119-s1788

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1788 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 1788

To amend Public Law 91-378 to authorize activities relating to Civilian 
 Conservation Centers, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 May 15, 2025

 Mr. Merkley (for himself, Mr. Daines, Mr. Hickenlooper, Mr. King, Ms. 
 Baldwin, and Mr. Wyden) introduced the following bill; which was read 
 twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 
 Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To amend Public Law 91-378 to authorize activities relating to Civilian 
 Conservation Centers, 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 ``Civilian Conservation Center 
Enhancement Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CENTERS.

 Public Law 91-378 (16 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) is amended by adding at 
the end the following:

 ``TITLE III--CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CENTERS

``

SEC. 301. DEFINITIONS.

 ``In this title:
 ``

    (1) Civilian conservation center.--The term `Civilian 
 Conservation Center' means any residential workforce 
 development or training facility for underserved youth operated 
 by the Department of the Interior or the Department of 
 Agriculture.
 ``

    (2) Covered graduate.--The term `covered graduate' means 
 an individual who successfully completed a training program at 
 a Civilian Conservation Center.
 ``

    (3) Covered student.--The term `covered student' means an 
 individual who is enrolled in a training program at a Civilian 
 Conservation Center.
 ``

    (4) Secretaries.--The term `Secretaries' means--
 ``
        (A) the Secretary of Agriculture; and
 ``
        (B) the Secretary of the Interior.

``

SEC. 302. CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CENTERS WILDFIRE AND CONSERVATION 
 TRAINING PROGRAM.

 ``

    (a) Specialized Training Programs.--The Secretaries, in 
coordination with the Secretary of Labor, shall offer at Civilian 
Conservation Centers specialized training programs focused on--
 ``

    (1) forestry and rangeland management;
 ``

    (2) wildland firefighting; or
 ``

    (3) any other topic relating to the mission of the Forest 
 Service or the Department of the Interior or the public 
 interest.
 ``

    (b) Prioritization.--The Secretaries shall prioritize offering 
specialized training programs under subsection

    (a) at facilities 
described in 

section 147
            (d) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 
Act (29 U.S.C. 3197
            (d) ).

``

SEC. 303. WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PILOT.

 ``

    (a) In General.--
 ``

    (1) Experiment, research, or demonstration pilots.--The 
 Secretary of Agriculture, in coordination with the Secretary of 
 Labor, may carry out experimental, research, or demonstration 
 pilots to provide career and technical education curricula and 
 course offerings to advance the missions of the Department of 
 Agriculture at Civilian Conservation Centers operated by the 
 Department of Agriculture, including facilities described in 
 

section 147
            (d) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 
 (29 U.S.C. 3197
            (d) ).
 ``

    (2) Curricula and courses.--Curricula and courses 
 described in paragraph

    (1) include--
 ``
        (A) incident management and emergency response 
 logistics;
 ``
        (B) disaster response;
 ``
            (C) forest products measurement;
 ``
            (D) timber sale administration and preparation;
 ``
        (E) heavy equipment operation;
 ``
        (F) equipment and mechanical services;
 ``
        (G) industrial electrical;
 ``
        (H) machining;
 ``
            (I) mill operations;
 ``
        (J) forest restoration;
 ``
        (K) habitat and water quality monitoring;
 ``
            (L) watershed and habitat enhancement;
 ``
            (M) range management;
 ``
        (N) recreation access improvement;
 ``
        (O) volunteers and visitors enhancement; and
 ``
        (P) historic preservation.
 ``

    (b) Requirements.--In carrying out subsection

    (a) , the Secretary 
of Agriculture shall--
 ``

    (1) identify workforce needs in public land agencies, 
 forest, conservation, and recreation industries, and rural 
 communities, after consulting with State governments and 
 agencies, Federal emergency management and public land 
 agencies, local communities, institutions of higher education, 
 and Indian Tribes;
 ``

    (2) develop marketing, recruitment, and retention 
 materials for the curricula and courses offerings provided 
 under subsection

    (a) ; and
 ``

    (3) provide specialized staff necessary to teach 
 curricula and courses offerings provided under subsection

    (a) , 
 to the extent practicable.

``

SEC. 304. WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING WORKFORCE ENHANCEMENT.

 ``

    (a) Recruitment Goals and Investments.--
 ``

    (1) Recruitment goal.--The Secretaries--
 ``
        (A) shall each set goals of--
 ``
            (i) hiring 300 covered graduates annually 
 to contribute to wildland firefighting or other 
 critical workforce needs within the respective 
 Department of each of the Secretaries;
 ``
            (ii) a certain percentage of covered 
 graduates annually attaining employment within 
 the wildland firefighting, natural resources, 
 forestry, or a related field; and
 ``
            (iii) a certain percentage of covered 
 graduates annually attaining employment; and
 ``
        (B) may make investments to support the 
 recruitment, training, hiring, and retention of covered 
 graduates.
 ``

    (2) Signing bonus.--The Secretaries may provide for a 
 signing bonus to enable the successful employment and 
 transition of covered graduates, including for the purpose of 
 securing housing in rural and remote communities.
 ``

    (b) Direct Hire Authority.--For fiscal year 2025 and each fiscal 
year thereafter, the Secretaries may appoint, without regard to the 
provisions of subchapter I of chapter 33 of title 5, United States 
Code, other than sections 3303 and 3328 of that title, a covered 
graduate directly to a position for which the covered graduate meets 
Office of Personnel Management qualification standards.
 ``
            (c) Pathways to Employment.--The Secretaries shall ensure that 
appropriate career pathways are developed for covered graduates of 
relevant Civilian Conservation Center training programs.
 ``
            (d) Disadvantaged Youth Employment.--Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, the Secretaries may employ covered students at 
regular rates of pay for necessary hours of work.
 ``

    (e) Use of Covered Students for Contracts, Agreements, and 
Grants.--To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary of 
Agriculture shall encourage the use of covered students to fulfill 
obligations under contracts, agreements, and grants relevant to the 
training administered by the Forest Service at a unit of the National 
Forest System where a Civilian Conservation Center is located.

``

SEC. 305. WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING HOUSING PILOT PROGRAM.

 ``

    (a) In General.--The Secretaries shall establish a pilot program 
to employ covered students to improve and expand the housing stock 
owned by the Federal Government for the purpose of housing wildland 
firefighters, volunteers, partner crewmembers, interns, and other 
agency employees.
 ``

    (b) Requirements.--In carrying out the pilot program under 
subsection

    (a) , the Secretaries shall--
 ``

    (1) identify properties currently owned by the Federal 
 Government that would be appropriate housing for wildland 
 firefighters, volunteers, partner crewmembers, interns, and 
 other agency employees;
 ``

    (2) identify areas where the construction of new housing 
 described in paragraph

    (1) would be appropriate and 
 sustainable; and
 ``

    (3) submit to Congress a prioritized list of projects for 
 renovation with a plan for how the Secretaries will employ 
 covered students to repair, renovate, and remediate the 
 properties identified under paragraph

    (1) .

``

SEC. 306. REPORT.

 ``Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this title, 
the Secretaries shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture, 
Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Agriculture 
of the House of Representatives a report--
 ``

    (1) describing underutilized capacity at Civilian 
 Conservation Centers, based on an assessment conducted by the 
 Secretaries; and
 ``

    (2) identifying the investments, improvements, and 
 efficiencies necessary to utilize the full capacity of Civilian 
 Conservation Centers.''.
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