I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6492 

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 25, 2022 

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

BOWMAN, Ms. BUSH, Mr. CARSON, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. 

CLEAVER, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mr. 

GRIJALVA, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. JONES, Ms. 

LEE of California, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

of New York, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NEWMAN, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SMITH

of Washington, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. TLAIB, and Mrs. WATSON

COLEMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on 

Energy and Commerce, Oversight and Reform, 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 of Federal Regulations 

12 (or any successor regulations on registered pro13 grams). 

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

15 resilience’’— 

16 (A) means the ability and capacity of so17 cial, economic, and environmental systems, or18 ganized as natural ecosystems and human com19 munities, to anticipate, prepare for, adapt to, 

20 respond to, and recover from hazardous events, 

21 trends, or disturbances related to climate 

22 change; and 


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1 (B) includes the ability to engage in an 

2 iterative process of— 

3 (i) assessing how climate change will 

4 create new, or alter current climate related 

5 risks, and how such risks are distributed 

6 within and across natural ecosystems and 

7 human communities, including— 

8 (I) for human communities, risks 

9 shall be assessed by geography, race, 

10 ethnicity, socioeconomic status, health 

11 and other demographic and social fac12 tors, as applicable; and 

13 (II) for natural ecosystems, risks 

14 shall be assessed by geography, spe15 cies and ecosystem services, as appli16 cable; 

17 (ii) identifying human populations, 

18 animal and plant species, ecosystem serv19 ices and habitats that face disproportionate 

20 risks and impacts of climate change, in21 cluding— 

22 (I) for human populations, iden23 tifying risks due to historic and ongo24 ing systemic racism, economic inVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:38 Jan 28, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6492.IH H6492

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1 equity, and environmental degradation 

2 and pollution; and 

3 (II) for natural species and eco4 system services, identifying risks due 

5 to environmental degradation, pollu6 tion and other anthropogenic impacts; 

7 (iii) working to address the root 

8 causes that lead the entities identified in 

9 clause (ii) to be disproportionately vulner10 able to the risks and impacts of climate 

11 change; and 

12 (iv) prioritizing the natural species, 

13 ecosystem services and human populations 

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

15 (I) mitigate climate change by 

16 addressing its causes and impacts to 

17 the greatest extent possible as quickly 

18 as possible; 

19 (II) prepare for and adapt to the 

20 unavoidable impacts of climate change 

21 by ensuring that effective risk reduc22 tion and management and adaptation 

23 strategies can be implemented and 

24 maintained; and 


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1 (III) recover from and rebuild 

2 after climate disasters in ways that 

3 minimize future risks and increase the 

4 ability of natural ecosystems and 

5 human communities to face future 

6 risks with less harm. 

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

8 has the meaning given such term in section 1381 of 

9 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

10 (5) COMMUNITY OF COLOR.—The term ‘‘com11 munity of color’’ means a census block group or se12 ries of geographically contiguous blocks in which the 

13 population of any of the following categories of indi14 viduals, individually or in combination, comprises 30 

15 percent or more of the population of persons in the 

16 census block group or series of geographically con17 tiguous blocks: 

18 (A) Black. 

19 (B) African American. 

20 (C) Asian. 

21 (D) Pacific Islander. 

22 (E) Other non-White race. 

23 (F) Hispanic. 

24 (G) Latino. 

25 (H) Linguistically isolated. 


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1 (6) COVERED PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENT.— 

2 The term covered project labor agreement means a 

3 project labor agreement that— 

4 (A) binds all contractors and subcontrac5 tors on the project through the inclusion of ap6 propriate specifications in all relevant solicita7 tion provisions and contract documents; 

8 (B) allows all contractors and subcontrac9 tors to compete for contracts and subcontracts 

10 without regard to whether they are otherwise a 

11 party to a collective bargaining agreement; 

12 (C) contains guarantees against strikes, 

13 lockouts, and other similar job disruptions; 

14 (D) sets forth effective, prompt, and mutu15 ally binding procedures for resolving labor dis16 putes arising during the covered project labor 

17 agreement; and 

18 (E) provides other mechanisms for labor19 management cooperation on matters of mutual 

20 interest and concern, including productivity, 

21 quality of work, safety, and health. 

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

23 the director of the Office of Climate Resilience es24 tablished under section 4 of this Act. 


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1 (8) FRONTLINE COMMUNITY.—The term 

2 ‘‘frontline community’’ means— 

3 (A) a community or population that, due 

4 to systemic racial or economic injustice, has 

5 been made vulnerable to experience dispropor6 tionate exposure to environmental hazards, in7 cluding— 

8 (i) a low-income community; 

9 (ii) a community of color; and 

10 (iii) a Tribal or indigenous commu11 nity; 

12 (B) a community that has been primarily 

13 economically dependent on fossil fuel industries; 

14 and 

15 (C) a community or population that is vul16 nerable or systematically disadvantaged and 

17 therefore has a higher likelihood of being im18 pacted by environmental and climate injustice 

19 and inequitable climate actions, including— 

20 (i) linguistically isolated communities; 

21 (ii) individuals with limited English 

22 proficiency; 

23 (iii) immigrants and refugees; 

24 (iv) individuals with limited mobility; 

25 (v) individuals who are ill; 


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1 (vi) vulnerable elderly populations; 

2 (vii) children, youth, and pregnant 

3 women; 

4 (viii) individuals with disabilities; 

5 (ix) LGBTQ+ individuals; 

6 (x) institutionalized populations; 

7 (xi) individuals living in isolated rural 

8 areas; 

9 (xii) unhoused populations; and 

10 (xiii) workers whose job requires such 

11 worker to work outdoors. 

12 (9) GRASSROOTS COMMUNITY GROUP.—The 

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

14 of organized or connected individuals residing in the 

15 same census block group or series of geographically 

16 contiguous blocks that face the same or similar risks 

17 and impacts of climate change or other social, eco18 nomic, and environmental risks and impacts. 

19 (10) INTERIM CREDENTIAL.—The term ‘‘in20 terim credential’’ means a credential issued by a reg21 istration agency, upon request of the appropriate 

22 sponsor, as certification of competency attainment 

23 by a program participant during participation in a 

24 program under the national apprenticeship system. 


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

2 organization’’ has the meaning given such term in 

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

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

5 (12) LABOR, WORKER, AND WORKFORCE DE6 VELOPMENT STAKEHOLDERS.—The term ‘‘labor, 

7 worker, and workforce development stakeholders’’ 

8 shall include— 

9 (A) individuals who are members of popu10 lations facing barriers to employment who have 

11 shown leadership in addressing such barriers; 

12 (B) worker-driven entities dedicated to en13 suring collective worker voice and representa14 tion, including— 

15 (i) labor unions; 

16 (ii) worker centers; and 

17 (iii) worker associations; 

18 (C) organizations that advocate for im19 provement to worker rights and working condi20 tions, including organizations that work to ex21 pand collective bargaining, raise worker wages, 

22 improve workplace safety, reduce and end dis23 crimination and increase workplace equity; 

24 (D) individuals and organizations, includ25 ing potential employers, that possess knowledge 


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1 of the jobs, skills, and occupations that pertain 

2 to climate resilience work, in order to inform 

3 workforce and training needs; and 

4 (E) entities with proven track records in 

5 designing and participating in workforce devel6 opment and training programs resulting in 

7 higher wages and improved job security for 

8 workers, including— 

9 (i) community colleges; 

10 (ii) nonprofit organizations; and 

11 (iii) joint labor management partner12 ships. 

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

14 government’’ means— 

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

16 township, local public authority, school district, 

17 special district, intrastate district, council of 

18 governments (regardless of whether the council 

19 of governments is incorporated as a nonprofit 

20 corporation under State law), regional or inter21 state governmental entity, or agency or instru22 mentality of a local government; or 

23 (B) an Indian Tribe or authorized Tribal 

24 organization, or Alaska Native village or organi25 zation that is not a Tribal Government. 


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

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

3 group in which 30 percent or more of the population 

4 of such block group are individuals with an annual 

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

6 of— 

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

8 median income of the area in which the house9 hold is located, as reported by the Department 

10 of Housing and Urban Development; and 

11 (B) 200 percent of the Federal poverty 

12 line. 

