I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2328

To establish a Public Lands Corps, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 27, 1993

Mr. VENTO (for himself, Mr. MILLER of California, and Mr. WILLIAMS) introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the Committees on

Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Education and Labor

A BILL

To establish a Public Lands Corps, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Lands Corps

5 Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

8 (1) conserving or developing natural and cul9 tural resources and enhancing and maintaining envi10 ronmentally important lands and waters through the

11 use of the Nation’s young men and women in a Pub-
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1 lic Lands Corps can benefit those men and women

2 by providing them with education and work opportu3 nities, furthering their understanding and apprecia4 tion of the natural and cultural resources, and pro5 viding a means to pay for higher education or to

6 repay indebtedness they have incurred to obtain

7 higher education while at the same time benefiting

8 the Nation’s economy and its environment;

9 (2) many facilities and natural resources lo10 cated on public lands and on Indian reservations are

11 in disrepair or degraded and in need of labor inten12 sive rehabilitation, restoration, and enhancement

13 work which cannot be carried out by Federal agen14 cies at existing personnel levels; and.

15 (3) youth conservation corps have established a

16 good record of restoring and maintaining these kinds

17 of facilities and resources in a cost effective and effi18 cient manner, especially when they have worked in

19 partnership arrangements with government land

20 management agencies.

21 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to—

22 (1) perform, in a cost-effective manner, con23 servation, rehabilitation, restoration, and improve24 ment work on public lands and Indian lands where

25 that work will not be performed by existing employ-
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1 ees, and to assist government and tribal land man2 aging agencies in performing research and public

3 education tasks associated with natural and cultural

4 resources on public lands;

5 (2) expose young men and women to public

6 service while furthering their understanding and ap7 preciation of the nation’s natural and cultural re8 sources;

9 (3) expand educational opportunity by reward10 ing individuals who participate in national service

11 with an increased ability to pursue higher education

12 or job training; and

13 (4) stimulate interest among the nation’s young

14 men and women in conservation careers by exposing

15 them to conservation professionals in land managing

16 agencies.

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

18 For purposes of this Act:

19 (1) The term ‘‘Corps’’ means the Public Lands

20 Corps established under section 4.

21 (2) The term ‘‘public lands’’ means any lands

22 or waters (or interest therein) owned or adminis23 tered by the United States other than Indian lands.

24 (3) The term ‘‘qualified youth or conservation

25 corps’’ means any program established by a State or
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1 local government, by the governing body of any

2 Indian tribe, or by a nonprofit organization that—

3 (A) is capable of offering meaningful, full4 time, productive work for individuals between

5 16 and 25 years of age in a natural or cultural

6 resource setting;

7 (B) gives participants a mix of work expe8 rience, basic and life skills, education, training,

9 and support services; and

10 (C) provides participants with the oppor11 tunity to develop citizenship values and skills

12 through service to their community and the

13 United States.

14 (4) The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ means any Indian

15 tribe, band, nation, or other group which is recog16 nized as an Indian tribe by the Secretary of the In17 terior. Such term also includes any Native village

18 corporation, regional corporation, and Native group

19 established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims

20 Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.).

21 (5) The term ‘‘Indian’’ means a person who is

22 a member of an Indian tribe.

23 (6) The term ‘‘Indian lands’’ means any real

24 property owned by an Indian tribe, any real property

25 held in trust by the United States for Indian tribes,
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1 and any real property held by Indian tribes which is

2 subject to restrictions on alienation imposed by the

3 United States.

4 (7) The term ‘‘State’’ means any State of the

5 United States, the District of Columbia, the Com6 monwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Is7 lands, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of

8 the Northern Mariana Islands.

9 (8) The term ‘‘conservation, restoration, or re10 habilitation project’’ means any project for the con11 servation, restoration, or rehabilitation of natural,

12 cultural, historic, archaeological, recreational, or

13 scenic resources.

14 SEC. 4. PUBLIC LANDS CORPS PROGRAM.

15 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PUBLIC LANDS CORPS.—

16 There is hereby established in the Department of the Inte17 rior and the Department of Agriculture a Public Lands

18 Corps. The Corps shall consist of young men and women

19 between the ages of 16 and 25 who are enrolled in the

20 Corps by the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary

21 of Agriculture under this Act. Persons enrolled in the

22 Corps shall be citizens or permanent residents of the Unit23 ed States, or of any territory or possession of the United

24 States or of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico who have

25 received a high school diploma or its equivalent or who
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1 agree to obtain a high school diploma or its equivalent and

2 who did not drop out of an elementary or secondary school

3 to enroll in the program. Such persons shall be enrolled

4 in the Corps without regard to the civil service and classi5 fication laws, rules, or regulations of the United States.

