BILL REQ. #:  S-0486.3 

Read first time 01/11/2007.   Referred to Committee on Natural Resources, Ocean & Recreation.

     AN ACT Relating to expanding the veterans conservation corps program; amending RCW 43.60A.150; amending 2005 c 257 s 1 (uncodified); adding new sections to chapter 43.60A RCW; creating a new section; and making appropriations.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   2005 c 257 s 1 (uncodified) is amended to read as follows:
     The legislature finds that many Washington citizens are veterans of armed forces conflicts that have important skills that may be employed in projects that help to protect and restore Washington's rivers, streams, lakes, marine waters, and open lands, and help to maintain urban and suburban wastewater and storm water management systems. The legislature further finds that such work has demonstrated benefits for many veterans who are coping with posttraumatic stress disorder or have other mental health or substance abuse disorders related to their service in the armed forces. The legislature further finds that these projects provide an opportunity for veterans to obtain on-the-job training, leading to certification in specific skill sets and to living wage employment in environmental restoration and stewardship. Therefore, it is the purpose of this chapter to create ((a)) the veterans conservation corps program ((that provides)) to assist veterans in obtaining training, certification, and employment in the field of environmental restoration and management, and to provide state funding assistance for projects that restore Washington's waters, forests, and habitat through the ((primary)) participation of ((such)) veterans.

Sec. 2   RCW 43.60A.150 and 2005 c 257 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The Washington veterans conservation corps is created. The department shall establish enrollment procedures for the program. Enrollees may choose to participate in either or both the volunteer projects list authorized in subsection (2) of this section, and the training, certification, and placement program authorized in section 3 of this act.
     (2) The department shall create a list of veterans ((with posttraumatic stress disorder and related conditions)) who are interested in working on projects that restore Washington's natural habitat. ((The list shall be referred to as the veterans conservation corps.)) The department shall promote the opportunity to volunteer for the veterans conservation corps through its local counselors and representatives. Only veterans who grant their approval may be included on the list. The department shall consult with the salmon recovery board, the interagency committee for outdoor recreation, the department of natural resources, the department of fish and wildlife, and the state parks and recreation commission to determine the most effective ways to market the veterans conservation corps to agencies and local sponsors of habitat restoration projects.
     ((The department shall submit a report to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2009, on the use of veterans conservation corps members by state agencies and local sponsors of habitat restoration projects.))

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 43.60A RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The department shall assist veterans enrolled in the veterans conservation corps with obtaining employment in conservation programs and projects that restore Washington's natural habitat, maintain and steward local, state, and federal forest lands and other outdoor lands, maintain and improve urban and suburban storm water management facilities and other water management facilities, and other environmental maintenance, stewardship, and restoration projects. The department shall consult with the workforce training and education coordinating board, the state board for community and technical colleges, the higher education coordinating board, the employment security department, and other state agencies administering conservation corps programs, to incorporate training, education, and certification in environmental restoration and management fields into the program. The department may enter into agreements with community colleges, private schools, state or local agencies, or other entities to provide training and educational courses as part of the enrollee benefits from the program.
     (2) The department may receive gifts, grants, federal funds, or other moneys from public or private sources, for the use and benefit of the veterans conservation corps program. The funds shall be deposited to the veterans conservation corps account created in section 6 of this act.
     (3) The department shall submit a report to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2008, on the status of the veterans conservation corps program, including the number of enrollees employed in projects, training provided, certifications earned, employment placements achieved, program funding provided from all sources, and the results of the pilot project authorized in section 4 of this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   During fiscal year 2008, the department of veterans affairs may enter an agreement with a local government or other entity for use of veterans conservation corps enrollees in a project or projects, where the enrollees' work on the project or projects will be commenced before June 30, 2008. Up to one million dollars appropriated from the veterans conservation corps account in the biennial budget act may be expended by the department for this agreement.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   A new section is added to chapter 43.60A RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The department shall collaborate with the state agencies implementing the Washington conservation corps, created in chapter 43.220 RCW, to maximize the utilization of both conservation corps programs. The department shall invite the participation of the Washington state commission for national and community service into this collaboration. These agencies shall work together to identify stewardship and maintenance projects on agency-managed lands that are suitable for work by veterans conservation corps enrollees. The department may expend funds appropriated to the veterans conservation corps program to defray the costs of education, training, and certification associated with the enrollees participating in such projects.
     (2) By September 30, 2007, the department shall provide to the office of financial management and to the appropriate committees of the senate and house of representatives a report that:
     (a) Identifies projects on state agency-managed lands that are currently planned for veterans conservation corps enrollee participation;
     (b) Identifies additional projects on state agency-managed lands that are suitable for veterans conservation corps enrollee participation and for which funding is currently in place for such participation; and
     (c) Identifies additional projects on state agency-managed lands for which project implementation has been funded or is included in the agency's multibiennial stewardship plans, and that are suitable for veterans conservation corps enrollee participation in the event that additional funding is provided to the department for associated training, education, and certification.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   A new section is added to chapter 43.60A RCW to read as follows:
     The veterans conservation corps account is created in the state treasury. All moneys appropriated to the account or directed to the account from other sources must be deposited in the account. Moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation. Expenditures from the account may be used only for purposes of the veterans conservation corps program.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   A new section is added to chapter 43.60A RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The department shall seek to enter agreements with the national park service, the United States forest service, the United States fish and wildlife service, and other federal agencies managing lands in Washington, for the employment of veterans conservation corps enrollees in maintenance, restoration, and stewardship projects. Up to twenty percent of the costs of the veterans conservation corps enrollees participation in a federal project may be provided by the department, including the costs of training provided on the project.
     (2) By September 30, 2008, the department shall provide a report to the governor and appropriate committees of the senate and house of representatives regarding agreements entered with federal agencies to employ veteran conservation corps crews on federal land projects, and any revisions to the program needed to increase the number of these agreements.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   A new section is added to chapter 43.60A RCW to read as follows:
     (1) During calendar years 2007 and 2008 the salmon recovery funding board shall cooperate with the department of veterans affairs to inform salmon habitat project sponsors of the availability of veterans conservation corps crews to perform project work. From applications submitted, the board and the department shall identify projects that propose work suitable for corps crews and located near where crews are based or may be created. The department may provide the project applicants with information regarding the benefits of employing a veterans conservation corps crew in the project, including funding that the department may make available to assist with the project. Such funding shall be considered by the salmon recovery funding board as matched funding in evaluating the project for salmon recovery funding board funding.
     (2) As an element of the report required under section 3(3) of this act, the salmon recovery funding board and the department shall jointly report to the governor and the appropriate committees of the senate and house of representatives regarding projects funded during the 2007 and 2008 grant cycles that employ veterans conservation corps crews. The report shall include recommendations for increasing the use of corps crews in salmon habitat projects that receive funding from the salmon recovery funding board.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9   (1) The sum of one million dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, from the general fund to the department of veterans affairs for the purposes of this act.
     (2) The sum of one million dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, from the general fund to the department of veterans affairs for the purposes of this act.
     (3) Of the amounts appropriated in subsections (1) and (2) of this section, the department of veterans affairs may allocate up to two hundred thousand dollars in each fiscal year as state match for federal funds that are provided to implement the veterans conservation corps program.
     (4) It is further the intent of the legislature to increase appropriations to the veterans conservation corps in the 2009-2011 biennium, to a level of five million dollars for the biennium from state appropriations, and to seek not less than fifteen million dollars in federal funding for the program.