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

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

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

16 Code of 1986. 

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

18 means a census block group or series of geographi19 cally contiguous blocks representing certain common 

20 characteristics, including race, ethnicity, national or21 igin, income-level, health disparities, or other public 

22 health or socioeconomic attributes. 

23 (17) POPULATIONS FACING BARRIERS TO EM24 PLOYMENT.—The term ‘‘populations facing barriers 

25 to employment’’ means populations that have faced 


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1 systemic barriers to employment, significant, sys2 temic job losses, or chronic underemployment or in3 secure employment due to failed economic policies, 

4 including— 

5 (A) undocumented individuals; 

6 (B) individuals with criminal records; 

7 (C) individuals who are formerly incarcer8 ated; 

9 (D) deindustrialized communities; and 

10 (E) demographic populations with unem11 ployment levels higher than the national aver12 age. 

13 (18) PRE-APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM.—The 

14 term ‘‘pre-apprenticeship program’’ means a train15 ing model or program that— 

16 (A) prepares individuals, focusing on 

17 underrepresented populations, to enter and suc18 ceed in a registered apprenticeship program; 

19 (B) has an articulation agreement with one 

20 or more registered apprenticeship programs; 

21 (C) that teaches a curriculum based on in22 dustry standards; and 

23 (D) that offers hands on training opportu24 nities that do not displace paid workers. 


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1 (19) PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENT.—The term 

2 ‘‘project labor agreement’’ means a pre-hire collec3 tive bargaining agreement with one or more labor 

4 organizations that establishes the terms and condi5 tions of employment for a specific project and is de6 scribed in section 8(f) of the National Labor Rela7 tions Act (29 U.S.C. 158(f)). 

8 (20) RECOGNIZED POST-SECONDARY CREDEN9 TIAL.—The term ‘‘recognized post-secondary creden10 tial’’ has the meaning given the term in section 3 of 

11 the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 

12 U.S.C. 3102), except that such term does not in13 clude a certificate of completion of an apprentice14 ship. 

15 (21) REGIONAL GOVERNMENTAL GROUP.—The 

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

17 of States that share borders or are in close prox18 imity to one another and share similar social, eco19 nomic, and environmental systems and risks and im20 pacts of climate change. 

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

22 of the several States, the District of Columbia, the 

23 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands of 

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1 nesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Re2 public of Palau, and the territories and possessions 

3 of the United States. 

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

5 government’’ means the governing body of an Indian 

6 Tribe. 

7 (24) TRIBAL OR INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY.— 

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

9 a population of people who are members of— 

10 (A) a federally recognized Indian Tribe; 

11 (B) a State recognized Indian Tribe; 

12 (C) an Alaskan Native or Native Hawaiian 

13 community or organization; and 

14 (D) any other community of indigenous 

15 people located in a State. 

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

17 center’’ means a non-profit organization or a co-op18 erative that— 

19 (A) has as one if its primary goals the im20 provement of worker rights, workplace safety, 

21 wages, working conditions, or employment ac22 cess, or the promotion of enhanced worker 

23 voice; and 

24 (B) which has some kind of formal mecha25 nism by which workers who stand to benefit 


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1 from these improvements may directly partici2 pate in organizational decision-making. 

3 SEC. 4. OFFICE OF CLIMATE RESILIENCE. 

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

5 the date of enactment of this Act, the President shall es6 tablish an Office of Climate Resilience (hereinafter re7 ferred to as the ‘‘Office’’) within the White House. 

8 (b) DIRECTOR.— 

9 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The President shall ap10 point a Director of the Office. 

11 (2) TERM.—The Director shall serve for a pe12 riod of 5 years. 

13 (3) TERMINATION.—The President may termi14 nate the Director prior to the end of the term de15 scribed in paragraph (2) for issues with perform16 ance. 

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

18 use information from all sectors involved in climate resil19 ience, including frontline community experience, scientific 

20 expertise, and labor organization input to coordinate Fed21 eral actions to support a climate resilient nation and oper22 ate as a Secretariat. 

23 (d) FUNCTIONS.—The Office shall— 


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1 (1) convene the necessary Federal and external 

2 stakeholders to inform and develop a national cli3 mate resilience action plan; 

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

5 every 5 years, or more frequently if determined nec6 essary by the Director based on science; 

7 (3) support Federal agencies in developing and 

8 revising agency-specific climate resilience actions 

9 plans and compile such plans into a Federal Govern10 ment climate resilience action plan; 

11 (4) administer grants established under section 

12 201 of this Act; 

13 (5) coordinate with the Climate Resilience 

14 Workers Commission established under section 403 

15 of this Act to support compliance with the require16 ments of this Act; 

17 (6) coordinate with other Federal activities re18 lated to climate resilience, including efforts made by 

19 the National Environmental Justice Advisory Coun20 cil and the White House Environmental Justice Ad21 visory Council; and 

22 (7) evaluate the effectiveness of the national cli23 mate resilience action plan in achieving a climate re24 silient nation through annual assessments and an25 nual reporting to Congress. 


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1 (e) STAFFING.— 

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

3 shall appoint staff to organize the activities of and 

4 provide support for the members of the Climate Re5 silience Equity Advisory Board established under 

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

7 and the Climate Resilience Task Force. 

8 (2) ADDITIONAL EMPLOYEES.—The Director 

9 may hire other employees as needed to exercise and 

10 fulfil the function and purpose of the Office. 

11 SEC. 5. CLIMATE RESILIENCE EQUITY ADVISORY BOARD. 

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

13 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Of14 fice of Climate Resilience shall establish a Climate Resil15 ience Equity Advisory Board (herein after referred to as 

16 the ‘‘Advisory Board’’). 

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

18 shall be to advise and make recommendations to the Office 

19 of Climate Resilience to ensure that the knowledge, experi20 ences, and priorities of frontline communities are incor21 porated into Federal climate resilience efforts. 

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

23 (1) participate in the planning process to de24 velop a national climate resilience action plan, in25 cluding by advising and making recommendations to 


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1 the interagency workgroup, Climate Resilience Task 

2 Force, and labor, worker, and workforce develop3 ment stakeholders to ensure that— 

4 (A) the knowledge, lived experiences, and 

5 priorities of frontline communities are incor6 porated into the strategies, actions, and 

7 projects proposed in the national climate resil8 ience action plan and agency climate resilience 

9 plans; and 

10 (B) climate resilience jobs and training op11 portunities prioritize and are accessible to 

12 frontline communities; 

13 (2) advise and make recommendations to the 

14 Office of Climate Resilience on ongoing climate resil15 ience activities; and 

16 (3) collaborate with, advise, and make rec17 ommendations to the Center for the Climate Resil18 ience Workforce on the activities of such Center. 

19 (d) MEMBERSHIP.— 

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

21 Board shall be representatives of frontline commu22 nities. 

23 (2) APPLICATION PROCESS.—The Director of 

24 the Office shall develop an application process and 


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1 criteria that, at minimum, shall require applicants 

2 for the Advisory Board to provide— 

3 (A) letters of support from 3 individuals 

4 who are members of the community they rep5 resent, highlighting the qualifications and rel6 evant lived, volunteer, or paid work experience 

7 the individual possesses to serve on the Advi8 sory Board; and 

9 (B) demographic information about the 

10 community represented by the individual includ11 ing data on population size, income, race, edu12 cation level, geographic location, and health, cli13 mate, and environmental risks faced. 

14 (3) SIZE OF BOARD.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Advisory Board 

16 shall be comprised of not less than 12 members 

17 that provide diverse and fair representation of 

18 frontline communities. 

19 (B) ADDITIONAL MEMBERS.—The Director 

20 may select additional members representing 

21 frontline communities for the Advisory Board 

22 on an interim or permanent basis. 

23 (4) TERM.— 

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

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


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1 (B) TERM LIMIT.—A member may serve 

2 on the Advisory Board for not more than 2 

3 terms. 

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

5 establish guidelines and a process for providing compensa6 tion to individuals who would otherwise not be able to par7 ticipate or who would experience financial hardship with8 out such compensation. 

9 (f) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND TRANSPARENCY.— 

10 The Board shall make every effort, consistent with appli11 cable law, including section 552 of title 5, United States 

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

13 maximize public participation and transparency, including 

14 making the advice of the Board publicly available in elec15 tronic form, including video streaming, on the website of 

16 the Office. 

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

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

19 apply to the Advisory Committee. 