6 (b) QUALIFIED YOUTH OR CONSERVATION CORPS.—

7 The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agri8 culture are authorized to enter into contracts and coopera9 tive agreements with any qualified youth or conservation

10 corps to perform projects referred to in subsection (c).

11 (c) PROJECTS TO BE CARRIED OUT.—The Secretary

12 of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture may each

13 utilize the Public Lands Corps or any qualified youth or

14 conservation corps to carry out any conservation, restora15 tion, or rehabilitation project which such Secretary is au16 thorized to carry out under other authority of law on pub17 lic lands or Indian lands.

18 (d) PREFERENCE FOR CERTAIN PROJECTS.—In se19 lecting projects to be carried out under this Act, a pref20 erence shall be provided for those projects which—

21 (1) will provide long-term benefits to the public;

22 (2) will instill in the enrollee involved a work

23 ethic and a sense of public service;

24 (3) will be labor intensive;

25 (4) can be planned and initiated promptly; and
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1 (5) will provide academic, experiential, and en2 vironmental education opportunities.

3 (e) CONSISTENCY.—All projects carried out under

4 this Act on any public lands or Indian lands shall be con5 sistent with the provisions of law and policies relating to

6 the management and administration of such lands, with

7 all other applicable provisions of law, and with all manage8 ment, operational, and other plans and documents which

9 govern the administration of the area.

10 (f) CONSERVATION CENTERS.—The Secretary of the

11 Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture are each author12 ized to provide such quarters, board, medical care, trans13 portation, and other services, facilities, supplies, and

14 equipment as such Secretary deems necessary in connec15 tion with the programs carried out under this section and

16 to establish and use conservation centers owned and oper17 ated by such Secretary for purposes of such programs.

18 Each such Secretary may make arrangements with the

19 Secretary of Defense to have logistical support provided

20 by a military installation near any conservation center,

21 where feasible, including the provision of temporary tent

22 shelters where needed, transportation, and residential su23 pervision. Such Secretaries shall establish basic standards

24 of health, nutrition, sanitation, and safety for all conserva25 tion centers and shall assure that such standards are en-
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1 forced. Where necessary or appropriate, such Secretaries

2 may enter into contracts and other appropriate arrange3 ments with State and local government agencies and pri4 vate organizations for the management of such conserva5 tion centers.

6 SEC. 5. RESOURCE ASSISTANTS.

7 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of the Interior

8 and the Secretary of Agriculture are each authorized to

9 provide for the placement of qualified college students or

10 recent college graduates in any Federal land managing

11 agency under the jurisdiction of such Secretary as re12 source assistants to carry out such research or other tech13 nical functions on behalf of such agency as such Secretary

14 deems appropriate. Such persons shall be placed in the

15 agency without regard to the civil service and classification

16 laws, rules, or regulations of the United States. Resource

17 assistants participating in the program established under

18 this section shall be recruited from colleges and univer19 sities throughout the United States, with particular atten20 tion given to ensure full representation of women and par21 ticipants from historically black, Hispanic, and Native

22 American schools.

23 (b) PURPOSES.—The dual purposes of the Resource

24 Assistant Program established under this section are to—
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1 (1) augment the work force of the Federal land

2 managing agencies through more extensive use of

3 college students and recent college graduates, and

4 (2) to enhance the college student or college

5 graduate’s exposure to the conservation agency work

6 place as a potential career.

7 (c) EXISTING NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS.—When8 ever 1 or more existing nonprofit organizations can, in the

9 judgment of the agency, provide an appropriate level and

10 quality of program to fulfill the requirements of this sec11 tion, the agency is authorized and directed to implement

12 this section through such existing organizations.

