforce develop25 ment stakeholders to ensure that— 


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1 (A) the knowledge, lived experiences, and 

2 priorities of frontline communities are incor3 porated into the strategies, actions, and 

4 projects proposed in the national climate resil5 ience action plan and agency climate resilience 

6 plans; and 

7 (B) climate resilience jobs and training op8 portunities prioritize and are accessible to 

9 frontline communities; 

10 (2) advise and make recommendations to the 

11 Office of Climate Resilience on ongoing climate resil12 ience activities; and 

13 (3) collaborate with, advise, and make rec14 ommendations to the Center for the Climate Resil15 ience Workforce on the activities of such Center. 

16 (d) MEMBERSHIP.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Members of the Advisory 

18 Board shall be representatives of frontline commu19 nities. 

20 (2) APPLICATION PROCESS.—The Director of 

21 the Office shall develop an application process and 

22 criteria that, at minimum, shall require applicants 

23 for the Advisory Board to provide— 

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1 resent, highlighting the qualifications and rel2 evant lived, volunteer, or paid work experience 

3 the individual possesses to serve on the Advi4 sory Board; and 

5 (B) demographic information about the 

6 community represented by the individual includ7 ing data on population size, income, race, edu8 cation level, geographic location, and health, cli9 mate, and environmental risks faced. 

10 (3) SIZE OF BOARD.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Advisory Board 

12 shall be comprised of not less than 12 members 

13 that provide diverse and fair representation of 

14 frontline communities. 

15 (B) ADDITIONAL MEMBERS.—The Director 

16 may select additional members representing 

17 frontline communities for the Advisory Board 

18 on an interim or permanent basis. 

19 (4) TERM.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—A member shall serve 

21 on the Advisory Board for a term of 3 years. 

22 (B) TERM LIMIT.—A member may serve 

23 on the Advisory Board for not more than 2 

24 terms. 


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1 (e) COMPENSATION.—The Director of the Office shall 

2 establish guidelines and a process for providing compensa3 tion to individuals who would otherwise not be able to par4 ticipate or who would experience financial hardship with5 out such compensation. 

6 (f) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND TRANSPARENCY.— 

7 The Board shall make every effort, consistent with appli8 cable law, including section 552 of title 5, United States 

9 Code, and section 552a of title 5, United States Code, to 

10 maximize public participation and transparency, including 

11 making the advice of the Board publicly available in elec12 tronic form, including video streaming, on the website of 

13 the Office. 

14 (g) APPLICABILITY OF LAW.—Section 14(a)(2) of the 

15 Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not 

16 apply to the Advisory Committee. 

17 SEC. 6. CENTER FOR THE CLIMATE RESILIENCE WORK18 FORCE. 

19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 3 months after 

20 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor 

21 shall establish a Center for the Climate Resilience Work22 force. 

23 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Center for the 

24 Climate Resilience Workforce shall be to— 


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1 (1) serve as a public resource to support job 

2 quality, worker voice, job training and job creation 

3 for the climate resilience workforce; and 

4 (2) disseminate information, conduct research, 

5 and celebrate the contributions of the climate resil6 ience workforce. 

7 (c) STAFFING.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Center shall be com9 prised of staff with sufficient knowledge and exper10 tise to carry out the functions under subsection (d). 

11 (2) CONSULTATION.—The Center shall consult 

12 with Federal agencies as needed to carry out the 

13 functions under subsection (d), including the Envi14 ronmental Protection Agency, the Department of In15 terior, the Department of Agriculture, and the De16 partment of Commerce. 

17 (d) FUNCTIONS.—The Center shall— 

18 (1) define the occupational sectors that pertain 

19 to climate resilience, as indicated in section 7, revise 

20 such definition as needed based on the latest science 

21 and labor market and worker data, and maintain an 

22 updated list of such sectors on the Center’s website; 

23 (2) contact annually, at a minimum, the United 

24 States Global Change Research Program regarding 

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1 nomic and environmental systems due to climate 

2 change to inform the identification of priority sec3 tors, skills and geographies of focus for the climate 

4 resilience workforce; 

5 (3) take into account any research that identi6 fies frontline communities by tracking the nation7 wide geographic distribution of cumulative environ8 mental impacts, pollution hotspots, and vulnerability 

9 to various environmental risks through the Environ10 mental Justice Screen tool of the Environmental 

11 Protection Agency and other Federal environmental 

12 justice mapping efforts to ensure that job creation 

13 and hiring prioritize the communities that are most 

14 likely to face disproportionate risks and impacts of 

15 climate change; 

16 (4) conduct research on the climate resilience 

17 workforce to— 

18 (A) track the growth of the climate resil19 ience workforce; 

20 (B) track labor market trends in the sup21 ply and demand of climate resilience workers by 

22 sector, geography, occupation, skills, and train23 ing level, highlighting areas of greatest demand 

24 and supply so as to inform job creation and 

25 training investments; 


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1 (C) identify effective strategies in job cre2 ation, training, recruitment, employment and 

3 provision of ongoing support for climate resil4 ience workers; 

5 (D) identify the successes, challenges, op6 portunities and needs of the climate resilience 

7 workforce; and 

8 (E) collect data (through reliance on BLS 

9 statistics and United States Energy and Em10 ployment Report data) on the demographic dis11 tribution of jobs created through the programs 

12 in this legislation, as well as wages of new jobs 

13 by worker demographics; 

14 (5) evaluate— 

15 (A) the effectiveness of the various funding 

16 streams created by this Act in supporting the 

17 growth of a well-equipped, skilled, and demo18 graphically representative climate resilience 

19 workforce; 

20 (B) the current minimum labor standards 

21 of climate resilience workers, barriers to im22 proved safety, wages and worker voice, and po23 tential regulatory and operational adjustments 

24 to improve those labor standards; 


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1 (C) the relative job quality of climate resil2 ience jobs, including wage and benefit levels, 

3 union density, and other relevant metrics; and 

4 (D) the Department of Labor’s role in di5 verse and equitable job creation for the climate 

6 resilience workforce, especially regarding race, 

7 ethnicity and gender for the programs created 

8 or supported through this Act; 

9 (6) highlight and make recommendations to ad10 dress disparities and barriers in— 

11 (A) the hiring, retention or income of 

12 workers from frontline communities and popu13 lations facing barriers to employment; 

14 (B) achieving minimum labor standards 

15 specified in this Act for all climate resilience 

16 workers; 

17 (C) the creation of living-wage jobs in the 

18 climate resilience sector; 

19 (D) barriers to worker voice, whistle20 blowers and collective bargaining in the climate 

21 resilience workforce and means by which to 

22 overcome these barriers using improved enforce23 ment, education and regulatory changes; and 


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1 (E) addressing the immigration, criminal 

2 justice and drug testing barriers to employment 

3 specified in this Act; 

4 (7) collaborate with the Office of Climate Resil5 ience, the Climate Resilience Equity Advisory Board 

6 and labor, worker and workforce stakeholders in 

7 conducting research, sharing findings, and devel8 oping recommendations; 

9 (8) publish the findings of its research on its 

10 website and maintain a monthly newsletter with the 

11 latest data on the climate resilience workforce and 

12 research findings; and 

13 (9) honor the climate resilience workforce by 

14 publicly recognizing the achievements of the climate 

15 resilience workforce. 

16 SEC. 7. DEFINING CLIMATE RESILIENCE SECTORS. 

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

18 date of enactment of this Act, the Center for the Climate 

19 Resilience Workforce shall define climate resilience sectors 

20 for the purposes of this Act. 

21 (b) REVISION.—The Center for the Climate Resil22 ience Workforce shall revise the definition under sub23 section (a) as needed to reflect the full scope of the sec24 tors, occupations, and skills needed to achieve a climate 


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1 resilient nation, and maintain an updated list of sectors 

2 on the Center’s website. 

3 (c) INCLUSIONS.—In defining climate resilience sec4 tors under subsection (a), the Center shall include, at a 

5 minimum, all employment sectors in which workers per6 form activities related to the following: 

7 (1) MITIGATION OF CLIMATE CHANGE.—Efforts 

8 focused on achieving absolute reductions in 

9 greenshouse gas emissions in the sectors producing 

10 the greatest emissions, including— 

11 (A) transportation; 

12 (B) electricity generation; 

13 (C) industry; 

14 (D) commercial and residential buildings; 

15 and 

16 (E) agriculture. 

17 (2) PREPARATION FOR AND ADAPTATION TO

18 CLIMATE CHANGE.—Efforts focused on activities in19 volved in preparing for, adapting to, and addressing 

20 risks related to climate change, including the fol21 lowing: 

22 (A) SOCIAL SYSTEMS.— 

23 (i) CARE INFRASTRUCTURE.—To en24 sure adequate, reliable access to and avail25 ability of formal services and informal, 


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1 community-based support for healthcare, 

2 childcare, elder care, home care, domestic 

3 care, and other related care functions as 

4 climate change impacts increase and to 

5 protect vulnerable populations in times of 

6 disaster. 

7 (ii) HUMAN HEALTH.—To prevent 

8 and address increased injury, illness, and 

9 death due to increased exposure to heat 

10 waves, floods, droughts, extreme weather 

11 events and vector-, food-, and waterborne 

12 infectious diseases and to changes in the 

13 quality and safety of air, food and water, 

14 and stresses to mental health. 

15 (iii) COMMUNITIES.— 

16 (I) URBAN COMMUNITIES.— 

17 Strengthen vulnerable infrastructure 

18 and prevent and address concentrated 

19 heat and air pollution. 

20 (II) RURAL COMMUNITIES.— 

21 Strengthen infrastructure and in22 crease resources for resilience. 

23 (III) TRIBAL AND INDIGENOUS

24 COMMUNITIES.—Preparing for and 

25 adapting to threats to livelihoods and 


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1 economies in agriculture, hunting and 

2 gathering, fishing, forestry, energy, 

3 recreation and tourism, threats to 

4 sites, practices and relationships with 

5 cultural, spiritual and ceremonial im6 portance, loss of cultural heritage and 

7 identity, and loss of sovereignty and 

8 self-determination. 

9 (B) ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS.— 

10 (i) WATER.—Changes in water quan11 tity and quality, deteriorating water infra12 structure, flood and drought management, 

13 extreme precipitation and rising sea levels, 

14 ensuring access to clean drinking water, 

15 and ensuring adequate water storage and 

16 availability. 

17 (ii) AIR.—Worsening air quality, res18 piratory and cardiovascular illness and 

19 death, injury due to reduced visibility, 

20 damage to agricultural crops and forests, 

21 increased wildfire smoke, increased fre22 quency and severity of allergic illnesses, 

23 and minimizing air pollutants to improve 

24 air quality. 


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1 (iii) LAND.—Loss of land cover and 

2 impact on agriculture, wildfires, coastal 

3 wetlands and vegetation, mitigating the 

4 impacts of deforestation and urbanization, 

5 and considering climate change risks in 

6 land use decisions. 

7 (iv) FORESTS.—Decreased tree 

8 growth and carbon storage. 

9 (v) ECOSYSTEMS AND BIODIVER10 SITY.—Altered or deteriorated ecosystem 

11 functions, altered individual characteristics 

12 of organisms, timing of biological events 

13 and geographic ranges of terrestrial, fresh14 water and marine organisms, spread of 

15 invasive species, loss of biodiversity, 

16 endangerment and extinction of organisms, 

17 and changes in agricultural and fisheries 

18 production, supply of clean water, protec19 tion from extreme events, and culturally 

20 valuable resources. 

21 (vi) COASTS.—Higher storm surges 

22 and sea level rise, chronic high-tide flood23 ing, threatened investments along coasts, 

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1 creased pace and extent of coastal flooding 

2 and erosion, and forced relocation. 

3 (vii) OCEANS.—Ecosystem disruption, 

4 loss of habitat, ocean warming, acidifica5 tion, and deoxygenation, and losses to fish6 eries and fishing communities. 

7 (C) ECONOMIC SYSTEMS.— 

8 (i) PUBLIC SECTOR.—Activities fo9 cused on ensuring stable governance and 

10 provision of critical safety net services and 

11 supports, adopting new policies to address 

12 emerging threats, risks and needs and pro13 vide specific protections for vulnerable pop14 ulations, and expanding services to ensure 

15 that emerging and increasing needs are 

16 met. 

17 (ii) BUILDINGS AND BUILT INFRA18 STRUCTURE.—Activities focused on 

19 strengthening buildings and built infra20 structure to climate risks, weatherization 

21 to account for shifting and increasing tem22 peratures, preparing for and adapting to 

23 changing patterns of energy use and peak 

24 demands, ensuring good indoor air quality, 

25 and ensuring affordable housing. 


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1 (iii) TRANSPORTATION.—Higher tem2 peratures, increased precipitation, rising 

3 sea levels and extreme weather events on 

4 ports, vehicles and transportation infra5 structure, preparing for travel disruptions, 

6 ensuring passenger safety, preparing for 

7 and adapting to fluctuations in fuel and 

8 electricity supply and communications dis9 ruptions, and demographic shifts and 

10 shifts in flows of goods and services that 

11 alter transport networks. 

12 (iv) MANUFACTURING AND INDUS13 TRY.—Supply chain shocks, new regulatory 

14 requirements and price shocks, and the im15 pact of increasing temperatures on manu16 facturing processes. 

17 (v) COMMUNICATIONS AND TECH18 NOLOGY.—Damage to communications in19 frastructure and service interruptions and 

20 outages. 

21 (vi) FINANCIAL SYSTEMS.—Physical 

22 risks associated with more frequent severe 

23 weather events and lasting environmental 

24 changes to insurance and banking sectors 

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1 ing to and addressing the transition risks 

2 posed by policy and technological changes 

3 to a reduced-carbon economy, and fluctua4 tions in global markets, stranded assets. 

5 (vii) COMMERCE.—Mitigation of 

6 threats to small, locally-owned businesses. 

7 (viii) ENERGY SYSTEMS.—Impacts of 

8 increasing temperatures, severity of ex9 treme weather events and increased pre10 cipitation on energy production and deliv11 ery, shifts in energy demand and supply, 

12 and growing population driving an increase 

13 in overall energy demand. 

