Title II — Economic development

“218. Office of Economic Development

“(a) Definition of coal community—In this section, the term coal community means a community that has a coal power plant or coal mine that closed not earlier than January 1, 2010, and has not been repurposed.

“(b) Establishment—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, there shall be established within the Department an Office of Economic Development (referred to in this section as the “Office”).

“(c) Mission—The mission of the Office shall be to use the technical expertise and financial resources of the Department to assist a wide group of external stakeholders, including State and local governments, private sector energy and manufacturing businesses, nonprofit organizations, academic institutions, and labor unions, with—

“(1) implementing Federal programs aimed at helping coal communities;

“(2) developing and deploying clean energy in coal communities; and

“(3) carrying out workforce training in coal communities.

“(d) Director

“(1) In general—The Office shall be headed by a Director (referred to in this section as the “Director”), who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

“(2) Duties of Director—The Director shall—

“(A) collaborate with National Laboratories to establish partnerships between the Department and coal communities for the purpose of matching skilled workers to fill current and future energy jobs in the energy sectors described in subsection (e);

“(B) engage stakeholders about assessment and analysis of the skills necessary to fill those jobs; and

“(C) carry out any other activity in support of the mission of the Office described in subsection (c).

“(e) Energy sectors described—The energy sectors referred to in subsections (d)(2)(A) and (g)(1) are—

“(1) the electric power generation and fuel sector;

“(2) the transmission, distribution, and storage sector;

“(3) the energy efficiency sector;

“(4) the motor vehicle and component parts manufacturing sector; and

“(5) any other energy sector determined by the Secretary.

“(f) Grant specialists

“(1) In general—The Director shall establish within the Office a team of grant specialists (referred to in this subsection as the “team”) that shall—

“(A) assist with soliciting applications from coal communities for grants administered by the Department or any other relevant Federal agency that are for the purpose of helping coal communities, including grants made available under the Marshall Plan for Coal Country Act of 2020 or by the amendments made by that Act;

“(B) provide technical assistance to coal communities with applications for the grants described in subparagraph (A); and

“(C) oversee the implementation of grant programs authorized by the Marshall Plan for Coal Country Act of 2020 or by the amendments made by that Act.

“(2) Coal communities

“(A) In general—Each specialist on the team shall—

“(i) work with only 1 coal community at a time; and

“(ii) to the maximum extent practicable, reside in that coal community for the duration of the work.

“(B) Minimum duration—Each specialist on the team shall work with a coal community for a period of not less than 10 years.

“(C) Existing Federal office—If a Federal office building exists in the coal community with which a specialist on the team shall work, the Director may consider locating the specialist in that office building.

“(3) Team positions

“(A) In general—The Director shall ensure that the team comprises the number of grant specialists necessary to assist coal communities.

“(B) Filling of vacancy—A vacant position on the team shall be filled not later than 90 days after the date on which the position becomes vacant.

“(4) Collaboration—The team shall collaborate with other Federal and State agencies that implement programs aimed at supporting coal communities.

“(g) Report—The Director shall publish and make publicly available an annual report, to be entitled the “U.S. Energy and Employment Report”, that—

“(1) provides consistent, usable data measuring job growth throughout each energy sector described in subsection (e);

“(2) compiles analyses of the job skills necessary for entry-level jobs in each of those energy sectors;

“(3) identifies barriers to entry (such as education, training, and physical demands) to jobs in those energy sectors;

“(4) designs strategies to eliminate or minimize the barriers identified under paragraph (3); and

“(5) completes career pathway analysis ladders for each of those energy sectors.”

“(G) Qualified coal community area

“(i) In general—The term qualified coal community area—

“(I) means a community—

“(aa) with a coal power plant or coal mine that closed; and

“(bb) that, following the closure, experienced—

“(AA) an increase in unemployment or poverty; or

“(BB) a decrease in the median income of the community; and

“(II) includes any area within a 50-mile radius of the closed coal power plant or coal mine.

“(ii) Limitation—A community may only be considered a qualified coal community area during the 5-year period beginning on the date on which the coal power plant or coal mine closed.”

“(36) Loans for former coal plant or coal mine workers—The Administrator, acting through the Director of the Office of Coal Country Small Business described in section 49, may guarantee loans under this subsection to individuals who lost their jobs at a coal power plant or coal mine and seek to establish a small business concern.”

“49. Office of Coal Country Small Business

“(a) Establishment—There is established within the Administration the Office of Coal Country Small Business (in this section referred to as the “Office”).

“(b) Duties—The Office will be responsible for—

“(1) providing business training, counseling, and access to credit and capital to small business concerns owned and controlled by former coal power plant or coal mine workers; and

“(2) administering the loan program under section 7(a)(36).

“(c) Director—The Office shall be headed by the Director of the Office of Coal Country Small Business, who shall—

“(1) be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate;

“(2) be a former coal mine worker; and

“(3) appoint a coal country specialist to be located at each regional office of the Administration, who shall be responsible for soliciting small business concerns to participate in the loan program carried out under this section.

“(d) Location—The Office shall be located in an area of the United States that has been impacted by the decline of the coal industry.”