Establishment of a Wisconsin conservation corps program, authorizing a transfer of moneys appropriated to one or more state agencies, extending the time limit for emergency rule procedures, providing exemptions from emergency rule procedures, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation

To finance the operation of the WCC Board and program, the bill permits the secretary of administration to transfer not more than $400,000 from sum certain appropriations to state agencies in the executive branch to the WCC Board during the period beginning on the day the bill becomes law and ending on the date of publication of the 2013-15 biennial budget act, subject to certain limitations. The secretary is prohibited from making any transfer of moneys derived from federal revenues and is also prohibited from making a transfer if the transfer would violate the state or federal constitution, state or federal law, or a requirement imposed by the federal government as a condition to receipt of aids by this state. In addition, the secretary is prohibited from transferring certain moneys appropriated to the Department of Transportation. Any proposed transfer must first be reported by the secretary to the cochairpersons of the Joint Committee on Finance (committee) and is subject to review, approval, or modification by the committee, but the committee may waive its right to review a proposed transfer.

The bill provides that a WCC project must be designed to carry out a specific goal within a defined period of time, must be focused on the conservation or enjoyment of natural resources for environmental conservation or for energy conservation and efficiency purposes, and must have a specific, beneficial, physical effect. Environmental conservation projects may include new trail construction, trail rehabilitation, invasive species management, bridge and boardwalk construction, reforestation, timber stand improvement, stream bank stabilization, erosion control, rain garden installation, prairie restoration, historical site preservation, recreation site maintenance, wild land fire hazard reduction and fuels management, lake and stream restoration, boundary marking, fencing, landscaping, or carpentry.

Energy conservation and efficiency projects may include data collection for scientific research, retrofitting of residential or industrial windows, installing solar panels, high-efficiency water heater installation, rain barrel collection system construction, insulation upgrades, high-efficiency lighting product installation, power management system installation, motion detection system upgrades, efficient heating and cooling system installation, biogas digestion system installation, biomass heating and energy system installation, truck loading dock seal installation, wind or solar electric system installation, geothermal heat pump installation, electric chiller installation, greenhouse construction, or irrigation system installation. A project may be sited only on public land in this state or land in this state in which the public has an ownership interest, except that incidental work may be performed on other land if the work is directly related to accomplishing work performed on public land or land in which the public has an ownership interest. The bill permits local governments or nonprofit corporations to sponsor projects. A project application is then submitted to the WCC Board by the manager. The application must identify the proposed project and the sponsor of the project and provide a detailed plan for the work on the project. In addition, the application must contain an enumeration of the number of work crews that will work on the project and an affirmation as to whether the work crew members would be eligible to participate in a youth corps program administered by the National and Community Service Board (NCSB), as well as a plan for training the work crew members, providing transportation to the project work sites, making available individualized educational opportunities for work crew members suited to the qualifications, experience, and needs of the members while they are working on the projects, for assisting work crew members in making full use of all benefits provided under such a youth corps program if the project qualifies as a youth corps program, and for visiting postsecondary institutions, such as a technical college or University of Wisconsin (UW) two-year college, to familiarize the crew members with application and enrollment procedures, programs, and course offerings.

The bill provides that each work crew member on a WCC project must be between the ages of 18 and 25, and at least 50 percent of the work crew members on each project must have no postsecondary education and have a family income of not more than 200 percent of the federal poverty line on the date of their initial engagement.

The bill provides that, if the manager determines that an application is an appropriate WCC project and that work crew members would be eligible under the program, the manager must submit the application to NCSB for funding. If funding is provided by NCSB, the manager must use the funding to assist the sponsor in training the work crews.

The bill requires each sponsor of a WCC project to do both of the following: upon completion of the project, erect a permanent plaque at each work site identifying the site as a WCC project; and submit a report to the WCC Board identifying the number of work crew members who enrolled at a technical college, a UW college, or another postsecondary institution upon completion of the project and their status on the first anniversary of completion of the project.

The bill exempts services performed by WCC work crews from compliance with requirements for state and local public works projects to adhere to current prevailing wage scales. The bill permits the WCC Board to retain its manager and permits other state agencies to engage a WCC crew on a project without complying with state procurement laws, including requirements for public notice to and competitive solicitation of contractors and limitations on the circumstances when contractual services may be obtained.

Finally, the bill requires the WCC Board to submit an annual report to the legislature identifying the projects that were completed in each year or that are in the process of completion as of the end of that year.