14 (ix) AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SYS15 TEMS.—Disruptions to food availability, 

16 access, and quality due to reduced agricul17 tural productivity, changes in temperature 

18 and precipitation patterns resulting in 

19 floods, droughts, changes in crop and live20 stock viability, new pests, pathogens and 

21 weed problems, depletion of water supplies 

22 for irrigation, soil degradation, illness and 

23 death in farm workers and livestock due to 

24 heat, economic losses, instability of food 

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1 ited safety nets to deal with disrupting fac2 tors, economic losses for farming and rural 

3 communities, and increased food prices 

4 and greater food insecurity. 

5 (x) LABOR.—Impact of increased tem6 peratures on workers, particularly those in 

7 high-risk industries where workers are 

8 doing physical labor and have a direct ex9 posure to outdoor temperatures, and work10 ers with limited labor protections such as 

11 incarcerated workers and undocumented 

12 and immigrant workers, preparing for and 

13 providing adequate protections for disaster 

14 recovery workers as the frequency of cli15 mate disasters increases, financial and eco16 nomic disruption resulting in labor market 

17 shifts and potential job losses, and eco18 nomic impact of disasters and long-term 

19 climate shifts on businesses, workers and 

20 local economies. 

21 (xi) EDUCATION.—Activities focused 

22 on minimizing disruptions to educational 

23 systems, addressing disparate impacts of 

24 heat and other climate impacts on student 

25 achievement and learning, ensuring the 


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1 physical safety and psychosocial wellbeing 

2 of students and teachers, planning for the 

3 use of schools as shelters during climate 

4 disasters, strengthening the infrastructure 

5 of school buildings, revising curricula to 

6 ensure that the public is well-educated and 

7 informed to be prepared for the risks posed 

8 by climate change, and creating new pro9 grams to ensure that individuals are 

10 trained with relevant skills to contribute to 

11 the climate resilience workforce. 

12 (xii) FOREIGN AFFAIRS.—Increased 

13 need to provide foreign aid and assistance, 

14 increased migration, increased conflict, 

15 war, famine and political and economic in16 stability, economic losses in trade and 

17 overseas operations, and shocks to global 

18 supply chains; and 

19 (3) DISASTER PREPAREDNESS, RECOVERY, AND

20 REBUILDING.—Activities shall include— 

21 (A) preparing for, recovering from, and re22 building after climate-related disasters, includ23 ing— 

24 (i) wildfires and any resulting land25 slides and debris; 


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1 (ii) extreme precipitation events, 

2 storm surges, and floods; 

3 (iii) hurricanes; 

4 (iv) heat waves and resulting fires; 

5 (v) droughts; 

6 (vi) permafrost thawing; and 

7 (vii) coastal erosion; and 

8 (B) securing the right of communities dis9 placed by disasters to return and supporting 

10 the relocation of communities located in areas 

11 where safe habitation is no longer possible. 

12 (d) INTERIM DEFINITION.—In this Act, until the 

13 date on which the Center for the Climate Resilience Work14 force defines climate resilience sectors for the purposes of 

15 this Act, the term ‘‘climate resilience sectors’’ shall include 

16 the employment sectors described in subsection (c). 

17 SEC. 8. DISAGGREGATION OF DATA. 

18 With respect to any data collection under this Act, 

19 the disaggregation of data under this Act shall not be re20 quired when the number of program participants in a cat21 egory is insufficient to yield statistically reliable informa22 tion or when the results would reveal personally identifi23 able information about a program participant or would re24 veal such information when combined with other released 

25 information. 


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1 TITLE I—NATIONAL CLIMATE 

2 RESILIENCE ACTION PLANNING 

3 SEC. 101. INTERAGENCY WORKGROUP. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director of the Office of 

5 Climate Resilience shall convene an interagency 

6 workgroup of Federal agencies for which such agency’s 

7 mission relates to climate resilience. 

8 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The interagency workgroup con9 vened under subsection (a) shall— 

10 (1) inform a national climate resilience action 

11 plan that includes the Federal Government and ex12 tends beyond the scope of the Federal Government; 

13 and 

14 (2) develop agency specific climate resilience ac15 tion plans. 

16 (c) COMPOSITION.—The interagency workgroup con17 vened under subsection (a) shall include at least 1 rep18 resentative from, at a minimum— 

19 (1) the Department of Agriculture; 

20 (2) the Department of Commerce; 

21 (3) the Department of Defense; 

22 (4) the Department of Education; 

23 (5) the Department of Energy; 

24 (6) the Department of Health and Human 

25 Services; 


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1 (7) the Department of Homeland Security; 

2 (8) the Department of Housing and Urban De3 velopment; 

4 (9) the Department of Labor; 

5 (10) the Department of the Interior; 

6 (11) the Department of State; 

7 (12) the Department of Transportation; 

8 (13) the Environmental Protection Agency; 

9 (14) the Council on Environmental Quality; 

10 (15) the Office of the United States Trade Rep11 resentative; 

12 (16) the Office of Management and Budget; 

13 and 

14 (17) the National Economic Council. 

15 SEC. 102. CLIMATE RESILIENCE TASK FORCE. 

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director of the Office of 

17 Climate Resilience shall convene a Task Force of external 

18 stakeholders who possess expertise related to climate resil19 ience to inform a national climate resilience action plan. 

20 (b) APPOINTMENT PROCESS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of 

22 Climate Resilience shall establish a public nomina23 tion and appointment process for individuals with 

24 expertise in the activities described in section 7(c) of 

25 this Act. 


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1 (2) REVISION OF SCOPE.—As the Center for 

2 the Climate Resilience Workforce updates the defini3 tion of climate resilience sectors under section 7 of 

4 this Act, the Director may appoint additional mem5 bers to, expand the scope of, and alter the structure 

6 of the Task Force as needed to fulfill the purpose 

7 of the Task Force. 

8 (c) SIZE OF TASK FORCE.—The task force shall be 

9 comprised of not less than 20 members. The Director shall 

10 appoint as many members as determined necessary to en11 sure that the Task Force possesses sufficient knowledge 

12 and expertise to make recommendations of sufficient 

13 depth and breadth to inform the development of a robust 

14 national climate action plan. 

15 (d) STRUCTURE OF TASK FORCE.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force members 

17 shall appoint a Chair who will serve as the liaison 

18 between the Task Force and the Office. 

19 (2) COMMITTEES.—Members of the Task Force 

20 shall establish issue-specific committees to focus on 

21 mitigation, preparation and adaptation, and disaster 

22 preparedness, recovery, and rebuilding activities as 

23 described in section 7(c) of this Act. 

24 (e) QUALIFICATIONS.—Each member of the Task 

25 Force shall be qualified by education, training, or lived, 


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1 volunteer, or paid work experience in the activities speci2 fied in section 7(c) of this Act to evaluate information and 

3 make recommendations on matters referred to the Task 

4 Force under this Act. Individuals appointed to the Task 

5 Force shall include— 

6 (1) individuals with experience implementing 

7 strategies to achieve absolute reductions in green8 house gas emissions from the transportation, elec9 tricity generation, industrial, commercial and resi10 dential building and agricultural sectors, including 

11 experience as a community organizer on climate 

12 mitigation issues or a frontline worker in such sec13 tors; 

14 (2) individuals with experience in preparation 

15 and adaptation, including— 

16 (A) workers from care industries, including 

17 healthcare, childcare, elder care, home care and 

18 other related occupations; 

19 (B) community organizers with expertise in 

20 disaster preparedness and recovery and building 

21 robust grassroots community support networks, 

22 mutual aid networks, and emergency hubs; 

23 (C) public sector leaders and employees 

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1 ments with experience in administering social 

2 safety net programs; 

3 (D) individuals with scientific, technical, 

4 programmatic, and community expertise in im5 plementing measures to address the risks to 

6 each of the environmental systems mentioned in 

7 section 7(c); 

8 (E) individuals with scientific, technical, 

9 programmatic, and community expertise in im10 plementing measures to address the risks to 

11 each of the economic systems mentioned in sec12 tion 7(c); 

13 (F) individuals with experience in orga14 nized labor and labor-management partner15 ships; 

16 (G) individuals with expertise in climate17 related disaster preparedness, response, recov18 ery, and rebuilding from both the public and 

19 private sector; and 

20 (H) emergency managers at local and state 

21 government emergency management offices. 

22 SEC. 103. PROCESS AND OUTCOMES FOR DEVELOPMENT OF 

23 NATIONAL CLIMATE RESILIENCE ACTION 

24 PLAN. 

25 (a) PROCESS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of 

2 Climate Resilience shall convene the following groups 

3 to engage in the development of a national climate 

4 resilience action plan: 

5 (A) The Interagency Workgroup estab6 lished under section 101 of this Act. 

7 (B) The Climate Resilience Equity Advi8 sory Board established under section 5 of this 

9 Act. 

10 (C) The Climate Resilience Task Force es11 tablished under section 102 of this Act. 

12 (D) Labor, worker, and workforce develop13 ment stakeholders. 

14 (E) The Center for the Climate Resilience 

15 Workforce established under section 6 of this 

16 Act. 

17 (2) SUBGROUPS.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director may con19 vene subgroups of the groups convened under 

20 paragraph (1) to facilitate depth of discussion 

21 and planning related to specific issue areas or 

22 topics. 

23 (B) REQUIREMENT.—In convening a sub24 group pursuant to subparagraph (A), the Direc25 tor shall ensure that at least 2 members of the 


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1 Climate Resilience Equity Advisory Board are 

2 included in such subgroup to ensure that the 

3 knowledge, lived experiences, and priorities of 

4 frontline communities are integrated into deci5 sions around climate resilience strategies. 

6 (C) RECOMMENDATIONS.—In carrying out 

7 functions under a subgroup convened pursuant 

8 to subparagraph (A), the Climate Resilience 

9 Equity Advisory Board may issue recommenda10 tions to any subgroup convened. 

11 (b) OUTCOMES.—The national climate resilience ac12 tion plan developed under this section shall— 

13 (1) detail goals and priority strategies that shall 

14 be taken to achieve a climate resilient nation and in15 clude specific actions, timelines, targets, evaluation 

16 metrics, and stakeholders responsible for implemen17 tation and oversight, including goals, strategies, and 

18 actions that— 

19 (A) encompass the entirety of climate resil20 ience; 

21 (B) focus on mitigation, preparation, adap22 tation, and disaster recovery and rebuilding ac23 tivities as described in section 7(c) of this Act; 

24 (C) prioritize frontline communities; 


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1 (D) address the underlying and systemic 

2 factors of systemic racism, economic inequity, 

3 and environmental degradation and pollution 

4 that have led to inequitable climate risks and 

5 impacts; 

6 (2) identify current and projected national 

7 workforce needs to carry out the strategies and ac8 tions described in paragraph (1), including— 

9 (A) the existing jobs, skills, and occupa10 tions that pertain to climate resilience work; 

11 (B) the additional number of jobs that 

12 need to be created to carry out such strategies 

13 and actions and the projected cost of such jobs; 

14 (C) emerging skills and occupations that 

15 are needed and new training requirements to 

16 ensure that the United States has a sufficiently 

17 skilled workforce to achieve climate resilience; 

18 (D) strategies to achieve racial and gender 

19 equity in job creation and training, including 

20 strategies to ensure equity and prioritization in 

21 training and hiring members of frontline com22 munities and populations facing barriers to em23 ployment; and 


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1 (E) future projections for growth of the 

2 climate resilience workforce, including demand 

3 data by job, skill, and occupation; and 

4 (3) identify regional variation in risks, strate5 gies, and workforce needs. 

6 (c) CONSULTATION OF RESOURCES.—In developing 

7 the national climate resilience action plan under this sec8 tion, the groups convened under subsection (a)(1) may 

9 consult the following resources to inform the identification 

10 of strategies and actions under subsection (b): 

11 (1) Studies and policy guidance drafted by 

12 frontline communities and advocates, including— 

13 (A) the People’s Orientation for a Regen14 erative Economy; 

15 (B) Movement for Black Lives policy guid16 ance; 

17 (C) Gulf South for a Green New Deal pol18 icy platform; 

19 (D) Equitable and Just National Climate 

20 platform; 

21 (E) various platforms of the BlueGreen Al22 liance; 

23 (F) United States Climate Action Net24 work’s vision for equitable climate action; and 


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1 (G) Union of Concerned Scientists climate 

2 resilience framework. 

3 (2) Governmental and intergovernmental data, 

4 reports, studies, and tools, including— 

5 (A) the reports of the Intergovernmental 

6 Panel on Climate Change; 

7 (B) the United States Global Change Re8 search Program’s 4th National Climate Assess9 ment; 

10 (C) the United States Climate Resilience 

11 Toolkit; 

12 (D) Center for Climate and Energy Solu13 tions Resilience Portal; 

14 (E) various platforms of Reslience Force; 

15 and 

16 (F) Bureau of Labor Statistics and United 

17 States Energy and Employment report data, in18 cluding data on gender, race, ethnicity, and 

19 union representation. 

20 (d) CONSULTATION OF STAKEHOLDERS.—In con21 vening the groups under subsection (a)(1) to identify cur22 rent and projected national workforce needs under sub23 section (b)(2)— 

24 (1) labor, worker, and workforce development 

25 stakeholders shall be consulted to provide input and 


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1 recommendations on labor, worker, workforce devel2 opment, and training needs; and 

3 (2) the Climate Equity Advisory Board shall be 

4 consulted to identify the skills and sectors of priority 

5 for frontline communities. 

6 (e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

8 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall 

9 submit to Congress a progress report on the develop10 ment of a national climate resilience action plan. 

11 (2) REPORT OF DIRECTOR.—Not later than 2 

12 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

13 Director shall submit to Congress a copy of the na14 tional climate resilience action plan developed under 

15 this section. 

16 (3) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 

17 1 year after the date of the submission of the na18 tional climate resilience action plan under paragraph 

19 (1), and each year thereafter, the Office of Climate 

20 Resilience shall submit to Congress a report describ21 ing the progress towards achieving climate resilience 

22 described in such plan. 

