Title: Climate Resiliency Service Corps Act of 2019
Policy area: Environmental Protection

Summary:
Climate Resiliency Service Corps Act of 2019
This bill establishes the Climate Resiliency Service Corps as a national service program to assist communities in mitigating the effects of natural disasters and other consequences of climate change.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5176 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5176

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 19, 2019

Ms. Judy Chu of California (for herself, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Blumenauer, 
    Mr. Cisneros, Ms. Barragan, Ms. Clarke of New York, Ms. Lee of 
  California, Mr. Neguse, and Mr. Grijalva) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to establish a 
  climate resiliency 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 ``Climate Resiliency Service Corps Act 
of 2019''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Every region of the United States is confronting the 
        effects of climate change and related natural disasters, 
        including extreme heat and droughts, heavy rains and flooding, 
        hurricanes and tornadoes, acidification of the oceans and sea 
        level rise, wildfires, and mudslides, among other effects.
            (2) These changes affect the health, agriculture, food 
        supply, infrastructure, energy supply, water quality and water 
        supply, and have the potential to reduce the standard of living 
        and quality of life in the United States.
            (3) The Fourth National Climate Assessment estimates that 
        low-income communities will be disproportionately impacted by 
        climate change through higher rates of adverse health 
        conditions, greater exposure to environmental hazards, and more 
        severe impacts and longer recovery from natural disasters.
            (4) The Fourth National Climate Assessment estimates that--
                    (A) climate change will shrink the American economy 
                by up to 10 percent by the year 2100 and will result in 
                losses up to $141,000,000,000 from heat-related deaths, 
                $118,000,000,000 from sea level rise, and 
                $32,000,000,000 from infrastructure damage; and
                    (B) proactive adaptation initiatives yield benefits 
                in excess of their costs in both the near term and long 
                term.
            (5) The frequency and severity of natural disasters taking 
        place each year is steadily and significantly increasing. In 
        1970, there were 78 registered natural disasters. In 2017, 
        there were 335 natural disasters, impacting approximately 
        96,000,000 people and costing the United States more than 
        $306,000,000,000.
            (6) Service and Conservation Corps, which are descended 
        from the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s, are trained 
        for and have experience with the four stages of disaster: 
        mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.

SEC. 3. CLIMATE RESILIENCY SERVICE CORPS.

    (a) In General.--Section 122(a) of the National and Community 
Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12572) 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) Climate resiliency service corps.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The recipient may carry out 
                national service projects through a Climate Resiliency 
                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).
                    ``(B) Activities.--
                            ``(i) In general.--A Climate Resiliency 
                        Service Corps described in this paragraph may 
                        carry out activities, including--
                                    ``(I) mitigating the effects of 
                                disasters and other trends related to 
                                climate change, including--
                                            ``(aa) assessing community 
                                        resilience;
                                            ``(bb) collecting, 
                                        monitoring, and analyzing data 
                                        related to climate change and 
                                        disasters;
                                            ``(cc) developing a plan to 
                                        improve community resilience 
                                        through resilient 
                                        infrastructure; and
                                            ``(dd) building and 
                                        maintaining resilient 
                                        infrastructure, including--

                                                    ``(AA) preserving, 
                                                protecting, and 
                                                restoring habitat;

                                                    ``(BB) stabilizing 
                                                shorelines;

                                                    ``(CC) removing 
                                                invasive species and 
                                                planting native species 
                                                of trees, plants and 
                                                groundcover;

                                                    ``(DD) constructing 
                                                bioswales and water 
                                                bars;

                                                    ``(EE) improving 
                                                drainage systems 
                                                through use of 
                                                permeable surfaces and 
                                                rain gardens;

                                                    ``(FF) removing 
                                                hazardous fuels;

                                                    ``(GG) conducting 
                                                prescribed burns;

                                                    ``(HH) establishing 
                                                defensible space;

                                                    ``(II) retrofitting 
                                                buildings; and

                                                    ``(JJ) planting 
                                                urban forestry, trees, 
                                                and landscapes;

                                    ``(II) preparing communities for 
                                disaster, including--
                                            ``(aa) organizing 
                                        community-based resiliency 
                                        coalitions and working groups;
                                            ``(bb) providing disaster 
                                        preparedness or community 
                                        emergency response team 
                                        training to community-based 
                                        organizations and residents; 
                                        and
                                            ``(cc) providing education 
                                        on climate change, disaster, 
                                        and resilience at community-
                                        based organizations and 
                                        schools;
                                    ``(III) responding to disasters, 
                                including--
                                            ``(aa) establishing and 
                                        managing volunteers, 
                                        distribution centers, and 
                                        shelters;
                                            ``(bb) supporting disaster 
                                        response activities and 
                                        centers, including fire camps;
                                            ``(cc) clearing fallen 
                                        trees and branches;
                                            ``(dd) boarding up windows 
                                        and doors and tarping roofs; 
                                        and
                                            ``(ee) mucking and gutting 
                                        homes and buildings;
                                    ``(IV) recovering from disasters, 
                                including--
                                            ``(aa) clearing debris;
                                            ``(bb) repairing and 
                                        rebuilding homes and buildings;
                                            ``(cc) replanting native 
                                        trees and plants;
                                            ``(dd) restoring habitat: 
                                        and
                                            ``(ee) stabilizing 
                                        shoreline and hillsides;
                                    ``(V) addressing other unmet 
                                climate change needs as the Corporation 
                                may designate.
                            ``(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 
                                individuals who are at least 16 but not 
                                more than 25 years of age (including 
                                out of-school youth and other 
                                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 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 work experience, 
                                education, career guidance, and 
                                counseling, and employment training, 
                                support services, and mentoring.
                    ``(C) Climate resiliency service corps 
                indicators.--The indicators for a Climate Resiliency 
                Service Corps program described in this paragraph are--
                            ``(i) the number of acres, miles, homes, 
                        buildings or infrastructure projects built, 
                        improved, or treated for improved resilience 
                        and adaptation;
                            ``(ii) the number of individuals educated 
                        about and prepared for disasters and other 
                        trends related to climate change;
                            ``(iii) the number of individuals assisted, 
                        including those rescued, evacuated, or provided 
                        shelter;
                            ``(iv) the number of tons of debris 
                        collected;
                            ``(v) the number of homes or buildings 
                        treated, including those boarded up, tarped, 
                        mucked, or gutted during disaster response;
                            ``(vi) the number of acres, homes, or 
                        buildings restored during disaster recovery;
                            ``(vii) the number of trees and plants 
                        planted;
                            ``(viii) the number of infrastructure 
                        projects undertaken to improve resilience 
                        against future natural disasters;
                            ``(ix) the number of economically 
                        disadvantaged individuals with access to job 
                        training and other skill enhancement;
                            ``(x) the number of economically 
                        disadvantaged individuals with access to 
                        information about job placement services;
                            ``(xi) the number of individuals receiving 
                        education or training in environmentally 
                        conscious practices;
                            ``(xii) 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
                            ``(xiii) 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. 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 to shocks and 
        stressors resulting from climate change.''.

SEC. 5. NONCOMPETITIVE HIRING AUTHORITY.

    A qualified corpsmember 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).
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