This bill adds a new Title III to an existing conservation law to create and expand "Civilian Conservation Centers." These centers are residential training sites run by the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior for underserved youth. The Secretaries must offer specialized training in forestry, rangeland management, wildland firefighting, and related topics. The bill authorizes a pilot program at Agriculture-run centers to provide career and technical education courses (for example, incident management, heavy equipment operation, forest restoration, and habitat monitoring).
The bill requires the agencies to identify workforce needs, recruit and retain students, provide instructors when practical, and modernize facilities and equipment. Each Secretary must set recruitment goals, including hiring goals (the bill directs a goal of hiring 300 covered graduates annually to support firefighting or other critical needs). The agencies may make investments, offer signing bonuses to help graduates with transitions (including housing), and use direct-hire authority for covered graduates beginning in fiscal year 2025. The bill allows covered students to be employed and paid for necessary work and encourages using students on relevant contracts and projects. It also creates a housing pilot to use covered students to renovate or expand federal housing for firefighters and related staff. The Secretaries must report to Congress within one year on underused center capacity and needed investments.
No publicly available information on funding amounts or budget estimates is included in the bill text. The bill does not specify appropriations or detailed cost estimates.
No publicly available information.
No publicly available information.