1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Wind Workforce Modernization and Training Act of 2019”.
Wind Workforce Modernization and Training Act of 2019
A BILL
To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to establish a grant program for training wind technicians, and for other purposes.
2. Wind technician training grant program
In general— Title XI of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16411 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“1107. Wind technician training grant program
“(a) Definition of eligible entity—In this section, the term “eligible entity” means a community college or technical school that offers a wind training program.
“(b) Grant program—The Secretary shall establish a program under which the Secretary shall award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities to purchase large pieces of wind component equipment (such as nacelles, towers, and blades) for use in training wind technician students.
“(c) Funding—Of the amounts made available to the Secretary for administrative expenses to carry out other programs under the authority of the Secretary, the Secretary shall use to carry out this section $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2024.”
Clerical amendment— The table of contents for the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58; 119 Stat. 601) is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 1106 the following:
3. Veterans in wind energy
In general— Title XI of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16411 et seq.) (as amended by section 2(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“1108. Veterans in wind energy
“(a) In general—The Secretary shall establish a program to prepare veterans for careers in the wind energy industry that shall be modeled off of the Solar Ready Vets pilot program formerly administered by the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense.
“(b) Funding—Of the amounts made available to the Secretary for administrative expenses to carry out other programs under the authority of the Secretary, the Secretary shall use to carry out this section $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2024.”
Clerical amendment— The table of contents for the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58; 119 Stat. 601) (as amended by section 2(b)) is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 1107 the following:
4. Study and report on wind technician workforce
In general— The Secretary of Energy (referred to in this section as the “Secretary”) shall convene a task force comprised of 1 or more representatives of each of the stakeholders described in subsection (b) that shall—
conduct a study to assess the needs of wind technicians in the workforce;
create a comprehensive list that—
lists each type of wind technician position available in the United States; and
describes the skill sets required for each type of position listed under subparagraph (A); and
not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, make publicly available and submit to Congress a report that—
describes the results of that study;
includes the comprehensive list described in paragraph (2); and
provides recommendations—
for creating a credentialing program that may be administered by community colleges, technical schools, and other training institutions; and
that reflect best practices for wind technician training programs, as identified by representatives of the wind industry.
Stakeholders described— The stakeholders referred to in subsection (a) are—
the Department of Defense;
the Department of Education;
the Department of Energy;
the Department of Labor;
the Department of Veterans Affairs;
technical schools and community colleges that have wind technician training programs; and
the wind industry.
Funding— Of the amounts made available to the Secretary for administrative expenses to carry out other programs under the authority of the Secretary, the Secretary shall use to carry out this section $500,000.