13 (d) PRIVATE SOURCES OF FUNDING.—Participating

14 nonprofit organizations shall contribute to the expenses of

15 providing and supporting the interns, through private

16 sources of funding, at a level equal to 25 percent of the

17 total costs of each participant in the Resource Assistant

18 program who has been recruited and placed through that

19 organization. Any such participating nonprofit conserva20 tion service organization shall be required, by the respec21 tive land managing agency, to submit an annual report

22 evaluating the scope, size, and quality of the program, in23 cluding the value of work contributed by the Resource

24 Assistants, to the mission of the agency.
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1 SEC. 6. LIVING ALLOWANCES AND TERMS OF SERVICE FOR

2 PARTICIPANTS.

3 (a) LIVING ALLOWANCES.—The Secretary of the In4 terior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall provide each

5 participant in the Public Lands Corps and each Resource

6 Assistant participating in the program established under

7 section 5 a living allowance which shall not exceed the

8 maximum living allowance established for participants in

9 the national service program established under title I of

10 the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42

11 U.S.C. 12571 et seq.)

12 (b) TERMS OF SERVICE.—Each participant in the

13 Public Lands Corps and each Resource Assistant partici14 pating in the program established under section 5 shall

15 agree to participate in such program for a term of service

16 established by the Secretary of the Interior or the Sec17 retary of Agriculture, as the case may be, consistent with

18 the terms of service required in the case of participants

19 in the national service program established under the Na20 tional and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C.

21 12571 et seq.)

22 SEC. 7. EDUCATIONAL BENEFITS OR AWARDS FOR PARTICI23 PANTS.

24 (a) EDUCATIONAL BENEFITS AND AWARDS.—Each

25 participant in the Public Lands Corps and each Resource

26 Assistant participating in the program established under
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1 section 5 shall be eligible for national service awards under

2 title I of the National and Community Service Act of 1990

3 (42 U.S.C. 12571 et seq.) if such participant complies

4 with such requirements as may be established under this

5 Act by the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of

6 Agriculture respecting eligibility for such benefits and

7 awards. The period during which such benefits or awards

8 may be used, the purposes for which such benefits or

9 awards may be used, and the amount of such benefits and

10 awards shall be determined as provided under such sub11 title D.

12 (b) FORBEARANCE IN THE COLLECTION OF STAF13 FORD LOANS.—For purposes of section 428 of the Higher

14 Education Act of 1965, in the case of borrowers who are

15 participants in the Public Lands Corps and Resource As16 sistants participating in the program established under

17 section 5, upon written request, a lender shall grant a bor18 rower forbearance on such terms as are otherwise consist19 ent with the regulations of the Secretary of Education,

20 during periods in which the borrower is serving as such

21 a participant or Resource Assistant and eligible for a post

22 service educational benefit or award under subsection (a).

23 SEC. 8. NONDISPLACEMENT.

24 The nondisplacement requirements of section 177 of

25 the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42
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1 U.S.C. 12637) shall be applicable to all activities carried

2 out by the Public Lands Corps, to the program carried

3 out under section 6, and to all activities carried out under

4 this Act by a qualified youth or conservation corps.

5 SEC. 9. FUNDING.

6 (a) COST SHARING.—

7 (1) PROJECTS BY QUALIFIED YOUTH OR CON8 SERVATION CORPS.—The Secretary of the Interior

9 and the Secretary of Agriculture are each authorized

10 to pay not more than 75 percent of the costs of any

11 project carried out pursuant to this Act on public

12 lands by a qualified youth or conservation corps.

13 The remaining 25 percent of such costs may be pro14 vided from nonfederal sources in the form of funds,

15 services, facilities, materials, equipment, or any com16 bination of the foregoing. No cost sharing shall be

17 required in the case of any such project carried out

18 on Indian lands.

19 (2) PUBLIC LANDS CORPS.—A foundation asso20 ciated with a Federal land managing agency may

21 contribute to the costs of any project carried out by

22 the Public Lands Corps established under this Act,

23 but nothing in this Act shall be construed to require

24 any cost sharing for any such project.
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1 (b) FUNDS AVAILABLE UNDER NATIONAL AND COM2 MUNITY SERVICE ACT.—For programs carried out under

3 this section (including the Resource Assistant Program),

4 the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agri5 culture shall be eligible to receive funds available to any

6 corps programs under the National and Community Serv7 ice Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12501 and following). Such

8 funds shall be provided to such Secretaries without regard

9 to any restriction under section 122(b)(4) of such Act, or

10 under any other provision of such Act, relating to the

11 failure of a State to establish a corps program.

12 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

13 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be

14 necessary to carry out this Act.

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