23 (f) REVISION.—Not later than once every 5 years 

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1 tion plan is submitted under subsection (e)(1), the groups 

2 convened under subsection (a)(1) shall update such plan. 

3 SEC. 104. FEDERAL AGENCY CLIMATE RESILIENCE ACTION 

4 PLANS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

6 date of enactment of this Act, the head of each Federal 

7 agency shall submit to the Director a progress report on 

8 the development of agency-specific climate action plans. 

9 (b) DEVELOPMENT.—Not later than 2 years after the 

10 date of enactment of this Act, the head of each Federal 

11 agency shall develop a climate resilience action plan for 

12 such agency that details the actions that each Federal 

13 agency shall take to support national climate resilience. 

14 (c) CONTENTS.—Each agency climate resilience ac15 tion plan developed under subsection (a) shall— 

16 (1) align with the goals and strategies of the 

17 national climate resilience action plan developed 

18 under section 103; 

19 (2) include agency-specific targets and evalua20 tion metrics, in line with the plan’s general goals, 

21 strategies, targets, and evaluation metrics; 

22 (3) detail the changes that the agency will make 

23 to any existing activities that threaten climate resil24 ience and any new activities the agency will take to 

25 support climate resilience; 


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1 (4) detail how the agency will integrate climate 

2 resilience into current or future agency strategic 

3 plans; 

4 (5) list clear actions the agency will take, the 

5 entities responsible for such actions, and timelines 

6 for implementation; 

7 (6) be developed in consultation with labor, 

8 worker, and workforce development stakeholders; 

9 (7) ensure that frontline communities are 

10 prioritized in each agency’s efforts towards climate 

11 resilience; 

12 (8) be reviewed by the Climate Resilience Eq13 uity Advisory Board and either incorporate, or pro14 vide justification for excluding, any recommenda15 tions made by the Board; 

16 (9) build on any existing agency climate adap17 tation and sustainability plans; 

18 (10) reflect the definition of climate resilience 

19 under this Act; 

20 (11) ensure resilience of the agency in the face 

21 of climate change risks to ensure the agency’s ability 

22 to accomplish its mission and protect the value of its 

23 assets and people; 

24 (12) include current and projected Federal 

25 workforce needs, including necessary skills and 


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1 training, to carry out the actions outlined in the 

2 plan; 

3 (13) highlight limitations in statutory authority, 

4 resource constraints, data gaps, and personnel train5 ing needs that are hindering the agency’s ability to 

6 fully undertake the activities needed to support cli7 mate resilience; 

8 (14) be submitted to the appropriate commit9 tees of jurisdiction within the House of Representa10 tives and Senate not later than 2 years after the 

11 date of enactment of this Act to allow Congress to 

12 act accordingly to— 

13 (A) provide funding and to ensure Federal 

14 agencies, departments, and offices have ade15 quate resources to carry out the activities out16 lined in the agency plan; 

17 (B) support existing jobs, create new jobs, 

18 and support personnel training that are critical 

19 to the Federal Government’s activities to sup20 port climate resilience; 

21 (C) conduct oversight to ensure each agen22 cy is carrying out the plan for such agency; and 

23 (D) address limitations in statutory au24 thority through legislation; and 


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1 (15) be revised not less frequently than every 5 

2 years. 

3 (d) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE OFFICE OF CLIMATE

4 RESILIENCE.—In carrying out this section, the Office of 

5 Climate Resilience shall— 

6 (1) not later than 90 days after the date of en7 actment of this Act, develop and issue specific guide8 lines for planning; 

9 (2) compile each plan developed by each Fed10 eral agency under this section into a cohesive Fed11 eral Government climate resilience action plan; 

12 (3) select the agency that has made the great13 est contributions to climate resilience to receive an 

14 annual award, that shall include additional funding 

15 to carry out climate resilience work; and 

16 (4) provide technical assistance, coordination, 

17 and support for agencies in carrying out each agen18 cy’s action plan developed under this section. 

19 (e) CONSULTATION OF RESOURCES.—In developing 

20 an action plan under this section, a Federal agency may 

21 consult— 

22 (1) the United States Council on Climate Pre23 paredness and Resilience’s 2016 report titled ‘‘Op24 portunities to Enhance the Nation’s Resilience to 

25 Climate Change’’; 


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1 (2) the 2014 recommendations from the State, 

2 Local, and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate 

3 Preparedness and Resilience; 

4 (3) Executive Order 13514, ‘‘Federal Leader5 ship in Environmental, Energy and Economic Per6 formance’’; 

7 (4) Executive Order 13653, ‘‘Preparing the 

8 United States for the Impacts of Climate Change’’; 

9 and 

10 (5) the Climate and Natural Resource Working 

11 Group (CNRWG), Priority Agenda: ‘‘Enhancing the 

12 Climate Resilience of America’s Natural Resources’’, 

13 Washington, DC, Council on Climate Preparedness 

14 and Resilience, 2014. 

15 TITLE II—STATE, TRIBAL, 

16 LOCAL, AND COMMUNITY CLI17 MATE RESILIENCE ACTION 

18 PLANNING 

19 SEC. 201. CLIMATE RESILIENCE PLANNING GRANTS. 

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 

21 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Of22 fice of Climate Resilience shall establish a Climate Resil23 ience Planning grant program (hereinafter referred to as 

24 the ‘‘grant program’’). 


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1 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the grant program is 

2 to support States, Tribes, localities, regional groups, non3 profit organizations, and community groups in conducting 

4 climate change risk assessments and developing climate 

5 resilience action plans. 

6 (c) ELIGIBILITY.—The following entities are eligible 

7 for a grant under this section: 

8 (1) State governments. 

9 (2) Tribal governments. 

10 (3) Local governments. 

11 (4) Regional governmental groups. 

12 (5) Nonprofit organizations. 

13 (6) Grassroots community groups that partner 

14 with a fiscal sponsor that is exempt from taxation 

15 under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 

16 Code of 1986. 

17 (d) INITIAL APPLICATIONS.—Not later than 120 

18 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 

19 shall publish a request for applications for a grant under 

20 this section. 

21 (e) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—To be eligible for 

22 a grant under this section, an applicant shall submit to 

23 the Director an application at such time, in such manner, 

24 and containing such information as the Director may re25 quire, including, at a minimum— 


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1 (1) a certification that such applicant has 

2 formed an advisory board that— 

3 (A) has majority representation from 

4 frontline communities; 

5 (B) has at least 1 individual who possesses 

6 scientific knowledge or experience in conducting 

7 risk assessments pertaining to climate change; 

8 (C) has labor, worker, and workforce devel9 opment stakeholders, including at least 1 rep10 resentative of a labor union and 1 individual 

11 representing populations facing barriers to em12 ployment; and 

13 (D) allows advisory board members to re14 ceive compensation for participation on such 

15 board if it is determined that the individual 

16 serving would incur financial hardship or other17 wise be unable to participate without such com18 pensation; 

19 (2) details on the population represented by the 

20 entity, including demographic information on popu21 lation size, income, race, education level, and pri22 mary sectors of employment; 

23 (3) reasons for seeking grant funding to sup24 port climate resilience planning; 


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1 (4) details on advisory board members including 

2 name, organizational affiliation (if applicable), quali3 fications, and letters of support from 3 local commu4 nity-based nonprofit organizations verifying the ac5 curacy of the information presented; 

6 (5) a list of the stakeholders that will be in7 volved in the planning process; 

8 (6) details on how the advisory board will be in9 corporated into the planning process; 

10 (7) the identity of the individual who will lead 

11 the planning process and whether an external entity 

12 will be hired to facilitate the planning process; 

13 (8) the expected timeline for how long the plan14 ning process is expected to take; 

15 (9) expected data sources for local employment 

16 and worker data; 

17 (10) a community engagement plan detailing— 

18 (A) steps that will be taken to ensure that 

19 frontline communities are informed about the 

20 planning process; and 

21 (B) accommodations that will be made to 

22 ensure that such groups have the opportunity to 

23 participate in the planning process and provide 

24 public comment before the plan is finalized; and 

25 (11) a detailed budget for the planning process. 


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1 (f) PRIORITIZATION.—Grants under this section will 

2 be prioritized for proposals submitted by entities that rep3 resent frontline communities. 

4 (g) ELIGIBLE USE OF FUNDS.—A grant under this 

5 section may be used for— 

6 (1) compensation for advisory board members; 

7 (2) facilitation costs; 

8 (3) materials and supplies; 

9 (4) community engagement and outreach ex10 penses; and 

11 (5) compensation for technical assistance or 

12 support. 

13 (h) GRANT DURATION.—A grant under this section 

14 shall be for a period of 2 years, unless the Director ex15 tends such period. 

16 (i) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the 

17 costs of an activity carried out using a grant under this 

18 section shall be 100 percent. 

19 (j) RESOURCE CONSULTATION.—Entities receiving a 

20 grant under this section may consult with the resources 

21 described in section 103(c) of this Act to carry out plan22 ning efforts under this section. 

23 (k) PLANNING REQUIREMENTS.—Entities shall en24 sure that plans meet the following requirements: 


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1 (1) Using data, assess how climate change will 

2 create new, or alter current climate related risks, 

3 and how such risks are distributed within and across 

4 natural ecosystems and human communities, includ5 ing— 

6 (A) with respect to human communities, 

7 risks should be assessed by geography, race, 

8 ethnicity, socioeconomic status, health and 

9 other demographic and social factors; and 

10 (B) with respect to natural ecosystems, 

11 risks should be assessed by geography, species 

12 and ecosystem services. 

13 (2) Identify natural species, ecosystem services 

14 and human populations that face disproportionate 

15 risks and impacts of climate change, including— 

16 (A) with respect to human populations, 

17 identifying risks due to historic and ongoing 

18 systemic racism, economic inequity, and envi19 ronmental degradation and pollution; and 

20 (B) with respect to natural species and 

21 ecosystem services, identifying risks due to envi22 ronmental degradation, pollution and other an23 thropogenic impacts. 

24 (3) Identify goals and priority strategies, spe25 cific actions, targets, timelines, and evaluation 


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1 metrics to achieve a climate resilient community that 

2 shall— 

3 (A) encompass the full definition of climate 

4 resilience to include strategies pertaining to 

5 mitigation, preparation and adaptation, and 

6 disaster preparedness, recovery, and rebuilding; 

7 (B) prioritize frontline communities; 

8 (C) address the underlying and systemic 

9 factors of systemic racism, economic inequity, 

10 and environmental degradation and pollution 

11 that have led to inequitable climate risks and 

12 impacts; and 

13 (D) align with the goals, strategies, ac14 tions, targets and evaluation metrics detailed in 

15 the National Climate Resilience Action plan, if 

16 available. 

17 (4) Identify stakeholders responsible for imple18 mentation and oversight. 

19 (5) Government entities must involve every rel20 evant agency or office in the planning process and 

21 detail the actions each agency or office will take as 

22 relevant to the agency or office’s mission to protect 

23 the jurisdiction from identified risks. 


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1 (6) The advisory board must be meaningfully 

2 included and consulted in the development of the 

3 plan and offer recommendations. 

4 (7) Identify workforce needs to implement the 

5 climate resilience strategies and actions identified in 

6 the plan, per the requirements in section 103(b)(2) 

7 of this Act. 

8 TITLE III—CLIMATE RESILIENCE 

9 WORKFORCE GRANTS 

10 SEC. 301. JOB CREATION GRANTS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

12 date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office 

13 of Climate Resilience shall, in coordination with the Sec14 retary of Labor, establish a Climate Resilience Job Cre15 ation grant program. 

16 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the grant program es17 tablished under this section shall be to fund projects to 

18 be carried out by eligible entities for the purpose of— 

19 (1) creating local jobs to build the nation’s cli20 mate resilience workforce; 

21 (2) implementing the strategies, actions, and 

22 projects laid out in climate resilience action plans 

23 that meet the criteria specified in section 201(k) of 

24 this Act; and 


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1 (3) halving unemployment by creating 

2 1,000,000 jobs annually that last not less than 4 

3 years and provide benefits, pathways to family-sus4 taining careers, a living wage, worker safety and 

5 voice to United States workers. 

6 (c) ELIGIBILITY.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—An entity may be eligible for 

8 a grant under this section if such entity— 

9 (A) is a State, Tribes, locality, regional 

10 group, nonprofit organization, labor organiza11 tions and labor-management organizations, or 

12 community group; 

13 (B) includes in the application a climate 

14 resilience action plan that— 

15 (i) has been approved under section 

16 201(k) of this Act; or 

17 (ii) meets the requirements for a plan 

18 in such section. 

19 (2) PRIOR GRANT.—An entity may be eligible 

20 under paragraph (1) regardless of whether the entity 

21 received a grant under section 201 of this Act. 

22 (d) PRIORITY.—The Director shall prioritize grant 

23 funding for any entity that— 

24 (1) represents a frontline community; 


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1 (2) demonstrates a history of or commitment to 

2 hiring graduates of— 

3 (A) the programs funded by the workforce 

4 development training grants in section 302; or 

5 (B) any pre-apprenticeship or registered 

6 apprenticeship program; 

7 (3) commits to ensuring that at least 40 per8 cent of jobs created under a grant under this section 

9 will be held by individuals from— 

10 (A) frontline communities; and 

11 (B) populations facing barriers to employ12 ment; 

13 (4) proposes a project that serves a frontline 

14 community; or 

15 (5) demonstrates strong support from a front16 line community. 

17 (e) REQUIREMENTS.—An entity carrying out a 

18 project funded under this section shall do the following: 

19 (1) Support or create climate resilience jobs 

20 specified in local climate resilience action plans. 

21 (2) Support or create jobs that meet the labor 

22 standards specified in title IV. 

23 (3) Eliminate barriers to employment as speci24 fied in title V. 