20 SEC. 6. CENTER FOR THE CLIMATE RESILIENCE WORK21 FORCE. 

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

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

24 shall establish a Center for the Climate Resilience Work25 force. 


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

2 Climate Resilience Workforce shall be to— 

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

4 quality, worker voice, job training and job creation 

5 for the climate resilience workforce; and 

6 (2) disseminate information, conduct research, 

7 and celebrate the contributions of the climate resil8 ience workforce. 

9 (c) STAFFING.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Center shall be com11 prised of staff with sufficient knowledge and exper12 tise to carry out the functions under subsection (d). 

13 (2) CONSULTATION.—The Center shall consult 

14 with Federal agencies as needed to carry out the 

15 functions under subsection (d), including the Envi16 ronmental Protection Agency, the Department of In17 terior, the Department of Agriculture, and the De18 partment of Commerce. 

19 (d) FUNCTIONS.—The Center shall— 

20 (1) define the occupational sectors that pertain 

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

22 such definition as needed based on the latest science 

23 and labor market and worker data, and maintain an 

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


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

2 States Global Change Research Program regarding 

3 key shifts and emerging challenges in social, eco4 nomic and environmental systems due to climate 

5 change to inform the identification of priority sec6 tors, skills and geographies of focus for the climate 

7 resilience workforce; 

8 (3) take into account any research that identi9 fies frontline communities by tracking the nation10 wide geographic distribution of cumulative environ11 mental impacts, pollution hotspots, and vulnerability 

12 to various environmental risks through the Environ13 mental Justice Screen tool of the Environmental 

14 Protection Agency and other Federal environmental 

15 justice mapping efforts to ensure that job creation 

16 and hiring prioritize the communities that are most 

17 likely to face disproportionate risks and impacts of 

18 climate change; 

19 (4) conduct research on the climate resilience 

20 workforce to— 

21 (A) track the growth of the climate resil22 ience workforce; 

23 (B) track labor market trends in the sup24 ply and demand of climate resilience workers by 

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1 ing level, highlighting areas of greatest demand 

2 and supply so as to inform job creation and 

3 training investments; 

4 (C) identify effective strategies in job cre5 ation, training, recruitment, employment and 

6 provision of ongoing support for climate resil7 ience workers; 

8 (D) identify the successes, challenges, op9 portunities and needs of the climate resilience 

10 workforce; and 

11 (E) collect data (through reliance on BLS 

12 statistics and United States Energy and Em13 ployment Report data) on the demographic dis14 tribution of jobs created through the programs 

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

16 by worker demographics; 

17 (5) evaluate— 

18 (A) the effectiveness of the various funding 

19 streams created by this Act in supporting the 

20 growth of a well-equipped, skilled, and demo21 graphically representative climate resilience 

22 workforce; 

23 (B) the current minimum labor standards 

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1 tential regulatory and operational adjustments 

2 to improve those labor standards; 

3 (C) the relative job quality of climate resil4 ience jobs, including wage and benefit levels, 

5 union density, and other relevant metrics; and 

6 (D) the Department of Labor’s role in di7 verse and equitable job creation for the climate 

8 resilience workforce, especially regarding race, 

9 ethnicity and gender for the programs created 

10 or supported through this Act; 

11 (6) highlight and make recommendations to ad12 dress disparities and barriers in— 

13 (A) the hiring, retention or income of 

14 workers from frontline communities and popu15 lations facing barriers to employment; 

16 (B) achieving minimum labor standards 

17 specified in this Act for all climate resilience 

18 workers; 

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

20 climate resilience sector; 

21 (D) barriers to worker voice, whistle22 blowers and collective bargaining in the climate 

23 resilience workforce and means by which to 

24 overcome these barriers using improved enforce25 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 green9 house gas emissions in the sectors producing the 

10 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 

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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 

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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 well-being 

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. 

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 

21 State government emergency management of22 fices. 


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1 SEC. 103. PROCESS AND OUTCOMES FOR DEVELOPMENT OF 

2 NATIONAL CLIMATE RESILIENCE ACTION 

3 PLAN. 

4 (a) PROCESS.— 

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

6 Climate Resilience shall convene the following groups 

7 to engage in the development of a national climate 

8 resilience action plan: 

9 (A) The Interagency Workgroup estab10 lished under section 101 of this Act. 

11 (B) The Climate Resilience Equity Advi12 sory Board established under section 5 of this 

13 Act. 

14 (C) The Climate Resilience Task Force es15 tablished under section 102 of this Act. 

16 (D) Labor, worker, and workforce develop17 ment stakeholders. 

18 (E) The Center for the Climate Resilience 

19 Workforce established under section 6 of this 

20 Act. 

21 (2) SUBGROUPS.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director may con23 vene subgroups of the groups convened under 

24 paragraph (1) to facilitate depth of discussion 

25 and planning related to specific issue areas or 

26 topics. 


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1 (B) REQUIREMENT.—In convening a sub2 group pursuant to subparagraph (A), the Direc3 tor shall ensure that at least 2 members of the 

4 Climate Resilience Equity Advisory Board are 

5 included in such subgroup to ensure that the 

6 knowledge, lived experiences, and priorities of 

7 frontline communities are integrated into deci8 sions around climate resilience strategies. 

9 (C) RECOMMENDATIONS.—In carrying out 

10 functions under a subgroup convened pursuant 

11 to subparagraph (A), the Climate Resilience 

12 Equity Advisory Board may issue recommenda13 tions to any subgroup convened. 

14 (b) OUTCOMES.—The national climate resilience ac15 tion plan developed under this section shall— 

16 (1) detail goals and priority strategies that shall 

17 be taken to achieve a climate resilient nation and in18 clude specific actions, timelines, targets, evaluation 

19 metrics, and stakeholders responsible for implemen20 tation and oversight, including goals, strategies, and 

21 actions that— 

22 (A) encompass the entirety of climate resil23 ience; 


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1 (B) focus on mitigation, preparation, adap2 tation, and disaster recovery and rebuilding ac3 tivities as described in section 7(c) of this Act; 

4 (C) prioritize frontline communities; and 

5 (D) address the underlying and systemic 

6 factors of systemic racism, economic inequity, 

7 and environmental degradation and pollution 

8 that have led to inequitable climate risks and 

9 impacts; 

10 (2) identify current and projected national 

11 workforce needs to carry out the strategies and ac12 tions described in paragraph (1), including— 

13 (A) the existing jobs, skills, and occupa14 tions that pertain to climate resilience work; 

15 (B) the additional number of jobs that 

16 need to be created to carry out such strategies 

17 and actions and the projected cost of such jobs; 

18 (C) emerging skills and occupations that 

19 are needed and new training requirements to 

20 ensure that the United States has a sufficiently 

21 skilled workforce to achieve climate resilience; 

22 (D) strategies to achieve racial and gender 

23 equity in job creation and training, including 

24 strategies to ensure equity and prioritization in 

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1 munities and populations facing barriers to em2 ployment; and 

3 (E) future projections for growth of the 

4 climate resilience workforce, including demand 

5 data by job, skill, and occupation; and 

6 (3) identify regional variation in risks, strate7 gies, and workforce needs. 

8 (c) CONSULTATION OF RESOURCES.—In developing 

9 the national climate resilience action plan under this sec10 tion, the groups convened under subsection (a)(1) may 

11 consult the following resources to inform the identification 

12 of strategies and actions under subsection (b): 

13 (1) Studies and policy guidance drafted by 

14 frontline communities and advocates, including— 

15 (A) the People’s Orientation for a Regen16 erative Economy; 

17 (B) Movement for Black Lives policy guid18 ance; 

19 (C) Gulf South for a Green New Deal pol20 icy platform; 

21 (D) Equitable and Just National Climate 

22 platform; 

23 (E) various platforms of the BlueGreen Al24 liance; 


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1 (F) United States Climate Action Net2 work’s vision for equitable climate action; and 

3 (G) Union of Concerned Scientists climate 

4 resilience framework. 

5 (2) Governmental and intergovernmental data, 

6 reports, studies, and tools, including— 

7 (A) the reports of the Intergovernmental 

8 Panel on Climate Change; 

9 (B) the United States Global Change Re10 search Program’s 4th National Climate Assess11 ment; 

12 (C) the United States Climate Resilience 

13 Toolkit; 

14 (D) Center for Climate and Energy Solu15 tions Resilience Portal; 

16 (E) various platforms of Resilience Force; 

17 and 

18 (F) Bureau of Labor Statistics and United 

19 States Energy and Employment report data, in20 cluding data on gender, race, ethnicity, and 

21 union representation. 

