SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of the In-
terior Volunteer Recruitment Act of 2004’’.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to authorize the Secretary
of the Interior to recruit and use volunteers to assist with,
or facilitate, the programs of the Bureau of Indian Affairs,
the United States Geological Survey, the Bureau of Rec-
lamation, 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 United States Geological Survey, the Bureau of
Reclamation, 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 shall 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, shall
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.
Passed the House of Representatives July 19, 2004.
Attest:
Clerk.