I 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4170 
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to recruit volunteers to assist 
with, or facilitate, the activities of various agencies and offices of the 
Department of the Interior. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 20, 2004 
Mr. POMBO (by request) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Resources 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to recruit volun-
teers to assist with, or facilitate, the activities of various 
agencies and offices of the Department of the Interior. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of the In-
terior Volunteer Recruitment Act of 2004’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 
(1) A commitment to serve our neighbors and 
our Nation is an essential part of the character of
the people of the United States. We have always be-
lieved in an ethic of citizenship that includes helping 
those in need and promoting the common good. We 
know this makes the United States stronger and the 
world better. 
(2) President George W. Bush has called on all 
Americans to serve their country for the equivalent 
of two years, or 4,000 hours, over a lifetime. This 
is a profound individual commitment and a worthy 
national goal. 
(3) The tragic events of September 11, 2001, 
reminded the people of the United States that, as 
citizens, we bear essential obligations to each other, 
to our country, and to history. 
(4) The Department of the Interior has agen-
cies with vibrant volunteer programs, such as the 
National Park Service, the United States Fish and 
Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Land Manage-
ment. However, there are a number of agencies and 
offices that have no authority or incomplete author-
ity to recruit and use volunteers. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to author-
ize the Secretary of the Interior to recruit and use volun-
teers to assist with, or facilitate, the programs of the Bu-
reau of Indian Affairs, the Office of Surface Mining, Rec-
lamation and Enforcement, the Minerals Management 
Service, the United States Geological Survey, the Bureau 
of Reclamation, the Office of the Solicitor, and the Office 
of the Secretary. 
SEC. 3. VOLUNTEER AUTHORITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior may 
recruit, train, and accept, without regard to the civil serv-
ice classification laws, rules, or regulations, the services 
of individuals, contributed without compensation as volun-
teers, for aiding in or facilitating the activities adminis-
tered by the Secretary through the Bureau of Indian Af-
fairs, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and En-
forcement, the Minerals Management Service, the United 
States Geological Survey, the Bureau of Reclamation, the 
Office of the Solicitor, and the Office of the Secretary. 
(b) RESTRICTIONS
ON
ACTIVITIES
OF
VOLUN-
TEERS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—In accepting such services of 
individuals as volunteers, the Secretary shall not 
permit the use of volunteers in law enforcement 
work, in regulatory and enforcement work, in policy-
making processes, or to displace any employee. 
(2) PRIVATE PROPERTY.—No volunteer services 
authorized by this Act may be conducted on private 
property unless the officer or employee charged with
supervising the volunteer obtains appropriate con-
sent to enter the property from the property owner. 
(3) HAZARDOUS DUTY.—The Secretary may ac-
cept the services of individuals in hazardous duty 
only upon a determination by the Secretary that 
such individuals are skilled in performing hazardous 
duty activities. 
(4) SUPERVISION.—The Secretary shall ensure 
that an appropriate officer or employee of the 
United States provides adequate and appropriate su-
pervision of each volunteer whose services the Sec-
retary accepts. 
(c) PROVISION OF SERVICES AND COSTS.—The Sec-
retary may provide for services and costs incidental to the 
utilization of volunteers, including transportation, sup-
plies, uniforms, lodging, subsistence (without regard to 
place of residence), recruiting, training, supervision, and 
awards and recognition (including nominal cash awards). 
(d) FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT STATUS
OF VOLUN-
TEERS.— 
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this sub-
section, a volunteer shall not be deemed a Federal 
employee and shall not be subject to the provisions 
of law relating to Federal employment, including 
those provisions relating to hours of work, rates of
compensation, leave, unemployment compensation, 
and Federal employee benefits. 
(2) Volunteers shall be deemed employees of the 
United States for the purposes of— 
(A) the tort claims provisions of title 28, 
United States Code; 
(B) subchapter I of chapter 81 of title 5, 
United States Code; and 
(C) claims relating to damage to, or loss 
of, personal property of a volunteer incident to 
volunteer service, in which case the provisions 
of section 3721 of title 31, United States Code, 
shall apply. 
(3) Volunteers under this Act will be subject to 
chapter 11 of title 18, United States Code, unless 
the Secretary, with the concurrence of the Director 
of the Office of Government Ethics, determines in 
writing published in the Federal Register that the 
provisions of that chapter, except section 201, will 
not apply to the actions of a class or classes of vol-
unteers who carry out only those duties or functions 
specified in the determination. 
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