22 (d) CONSULTATION OF STAKEHOLDERS.—In con23 vening the groups under subsection (a)(1) to identify cur24 rent and projected national workforce needs under sub25 section (b)(2)— 


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1 (1) labor, worker, and workforce development 

2 stakeholders shall be consulted to provide input and 

3 recommendations on labor, worker, workforce devel4 opment, and training needs; and 

5 (2) the Climate Equity Advisory Board shall be 

6 consulted to identify the skills and sectors of priority 

7 for frontline communities. 

8 (e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

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

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

11 submit to Congress a progress report on the develop12 ment of a national climate resilience action plan. 

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

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

15 Director shall submit to Congress a copy of the na16 tional climate resilience action plan developed under 

17 this section. 

18 (3) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 

19 1 year after the date of the submission of the na20 tional climate resilience action plan under paragraph 

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

22 Resilience shall submit to Congress a report describ23 ing the progress towards achieving climate resilience 

24 described in such plan. 


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

2 after the date on which the national climate resilience ac3 tion plan is submitted under subsection (e)(1), the groups 

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

5 SEC. 104. FEDERAL AGENCY CLIMATE RESILIENCE ACTION 

6 PLANS. 

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

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

9 agency shall submit to the Director a progress report on 

10 the development of agency-specific climate action plans. 

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

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

13 agency shall develop a climate resilience action plan for 

14 such agency that details the actions that each Federal 

15 agency shall take to support national climate resilience. 

16 (c) CONTENTS.—Each agency climate resilience ac17 tion plan developed under subsection (a) shall— 

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

19 national climate resilience action plan developed 

20 under section 103; 

21 (2) include agency-specific targets and evalua22 tion metrics, in line with the plan’s general goals, 

23 strategies, targets, and evaluation metrics; 

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

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1 ience and any new activities the agency will take to 

2 support climate resilience; 

3 (4) detail how the agency will integrate climate 

4 resilience into current or future agency strategic 

5 plans; 

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

7 entities responsible for such actions, and timelines 

8 for implementation; 

9 (6) be developed in consultation with labor, 

10 worker, and workforce development stakeholders; 

11 (7) ensure that frontline communities are 

12 prioritized in each agency’s efforts towards climate 

13 resilience; 

14 (8) be reviewed by the Climate Resilience Eq15 uity Advisory Board and either incorporate, or pro16 vide justification for excluding, any recommenda17 tions made by the Board; 

18 (9) build on any existing agency climate adap19 tation and sustainability plans; 

20 (10) reflect the definition of climate resilience 

21 under this Act; 

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

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

24 to accomplish its mission and protect the value of its 

25 assets and people; 


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1 (12) include current and projected Federal 

2 workforce needs, including necessary skills and 

3 training, to carry out the actions outlined in the 

4 plan; 

5 (13) highlight limitations in statutory authority, 

6 resource constraints, data gaps, and personnel train7 ing needs that are hindering the agency’s ability to 

8 fully undertake the activities needed to support cli9 mate resilience; 

10 (14) be submitted to the appropriate commit11 tees of jurisdiction within the House of Representa12 tives and Senate not later than 2 years after the 

13 date of enactment of this Act to allow Congress to 

14 act accordingly to— 

15 (A) provide funding and to ensure Federal 

16 agencies, departments, and offices have ade17 quate resources to carry out the activities out18 lined in the agency plan; 

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

20 and support personnel training that are critical 

21 to the Federal Government’s activities to sup22 port climate resilience; 

23 (C) conduct oversight to ensure each agen24 cy is carrying out the plan for such agency; and 


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1 (D) address limitations in statutory au2 thority through legislation; and 

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

4 years. 

5 (d) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE OFFICE OF CLIMATE

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

7 Climate Resilience shall— 

8 (1) not later than 90 days after the date of en9 actment of this Act, develop and issue specific guide10 lines for planning; 

11 (2) compile each plan developed by each Fed12 eral agency under this section into a cohesive Fed13 eral Government climate resilience action plan; 

14 (3) select the agency that has made the great15 est contributions to climate resilience to receive an 

16 annual award, that shall include additional funding 

17 to carry out climate resilience work; and 

18 (4) provide technical assistance, coordination, 

19 and support for agencies in carrying out each agen20 cy’s action plan developed under this section. 

21 (e) CONSULTATION OF RESOURCES.—In developing 

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

23 consult— 

24 (1) the United States Council on Climate Pre25 paredness and Resilience’s 2016 report titled ‘‘OpVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:38 Jan 28, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00051 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6492.IH H6492

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1 portunities to Enhance the Nation’s Resilience to 

2 Climate Change’’; 

3 (2) the 2014 recommendations from the State, 

4 Local, and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate 

5 Preparedness and Resilience; 

6 (3) Executive Order 13514, ‘‘Federal Leader7 ship in Environmental, Energy and Economic Per8 formance’’; 

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

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

11 and 

12 (5) the Climate and Natural Resource Working 

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

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

15 Washington, DC, Council on Climate Preparedness 

16 and Resilience, 2014. 

17 TITLE II—STATE, TRIBAL, 

18 LOCAL, AND COMMUNITY CLI19 MATE RESILIENCE ACTION 

20 PLANNING 

21 SEC. 201. CLIMATE RESILIENCE PLANNING GRANTS. 

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

23 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Of24 fice of Climate Resilience shall establish a Climate ResilVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:38 Jan 28, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00052 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6492.IH H6492

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1 ience Planning grant program (hereinafter referred to as 

2 the ‘‘grant program’’). 

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

4 to support States, Tribes, localities, regional groups, non5 profit organizations, and community groups in conducting 

6 climate change risk assessments and developing climate 

7 resilience action plans. 

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

9 for a grant under this section: 

10 (1) State governments. 

11 (2) Tribal governments. 

12 (3) Local governments. 

13 (4) Regional governmental groups. 

14 (5) Nonprofit organizations. 

15 (6) Grassroots community groups that partner 

16 with a fiscal sponsor that is exempt from taxation 

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

18 Code of 1986. 

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

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

21 shall publish a request for applications for a grant under 

22 this section. 

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

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

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


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1 and containing such information as the Director may re2 quire, including, at a minimum— 

3 (1) a certification that such applicant has 

4 formed an advisory board that— 

5 (A) has majority representation from 

6 frontline communities; 

7 (B) has at least 1 individual who possesses 

8 scientific knowledge or experience in conducting 

9 risk assessments pertaining to climate change; 

10 (C) has labor, worker, and workforce devel11 opment stakeholders, including at least 1 rep12 resentative of a labor union and 1 individual 

13 representing populations facing barriers to em14 ployment; and 

15 (D) allows advisory board members to re16 ceive compensation for participation on such 

17 board if it is determined that the individual 

18 serving would incur financial hardship or other19 wise be unable to participate without such com20 pensation; 

21 (2) details on the population represented by the 

22 entity, including demographic information on popu23 lation size, income, race, education level, and pri24 mary sectors of employment; 


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1 (3) reasons for seeking grant funding to sup2 port climate resilience planning; 

3 (4) details on advisory board members including 

4 name, organizational affiliation (if applicable), quali5 fications, and letters of support from 3 local commu6 nity-based nonprofit organizations verifying the ac7 curacy of the information presented; 

8 (5) a list of the stakeholders that will be in9 volved in the planning process; 

10 (6) details on how the advisory board will be in11 corporated into the planning process; 

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

13 the planning process and whether an external entity 

14 will be hired to facilitate the planning process; 

15 (8) the expected timeline for how long the plan16 ning process is expected to take; 

17 (9) expected data sources for local employment 

18 and worker data; 

19 (10) a community engagement plan detailing— 

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

21 frontline communities are informed about the 

22 planning process; and 

23 (B) accommodations that will be made to 

24 ensure that such groups have the opportunity to 


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1 participate in the planning process and provide 

2 public comment before the plan is finalized; and 

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

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

5 be prioritized for proposals submitted by entities that rep6 resent frontline communities. 

