2023 New York Laws › PAR - Parks, recreation and historic preservation › Title B - Organization and General Powers, Functions and Duties of Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation › Article 3 - Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; Commissioner › 3.23 - New York State Conservation Corps.

§  3.23  New  York  state  conservation  corps.  1.  A  New York state
conservation corps (hereafter referred to as  the  "corps")  within  the
office is hereby established for the following purposes:
a. To protect air, fish, forest, land, water and wildlife;
b.  To  help  maintain  and improve botanical gardens, historic sites,
libraries, museums, parks, parkways, refuges,  trails,  zoos  and  other
recreational investments;
c. To aid agricultural, fishing, forestry and tourist industries;
d.  To  provide  jobs  and  job  training for young unemployed men and
women, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds, to act as a stepladder
to permanent employment;
e. To foster co-operation among civilian and governmental agencies  in
order to educate the public about state resources;
f. To reinforce the "I Love New York" campaign;
g.  To  take  advantage  of  the  capital investment in facilities and
equipment already in place from the programs of youth  and  young  adult
and civilian conservation corps paid for by federal dollars;
h.  To  educate  the  participants  about  our natural environment and
cultural heritage, teach first  aid  and  disaster  procedures,  and  to
otherwise encourage them to further their education; and
i.  To  do such other projects which provide disaster relief, increase
energy conservation, improve fire prevention, beautify highways, control
insects and rodents, upgrade public lands, and revitalize urban areas.
2.  The  office  is  authorized  to  provide  for  the  use  of  state
appropriations as are available for such purposes:
a. To coordinate corps participants in doing projects on land owned by
the  state  or  by  a municipality or by an Indian nation, or activities
taking place at nonproject sites when appropriate; and
b. To enter into agreements  with  any  municipal  corporation,  state
agency, not-for-profit organization or Indian nation which will agree to
do projects consistent with this section.
3. The corps shall consist of the following components:
a. Summer: for youth enrollees, aged fourteen--eighteen;
b.    Seasonal:   for   unemployed   young   adult   enrollees,   aged
sixteen--twenty-four;
c.    Non-residential:    for    young    adult    enrollees,     aged
sixteen--twenty-four;
d. Residential: for young adult enrollees, aged eighteen--twenty-five;
e.  Volunteer: for interested persons of any age who are members of an
organized group which has proper leadership and insurance;
f. Crew Leader: for young adults, aged eighteen and over;
g. Staff: for adults, aged twenty-one and up, who are needed  for  the
few positions enrollees or crew leaders cannot fill; and
h. Director: for adults, aged twenty-five and up, who are in charge of
local or state projects, residential camps, or overall program of corps.
4.  The  following  minimum standards and requirements shall apply for
all projects funded pursuant to the provisions of this section:
a. Enrollees and crew leaders shall  be  paid  at  rates  set  by  the
office, and may have incentive steps up to twice the rate of the federal
minimum wage;
b.  The distribution of projects should as much as practicable reflect
the population of the state as a whole, the usage of  qualifying  sites,
the  population  of  and  unemployment rates among the target age group,
except for special needs arising from disasters  caused  by  man  and/or
nature;
c.  Applicants  for  summer  and  seasonal enrollee positions shall be
chosen for interview by random methods;
d. Local operators shall  match  funds  received  from  the  state  by
providing  for twenty percent local share of project costs consisting of
cash or in kind services;
e.  No  participant  in the corps shall displace or be substituted for
existing employees;
f. No individual may be  an  enrollee  in  the  corps  for  more  than
twenty-four months of accumulated service;
g. All residential camps shall be operated by the office;
h.  Projects  will  receive preference which provide for the most long
term benefits to the public, meaningful work, work experiences, and  are
labor intensive;
i.  A  corps  member must be a citizen or lawful permanent resident or
lawfully admitted noncitizen;
j. Applicants for seasonal enrollee positions shall be unemployed;
k.  Special  consideration  shall  be  given  to  the  recruitment  of
enrollees  who are economically, socially, physically, and educationally
disadvantaged;
l. Volunteers may not be used for hazardous duties or law  enforcement
work;
m.  Program  funds  may  be  expended to provide for services or costs
incidental to the utilization of volunteers,  including  transportation,
supplies, lodging, recruiting, training and supervision;
n.  Volunteers  shall  not  be deemed to be employees, except for tort
claims relating to compensation for work injuries;
o. The corps may do work at federal sites;
p. The corps will help support the empire state games, the state fair,
and other events consistent with this section;
q. The corps  will  help  the  department  of  commerce,  the  Olympic
regional  development  authority,  the Adirondack park agency, and local
agencies in their tourist development activities;
r. The office shall whenever possible  coordinate  program  activities
with other youth sections of the office, department of labor, department
of  environmental  conservation,  the  division  for  youth, agencies or
programs operating pursuant to the Federal job training partnership act,
department of social services, department of education, and local  youth
agencies;
s.  Of  the sums appropriated to carry out this section for any fiscal
year from state and/or federal and/or private sources:
(i) not less than fifty percent shall  go  to  local  governments  and
not-for-profit groups,
(ii) not less than ten percent shall be spent on summer component,
(iii)  not  less  than  twenty-five percent of state projects shall be
operated by the department of environmental conservation,
(iv) not less than ten percent of state projects shall be operated  by
Indian nations;
(v) not less than fifty percent of state projects shall be operated by
the office;
t.  Educational opportunities for corps participants shall be enhanced
by:
(i) the provision of training and reference materials,  both  internal
and from other state or federal sources,
(ii)  arranging  with  educational  institutions  for  the awarding of
academic credit for competencies developed,
(iii) encouraging corps members to continue studies during non-working
hours to complete high school equivalency diploma or college courses  or
job skill training;
u.  The  office  shall coordinate educational, recruiting and training
materials of the corps with the departments of education,  environmental
conservation and labor and the division for youth; and
v.  The  corps shall take advantage of the services available from the
state university of New York, local community colleges and school boards
and the University of New York.
5. The office may accept supplementary public  and  private  funds  to
assist in meeting the costs of operating the corps.
6.  The  commissioner  shall prepare an annual report on the corps and
submit such report to the legislature.
7. The office shall promulgate  such  rules  and  regulations  as  are
necessary  and  appropriate  and shall establish the corps as a separate
bureau within the office.
8. The commencement of the  corps  and  other  provisions  under  this
section  shall  be  contingent  upon  the availability of federal and/or
state moneys appropriated for such purposes.