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1 (f) APPLICATIONS.—The Director shall require an el2 igible entity to submit an application that includes— 

3 (1) a description of the applicant’s plan to meet 

4 the requirements for priority under subsection (d); 

5 (2) an attestation that the applicant will adhere 

6 to the minimum labor standards specified in section 

7 401, and provide the Director at such time, in such 

8 manner, and containing such information as the Di9 rector may reasonably require, to demonstrate com10 pliance with the requirements under section 

11 401(a)(3); 

12 (3) a plan to report to the Office aggregate 

13 data on the sustainable jobs with community sup14 porting wages supported by grant funding and de15 mographic statistics of jobs created, disaggregated 

16 by gender, race, age, education level, and number of 

17 sustainable jobs with community supporting wages 

18 hired from frontline communities and populations 

19 facing barriers to employment; and 

20 (4) a detailed budget for positions to be sup21 ported by the grant. 

22 (g) REPORTING.—Not later than 6 months after re23 ceipt of a grant under this section, and every 6 months 

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1 ent of such grant shall submit to the Director a report 

2 that includes— 

3 (1) aggregate data on workers and demographic 

4 statistics of jobs created under this section, includ5 ing— 

6 (A) the number of workers hired; 

7 (B) non-identifying data on the race, gen8 der, and zip code for workers hired; 

9 (C) the wages and benefits paid in those 

10 jobs including income broken out by race and 

11 gender, other benefits provided to persons em12 ployed in those jobs, broken out by race and 

13 gender, weekly hours worked by workers em14 ployed through jobs created, and, if jobs are 

15 time-limited, duration of employment; 

16 (2) progress on the climate resilience projects, 

17 strategies and actions being implemented by workers 

18 in relation to timelines laid out in plan; 

19 (3) expenditures to date; and 

20 (4) plan for securing other funds to support the 

21 jobs supported or created by this grant. 

22 (h) GRANT DURATION.—A grant under this section 

23 may be terminated with 30 days notice if the grantee— 

24 (1) has failed to meet the labor and employ25 ment baseline requirements of this bill; or 


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1 (2) has had more than one substantiated com2 plaint against them for a violation of a provision 

3 under the jurisdiction of the National Labor Rela4 tions Board, Equal Employment Opportunity Com5 mission, Wage and Hour Division, Department of 

6 Justice’s Civil Rights Division, Occupational Safety 

7 and Health Administration, Department of Labor’s 

8 Climate Resilience Workers Commission or the Envi9 ronmental Protection Agency. 

10 (i) REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS.—Not later than 

11 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Of12 fice shall publish a request for applications for grants 

13 under this section. 

14 SEC. 302. WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT TRAINING AND HIR15 ING GRANTS. 

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 

17 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Of18 fice of Climate Resilience shall, in coordination with the 

19 Secretary of Labor, establish a Climate Resilience Work20 force Development, Apprenticeship and Pre-Apprentice21 ship Grant Program. 

22 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the grant program is 

23 to provide funds to eligible entities to— 

24 (1) establish new apprenticeship, pre-appren25 ticeship and workforce development programs that 


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1 prepare workers to immediately train for and access 

2 jobs created through section 301 of this Act; 

3 (2) maintain or expand existing apprenticeship, 

4 pre-apprenticeship and workforce development pro5 grams that provide training for climate resilience in6 dustries, jobs, and career paths; 

7 (3) support national industry and equity inter8 mediaries in establishing or expanding sector-based 

9 partnerships and labor-management partnerships to 

10 support the delivery or expansion of climate resil11 ience-related programs under the national appren12 ticeship system to significant scale in the United 

13 States; 

14 (4) provide direct financial assistance to ap15 prentices, pre-apprentices, or youth apprentices 

16 through emergency grants to support their financial 

17 needs to enter, remain enrolled in, and complete 

18 such programs, such as support for the related costs 

19 of supplies and equipment, courses, transportation, 

20 child care, and housing; 

21 (5) establish or expand partnerships with orga22 nizations that provide program participants access 

23 to financial planning, mentoring, and supportive 

24 services that are necessary to enable an individual to 

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1 tional apprenticeship system or the national work2 force development system; 

3 (6) conduct targeted outreach and recruitment 

4 to frontline communities and populations facing bar5 riers to employment; 

6 (7) provide training services and workforce in7 vestment activities that expand the climate resilience 

8 workforce; 

9 (8) assist workers to obtain interim credentials 

10 and recognized post-secondary credentials that build 

11 proficiency for climate resilience-related careers; and 

12 (9) provide assistance in creating and obtaining 

13 accreditations and licenses that demonstrate pro14 ficiency or specialized skills related to climate resil15 ience careers. 

16 (10) carry out the activities described in section 

17 601(a) of this Act. 

18 (c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The following entities are 

19 eligible to apply for a grant under this section: 

20 (1) A State workforce development board or 

21 State workforce agency, a local government, or a 

22 local workforce development board or local workforce 

23 development agency. 

24 (2) An education and training provider. 

25 (3) A State apprenticeship agency. 


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1 (4) An Indian Tribe or Tribal organization. 

2 (5) An industry or sector partnership, a group 

3 of employers, a trade association, or a professional 

4 association that sponsors or participates in a pro5 gram under the national apprenticeship system. 

6 (6) A Governor of a State. 

7 (7) A labor organization or joint labor-manage8 ment organization. 

9 (8) A qualified intermediary. 

10 (9) A nonprofit organization. 

11 (10) A co-operative. 

12 (11) A public institution of higher education at 

13 which the highest degree that is predominantly 

14 awarded to students is an associate’s degree, includ15 ing 2-year tribally controlled colleges under section 

16 316 of the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1059c) 

17 and public 2-year State institutions of higher edu18 cation. 

19 (12) A consortium or partnership among any of 

20 the entities under this subsection. 

21 (d) REQUIREMENTS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—A recipient of a grant under 

23 this section shall use such funds to do the following: 

24 (A) Train individuals to work in climate 

25 resilience jobs with community supporting 


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1 wages specified in local climate resilience plans 

2 or for climate resilience disaster recovery and 

3 rebuilding jobs, including through pre-appren4 ticeship or apprenticeship programs. 

5 (B) Provide job placement assistance. 

6 (C) Develop a plan to publish aggregate 

7 demographic statistics for program entrants 

8 and graduates. 

9 (D) Provide wraparound support services 

10 to eliminate barriers to employment, as relevant 

11 to the specific populations served by the pro12 gram, including case management assistance, 

13 stipends, tools, and equipment or other support 

14 needed for success in completing the training 

15 and in subsequent employment. 

16 (2) PARTNERSHIPS.—A recipient of a grant 

17 under this section may partner with other eligible 

18 entities to ensure that the activities under paragraph 

19 (1) are carried out. 

20 (e) PRIORITY CONSIDERATIONS.—Priority shall be 

21 given to an eligible entity that— 

22 (1) demonstrates success serving populations 

23 facing barriers to employment and frontline commu24 nities; 


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1 (2) is a partnership among 2 or more eligible 

2 entities; 

3 (3) is a joint labor-management organization; 

4 and 

5 (4) provides a wide and flexible range of sup6 portive services to participants including direct fi7 nancial assistance, quality childcare services, housing 

8 assistance, case management, and other assistance 

9 that successfully addresses barriers to program com10 pletion. 

11 (f) GRANT DURATION.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—A grant under this section 

13 shall last for a period of 5 years. 

14 (2) RENEWAL.—The Director may renew 

15 grants under this section as the Director determines 

16 appropriate. 

17 (g) PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS.—No funds 

18 under this section may be used— 

19 (1) to carry out an industry recognized appren20 ticeship program that is not an apprenticeship pro21 gram under section 3 of this Act; or 

22 (2) to recognize a program described in para23 graph (1). 

24 (h) FEDERAL SHARE.—Not later than 120 days after 

25 the date of enactment of this Act, the Office shall publish 


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1 a request for applications that, at minimum, reflects the 

2 above requirements. There shall be no matching require3 ment for grants. 

4 (i) REPORTING.—Not later than 6 months after re5 ceipt of a grant under this section, and every 6 months 

6 thereafter until termination of such grant, the recipient 

7 of such grant shall submit to the Director a report that 

8 includes aggregate demographic statistics for program en9 trants and graduates, rates of program completion and job 

10 placement, and demographics of populations enrolled in 

11 and completing the program, including rates of recruit12 ment, program completion and job placement for popu13 lations facing barriers to employment. 

14 SEC. 303. VIRTUAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND CAPACITY 

15 BUILDING. 

16 (a) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall provide 

18 virtual and remote technical assistance support to 

19 entities that seek to apply for the grant programs 

20 specified in sections 201, 301, and 302 and require 

21 assistance navigating the Federal grants process and 

22 that are— 

23 (A) a community-based nonprofit organiza24 tion with fewer than 20 employees; 

25 (B) a grassroots community group; 


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1 (C) a co-operative; 

2 (D) a Tribal government or Tribal organi3 zations; or 

4 (E) a locality with a population of not 

5 greater than 50,000. 

6 (2) LETTER OF INTENT.—Entities seeking 

7 technical assistance support with the grant applica8 tion process must submit a letter of intent to the Of9 fice detailing the grant for which they wish to apply, 

10 along with proof of tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status, 

11 worker co-op status or proof of population size of 

12 municipality. 

13 (3) RECRUITMENT.—Not later than 90 days 

14 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 

15 shall hire and train full time employees to carry out 

16 paragraph (1). 

17 (4) PHONE OR WEB CONFERENCE ASSIST18 ANCE.—Technical assistance support may be pro19 vided by phone or web conferencing. 

20 (b) CAPACITY BUILDING.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director may provide 

22 entities seeking to apply for grants under sections 

23 201, 301, and 302 up to 10 percent of grant funds 

24 to build the capacity of the organization to apply for 

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1 nancial management of grants, and conduct nec2 essary reporting. 

3 (2) REQUIREMENT.—An entity seeking funds 

4 under paragraph (1) must include in the letter of in5 tent under subsection (a)(2) a statement of need for 

6 capacity building support in their application and re7 flect expected expenses in the budget submitted with 

8 the application. 

9 TITLE IV—LABOR STANDARDS 

10 AND ENFORCEMENT 

11 SEC. 401. MINIMUM LABOR STANDARDS FOR CLIMATE RE12 SILIENCE WORKERS. 

13 (a) ENTITIES FUNDED THROUGH GRANT PROGRAMS

14 CREATED BY THIS ACT.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

16 provision of law, an entity that, directly or indi17 rectly, receives funds under section 301 or 302, 

18 without regard to the form or type of Federal assist19 ance provided under such section or part, shall com20 ply with labor standards under this section. 

21 (2) MONITORING COMPLIANCE.—Not later than 

22 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

23 Director, in coordination with the Secretary, shall— 

24 (A) develop a process to monitor compli25 ance with the labor standards specified in this 


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1 section, including coordination with the Climate 

2 Resilience Workers Commission, that requires 

3 entities receiving funding through the grant 

4 program established in section 301 to provide 

5 information to demonstrate compliance at any 

6 time during the grant period; 

7 (B) issue rules to determine penalties for 

8 noncompliance; and 

9 (C) notify the Office of any entity that is 

10 determined to be noncompliant. 

11 (3) LABOR STANDARDS REQUIREMENTS.—The 

12 Director shall require an entity, as a condition of eli13 gibility to receive funding under sections 301 to sat14 isfy each of the following requirements: 

15 (A) The entity shall ensure that— 

16 (i) all laborers and mechanics em17 ployed on projects funded directly, or as18 sisted in whole or in part, by this Act shall 

19 be paid wages at rates not less than those 

20 prevailing on projects of a character simi21 lar in the locality as determined by the 

22 Secretary of Labor in accordance with sub23 chapter IV of chapter 31 of part A of sub24 title II of title 40, United States Code 


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1 (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Davis2 Bacon Act’’); 

3 (ii) all individuals employed using 

4 funds under this Act in the manufacture or 

5 furnishing of materials, supplies, articles, 

6 or equipment under the contract will be 

7 paid wages at rates not less than employ8 ees performing similar work or in the par9 ticular or similar industries or groups of 

10 industries currently operating in the local11 ity in which the materials, supplies, arti12 cles, or equipment are to be manufactured 

13 or furnished as determined by the Sec14 retary of Labor in accordance with sections 

15 6501 through 6511 of title 41, United 

16 States Code (commonly referred to as the 

17 ‘‘Public Contracts Act’’); and 

18 (iii) all individuals employed in the 

19 various classes of service employees using 

20 funds under this Act are paid wages at 

21 rates not less than the employees per22 forming similar work in the locality as de23 termined by the Secretary under chapter 

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1 monly known as the ‘‘Service Contract 

2 Act’’); 

3 (B) In the case of any project for which 

4 the total cost exceeds $25,000,000, the entity 

5 shall be a party to, or require contractors and 

6 subcontractors in the performance of such 

7 project to be a party to a covered project labor 

8 agreement. 

9 (C) The entity, and all contractors and 

10 subcontractors in performance of any project, 

11 shall represent in the application submitted 

12 under sections 301 of this Act (and periodically 

13 thereafter during the performance of the project 

14 as the Director may require) whether there has 

15 been any administrative merits determination, 

16 arbitral award or decision, or civil judgment, as 

17 defined in guidance issued by the Director, ren18 dered against the entity in the preceding 3 

19 years (or, in the case of disclosures after the 

20 initial disclosure, during such period as the Di21 rector may provide) for violations of— 

22 (i) the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

23 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.); 


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1 (ii) the Occupational Safety and 

2 Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et 

3 seq.); 

4 (iii) the Migrant and Seasonal Agri5 cultural Worker Protection Act (29 U.S.C. 