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

8 section may be used for— 

9 (1) compensation for advisory board members; 

10 (2) facilitation costs; 

11 (3) materials and supplies; 

12 (4) community engagement and outreach ex13 penses; and 

14 (5) compensation for technical assistance or 

15 support. 

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

17 shall be for a period of 2 years, unless the Director ex18 tends such period. 

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

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

21 section shall be 100 percent. 

22 (j) RESOURCE CONSULTATION.—Entities receiving a 

23 grant under this section may consult with the resources 

24 described in section 103(c) of this Act to carry out plan25 ning efforts under this section. 


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1 (k) PLANNING REQUIREMENTS.—Entities shall en2 sure that plans meet the following requirements: 

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

4 create new, or alter current climate related risks, 

5 and how such risks are distributed within and across 

6 natural ecosystems and human communities, includ7 ing— 

8 (A) with respect to human communities, 

9 risks should be assessed by geography, race, 

10 ethnicity, socioeconomic status, health and 

11 other demographic and social factors; and 

12 (B) with respect to natural ecosystems, 

13 risks should be assessed by geography, species 

14 and ecosystem services. 

15 (2) Identify natural species, ecosystem services 

16 and human populations that face disproportionate 

17 risks and impacts of climate change, including— 

18 (A) with respect to human populations, 

19 identifying risks due to historic and ongoing 

20 systemic racism, economic inequity, and envi21 ronmental degradation and pollution; and 

22 (B) with respect to natural species and 

23 ecosystem services, identifying risks due to envi24 ronmental degradation, pollution and other an25 thropogenic impacts. 


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1 (3) Identify goals and priority strategies, spe2 cific actions, targets, timelines, and evaluation 

3 metrics to achieve a climate resilient community that 

4 shall— 

5 (A) encompass the full definition of climate 

6 resilience to include strategies pertaining to 

7 mitigation, preparation and adaptation, and 

8 disaster preparedness, recovery, and rebuilding; 

9 (B) prioritize frontline communities; 

10 (C) address the underlying and systemic 

11 factors of systemic racism, economic inequity, 

12 and environmental degradation and pollution 

13 that have led to inequitable climate risks and 

14 impacts; and 

15 (D) align with the goals, strategies, ac16 tions, targets and evaluation metrics detailed in 

17 the National Climate Resilience Action plan, if 

18 available. 

19 (4) Identify stakeholders responsible for imple20 mentation and oversight. 

21 (5) Government entities must involve every rel22 evant agency or office in the planning process and 

23 detail the actions each agency or office will take as 

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

25 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, Tribe, locality, regional 

10 group, nonprofit organization, labor organiza11 tion and labor-management organization, or 

12 community group; and 

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; and 

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; 

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; and 

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 17:38 Jan 28, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00077 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6492.IH H6492

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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; and 

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 shall re2 ceive funds under this Act unless employees 

3 who perform or will perform work funded under 

4 this Act (including employees of an entity with 

5 which the employer contracts for the perform6 ance of work funded under this Act) are rep7 resented for purposes of collective bargaining by 

8 a labor organization. 

9 (B) EXCEPTION.—The restriction under 

10 subparagraph (A) shall not apply if— 

11 (i) the employer certifies that such 

12 employees are covered by a labor harmony 

13 agreement or that no labor organization 

14 represents or has expressed interest in rep15 resenting such employees; 

16 (ii) no employee has expressed interest 

17 in representation by a labor organization; 

18 (iii) the Department of Labor pub19 lishes the certification required under 

20 clause (i); and 

21 (iv) after a reasonable period of not 

22 less than 90 days following the publication 

23 under clause (ii), no labor organization dis24 putes the certification and the employer 

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1 ered by a labor harmony agreement or that 

2 no labor organization represents or has ex3 pressed interest in representing such em4 ployees for the purposes of collective bar5 gaining. 

6 (C) RESTRICTION.—No such employee 

7 may be compelled to become a member of a 

8 labor organization as a condition of employ9 ment. 

10 (D) FUNDING RESTRICTION.—The restric11 tion under subparagraph (A) shall be both a 

12 prerequisite to receiving funds and an ongoing 

13 condition of receiving funds, except in cases in 

14 which a majority of such employees vote pursu15 ant to section 9 of the National Labor Rela16 tions Act (29 U.S.C. 159) to decertify an in17 cumbent labor organization representative dur18 ing the course of funded work. 

19 (E) LABOR HARMONY AGREEMENT DE20 FINED.—In this paragraph, the term ‘‘labor 

21 harmony agreement’’ means a written agree22 ment between an employer and a labor organi23 zation representing, or seeking to represent, 

24 employees that contains, at a minimum, a pro25 vision prohibiting the labor organization and its 


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1 members from engaging in any work stoppage 

2 or other economic interference with the employ3 er’s funded operations for the duration of the 

4 funded work. 

5 (b) FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT ESTABLISHED UNDER

6 THIS ACT.—Any Federal Government position established 

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

8 and classified under the General Schedule at a level not 

9 less than step 1 of GS–04. 

10 (c) WORKERS HIRED THROUGH OTHER FEDERAL

11 FUNDING STREAMS.—Entities hiring workers via the Fed12 eral funding streams noted in section 402(c)(1) may be 

13 eligible to apply for the Good Climate Resilience Jobs 

14 Grant program if they agree to adhere to the minimum 

15 labor standards outlined in this section. 

16 (d) NATIONAL EMERGENCIES.—Eligible entities shall 

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

18 title even in case of natural disaster or other national 

19 emergency. Suspensions of worker protections including 

20 but not limited to suspensions of section 1 of the Davis21 Bacon Act of March 3, 1931 (46 Stat. 1494, as amended, 

22 40 U.S.C. 3147) shall not constitute permissible cir23 cumstances for failure by eligible entities to comply with 

24 this title. 


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

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

3 requirements of section 22.1803 of title 48, Code of Fed4 eral Regulations, shall not apply. 

5 SEC. 402. GOOD CLIMATE RESILIENCE JOBS GRANT PRO6 GRAM. 

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

8 the enactment of this Act, the Department of Labor Sec9 retary shall establish a Good Climate Resilience Jobs 

10 Grant program. 

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

12 to incentivize entities receiving Federal funds from exist13 ing Federal programs that fund climate disaster recovery 

14 and rebuilding activities to adhere to the minimum labor 

15 standards outlined in section 401 in employing workers 

16 hired using Federal funds. 

17 (c) ELIGIBILITY.— 

18 (1) Entities receiving Federal funds from the 

19 following programs are eligible to apply for the Good 

20 Climate Resilience Jobs Grant program: 

21 (A) Community Development Block Grant 

22 of the Department of Housing and Urban De23 velopment, including but not limited to amounts 

24 appropriated for disaster relief. 

25 (B) National Flood Insurance Program. 


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1 (C) Federal Highway Emergency Funds. 

2 (D) United States Army Corps of Engi3 neers Disaster Relief Funds. 

4 (E) The Infrastructure and Communities 

5 Grant Program of the Federal Emergency Man6 agement Administration. 

7 (F) The Coastal Resilience Grant Program 

8 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad9 ministration. 

10 (2) Entities that attest that they are applying 

11 for or currently receiving Federal funds through the 

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

13 eligible for a matching grant of up to the full 

14 amount received through the programs named in 

15 subsection (c)(1). 

16 (3) Entities must be wiling to submit to De17 partment of Labor any information requested to 

18 verify that the entity is complying with the minimum 

19 labor standards outlined in section 401 of this Act. 

20 (4) Entities may use matching funds for the 

21 following purposes: 

22 (A) Payment of the non-Federal share re23 quired in connection with a Federal grant-in-aid 

24 program undertaken as part of the programs 

25 listed in subsection (c)(1). 


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1 (B) Payment of the premium for the Na2 tional Flood Insurance Program. 

3 (C) For the projects for which entities 

4 have received funding through the grant pro5 grams named in subsection (c)(1). 

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

7 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and 

8 Urban Development, Federal Emergency Management 

9 Administrator, Secretary of Department of Transpor10 tation, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and At11 mospheric Administration, and Director of the United 

12 States Army Corps must amend the application processes 

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

14 include information about the Good Climate Resilience 

15 Jobs Grant program. Existing applicants and recipients 

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

17 of the grant program and given the opportunity to apply 

18 with 60 days of notification. 

