National Climate Service Corps and Careers Network Act of 2021
Bill: S.1928 | Sponsor: Sen. Cortez Masto, Catherine (D-NV)
Policy area: Labor and Employment

Summary:
National Climate Service Corps and Careers Network Act of  2021
This bill establishes the Climate Resiliency Service Corps as a national service program to assist communities in mitigating the effects climate change and establishes the Climate Careers Network to connect individuals with jobs in green industries.

To amend the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to establish a 
   national climate service corps to help communities withstand and 
   respond to changes in the Earth's climate with respect to natural 
                   disasters, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Climate Service Corps and 
Careers Network Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to establish a National Climate Service 
Corps to carry out national service projects under the National and 
Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12501) in order to--
            (1) promote climate adaptation, mitigation, and resiliency;
            (2) provide young adults with opportunities to give back to 
        their communities through meaningful service to their 
        communities and the Nation;
            (3) mobilize youth and young adults, especially 
        disadvantaged youth, to promote environmental sustainability 
        and mitigate the threat of climate change in their communities; 
        and
            (4) provide a pathway to employment in the private sector 
        or otherwise within the clean energy economy, following 
        completion of service in the National Climate Service Corps.

SEC. 3. NATIONAL CLIMATE SERVICE CORPS.

    (a) In General.--Section 122(a) of the National and Community 
Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12572(a)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5) as paragraphs 
        (5) and (6), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following new 
        paragraph:
            ``(4) National climate service corps .--
                    ``(A) Purpose.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The recipient may carry 
                        out national service projects through a 
                        National Climate Service Corps that improves 
                        community adaptation, mitigation, preparedness, 
                        response, and recovery from natural disaster 
                        and other trends related to climate change 
                        through activities such as those described in 
                        subparagraph (B) and improves performance on 
                        the indicators described in subparagraph (C).
                            ``(ii) Selection priority.--The recipient 
                        shall, where appropriate, identify and select 
                        projects from communities that are 
                        disproportionately impacted by climate and 
                        severe weather events, including from 
                        communities of color, low-income communities, 
                        and Tribal communities.
                    ``(B) Activities.--
                            ``(i) In general.--A Climate Service Corps 
                        described in this paragraph may carry out 
                        activities, including--
                                    ``(I) assessing community 
                                resilience to the effects of climate 
                                change;
                                    ``(II) supporting climate 
                                adaptation and mitigation of the 
                                negative effects of climate change;
                                    ``(III) environmental 
                                sustainability and resiliency;
                                    ``(IV) emergency preparedness;
                                    ``(V) promoting sustainable and 
                                resilient communities;
                                    ``(VI) assisting with recovery from 
                                disasters to rebuild in a manner that 
                                provides improved resilience or 
                                adaptation for future climate impacts;
                                    ``(VII) assisting with prevention, 
                                recovery, or restoration of wildland, 
                                rangeland, and wildland-urban interface 
                                areas from the effects of wildfire and 
                                associated impacts due to the effects 
                                of climate change; or
                                    ``(VIII) other relevant activities, 
                                as determined by the Corporation.
                            ``(ii) Participation.--In addition to the 
                        requirements for participants under section 
                        137, in carrying out national service projects 
                        under this paragraph, the recipient shall, to 
                        the extent practicable--
                                    ``(I) select as participants--
                                            ``(aa) individuals who are 
                                        at least 17 but not more than 
                                        30 years of age at the time of 
                                        beginning the term of service, 
                                        including out of-school youth, 
                                        disadvantaged youth (such as 
                                        individuals who are aging out 
                                        of foster care, individuals who 
                                        have limited English 
                                        proficiency, homeless 
                                        individuals, and individuals 
                                        with disabilities), and youth 
                                        from communities of color and 
                                        Tribal communities; or
                                            ``(bb) veterans who have 
                                        not reached the age of 36, at 
                                        the time of beginning the term 
                                        of service; and
                                    ``(II) provide each participant 
                                with team-based, highly structured, and 
                                adult-supervised service experience, 
                                education, career guidance, and 
                                counseling, and employment training, 
                                support services, and mentoring.
                    ``(C) National climate service corps indicators.--
                The indicators for a National Climate Service Corps 
                program described in this paragraph are--
                            ``(i) the number of acres, homes, buildings 
                        or infrastructure projects built, retrofitted, 
                        improved, treated, or restored for improved 
                        resilience, adaptation, or current and future 
                        disaster recovery;
                            ``(ii) the number of individuals educated 
                        about, prepared for, and receiving training 
                        about natural disasters, other trends related 
                        to climate change, or environmentally conscious 
                        practices;
                            ``(iii) the number of individuals assisted, 
                        including those rescued, evacuated, or provided 
                        shelter;
                            ``(iv) the number of homes or buildings 
                        treated, including those boarded up, tarped, 
                        mucked, or gutted during disaster response;
                            ``(v) the number of trees and plants 
                        planted;
                            ``(vi) the number of new technologies that 
                        participants receive training on, and that are 
                        utilized and incorporated into resiliency 
                        projects;
                            ``(vii) any additional indicator relating 
                        to natural disaster and other trends that the 
                        Corporation establishes, in consultation (as 
                        appropriate), with the Secretaries of the 
                        Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, 
                        Commerce, and Defense, the Director of the 
                        Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the 
                        Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
                        Agency; and
                            ``(viii) any additional local indicator 
                        applicable to a particular recipient and on 
                        which an improvement in performance is needed 
                        related to climate change.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 122 of the National and 
Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12572), as amended by 
subsection (a), is further amended--
            (1) in paragraph (b)(3), by striking ``or (5)'' and 
        inserting ``(5), or (6)''; and
            (2) in paragraph (c)(1), by striking ``(5)'' and inserting 
        ``(6)''.