6 1801 et seq.); 

7 (iv) the National Labor Relations Act 

8 (29 U.S.C. 151 et seq.); 

9 (v) subchapter IV of chapter 31 of 

10 title 40, United States Code (commonly re11 ferred to as the ‘‘Davis-Bacon Act’’); 

12 (vi) chapter 67 of title 41, United 

13 States Code (commonly known as the 

14 ‘‘Service Contract Act’’); 

15 (vii) sections 6501 through 6511 of 

16 title 41, United States Code (commonly re17 ferred to as the ‘‘Public Contracts Act’’); 

18 (viii) Executive Order 11246 (relating 

19 to equal employment opportunity); 

20 (ix) section 503 of the Rehabilitation 

21 Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 793); 

22 (x) section 4212 of title 38, United 

23 States Code; 

24 (xi) the Family and Medical Leave 

25 Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.); 


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1 (xii) title VII of the Civil Rights Act 

2 of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.); 

3 (xiii) the Americans with Disabilities 

4 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.); 

5 (xiv) the Age Discrimination in Em6 ployment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 621 et 

7 seq.); 

8 (xv) sick leave for Federal contractors 

9 Executive Order; 

10 (xvi) leave provided under section 

11 5102 of the Emergency Paid Sick Leave 

12 Act (29 U.S.C. 2601 note); 

13 (xvii) Executive Order 14026 (relating 

14 to the minimum wage for Federal contrac15 tors); or 

16 (xviii) State laws with protections 

17 equivalent to the protections listed under 

18 this subparagraph, as defined in guidance 

19 issued by the Secretary of Labor not later 

20 than 90 days after the date of enactment 

21 of this Act. 

22 (D) The entity, and all contractors and 

23 subcontractors in the performance of the 

24 project, may not require arbitration for any dis25 pute involving an employee described in subVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Sep 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00077 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5760.IH H5760

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1 paragraph (E) engaged in a service for the enti2 ty or any contractor and subcontractor, or enter 

3 into any agreement with such employee requir4 ing arbitration of any such dispute, unless such 

5 employee is covered by a collective bargaining 

6 agreement that provides otherwise. 

7 (E) For purposes of compliance with the 

8 National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 151 

9 et seq.), the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 

10 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.), and the requirements 

11 under this section, the entity, and all contrac12 tors and subcontractors in the performance of 

13 any project, shall consider an individual per14 forming any service in such performance as an 

15 employee (and not an independent contractor) 

16 of the entity, contractor, or subcontractor, re17 spectively, unless— 

18 (i) the individual is free from control 

19 and direction in connection with the per20 formance of the service, both under the 

21 contract for the performance of the service 

22 and in fact; 

23 (ii) the service is performed outside 

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1 tity, contractor, or subcontractor, respec2 tively; and 

3 (iii) the individual is customarily en4 gaged in an independently established 

5 trade, occupation, profession, or business 

6 of the same nature as that involved in such 

7 service. 

8 (F) The entity shall prohibit all contrac9 tors and subcontractors in the performance of 

10 any project from hiring employees through a 

11 temporary staffing agency unless the relevant 

12 State workforce agency certifies that temporary 

13 employees are necessary to address an acute, 

14 short-term labor demand. 

15 (G) The entity shall require all contractors, 

16 subcontractors, successors in interest of the en17 tity, and other entities that may acquire the en18 tity, in the performance or acquisition of any 

19 project, to have and abide by an explicit neu20 trality policy on any issue involving the exercise 

21 by employees of the entity as described in para22 graph (5), and of all contractors and sub23 contractors in the performance of any project, 

24 of the right to organize and bargain collectively 

25 through representatives of their own choosing. 


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1 (H) Except for persons covered under sub2 paragraph (A)(1), the entity shall pay persons 

3 employed, in whole or in part, using funds 

4 under this Act— 

5 (i) for the 1-year period beginning on 

6 the date of enactment, not less than $15 

7 per hour; 

8 (ii) for each year thereafter, the 

9 amount determined by the Secretary under 

10 paragraph (4). 

11 (4) INCREASE IN MINIMUM WAGE.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The wage determined 

13 by the Secretary under this paragraph shall be 

14 equal to the amount in effect for the previous 

15 year— 

16 (i) increased by the annual percentage 

17 increase, if any, in the median hourly wage 

18 of all employees as determined by the Bu19 reau of Labor Statistics; and 

20 (ii) rounded up to the nearest multiple 

21 of $0.05. 

22 (B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

23 this section shall be construed preempt the ap24 plication of higher wage scales determined by 


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1 Federal, State, or municipal law or regulation 

2 or collective bargaining agreements. 

3 (5) ADDITIONAL WORKER RIGHTS.—The fol4 lowing provisions shall apply with respect to any in5 dividual employed using funds under section 301: 

6 (A) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION FOR VIO7 LATIONS.— 

8 (i) IN GENERAL.—Any employer who 

9 violates the provisions of section 401(a)(3) 

10 or subparagraph (B) or (E) shall be liable 

11 to the employee or employees affected in 

12 the amount of— 

13 (I) unpaid minimum wages or 

14 their unpaid overtime compensation, 

15 as the case may be; 

16 (II) an additional equal amount 

17 as liquidated damages, back pay, com18 pensatory damages, and punitive dam19 ages, as the Secretary determines ap20 propriate; 

21 (III) such legal or equitable relief 

22 as may be appropriate to effectuate 

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1 ment of wages lost and an additional 

2 equal amount as liquidated damages. 

3 (ii) PRIVATE RIGHT.—An action to re4 cover the liability prescribed in clause (i) 

5 may be maintained against any employer 

6 (including a public agency) in any Federal 

7 or State court of competent jurisdiction by 

8 any one or more employees for and in be9 half of themself, themselves and other em10 ployees similarly situated. The court in 

11 such action shall, in addition to any judg12 ment awarded to the plaintiff or plaintiffs, 

13 allow a reasonable attorney’s fee to be paid 

14 by the defendant, and costs of the action. 

15 (iii) ENFORCEMENT BY THE SEC16 RETARY.—The Secretary may bring an ac17 tion in any court of competent jurisdiction 

18 to recover damages described in clause (i). 

19 (B) WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTIONS.—It 

20 shall be unlawful for any person to discharge or 

21 in any other manner discriminate against any 

22 employee because such employee has filed any 

23 complaint or instituted or caused to be insti24 tuted any proceeding under or related to this 

25 chapter, or has testified or is about to testify in 


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1 any such proceeding, or has served or is about 

2 to serve on an industry committee. 

3 (C) JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY.— 

4 Each entity, including grantees, contractors and 

5 subcontractors, will be joint and severally liable 

6 for all violations of minimum labor standards 

7 under this title, regardless of current regula8 tions and court decisions related to standards 

9 for joint employment. It shall not be a defense 

10 that the work was subcontracted. 

11 (D) HEALTH INSURANCE REQUIRE12 MENT.—In the case of an absence of a collective 

13 bargaining agreement, the minimum health in14 surance requirement for workers under this title 

15 is fully employer-paid health insurance coverage 

16 that at least meets the level of a Silver plan as 

17 defined by the Affordable Care Act. 

18 (E) LEAVE PROVISIONS.—Paid vacation, 

19 paid holidays, sick leave, and family leave in an 

20 amount equivalent to that received by com21 parably employed Federal employees and safe 

22 leave equivalent to subsection (b)(2) shall be 

23 provided to each worker, depending upon the 

24 years of employment with the entity. 

25 (6) UNION REPRESENTATION.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—No employer, including, 

2 a public employer eligible under section 

3 302(c)(1), (3), (6), (11), or (12), shall receive 

4 funds under this Act unless employees who per5 form or will perform work funded under this 

6 Act (including employees of an entity with 

7 which the employer contracts for the perform8 ance of work funded under this Act) are rep9 resented for purposes of collective bargaining by 

10 a labor organization. 

11 (B) EXCEPTION.—The restriction under 

12 subparagraph (A) shall not apply if— 

13 (i) the employer certifies that such 

14 employees are covered by a labor harmony 

15 agreement or that no labor organization 

16 represents or has expressed interest in rep17 resenting such employees; 

18 (ii) no employee has expressed interest 

19 in representation by a labor organization; 

20 (iii) the Department of Labor pub21 lishes the certification required under 

22 clause (i); and 

23 (iv) after a reasonable period of not 

24 less than 90 days following the publication 

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1 putes the certification and the employer 

2 again certifies that such employees are cov3 ered by a labor harmony agreement or that 

4 no labor organization represents or has ex5 pressed interest in representing such em6 ployees for the purposes of collective bar7 gaining. 

8 (C) RESTRICTION.—No such employee 

9 may be compelled to become a member of a 

10 labor organization as a condition of employ11 ment. 

12 (D) FUNDING RESTRICTION.—The restric13 tion under subparagraph (A) shall be both a 

14 prerequisite to receiving funds and an ongoing 

15 condition of receiving funds, except in cases in 

16 which a majority of such employees vote pursu17 ant to section 9 of the National Labor Rela18 tions Act (29 U.S.C. 159) to decertify an in19 cumbent labor organization representative dur20 ing the course of funded work. 

21 (E) LABOR HARMONY AGREEMENT DE22 FINED.—In this paragraph, the term ‘‘labor 

23 harmony agreement’’ means a written agree24 ment between an employer and a labor organi25 zation representing, or seeking to represent, 


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1 employees that contains, at a minimum, a pro2 vision prohibiting the employer, the labor orga3 nization and its members from engaging in any 

4 work stoppage or other economic interference 

5 with the employer’s funded operations for the 

6 duration of the funded work. 

7 (b) FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT ESTABLISHED UNDER

8 THIS ACT.—Any Federal Government position established 

9 under this Act shall be a position in the competitive service 

10 and classified under the General Schedule at a level not 

11 less than step 1 of GS–04. 

12 (c) WORKERS HIRED THROUGH OTHER FEDERAL

13 FUNDING STREAMS.—Entities hiring workers via the Fed14 eral funding streams noted in section 402(c)(1) may be 

15 eligible to apply for the Good Climate Resilience Jobs 

16 Grant program if they agree to adhere to the minimum 

17 labor standards outlined in this section. 

18 (d) NATIONAL EMERGENCIES.—Eligible entities shall 

19 not fail to comply with the standards put forth in this 

20 title even in case of natural disaster or other national 

21 emergency. Suspensions of worker protections including 

22 but not limited to suspensions of section 1 of the Davis23 Bacon Act of March 3, 1931 (46 Stat. 1494, as amended, 

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1 cumstances for failure by eligible entities to comply with 

2 this title. 

3 (e) APPLICATION OF OTHER LAW.—For purposes of 

4 any job created using funds provided under this Act, the 

5 requirements of section 22.1803 of title 48, Code of Fed6 eral Regulations, shall not apply. 

7 SEC. 402. GOOD CLIMATE RESILIENCE JOBS GRANT PRO8 GRAM. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 

10 the enactment of this Act, the Department of Labor Sec11 retary shall establish a Good Climate Resilience Jobs 

12 Grant program. 

13 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the grant program is 

14 to incentivize entities receiving Federal funds from exist15 ing Federal programs that fund climate disaster recovery 

16 and rebuilding activities to adhere to the minimum labor 

17 standards outlined in section 401 in employing workers 

18 hired using Federal funds. 

19 (c) ELIGIBILTY.— 

20 (1) Entities receiving Federal funds from the 

21 following programs are eligible to apply for the Good 

22 Climate Resilience Jobs Grant program: 

23 (A) Community Development Block Grant 

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1 velopment, including but not limited to amounts 

2 appropriated for disaster relief. 

3 (B) National Flood Insurance Program. 

4 (C) Federal Highway Emergency Funds. 

5 (D) United States Army Corps of Engi6 neers Disaster Relief Funds. 

7 (E) The Infrastructure and Communities 

8 Grant Program of the Federal Emergency Man9 agement Adminstration. 

10 (F) The Coastal Resilience Grant Program 

11 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad12 ministration. 

13 (2) Entities that attest that they are applying 

14 for or currently receiving Federal funds through the 

15 grant programs named in subsection (c)(1) shall be 

16 eligible for a matching grant of up to the full 

17 amount received through the programs named in 

18 subsection (c)(1). 

19 (3) Entities must be wiling to submit to De20 partment of Labor any information requested to 

21 verify that the entity is complying with the minimum 

22 labor standards outlined in section 401 of this Act. 

23 (4) Entities may use matching funds for the 

24 following purposes: 


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1 (A) Payment of the non-Federal share re2 quired in connection with a Federal grant-in-aid 

3 program undertaken as part of the programs 

4 listed in subsection (c)(1). 

5 (B) Payment of the premium for the Na6 tional Flood Insurance Program. 

7 (C) For the projects for which entities 

8 have received funding through the grant pro9 grams named in subsection (c)(1). 

10 (d) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 90 days after the 

11 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and 

12 Urban Development, Federal Emergency Management 

13 Administrator, Secretary of Department of Transpor14 tation, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and At15 mospheric Administration, and Director of the United 

16 States Army Corps must amend the application processes 

17 pertaining to the programs named in subsection (c)(1) to 

18 include information about the Good Climate Resilience 

19 Jobs Grant program. Existing applicants and recipients 

20 to the programs listed in subsection (c)(1) shall be notified 

21 of the grant program and given the opportunity to apply 

22 with 60 days of notification. 

23 (e) GRANT PROCESS, COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCE24 MENT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Department of Labor 

2 Secretary shall establish processes for reviewing 

3 grant applications, notifying applicants of award de4 cisions, administering grant funds, verifying compli5 ance with the minimum labor standards outlined in 

6 section 401 of this Act, and penalties for noncompli7 ance. 