19 (e) GRANT PROCESS, COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCE20 MENT.— 

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

22 Secretary shall establish processes for reviewing 

23 grant applications, notifying applicants of award de24 cisions, administering grant funds, verifying compli25 ance with the minimum labor standards outlined in 


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1 section 401 of this Act, and penalties for noncompli2 ance. 

3 (2) MAINTENANCE OF RECORDS.—The Admin4 istrator of the Federal Emergency Management 

5 Agency shall direct companies participating in the 

6 Write Your Own Program to maintain records per7 taining to the labor standards outlined in section 

8 401 of this Act for all workers hired using National 

9 Flood Insurance Program funds. 

10 SEC. 403. CLIMATE RESILIENCE WORKERS COMMISSION. 

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

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

13 Department of Labor shall establish a Climate Resilience 

14 Workers Commission within the Office of the Secretary. 

15 (b) AUTHORITY.—The Commission shall be author16 ized to— 

17 (1) identify whistleblower procedures that will 

18 most effectively allow climate resilience workers to 

19 identify violations of Federal, State, and local labor 

20 and employment laws, and to report those violations 

21 and seek investigation, redress and compensation 

22 without suffering retaliation; 

23 (2) identify, recommend and implement a prac24 tice by which to provide warnings to entities in viola25 tion of minimum labor standards and workers’ 


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

2 entities that violate standards and rights, and make 

3 recommendations on penalties and transfer of grant 

4 funding, jobs, and workers funded through non5 compliant entities to other eligible entities without 

6 any job loss for climate resilience workers; 

7 (3) collaborate with divisions and offices within 

8 the Department of Labor to identify ways by which 

9 to promote, enforce, improve, and expand applicable 

10 worker protections; 

11 (4) make recommendations on regulations and 

12 subregulatory guidances; 

13 (5) convene climate resilience stakeholders for 

14 meetings and forums, including the Climate Resil15 ience Worker Safety Committee program described 

16 in section 601(d)(2); 

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

18 pursue the goals and standards of this Act; and 

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

20 under the authority of the Department of Labor to 

21 pursue the goals of this Act. 

22 (c) COMMISSION MEMBERSHIP.— 

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

24 be appointed by the Secretary. 


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1 (A) MEMBERS.—The Commission shall be 

2 composed of not less than 20 additional individ3 uals, selected by the Chair of the Commission 

4 from nominees proposed pursuant to subpara5 graph (B), as follows: 

6 (i) Not less than 10 members shall be 

7 individuals who are members of frontline 

8 communities. 

9 (ii) Not less than 8 members shall be 

10 individuals who are members of, or advo11 cate on behalf of, or both, populations fac12 ing barriers to employment. 

13 (iii) The Commission shall include a 

14 broad and representative group of labor, 

15 worker and workforce development stake16 holders. 

17 (iv) The Commission shall include 

18 representatives from relevant Federal 

19 agencies including the Department of La20 bor’s Occupational Safety and Health Ad21 ministration and Wage and Hour Division, 

22 the Department of Homeland Security’s 

23 United States Citizenship and Immigration 

24 Services and Federal Emergency Manage25 ment Agency, the Department of Justice, 


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1 and the Equal Employment Opportunity 

2 Commission. 

3 (B) NOMINATION.—Nominees for members 

4 of the Commission shall be proposed by any 

5 grantee or subgrantee under this Act. 

6 (C) REPORT.—Upon selection of members 

7 of the Commission, the Commission shall sub8 mit a report to Congress identifying the mem9 bers selected and demonstration of compliance 

10 with the provisions of this subsection. 

11 (D) TERMS.—Members of the Commission 

12 shall serve terms of 2 years. 

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

14 person not less often than twice each year. 

15 (3) COMPENSATION.—The Secretary shall es16 tablish guidelines and a process for providing com17 pensation to individuals who would otherwise not be 

18 able to participate or who would experience financial 

19 hardship without such compensation. 

20 (4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The agencies 

21 implementing this Act shall construe this Act in a 

22 manner that facilitates and encourage the full par23 ticipation of Commission members and shall consider 

24 the barriers faced by frontline communities and popVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:38 Jan 28, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00093 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6492.IH H6492

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1 ulations facing barriers to employment and shall en2 deavor to overcome such barriers to participation. 

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

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

5 App.) shall not apply with respect to the Commis6 sion. 

7 SEC. 404. WORKERS EMPLOYED USING STAFFORD ACT 

8 FUNDS. 

9 Section 611(j) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re10 lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5196(j)) 

11 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

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

13 employed by contractors or subcontractors who are have 

14 been determined by the Center for the Climate Resilience 

15 Workforce to be performing work within climate resilience 

16 sectors as defined in section 7 of the Climate Resilience 

17 Workforce Act and financed with the assistance of any 

18 contribution of Federal funds made by the Administrator 

19 under this subsection shall have the right of the labor 

20 standards detailed in section 401 of the Climate Resilience 

21 Workforce Act. 

22 ‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) shall apply to workers em23 ployed by contractors or subcontractors who are financed 

24 with the assistance of any contributions of Federal funds 

25 made by the Administrator through PA Grants (42 U.S.C. 


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1 5172), BRIC (42 U.S.C. 5133), or Hazard Mitigation 

2 Grants (42 U.S.C. 5170c), including the Flood Mitigation 

3 Assistance Grant Program (42 U.S.C. 4104c). 

4 ‘‘(C) The application of these labor standards are not 

5 limited to construction workers or mechanics.’’. 

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

7 VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, SEXUAL 

8 ASSAULT, OR STALKING. 

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

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

11 end the following: 

12 ‘‘§ 6329d. Leave for victims of domestic violence, sex13 ual assault, or stalking 

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

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

16 in subsection (b) if the employee or a spouse, family mem17 ber, or household member of the employee is a victim of 

18 domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. 

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

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(1) For the employee to seek legal or law en22 forcement assistance or remedies to ensure the 

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

24 family member or household member including pre25 paring for, or participating in, any civil or criminal 


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1 legal proceeding related to or derived from domestic 

2 violence, sexual assault, or stalking. 

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

4 health care provider for physical or mental injuries 

5 caused by domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalk6 ing, or to attend to health care treatment for a vic7 tim who is the employee’s family member or house8 hold member. 

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

10 family member or household member in obtaining, 

11 services from a domestic violence shelter, rape crisis 

12 center, or other social services program for relief 

13 from domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. 

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

15 family or household member in obtaining, mental 

16 health counseling related to an incident of domestic 

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

18 employee or the employee’s family member or house19 hold member was a victim of domestic violence, sex20 ual assault, or stalking. 

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

22 planning, temporarily or permanently relocate, or 

23 take other actions to increase the safety of the em24 ployee or employee’s family member or household 


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1 member from future domestic violence, sexual as2 sault, or stalking. 

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

4 to subsection (a) shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) accrue one hour for each 40-hour work6 week (or equivalent) and shall accumulate for use in 

7 succeeding years; 

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

9 available for salaries or expenses for positions within 

10 the employing agency; and 

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

12 leave for purposes of section 5551 or 5552 or for 

13 any other purpose. 

14 ‘‘(2) Paid leave accrued or accumulated by an em15 ployee under this section may be transferred to and for 

16 the use of any other employee if such other employee re17 quires additional leave under this section. 

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

19 for a period of three consecutive days or longer, the em20 ploying agency may require that the employee provide cer21 tification supporting the absence, including a written 

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

23 or a written statement by an advocate (including an attor24 ney representing the employee, a member of clergy, a medVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:38 Jan 28, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00097 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6492.IH H6492

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1 ical professional, or an advocate for victims of domestic 

2 violence, sexual assault, or stalking). 

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

4 any information provided by an employee to the employing 

5 agency relating to using leave under this section unless— 

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

7 the disclosure of such information; or 

8 ‘‘(B) the employing agency is ordered to dis9 close such information by a court order or by law. 