SEC. 4. COOPERATION AMONG STATES FOR EMERGENCY RESPONSE.

    (a) Agreements Between States.--States that provide subgrants to 
State or nonprofit entities that engage in National Climate Service 
Corps activities under section 122(a)(4) or States that have nonprofit 
organizations receiving funding under the national service laws and 
that are engaging in similar activities (referred to as ``participating 
States'') may enter into a compact with other participating States to 
provide for mutual cooperation to manage any emergency or disaster that 
is duly declared by the affected State.
    (b) Participating State Responsibilities.--
            (1) Requests for assistance.--The authorized representative 
        of a participating State may request assistance of the National 
        Climate Service Corps or of such nonprofit organizations of 
        another participating State by contacting the authorized 
        representative of that State. The provisions of the compact 
        described in subsection (a) shall only apply to requests for 
        assistance made by and to such authorized representatives.
            (2) Consultation.--The State officials of participating 
        States shall ensure--
                    (A) that there is frequent consultation between 
                State officials who are assigned emergency management 
                responsibilities, and other appropriate representatives 
                of the participating States, with the relevant 
                officials of affected jurisdictions and with the 
                relevant officials of the Federal Government; and
                    (B) the free exchange of information, plans, and 
                resource records relating to emergency capabilities.

SEC. 5. CLIMATE RESILIENCY AMERICORPS VISTA.

    Section 103(a) of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (42 
U.S.C. 4953(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (12), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (13), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) after subsection (13), by adding the following:
            ``(14) in addressing the capacity of low-income communities 
        to implement projects that increase resilience, adaptation, and 
        mitigation to changes to the environment, including changes due 
        to natural disasters.''.

SEC. 6. NONCOMPETITIVE HIRING AUTHORITY.

    A qualified member of the National Climate Service Corps under 
section 122 of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 
U.S.C. 12572) shall be eligible for appointment in the competitive 
service in the same manner as a Peace Corps volunteer as prescribed in 
Executive Order 11103 (22 U.S.C. 2504 note, relating to Providing for 
the Appointment of Former Peace Corps Volunteers to the Civilian Career 
Services).

SEC. 7. CLIMATE CAREERS NETWORK.

    (a) In General.--As part of the Corporation's Employers of National 
Service initiative, the Corporation shall establish a program, in 
consultation with the Departments of Energy, Agriculture, Education, 
Labor, Interior, Transportation, the Environmental Protection Agency, 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and other relevant 
Federal agencies, as determined to be appropriate by the Corporation, 
to be known as the Climate Careers Network, to--
            (1) address the challenge of job placement in a clean 
        energy economy; and
            (2) support individuals who have completed service in the 
        National Climate Service Corps, as well as individuals in the 
        United States of all ages and backgrounds who want to get 
        involved in growing green industries.
    (b) Activities of the Climate Careers Network.--As part of the 
Climate Careers Network program, the Corporation, in consultation with 
the Federal agencies described in subsection (a), shall carry out the 
following activities:
            (1) Create and maintain a database that outlines 
        opportunities for individuals who have completed service in the 
        National Climate Service Corps and other individuals, and that 
        includes information related to opportunities for those 
        individuals in a clean energy economy.
            (2) Establish direct partnerships between the Climate 
        Careers Network program and existing infrastructure for 
        relevant training and job placement in order to connect 
        individuals with new jobs and lifelong careers, such as 
        partnerships with 2 or more of the following:
                    (A) Labor organizations or joint labor management 
                organizations.
                    (B) Employers.
                    (C) High schools and adult education programs.
                    (D) Nonprofit organizations with demonstrated 
                success in areas of clean energy and climate change 
                mitigation activities.
                    (E) Institutions of higher education.
                    (F) Community development organizations.
                    (G) State and local workforce development boards 
                established under title I of the Workforce Innovation 
                and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3111 et seq.).
                    (H) Career and technical education providers, 
                including those that award credentials and build career 
                pathways.
                    (I) Other entities that may provide relevant direct 
                employment opportunities.
    (c) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Corporation.--The term ``Corporation'' means the 
        Corporation for National and Community Service established 
        under section 191 of the National and Community Service Act of 
        1990 (42 U.S.C. 12651).
            (2) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1001(a)).
            (3) National climate service corps.--The term ``National 
        Climate Service Corps'' means the National Climate Service 
        Corps described in section 122(a)(4) of the National and 
        Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12572(a)(4)), as added 
        by section 3.

SEC. 8. MATCHING FUNDS WAIVER.

    Any otherwise applicable matching funds requirements, including 
under section 212(a)(1) of the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16 
U.S.C. 1729(a)(1)) and under section 121(e) of the National and 
Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12571(e)), shall be waived for 
projects carried out using amounts made available under this Act.

SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated--
            (1) $2,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 
        2026 to carry out section 3;
            (2) $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026 
        to carry out section 7; and
            (3) for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026, such sums 
        as may be necessary to provide national service educational 
        awards under subtitle D of title I of the National and 
        Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12601 et seq.) for the 
        members of the National Climate Service Corps for such fiscal 
        year.
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