8 (2) MAINTENANCE OF RECORDS.—The Admin9 istrator of the Federal Emergency Management 

10 Agency shall direct companies participating in the 

11 Write Your Own Program to maintain records per12 taining to the labor standards outlined in section 

13 401 of this Act for all workers hired using National 

14 Flood Insurance Program funds. 

15 SEC. 403. CLIMATE RESILIENCE WORKERS COMMISSION. 

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 

17 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 

18 Department of Labor shall establish a Climate Resilience 

19 Workers Commission within the Office of the Secretary. 

20 (b) AUTHORITY.—The Commission shall be author21 ized to— 

22 (1) identify whistleblower procedures that will 

23 most effectively allow climate resilience workers to 

24 identify violations of Federal, State, and local labor 

25 and employment laws, and to report those violations 


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1 and seek investigation, redress and compensation 

2 without suffering retaliation; 

3 (2) identify, recommend and implement a prac4 tice by which to provide warnings to entities in viola5 tion of minimum labor standards and workers’ 

6 rights, to notify the Office of the Secretary of any 

7 entities that violate standards and rights, and make 

8 recommendations on penalties and transfer of grant 

9 funding, jobs, and workers funded through non10 compliant entities to other eligible entities without 

11 any job loss for climate resilience workers; 

12 (3) collaborate with divisions and offices within 

13 the Department of Labor to identify ways by which 

14 to promote, enforce, improve, and expand applicable 

15 worker protections; 

16 (4) make recommendations on regulations and 

17 subregulatory guidances; 

18 (5) convene climate resilience stakeholders for 

19 meetings and forums, including the Climate Resil20 ience Worker Safety Committee program described 

21 in section 601(d)(2); 

22 (6) operate cross-agency task forces in order to 

23 pursue the goals and standards of this Act; and 


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1 (7) engage in such other actions as may be 

2 under the authority of the Department of Labor to 

3 pursue the goals of this Act. 

4 (c) COMMISSION MEMBERSHIP.— 

5 (1) CHAIR.—The Chair of the Commission will 

6 be appointed by the Secretary. 

7 (A) MEMBERS.—The Commission shall be 

8 composed of not less than 20 additional individ9 uals, selected by the Chair of the Commission 

10 from nominees proposed pursuant to subpara11 graph (B), as follows: 

12 (i) Not less than 10 members shall be 

13 individuals who are members of frontline 

14 communities. 

15 (ii) Not less than 8 members shall be 

16 individuals who are members of, or advo17 cate on behalf of, or both, populations fac18 ing barriers to employment. 

19 (iii) The Commission shall include a 

20 broad and representative group of labor, 

21 worker and workforce development stake22 holders. 

23 (iv) The Commission shall include 

24 representatives from relevant federal agen25 cies including the Department of Labor’s 


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1 Occupational Safety and Health Adminis2 tration and Wage and Hour Division, the 

3 Department of Homeland Security’s 

4 United States Citizenship and Immigration 

5 Services and Federal Emergency Manage6 ment Agency, the Department of Justice, 

7 and the Equal Employment Opportunity 

8 Commission. 

9 (B) NOMINATION.—Nominees for members 

10 of the Commission shall be proposed by any 

11 grantee or subgrantee under this Act. 

12 (C) REPORT.—Upon selection of members 

13 of the Commission, the Commission shall sub14 mit a report to Congress identifying the mem15 bers selected and demonstration of compliance 

16 with the provisions of this subsection. 

17 (D) TERMS.—Members of the Commission 

18 shall serve terms of 2 years. 

19 (2) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet in 

20 person not less often than twice each year. 

21 (3) COMPENSATION.—The Secretary shall es22 tablish guidelines and a process for providing com23 pensation to individuals who would otherwise not be 

24 able to participate or who would experience financial 

25 hardship without such compensation. 


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1 (4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The agencies 

2 implementing this Act shall construe this Act in a 

3 manner that facilitates and encourage the full par4 ticipation of Commission members and shall consider 

5 the barriers faced by frontline communities and pop6 ulations facing barriers to employment and shall en7 deavor to overcome such barriers to participation. 

8 (5) APPLICABILITY OF FACA.—Section 14 of 

9 the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 

10 App.) shall not apply with respect to the Commis11 sion. 

12 SEC. 404. WORKERS EMPLOYED USING STAFFORD ACT 

13 FUNDS. 

14 Section 611(j) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re15 lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5196(j)) 

16 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(10)(A) All laborers, mechanics and other workers 

18 employed by contractors or subcontractors who are have 

19 been determined by the Center for the Climate Resilience 

20 Workforce to be performing work within climate resilience 

21 sectors as defined in section 7 of the Climate Resilience 

22 Workforce Act and financed with the assistance of any 

23 contribution of Federal funds made by the Administrator 

24 under this subsection shall have the right of the labor 


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1 standards detailed in section 401 of the Climate Resilience 

2 Workforce Act. 

3 ‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) shall apply to workers 

4 employed by contractors or subcontractors who are 

5 financed with the assistance of any contributions of 

6 Federal funds made by the Administrator through 

7 PA Grants (42 U.S.C. 5172), BRIC (42 U.S.C. 

8 5133), or Hazard Mitigation Grants (42 U.S.C. 

9 5170c), including the Flood Mitigation Assistance 

10 Grant Program (42 U.S.C. 4104c). 

11 ‘‘(C) The application of these labor standards 

12 are not limited to construction workers or mechan13 ics.’’. 

14 SEC. 405. PAID LEAVE FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES WHO ARE 

15 VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, SEXUAL 

16 ASSAULT, OR STALKING. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 63 of 

18 title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

19 end the following: 

20 ‘‘§ 6329d. Leave for victims of domestic violence, sex21 ual assault, or stalking 

22 ‘‘(a) An employee shall be entitled to leave, without 

23 loss of or reduction in the pay, for any reason described 

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1 ber, or household member of the employee is a victim of 

2 domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. 

3 ‘‘(b) The reasons described in this subsection are the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(1) For the employee to seek legal or law en6 forcement assistance or remedies to ensure the 

7 health and safety of the employee or the employee’s 

8 family member or household member including pre9 paring for, or participating in, any civil or criminal 

10 legal proceeding related to or derived from domestic 

11 violence, sexual assault, or stalking. 

12 ‘‘(2) For the employee to seek treatment by a 

13 health care provider for physical or mental injuries 

14 caused by domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalk15 ing, or to attend to health care treatment for a vic16 tim who is the employee’s family member or house17 hold member. 

18 ‘‘(3) For the employee to obtain, or assist a 

19 family member or household member in obtaining, 

20 services from a domestic violence shelter, rape crisis 

21 center, or other social services program for relief 

22 from domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. 

23 ‘‘(4) For the employee to obtain, or assist a 

24 family or household member in obtaining, mental 

25 health counseling related to an incident of domestic 


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1 violence, sexual assault, or stalking, in which the 

2 employee or the employee’s family member or house3 hold member was a victim of domestic violence, sex4 ual assault, or stalking. 

5 ‘‘(5) For the employee to participate in safety 

6 planning, temporarily or permanently relocate, or 

7 take other actions to increase the safety of the em8 ployee or employee’s family member or household 

9 member from future domestic violence, sexual as10 sault, or stalking. 

11 ‘‘(c)(1) Paid leave provided to an employee pursuant 

12 to subsection (a) shall— 

13 ‘‘(A) accrue one hour for each 40-hour work14 week (or equivalent) and shall accumulate for use in 

15 succeeding years; 

16 ‘‘(B) be payable from any appropriation or fund 

17 available for salaries or expenses for positions within 

18 the employing agency; and 

19 ‘‘(C) not be considered to be annual or vacation 

20 leave for purposes of section 5551 or 5552 or for 

21 any other purpose. 

22 ‘‘(2) Paid leave accrued or accumulated by an em23 ployee under this section may be transferred to and for 

24 the use of any other employee if such other employee re25 quires additional leave under this section. 


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1 ‘‘(3) If an employee uses paid leave under this section 

2 for a period of three consecutive days or longer, the em3 ploying agency may require that the employee provide cer4 tification supporting the absence, including a written 

5 statement by the employee, a police report, a court order, 

6 or a written statement by an advocate (including an attor7 ney representing the employee, a member of clergy, a med8 ical professional, or an advocate for victims of domestic 

9 violence, sexual assault, or stalking). 

10 ‘‘(4) The employing agency shall keep confidential 

11 any information provided by an employee to the employing 

12 agency relating to using leave under this section unless— 

13 ‘‘(A) the employee provides written consent of 

14 the disclosure of such information; or 

15 ‘‘(B) the employing agency is ordered to dis16 close such information by a court order or by law. 

17 ‘‘(5) An employee shall not directly or indirectly in18 timidate, threaten, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, 

19 threaten, or coerce, any other employee for the purpose 

20 of interfering with the exercise of any rights which such 

21 other employee may have under this section. In this para22 graph, the term ‘intimidate, threaten, or coerce’ has the 

23 meaning given that term in section 6385(b)(1). 

24 ‘‘(d) In this section— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the term ‘employee’ has the meaning given 

2 such term in section 2105 and includes— 

3 ‘‘(A) an officer or employee of the United 

4 States Postal Service or the Postal Regulatory 

5 Commission; 

6 ‘‘(B) an officer or employee of the Federal 

7 Aviation Authority or the Transportation Secu8 rity Administration; and 

9 ‘‘(C) notwithstanding subsection (a) of sec10 tion 7421 of title 38, an individual occupying a 

11 position listed in subsection (b) of such section; 

12 ‘‘(2) the term ‘family member’ means the child 

13 (including an adopted child, a recognized natural 

14 child, a stepchild, or a foster child), spouse, parent, 

15 grandparent, or grandchild of the employee; 

16 ‘‘(3) the term ‘household member’ means a 

17 former spouse of an employee, a former domestic 

18 partner of an employee, any individual who has a 

19 child in common with the employee (regardless of 

20 whether they have been married or have lived to21 gether at any time), any adult individual related to 

22 the employee by blood or marriage, any individual 

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1 lationship with the employee, and any individual 

2 with whom the employee has a dating relationship; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(4) the terms ‘domestic violence’, ‘sexual as5 sault’, and ‘stalking’ have the meaning given those 

6 terms in section 40002(a) of the Violence Against 

7 Women Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12291 et seq.).’’. 

8 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

9 for such subchapter is amended by adding at the end the 

10 following: 

‘‘6329d. Leave for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.’’. 

11 SEC. 406. GAO REPORT ON FEDERAL PRISON INDUSTRY. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General shall 

13 conduct a study focused on jobs within the Federal Prison 

14 Industries . The study shall include— 

15 (1) type of work conducted, including jobs that 

16 relate to the climate resilience sectors specified in 

17 section 7 of this Act; 

18 (2) rate of pay; 

19 (3) hours worked; 

20 (4) worker concerns and issues; and 

21 (5) work-related injuries and illnesses. 

22 (b) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 1 year after the 

23 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

24 shall publish a report of the study findings and report to 


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1 the relevant Congressional committees, at minimum the 

2 Education and Labor and Judiciary committees. 

3 TITLE V—REMOVING BARRIERS 

4 TO EMPLOYMENT 

5 SEC. 501. IMMIGRATION BARRIERS. 

6 (a) TEMPORARY RELIEF FROM REMOVAL.—Notwith7 standing any other provision of law, an alien seeking em8 ployment or training in the climate resilience sector is eli9 gible for status under this section. An alien with status 

10 under this section may not be removed, and the Secretary 

11 of Homeland Security shall provide such alien with em12 ployment authorization. Such status shall be valid for a 

13 period of 2 years, and may not be renewed. The Secretary 

14 shall provide an eligible alien with such status if the alien 

15 submits an affidavit of interest in employment or training 

16 in a climate resilience sector, as defined in section 7 of 

17 this Act, and thereafter submits further evidence to that 

18 effect, including registration for relevant training courses 

19 or applications for such employment. 

20 (b) CERTIFIED CLIMATE RESILIENCE WORKER STA21 TUS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

23 provision of law, the Secretary of Homeland Security 

24 may accord an alien status as a Certified Climate 

25 Resilience Worker (hereinafter in this section reVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Sep 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00101 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5760.IH H5760

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1 ferred to as ‘‘CRW status’’) if that alien has been 

2 present in the United States (without regard to the 

3 immigration status of that alien during such pres4 ence) for not less than 1 year and— 

5 (A) is an alien who has— 

6 (i) been employed in a climate resil7 ience sector for at least 90 days in the past 

8 year (including any employment while in9 carcerated); 

10 (ii) completed a workforce training 

11 program in a climate resilience sector; or 

12 (iii) been enrolled in a workforce 

13 training program in a climate resilience 

14 sector for at least 90 days in the past year 

15 (including any training while in detention); 

16 or 

17 (B) is the spouse, child, son, daughter, or 

18 parent of an alien described in subparagraph 

19 (A). 

20 (2) CONVERSION FROM TEMPORARY STATUS.— 

21 An alien with temporary status under subsection (a) 

22 may convert such status to CRW status, and the 

23 spouse, child, son, daughter, or parent of that alien 

24 shall also be accorded CRW status. 


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1 (3) EVIDENTIARY REQUIREMENT.—An alien 

2 who adjusts status under paragraph (1) or (2) shall 

3 submit a petition for CRW status, which shall in4 clude the following: 

5 (A) Proof of presence in the United States 

6 for a period of not less than 1 year ending on 

7 the date of application. 

8 (B) In the case of an alien adjusting status 

9 under paragraph (1)(A), at least one of the fol10 lowing: 

11 (i) Employer certification of employ12 ment in a climate resilience sector. 

13 (ii) Employment records of such em14 ployment. 

15 (iii) Union dues records in the course 

16 of such employment. 

17 (iv) Certification of completion in a 

18 workforce training program. 

19 (v) Proof of continuous enrollment in 

20 a workforce training program. 

21 (vi) In the case that none of clauses 

22 (i) through (v) are possible, a self-attesta23 tion of work experience that includes an 

24 affidavit from fellow employees. 


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1 (C) In the case of an alien adjusting status 

2 under paragraph (1)(A)(ii), proof of residence 

3 as alleged under such paragraph. 

4 (4) TERM OF STATUS.—CRW status under this 

5 subsection shall be valid for a period of 2 years, and 

6 may be renewed for not less than a total period of 

7 10 years. 

8 (5) EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES.—The Sec9 retary may waive any requirement under paragraph 

10 (1)(A) in any case of extenuating circumstances, in11 cluding disability, pregnancy, or care of a dependent. 

12 (c) ADJUSTMENT TO LAWFUL PERMANENT RESI13 DENCE.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—An alien with CRW status 

15 may adjust to status to that of an alien lawfully ad16 mitted for permanent residence beginning not earlier 

17 than 18 months after receiving CRW status, except 

18 that the time period may be include any time spent 

19 in temporary status. 