10 ‘‘(5) An employee shall not directly or indirectly in11 timidate, threaten, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, 

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

13 of interfering with the exercise of any rights which such 

14 other employee may have under this section. In this para15 graph, the term ‘intimidate, threaten, or coerce’ has the 

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

17 ‘‘(d) In this section— 

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

19 such term in section 2105 and includes— 

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

21 States Postal Service or the Postal Regulatory 

22 Commission; 

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

24 Aviation Authority or the Transportation Secu25 rity Administration; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) notwithstanding subsection (a) of sec2 tion 7421 of title 38, an individual occupying a 

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

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

5 (including an adopted child, a recognized natural 

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

7 grandparent, or grandchild of the employee; 

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

9 former spouse of an employee, a former domestic 

10 partner of an employee, any individual who has a 

11 child in common with the employee (regardless of 

12 whether they have been married or have lived to13 gether at any time), any adult individual related to 

14 the employee by blood or marriage, any individual 

15 16 years of age or older who is residing with the em16 ployee or who has resided with the employee, any in17 dividual who has a biological or legal parent-child re18 lationship with the employee, and any individual 

19 with whom the employee has a dating relationship; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(4) the terms ‘domestic violence’, ‘sexual as22 sault’, and ‘stalking’ have the meaning given those 

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

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


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

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

3 following: 

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

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

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

6 conduct a study focused on jobs within the Federal Prison 

7 Industries. The study shall include— 

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

9 relate to the climate resilience sectors specified in 

10 section 7 of this Act; 

11 (2) rate of pay; 

12 (3) hours worked; 

13 (4) worker concerns and issues; and 

14 (5) work-related injuries and illnesses. 

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

16 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

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

18 the relevant congressional committees, at minimum the 

19 Education and Labor and Judiciary committees. 

20 TITLE V—REMOVING BARRIERS 

21 TO EMPLOYMENT 

22 SEC. 501. IMMIGRATION BARRIERS. 

23 (a) TEMPORARY RELIEF FROM REMOVAL.—Notwith24 standing any other provision of law, an alien seeking em25 ployment or training in the climate resilience sector is eliVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:38 Jan 28, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00100 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6492.IH H6492

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1 gible for status under this section. An alien with status 

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

3 of Homeland Security shall provide such alien with em4 ployment authorization. Such status shall be valid for a 

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

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

7 submits an affidavit of interest in employment or training 

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

9 this Act, and thereafter submits further evidence to that 

10 effect, including registration for relevant training courses 

11 or applications for such employment. 

12 (b) CERTIFIED CLIMATE RESILIENCE WORKER STA13 TUS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

15 provision of law, the Secretary of Homeland Security 

16 may accord an alien status as a Certified Climate 

17 Resilience Worker (hereinafter in this section re18 ferred to as ‘‘CRW status’’) if that alien has been 

19 present in the United States (without regard to the 

20 immigration status of that alien during such pres21 ence) for not less than 1 year and— 

22 (A) is an alien who has— 

23 (i) been employed in a climate resil24 ience sector for at least 90 days in the past 


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1 year (including any employment while in2 carcerated); 

3 (ii) completed a workforce training 

4 program in a climate resilience sector; or 

5 (iii) been enrolled in a workforce 

6 training program in a climate resilience 

7 sector for at least 90 days in the past year 

8 (including any training while in detention); 

9 or 

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

11 parent of an alien described in subparagraph 

12 (A). 

13 (2) CONVERSION FROM TEMPORARY STATUS.— 

14 An alien with temporary status under subsection (a) 

15 may convert such status to CRW status, and the 

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

17 shall also be accorded CRW status. 

18 (3) EVIDENTIARY REQUIREMENT.—An alien 

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

20 submit a petition for CRW status, which shall in21 clude the following: 

22 (A) Proof of presence in the United States 

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

24 the date of application. 


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

2 under paragraph (1)(A), at least one of the fol3 lowing: 

4 (i) Employer certification of employ5 ment in a climate resilience sector. 

6 (ii) Employment records of such em7 ployment. 

8 (iii) Union dues records in the course 

9 of such employment. 

10 (iv) Certification of completion in a 

11 workforce training program. 

12 (v) Proof of continuous enrollment in 

13 a workforce training program. 

14 (vi) In the case that none of clauses 

15 (i) through (v) are possible, a self-attesta16 tion of work experience that includes an 

17 affidavit from fellow employees. 

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

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

20 as alleged under such paragraph. 

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

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

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

24 10 years. 


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1 (5) EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES.—The Sec2 retary may waive any requirement under paragraph 

3 (1)(A) in any case of extenuating circumstances, in4 cluding disability, pregnancy, or care of a dependent. 

5 (c) ADJUSTMENT TO LAWFUL PERMANENT RESI6 DENCE.— 

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

8 may adjust to status to that of an alien lawfully ad9 mitted for permanent residence beginning not earlier 

10 than 18 months after receiving CRW status, except 

11 that the time period may be include any time spent 

12 in temporary status. 

13 (2) WAIVERS OF INADMISSIBILITY.—Notwith14 standing any other provision of law and for purposes 

15 of this section, the Secretary of Homeland Security 

16 or the Attorney General may waive the operation of 

17 any one or more grounds of inadmissibility set forth 

18 in section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality 

19 Act for humanitarian purposes, to assure family 

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

21 (3) WAIVERS OF DEPORTABILITY.—Notwith22 standing any other provision of law and for purposes 

23 of this section, the Secretary of Homeland Security 

24 or the Attorney General may waive the operation of 

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1 tion 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act for 

2 humanitarian purposes, to assure family unity, or 

3 when it is otherwise in the public interest. 

4 (d) NATURALIZATION.— 

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

6 permanent resident may file an application for natu7 ralization under this subsection. 

8 (2) EXCEPTIONS TO GENERAL RULES OF NATU9 RALIZATION.—Such person shall comply in all other 

10 respects with the requirements of title III of the Im11 migration and Nationality Act, except that such per12 son may be naturalized not earlier than 3 years after 

13 the date that person becomes a lawful permanent 

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

15 is married to a United States national. 

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

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

18 criminally or civilly liable under any provision of Federal 

19 law or State law for any unlawful employment of the per20 son whose employment is so certified. 

21 (f) REMOVAL OF CITIZENSHIP REQUIREMENT FOR

22 CERTAIN EMPLOYMENT.—Nothing in section 303 or sec23 tion 622 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

24 Emergency Assistance Act may be construed to authorize 


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1 any prohibition on employment of any person who is other2 wise authorized for employment in the United States. 

3 (g) ACCESS TO SERVICES.—Notwithstanding any 

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

5 under subsection (a) shall be considered lawfully present 

6 in the United States for all purposes. Notwithstanding any 

7 other provision of law, individuals with CRW status or sta8 tus under subsection (a) shall be considered lawfully 

9 present for purposes of eligibility for Federal health care 

10 programs (as defined in section 1128B(f) of the Social Se11 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a–7b(f))). 

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

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

14 Immigration and Nationality Act. 

15 SEC. 502. CRIMINAL JUSTICE BARRIERS. 

16 (a) BAN THE BOX.— 

17 (1) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.— 

18 (A) PRE-OFFER.—Application for appoint19 ment in the civil service in any position that 

20 would be considered to be employment in a cli21 mate resilience sector if such position was with 

22 a private employer shall be subject to the provi23 sions of section 9202 of title 5, United States 

24 Code. 


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

2 appointment in the civil service has been made 

3 to an applicant, any record of conviction of such 

4 applicant may not be taken into account there5 after for purposes of such an appointment, ex6 cept as provided in subparagraph (C). 

7 (C) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph does not 

8 apply to the extent— 

9 (i) a record of conviction was entered 

10 not earlier than 5 years prior to the date 

11 of application; and 

12 (ii) the offense for which such record 

13 of conviction was entered would have a 

14 specific and particularized effect on the 

15 ability of the person to discharge the du16 ties of the position. 

17 (D) PROCEDURAL PROTECTIONS FOR POST

18 OFFER.—In the case of an applicant whose 

19 offer is revoked pursuant to a determination 

20 that the exception set forth in subparagraph 

21 (C) applies the following shall apply: 

22 (i) The appointing authority shall pro23 vide the applicant a written copy of any 

24 background report, and shall identify each 

25 item in the report that the authority has 


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1 determined pertains to the ability of the 

2 applicant to discharge the duties of the po3 sition sought, and a written justification of 

4 that determination. 

5 (ii) For a period of 60 days beginning 

6 on the date of the receipt of the materials 

7 under clause (i), an applicant may submit 

8 a written disputation of the accuracy of 

9 the criminal record and provide mitigating 

10 evidence or evidence of rehabilitation. 

11 (iii) If, after reviewing the submission 

12 under clause (ii), the authority determines 

13 that the record disqualifies the applicant, 

14 the authority shall send a letter notifying 

15 the applicant of that determination, and 

16 explaining the reasons for that determina17 tion. 

18 (2) FEDERAL CONTRACTORS.—Section 4714 of 

19 title 41, United States Code, is amended— 

20 (A) in subsection (a)(1)— 

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

22 ‘‘and’’; 

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

24 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

25 and’’; and 


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1 (iii) by inserting after subparagraph 

2 (B) the following: 

3 ‘‘(C) shall require, as a condition of receiv4 ing a Federal contract for work in a climate re5 silience sector (as such term is defined section 

6 7 of the Climate Resilience Workforce Act) and 

7 receiving payments under such contract that 

8 the contractor comply with the requirements of 

9 subsection (d).’’; 

10 (B) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub11 section (e); and 

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

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(d) CLIMATE RESILIENCE WORKERS.—The require15 ments under this subsection are as follows: 

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

17 into the criminal history of an applicant prior to 

18 making a determination to make a conditional offer. 

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

20 to revoke a conditional offer to an applicant because 

21 of that applicant’s criminal record, the contractor 

22 shall submit a written justification of each such deci23 sion to the contractor monitor on a quarterly basis. 


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1 ‘‘(3) The contractor may not subsequently re2 voke the conditional offer solely on the basis of a 

3 conviction— 

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

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

6 have a specific and particularized effect on the 

7 ability of the applicant to discharge the duties 

8 of the position. 

9 ‘‘(4) Before a final decision on whether to ex10 tend an offer of employment, the contractor shall 

11 provide the applicant a written copy of any back12 ground report, and shall identify each item in the re13 port that the contractor has determined pertains to 

14 the ability of the applicant to discharge the duties 

15 of the position sought, and a written justification of 

16 that determination. 

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

18 date of the receipt of the materials under paragraph 

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

20 written disputation of the accuracy of the criminal 

21 record and provide mitigating evidence or evidence 

22 of rehabilitation. Such submission may also include 

23 any relevant legal or other information 

24 contextualizing or characterizing such criminal 

25 record. 


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

2 paragraph (5), the contractor determines that the 

3 record disqualifies the applicant, the employer shall 

4 send a letter notifying the applicant of that deter5 mination, and explaining the reasons for that deter6 mination.’’. 

7 (b) TANF ASSISTANCE AND SNAP BENEFITS.— 

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

9 115 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Oppor10 tunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (21 U.S.C. 862a) 

11 is repealed. 

12 (2) EFFECT ON STATE ELECTIONS TO OPT OUT

13 OR LIMIT PERIOD OF PROHIBITION.— 

14 (A) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

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

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

17 Personal Responsibility and Work Oppor18 tunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (21 

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

20 before the date of enactment of this Act); 

21 and 

22 (ii) the term ‘‘TANF assistance or 

23 SNAP benefits’’ means assistance or bene24 fits referred to in section 115(a) of the 

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1 tunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (as in ef2 fect on the day before the date of enact3 ment of this Act). 

4 (B) EFFECT ON STATE POLICIES.—Any 

5 law enacted by a State under the authority 

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

7 (d)(1) of section 115 of the Personal Responsi8 bility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act 

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

10 policy, or regulation that imposes conditions on 

11 eligibility for the supplemental nutrition assist12 ance program and temporary assistance for 

13 needy families program based on an individual’s 

14 conviction of an offense related to a controlled 

15 substance, shall have no force or effect. 

16 (c) MODIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF HOUSEHOLD

17 FOR THE PURPOSE OF DETERMINING SNAP BENE18 FITS.—Section 3(m)(5) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 

19 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012(m)(5)) is amended by adding at the 

20 end the following: 

21 ‘‘(H) Incarcerated individuals who are 

22 scheduled to be released from an institution 

23 within 30 days.’’. 


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1 SEC. 503. DRUG TESTING BARRIERS. 

2 Any person employed in a climate resilience sector 

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

4 State wherein recreational use of marihuana (as such term 

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

6 not be disqualified from participation in any job training 

7 program under this Act or terminated from any covered 

8 employment on the basis of a federally mandated drug test 

9 that is more stringent than any drug test that is in place 

10 in the locality or State, or used by the union of such em11 ployee. 

12 SEC. 504. TASKFORCE ON WORKER INCLUSION. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a 

14 Taskforce on Worker Inclusion (hereinafter in this section 

15 referred to as the ‘‘Taskforce’’) within the Climate Resil16 ience Workers Commission established under section 403 

17 of this Act, which shall be responsible for establishing pro18 grams and best practices to support workers who tradi19 tionally face barriers to employment. 

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

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

22 Workers Commission shall appoint a chair to head the 

23 Taskforce. 

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

25 of individuals appointed by the chair not later than 90 


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1 days after the appointment of the chair under subsection 

2 (b), as follows: 

3 (1) Not less than one representative of the De4 partment of Labor. 

5 (2) Not less than one representative of the De6 partment of Homeland Security. 

7 (3) Not less than one representative of the De8 partment of Justice. 

9 (4) Not less than one representative of the 

10 Legal Services Corporation. 

11 (5) Not less than one expert on immigration 

12 policy. 

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

14 policy. 

15 (7) Not less than one formerly incarcerated in16 dividual. 

17 (8) Not less than one individual who formerly 

18 was present in the United States without status 

19 under the immigration laws. 

20 (9) Not less than one representative of employ21 ers in climate resilience sectors. 

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

23 Taskforce, the chair may appoint a replacement member. 

24 (e) PROGRAMS.—The programs referred to in sub25 section (a) shall include— 


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1 (1) providing grants to the Legal Service Cor2 poration to provide assistance, including legal assist3 ance or payment of fees or fines, to workers in the 

4 climate resilience sector in— 

5 (A) applying for status as a Certified Cli6 mate Resilience Worker under section 501 and 

7 further adjusting their status to pursue citizen8 ship; 

9 (B) seeking restoration of rights including 

10 expungements, dismissals, record sealing, fee 

11 waivers, certificates of rehabilitation, diversion 

12 programs, and pardons; and 

13 (C) seeking licensure in a field that has 

14 barriers for immigrants or workers with crimi15 nal history records. 

16 (2) conducting education and outreach, in mul17 tiple languages, on status as a Certified Climate Re18 silience Worker under section 501 and hiring oppor19 tunities for foreign-born workers, formerly incarcer20 ated workers, and workers with criminal history 

21 records, and other benefits; and 

22 (3) establishing training and best practices for 

23 the hiring, recruitment, and retention of foreign24 born workers, formerly incarcerated workers, and 

25 workers with criminal history records. 


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

2 Taskforce shall by rule establish procedures under which 

3 a worker in a climate resilience sector may apply for reim4 bursement for the payment of any fine or fee associated 

5 with— 

6 (1) applying for status as a Certified Climate 

7 Resilience Worker under section 501 and further ad8 justing their status to pursue citizenship; 

9 (2) seeking restoration of rights including 

10 expungements, dismissals, record sealing, fee waiv11 ers, certificates of rehabilitation, diversion programs, 

12 and pardons; and 

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

14 for immigrants or workers with criminal history 

15 records. 

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

17 fund, to be known as the Climate Resilience Workforce 

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

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

20 fiscal year limitation, for purposes of carrying out this sec21 tion, including reimbursement under subsection (f). 


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1 TITLE VI—PROVISIONS RELATED 

2 TO CLIMATE RESILIENCE 

3 WORKERS INVOLVED IN DIS4 ASTER RECOVERY AND RE5 BUILDING 

6 SEC. 601. SUPPORTS FOR DISASTER RECOVERY WORKERS. 

7 (a) GRANTS FOR DISASTER RECOVERY AND RE8 BUILDING TRAINING AND HIRING HALLS.— 

9 (1) TRAINING.—Entities receiving grants in 

10 section 302 to support the training of disaster recov11 ery and rebuilding workers must ensure that such 

12 training includes the following components, as the 

13 Secretary determines relevant to such workers: 

14 (A) Ten-hour training provided by the Oc15 cupational Safety and Health Administration. 

16 (B) Basic health and safety training on 

17 mold exposure, lead paint, asbestos and heat 

18 exposure. 

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

20 American Red Cross model. 

21 (D) Training with respect to preservation 

22 of mental health, including self-care. 

23 (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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