20 (2) WAIVERS OF INADMISSIBILITY.—Notwith21 standing any other provision of law and for purposes 

22 of this section, the Secretary of Homeland Security 

23 or the Attorney General may waive the operation of 

24 any one or more grounds of inadmissibility set forth 

25 in section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality 


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1 Act for humanitarian purposes, to assure family 

2 unity, or when it is otherwise in the public interest. 

3 (3) WAIVERS OF DEPORTABILITY.—Notwith4 standing any other provision of law and for purposes 

5 of this section, the Secretary of Homeland Security 

6 or the Attorney General may waive the operation of 

7 any one or more grounds of removal set forth in sec8 tion 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act for 

9 humanitarian purposes, to assure family unity, or 

10 when it is otherwise in the public interest 

11 (d) NATURALIZATION.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—A person who is a lawful 

13 permanent resident may file an application for natu14 ralization under this subsection. 

15 (2) EXCEPTIONS TO GENERAL RULES OF NATU16 RALIZATION.— Such person shall comply in all other 

17 respects with the requirements of title III of the Im18 migration and Nationality Act, except that such per19 son may be naturalized not earlier than 3 years after 

20 the date that person becomes a lawful permanent 

21 resident, or 2 years in the case of such a person who 

22 is married to a United States national. 

23 (e) WORK PROTECTION.—Any employer who provides 

24 certification under subsection (b)(3)(B) may not be held 

25 criminally or civilly liable under any provision of Federal 


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1 law or State law for any unlawful employment of the per2 son whose employment is so certified. 

3 (f) REMOVAL OF CITIZENSHIP REQUIREMENT FOR

4 CERTAIN EMPLOYMENT.—Nothing in section 303 or sec5 tion 622 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

6 Emergency Assistance Act may be construed to authorize 

7 any prohibition on employment of any person who is other8 wise authorized for employment in the United States. 

9 (g) ACCESS TO SERVICES.—Notwithstanding any 

10 other provision of law, an alien with CRW status or status 

11 under subsection (a) shall be considered lawfully present 

12 in the United States for all purposes. Notwithstanding any 

13 other provision of law, individuals with CRW status or sta14 tus under subsection (a) shall be considered lawfully 

15 present for purposes of eligibility for Federal health care 

16 programs (as defined in section 1128B(f) of the Social Se17 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a–7b(f)). 

18 (h) DEFINITIONS.—Terms used in this section have 

19 the meanings given such terms in section 101(a) of the 

20 Immigration and Nationality Act. 

21 SEC. 502. CRIMINAL JUSTICE BARRIERS. 

22 (a) BAN THE BOX.— 

23 (1) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.— 

24 (A) PRE-OFFER.—Application for appoint25 ment in the civil service in any position that 


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1 would be considered to be employment in a cli2 mate resilience sector if such position was with 

3 a private employer shall be subject to the provi4 sions of section 9202 of title 5, United States 

5 Code. 

6 (B) POST-OFFER.—If an offer of such an 

7 appointment in the civil service has been made 

8 to an applicant, any record of conviction of such 

9 applicant may not be taken into account there10 after for purposes of such an appointment, ex11 cept as provided in subparagraph (C). 

12 (C) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph does not 

13 apply to the extent— 

14 (i) a record of conviction was entered 

15 not earlier than 5 years prior to the date 

16 of application; and 

17 (ii) the offense for which such record 

18 of conviction was entered would have a 

19 specific and particularized effect on the 

20 ability of the person to discharge the du21 ties of the position. 

22 (D) PROCEDURAL PROTECTIONS FOR POST

23 OFFER.—In the case of an applicant whose 

24 offer is revoked pursuant to a determination 


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1 that the exception set forth in subparagraph 

2 (C) applies the following shall apply: 

3 (i) The appointing authority shall pro4 vide the applicant a written copy of any 

5 background report, and shall identify each 

6 item in the report that the authority has 

7 determined pertains to the ability of the 

8 applicant to discharge the duties of the po9 sition sought, and a written justification of 

10 that determination. 

11 (ii) For a period of 60 days beginning 

12 on the date of the receipt of the materials 

13 under clause (i), an applicant may submit 

14 a written disputation of the accuracy of 

15 the criminal record and provide mitigating 

16 evidence or evidence of rehabilitation. 

17 (iii) If, after reviewing the submission 

18 under clause (ii), the authority determines 

19 that the record disqualifies the applicant, 

20 the authority shall send a letter notifying 

21 the applicant of that determination, and 

22 explaining the reasons for that determina23 tion. 

24 (2) FEDERAL CONTRACTORS.—Section 4714 of 

25 title 41, United States Code, is amended— 


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1 (A) in subsection (a)(1)— 

2 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

3 ‘‘and’’; 

4 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

5 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

6 and’’; and 

7 (iii) by inserting after subparagraph 

8 (B) the following: 

9 ‘‘(C) shall require, as a condition of receiv10 ing a Federal contract for work in a climate re11 silience sector (as such term is defined section 

12 7 of the Climate Resilience Workforce Act) and 

13 receiving payments under such contract that 

14 the contractor comply with the requirements of 

15 subsection (d).’’; 

16 (B) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub17 section (e); and 

18 (C) by inserting after subsection (c) the 

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(d) CLIMATE RESILIENCE WORKERS.—The require21 ments under this subsection are as follows: 

22 ‘‘(1) A contractor may not conduct any inquiry 

23 into the criminal history of an applicant prior to 

24 making a determination to make a conditional offer. 


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1 ‘‘(2) In the case of a contractor who determines 

2 to revoke a conditional offer to an applicant because 

3 of that applicant’s criminal record, the contractor 

4 shall submit a written justification of each such deci5 sion to the contractor monitor on a quarterly basis. 

6 ‘‘(3) The contractor may not subsequently re7 voke the conditional offer solely on the basis of a 

8 conviction— 

9 ‘‘(A) that is over 5 years old; and 

10 ‘‘(B) that is for an offense that would not 

11 have a specific and particularized effect on the 

12 ability of the applicant to discharge the duties 

13 of the position. 

14 ‘‘(4) Before a final decision on whether to ex15 tend an offer of employment, the contractor shall 

16 provide the applicant a written copy of any back17 ground report, and shall identify each item in the re18 port that the contractor has determined pertains to 

19 the ability of the applicant to discharge the duties 

20 of the position sought, and a written justification of 

21 that determination. 

22 ‘‘(5) For a period of 60 days beginning on the 

23 date of the receipt of the materials under paragraph 

24 (4), an applicant may submit to the contractor a 

25 written disputation of the accuracy of the criminal 


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1 record and provide mitigating evidence or evidence 

2 of rehabilitation. Such submission may also include 

3 any relevant legal or other information 

4 contextualizing or characterizing such criminal 

5 record. 

6 ‘‘(6) If, after reviewing the submission under 

7 paragraph (5), the contractor determines that the 

8 record disqualifies the applicant, the employer shall 

9 send a letter notifying the applicant of that deter10 mination, and explaining the reasons for that deter11 mination.’’. 

12 (b) TANF ASSISTANCE AND SNAP BENEFITS.— 

13 (1) REPEAL OF BAN ON ASSISTANCE.—Section 

14 115 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Oppor15 tunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (21 U.S.C. 862a) 

16 is repealed. 

17 (2) EFFECT ON STATE ELECTIONS TO OPT OUT

18 OR LIMIT PERIOD OF PROHIBITION.— 

19 (A) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

20 (i) the term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning 

21 given the term in section 115(e) of the 

22 Personal Responsibility and Work Oppor23 tunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (21 

24 U.S.C. 862a(e)) (as in effect on the day 


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1 before the date of enactment of this Act); 

2 and 

3 (ii) the term ‘‘TANF assistance or 

4 SNAP benefits’’ means assistance or bene5 fits referred to in section 115(a) of the 

6 Personal Responsibility and Work Oppor7 tunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (as in ef8 fect on the day before the date of enact9 ment of this Act). 

10 (B) EFFECT ON STATE POLICIES.—Any 

11 law enacted by a State under the authority 

12 under subparagraph (A) or (B) of subsection 

13 (d)(1) of section 115 of the Personal Responsi14 bility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act 

15 of 1996 (21 U.S.C. 862a), and any State law, 

16 policy, or regulation that imposes conditions on 

17 eligibility for the supplemental nutrition assist18 ance program and temporary assistance for 

19 needy families program based on an individual’s 

20 conviction of an offense related to a controlled 

21 substance, shall have no force or effect. 

22 (c) MODIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF HOUSEHOLD

23 FOR THE PURPOSE OF DETERMINING SNAP BENE24 FITS.—Section 3(m)(5) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 


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1 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012(m)(5)) is amended by adding at the 

2 end the following: 

3 ‘‘(H) Incarcerated individuals who are 

4 scheduled to be released from an institution 

5 within 30 days.’’. 

6 SEC. 503. DRUG TESTING BARRIERS. 

7 Any person employed in a climate resilience sector 

8 who is, in the course of such employment, present in a 

9 State wherein recreational use of marihuana (as such term 

10 is defined in the Controlled Substances Act) is lawful may 

11 not be disqualified from participation in any job training 

12 program under this Act or terminated from any covered 

13 employment on the basis of a Federally-mandated drug 

14 test that is more stringent than any drug test that is in 

15 place in the locality or State, or used by the union of such 

16 employee. 

17 SEC. 504. TASKFORCE ON WORKER INCLUSION. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a 

19 Taskforce on Worker Inclusion (hereinafter in this section 

20 referred to as the ‘‘Taskforce’’) within the Climate Resil21 ience Workers Commission established under section 403 

22 of this Act, which shall be responsible for establishing pro23 grams and best practices to support workers who tradi24 tionally face barriers to employment. 


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1 (b) CHAIR.—Not later than 60 days after the date 

2 of enactment of this Act, the Chair of the Climate Reliance 

3 Workers Commission shall appoint a chair to head the 

4 Taskforce. 

5 (c) COMPOSITION.—The Taskforce shall be composed 

6 of individuals appointed by the chair not later than 90 

7 days after the appointment of the chair under subsection 

8 (b), as follows: 

9 (1) Not less than one representative of the De10 partment of Labor. 

11 (2) Not less than one representative of the De12 partment of Homeland Security. 

13 (3) Not less than one representative of the De14 partment of Justice. 

15 (4) Not less than one representative of the 

16 Legal Services Corporation. 

17 (5) Not less than one expert on immigration 

18 policy. 

19 (6) Not less than one expert on criminal justice 

20 policy. 

21 (7) Not less than one formerly incarcerated in22 dividual. 

23 (8) Not less than one individual who formerly 

24 was present in the United States without status 

25 under the immigration laws. 


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1 (9) Not less than one representative of employ2 ers in climate resilience sectors. 

3 (d) VACANCIES.—In the case of any vacancy on the 

4 Taskforce, the chair may appoint a replacement member. 

5 (e) PROGRAMS.—The programs referred to in sub6 section (a) shall include— 

7 (1) providing grants to the Legal Service Cor8 poration to provide assistance, including legal assist9 ance or payment of fees or fines, to workers in the 

10 climate resilience sector in— 

11 (A) applying for status as a Certified Cli12 mate Resilience Worker under section 501 and 

13 further adjusting their status to pursue citizen14 ship; 

15 (B) seeking restoration of rights including 

16 expungements, dismissals, record sealing, fee 

17 waivers, certificates of rehabilitation, diversion 

18 programs, and pardons; and 

19 (C) seeking licensure in a field that has 

20 barriers for immigrants or workers with crimi21 nal history records. 

22 (2) conducting education and outreach, in mul23 tiple languages, on status as a Certified Climate Re24 silience Worker under section 501 and hiring oppor25 tunities for foreign-born workers, formerly incarcerVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Sep 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00115 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5760.IH H5760

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1 ated workers, and workers with criminal history 

2 records, and other benefits; and 

3 (3) establishing training and best practices for 

4 the hiring, recruitment, and retention of foreign5 born workers, formerly incarcerated workers, and 

6 workers with criminal history records. 

7 (f) REIMBURSEMENT FOR FINES OR FEES.—The 

8 Taskforce shall by rule establish procedures under which 

9 a worker in a climate resilience sector may apply for reim10 bursement for the payment of any fine or fee associated 

11 with— 

12 (1) applying for status as a Certified Climate 

13 Resilience Worker under section 501 and further ad14 justing their status to pursue citizenship; 

15 (2) seeking restoration of rights including 

16 expungements, dismissals, record sealing, fee waiv17 ers, certificates of rehabilitation, diversion programs, 

18 and pardons; and 

19 (3) seeking licensure in a field that has barriers 

20 for immigrants or workers with criminal history 

21 records. 

22 (g) TRUST FUND.—There is a established a trust 

23 fund, to be known as the Climate Resilience Workforce 

24 Trust Fund (hereinafter in this section referred to as the 

25 ‘‘Fund’’) which shall be available to the Taskforce, without 


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1 fiscal year limitation, for purposes of carrying out this sec2 tion, including reimbursement under subsection (f). 

3 TITLE VI—PROVISIONS RELATED 

4 TO CLIMATE RESILIENCE 

5 WORKERS INVOLVED IN DIS6 ASTER RECOVERY AND RE7 BUILDING 

8 SEC. 601. SUPPORTS FOR DISASTER RECOVERY WORKERS. 

9 (a) GRANTS FOR DISASTER RECOVERY AND RE10 BUILDING TRAINING AND HIRING HALLS.— 

11 (1) TRAINING.—Entities receiving grants in 

12 section 302 to support the training of disaster recov13 ery and rebuilding workers must ensure that such 

14 training includes the following components, as the 

15 Secretary determines relevant to such workers: 

16 (A) Ten-hour training provided by the Oc17 cupational Safety and Health Administration. 

18 (B) Basic health and safety training on 

19 mold exposure, lead paint, asbestos and heat 

20 exposure. 

21 (C) Basic first aid and CPR, following the 

22 American Red Cross model. 

23 (D) Training with respect to preservation 

24 of mental health, including self-care. 

25 (E) Basic workplace rights. 


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1 (F) Any other training that the Secretary 

2 determines appropriate to the circumstances of 

3 climate-related disasters. 

4 (G) Skill-based training focused on com5 munity recovery and rebuilding after disasters 

6 must include training on rebuilding techniques 

7 that increase community resilience. 

8 (H) Training must be: 

9 (i) Accessible to various levels of lit10 eracy. 

11 (ii) Provided in languages other than 

12 English, as relevant to the population of 

13 individuals seeking training. 

14 (iii) Available during evenings and 

15 weekends. 

16 (2) HIRING HALLS.—Grant funds under section 

17 302 to benefit climate resilience workers may be 

18 used for the following purposes: 

19 (A) To operate worker hiring halls with set 

20 wages and working conditions. 

21 (B) To cover workers compensation, unem22 ployment, health insurance and bonding with 

23 respect to workers hired through hiring halls to 

24 incentivize employers to come to and use the 

25 hiring halls. 


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1 (C) Grantees may create virtual hiring 

2 halls for areas where brick and mortar hiring 

3 halls are not available or feasible. 

4 (b) ORGANIZATION AND REPRESENTATION.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—All rights and procedures 

6 under the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 

7 151 et seq.) shall apply to all workers employed 

8 using funds in this section in the private sector. 

9 (2) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT APPLICATION.—All 

10 rights under the title VII of the Civil Service Reform 

11 Act of 1978 shall apply to all workers employed by 

12 the Federal Government. 

13 (3) SECTION 7 PROTECTIONS.—The rights to 

14 engage in concerted activities for the purpose of col15 lective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection 

16 under section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act 

17 (29 U.S.C. 157) shall apply with respect to an em18 ployee who is employed by an employer who receives 

19 funds under this Act and who is seeking to form or 

20 is otherwise engaged with a worker association. 

21 (c) HEALTH AND SAFETY.— 

22 (1) HEALTH AND SAFETY FUND.— 

23 (A) ESTABLISHMENT.—. There is estab24 lished in the Treasury of the United States a 

25 Climate Resilience Worker Health and Safety 


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1 Fund (in this section, referred to as the 

2 ‘Fund’), which consists of sums that are appro3 priated to the Fund under this section. 

4 (B) PURPOSE.—Amounts in the fund shall 

5 be available— 

6 (i) for the benefit of resilience workers 

7 with short and long-term health problems 

8 related to their service in climate disaster 

9 response, recovery, and rebuilding; and 

10 (ii) for wage replacement for workers 

11 should they be unable to work due to 

12 health problems related to their service. 

13 (C) FEE COLLECTION.— 

14 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

15 impose a per-employee fee on every em16 ployer. Funds received under this clause 

17 shall be deposited into the Fund. 

18 (ii) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 120 

19 days after the date of enactment of this 

20 Act, the Secretary shall issue guidance, in 

21 consultation from the Center for the Cli22 mate Resilience Workforce, specifying the 

23 fee amount, frequency and mechanism for 

24 collection. The fee must be sufficient 


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1 enough to cover the potential expenses cli2 mate disaster recovery workers may incur. 

3 (2) SAFETY COMMITTEE PROGRAM.— 

4 (A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Chair of the 

5 Climate Resilience Workers Commission shall 

6 establish a Climate Resilience Worker Safety 

7 Committee program (in this paragraph referred 

8 to as the ‘‘program’’) within the Office of the 

9 Secretary at the Department of Labor. In car10 rying out the program, the Chair shall support 

11 safety committees in each labor market where 

12 climate disaster recovery workers are employed. 

13 (B) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the com14 mittees shall be to ensure the on-the-ground 

15 safety of workers engaged in disaster recovery 

16 and rebuilding work while at their work sites. 

17 (C) FUNCTIONS.—The Committees shall— 

18 (i) review and make recommendations 

19 pertaining to safety training provided by 

20 local training providers; and 

21 (ii) stop work when work conditions 

22 are unsafe. 

23 (D) FORMATION, STRUCTURE AND SUP24 PORT.— 


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1 (i) ELECTION.—The members of the 

2 safety committees will be elected by resil3 ience workers in the labor market. 

4 (ii) CHAIR.—A Chair for each safety 

5 committee shall be elected by committee 

6 members. Such chair shall be the primary 

7 point of contact for the regional office of 

8 the Department of Labor. 

9 (iii) REPORTING.—The safety com10 mittee shall report any violations of min11 imum labor standards laid out in this Act 

12 to a regional office of the Department of 

13 Labor, which may conduct an investigation 

14 and take enforcement actions using the ex15 isting authorities of the Secretary. 

16 (iv) ENFORCEMENT.—A regional of17 fice may elevate violations to the Commis18 sion for further enforcement as needed. 

19 (E) LABOR MARKET DEFINED.—The term 

20 ‘‘labor market’’ means a disaster recovery area 

21 as designated in a Federal major disaster dec22 laration. 

23 (3) LIABILITY.—The employer and with the 

24 general contractor shall be liable for all health prob25 lems caused in whole or in part by participation in 


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1 climate disaster response and recovery for all em2 ployees employed using funds under this section. 

3 (4) WELLNESS CHECKS.—An employer receiv4 ing funds under this section shall ensure that work5 ers receive annual wellness checks at community 

6 health clinics or federally qualified health centers 

7 specific to the conditions under which they have 

8 been working. Such employer shall cover the full cost 

9 of such wellness checks. 

10 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR

11 TRAINING SUPPORTS.—There is authorized to be appro12 priated to the Director $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2021, 

13 and each fiscal year thereafter, for the Susan G. Harwood 

14 Occupational Safety and Health grant program, of which 

15 not less than $10,000,000 each fiscal year shall be used 

16 to support training of workers engaged in disaster recov17 ery and rebuilding work. 

18 SEC. 602. PILOT PROGRAM PROVIDING FEDERAL EMPLOY19 MENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR FORMERLY IN20 CARCERATED FIREFIGHTERS. 

21 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

23 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretaries 

24 shall establish and operate a pilot program, in co25 ordination with eligible States, to provide formerly 


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1 incarcerated firefighters with the opportunity to be 

2 hired to occupy Federal wildland firefighting posi3 tions. 

4 (2) DURATION.—The pilot program established 

5 under this section shall terminate on the date that 

6 is 6 years after the of enactment of this section. 

7 (b) APPLICATION.—An eligible State shall submit an 

8 application to the Secretaries to participate in the pilot 

9 program. Any such application shall include, at the min10 imum, the following: 

11 (1) A list of the agencies of the eligible State 

12 involved in the training and management of the in13 carcerated firefighter workforce. 

14 (2) The total number of the incarcerated fire15 fighter workforce used by such State and a descrip16 tion of roles held by incarcerated firefighters. 

17 (3) The number of incarcerated firefighters ex18 pected to be released by such State in the year com19 mencing after the date the application is submitted. 

20 (4) The number of formerly incarcerated fire21 fighters released by such State that have success22 fully secured employment in wildland or structural 

23 firefighting. 


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1 (5) An estimate of any costs, including staffing 

2 costs, such State would incur as a result of partici3 pating in the pilot program. 

4 (c) RECRUITMENT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The pilot program shall pro6 vide for the recruitment, in such form and manner 

7 as the Secretaries may prescribe, in consultation 

8 with the eligible State, of formerly incarcerated fire9 fighters to occupy Federal wildland firefighting posi10 tions. The following requirements shall apply to such 

11 recruitment efforts: 

12 (A) The participation in the recruitment 

13 program by incarcerated firefighters to be vol14 untary. 

15 (B) A presentation shall be made to incar16 cerated firefighters regarding an overview of 

17 Federal wildland firefighting positions. 

18 (C) The Secretaries shall— 

19 (i) work with incarcerated firefighters 

20 and the eligible State to identify the skills, 

21 interests, and experience of candidates to 

22 determine which Federal wildland fire23 fighting positions would be most suitable 

24 for the individual; 


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1 (ii) work with incarcerated firefighters 

2 and the eligible State to identify and ad3 dress any potential barriers to employment 

4 as a Federal wildland firefighter, including 

5 a lack of a driver’s license, before the fire6 fighter is released from incarceration; and 

7 (iii) collaborate with the eligible State 

8 to ensure, to the greatest extent prac9 ticable, that a decision to hire an incarcer10 ated firefighter coincides with the release 

11 of the individual from incarceration. 

12 (D) The Secretaries and State agencies 

13 shall ensure, to the greatest extent practicable, 

14 that any needs that an incarcerated firefighter 

15 or formerly incarcerated may have for voluntary 

16 substance abuse, mental health, or other reha17 bilitative programming are accommodated dur18 ing the hiring process and after the position has 

19 been accepted by the individual. 

20 (E) The Secretaries shall ensure that the 

21 cost of any additional training required is not 

22 a financial burden for a formerly incarcerated 

23 firefighter. 

24 (2) GRANTS.—Subject to the availability of 

25 funds to carry out this section, the Secretaries shall 


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1 provide grants to eligible States participating in the 

2 pilot program to support the State’s collaboration 

3 with the Secretaries to provide recruitment opportu4 nities for incarcerated firefighters or formerly incar5 cerated firefighters. 

6 (3) WAIVER OF PAROLE AND PROBATION RE7 QUIREMENTS.—The Secretaries shall require, at a 

8 minimum, that States waive parole and probation re9 quirements to ensure that a formerly incarcerated 

10 firefighter can meet the requirements of the position 

11 for which the individual is hired. 

12 (d) REENTRY AND RETENTION SUPPORT.— 

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

14 funds to carry out this section, the pilot program 

15 shall provide support services for formerly incarcer16 ated firefighters participating in the program to sup17 port the individual’s financial stability and success18 ful reentry into and retention within the workforce. 

19 (2) FINANCIAL SUPPORT.— 

20 (A) APPLICATION.—The Secretaries shall 

21 work with State correctional agencies to develop 

22 a process for formerly incarcerated firefighters 

23 to apply for financial assistance. 

24 (B) DURATION AND AMOUNT.—Financial 

25 assistance may be provided for up to 6 months 


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1 at an amount that ensures the individual’s abil2 ity to secure stable housing, food, and other 

3 basic needs and purchase any equipment, attire, 

4 or supplies that may be needed to perform the 

5 duties of the Federal wildland firefighting posi6 tion for which they have been hired. 

7 (3) MENTORSHIP.—The pilot program shall in8 clude a mentorship program that pairs formerly in9 carcerated firefighters currently employed within the 

10 Federal Government with newly hired formerly in11 carcerated firefighters to support job success and re12 tention. 

13 (e) HIRING PREFERENCE.—During the period the 

14 pilot program under this section is operational, with re15 spect to examinations for Federal wildland firefighting po16 sitions in the competitive service (as that term is defined 

17 in section 2102 of title 5, United States Code), competi18 tion is restricted to formerly incarcerated firefighters par19 ticipating in the pilot program as long as such firefighters 

20 are available. 

21 (f) REPORTS.—Beginning on the date that is 1 year 

22 after the date of enactment of this Act and annually there23 after for the duration of the pilot program, the Secretaries 

24 shall submit a report to the Committees on the Judiciary 

25 and Natural Resources of the House of Representatives 


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1 and the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern2 mental Affairs of the Senate and any other relevant con3 gressional committees detailing implementation of the 

4 pilot program, including the rate at which formerly incar5 cerated firefighters have been hired by the Secretaries. 

6 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 (1) ELIGIBLE STATE.—The term ‘‘eligible 

8 State’’ means a State that trains and uses fire9 fighters incarcerated in a State correctional facility 

10 to fight wildland fire. 

11 (2) FEDERAL WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING POSI12 TIONS.—The term ‘‘Federal wildland firefighting po13 sitions’’ means full-time, permanent positions within 

14 the United States Forest Service or in the Depart15 ment of Interior the duties of which consist of 

16 wildland firefighting, including administrative sup17 port positions. 

18 (3) FORMERLY INCARCERATED FIRE19 FIGHTER.—The term ‘‘formerly incarcerated fire20 fighter’’ means an individual— 

21 (A) who is no longer incarcerated in a 

22 State correctional facility and has been trained 

23 and used by the State to fight wildland fire; 

24 and 


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1 (B) who the Secretaries determine are 

2 qualified and suitable to occupy Federal 

3 wildland firefighting positions. 

4 (4) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 

5 means the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through 

6 the Chief of the Forest Service, and the Secretary 

7 of the Interior. 

8 SEC. 603. DIRECT EMPLOYMENT IN FEMA CORE. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 306 of the Robert T. 

10 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 

11 (421 U.S.C. 5149) is amended by adding at the end the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘(d) In carrying out this Act, the following disaster 

14 recovery and rebuilding duties shall be included in the du15 ties of the Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery Employees 

16 of the Federal Emergency Management Agency: 

17 ‘‘(1) Debris cleanup. 

18 ‘‘(2) Residential and commercial reconstruction 

19 including rapid repair of partially-damaged resi20 dences, and installation of tarps on structures with 

21 roof damage. 

22 ‘‘(3) Providing support to existing child and 

23 elder care services or organization of new services. 

24 ‘‘(4) Providing nutritional assistance to im25 pacted communities. 


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1 ‘‘(5) Providing counseling and assistance in ac2 cessing public benefits such as Federal Emergency 

3 Management Agency grants, Disaster Unemploy4 ment Assistance, Disaster Supplemental Nutrition 

5 Assistance Program. 

6 ‘‘(6) Providing logistical support for the supply 

7 chain of medical equipment and other goods involved 

8 in response efforts. 

9 ‘‘(7) Carrying out other disaster preparedness 

10 and response functions for other emergencies and 

11 natural disasters. 

12 ‘‘(e) In appointing personnel under subsection (c), the 

13 Administrator shall prioritize appointing unemployed 

14 workers with experience in the building trades for which 

15 such workers are qualified.’’. 

16 (b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—The Adminis17 trator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 

18 shall establish up to 15,000 new positions, as needed, 

19 within the Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery Employees 

20 of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and ap21 point to such positions individuals with skills and experi22 ence necessary to carry out the duties described in section 

23 306(d) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

24 Emergency Assistance Act (421 U.S.C. 5149(d)). 

Æ 


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