§2918. National emergency grants

(a) In general

The Secretary is authorized to award national emergency grants in a timely manner-

(1) to an entity described in subsection (c) of this section to provide employment and training assistance to workers affected by major economic dislocations, such as plant closures, mass layoffs, or closures and realignments of military installations;

(2) to provide assistance to the Governor of any State within the boundaries of which is an area that has suffered an emergency or a major disaster as defined in paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively, of section 5122 of title 42 (referred to in this section as the "disaster area") to provide disaster relief employment in the area; and

(3) to provide additional assistance to a State or local board for eligible dislocated workers in a case in which the State or local board has expended the funds provided under this section to carry out activities described in paragraphs (1) and (2) and can demonstrate the need for additional funds to provide appropriate services for such workers, in accordance with requirements prescribed by the Secretary.

(b) Administration

The Secretary shall designate a dislocated worker office to coordinate the functions of the Secretary under this chapter relating to employment and training activities for dislocated workers, including activities carried out under the national emergency grants.

(c) Employment and training assistance requirements

(1) Grant recipient eligibility

(A) Application

To be eligible to receive a grant under subsection (a)(1) of this section, an entity shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require.

(B) Eligible entity

In this paragraph, the term "entity" means a State, a local board, an entity described in section 2911(c) of this title, entities determined to be eligible by the Governor of the State involved, and other entities that demonstrate to the Secretary the capability to effectively respond to the circumstances relating to particular dislocations.

(2) Participant eligibility

(A) In general

In order to be eligible to receive employment and training assistance under a national emergency grant awarded pursuant to subsection (a)(1) of this section, an individual shall be-

(i) a dislocated worker;

(ii) a civilian employee of the Department of Defense or the Department of Energy employed at a military installation that is being closed, or that will undergo realignment, within the next 24 months after the date of the determination of eligibility;

(iii) an individual who is employed in a nonmanagerial position with a Department of Defense contractor, who is determined by the Secretary of Defense to be at-risk of termination from employment as a result of reductions in defense expenditures, and whose employer is converting operations from defense to nondefense applications in order to prevent worker layoffs; or

(iv) a member of the Armed Forces who-

(I) was on active duty or full-time National Guard duty;

(II)(aa) is involuntarily separated (as defined in section 1141 of title 10) from active duty or full-time National Guard duty; or

(bb) is separated from active duty or full-time National Guard duty pursuant to a special separation benefits program under section 1174a of title 10 or the voluntary separation incentive program under section 1175 of that title;

(III) is not entitled to retired or retained pay incident to the separation described in subclause (II); and

(IV) applies for such employment and training assistance before the end of the 180-day period beginning on the date of that separation.

(B) Retraining assistance

The individuals described in subparagraph (A)(iii) shall be eligible for retraining assistance to upgrade skills by obtaining marketable skills needed to support the conversion described in subparagraph (A)(iii).

(C) Additional requirements

The Secretary shall establish and publish additional requirements related to eligibility for employment and training assistance under the national emergency grants to ensure effective use of the funds available for this purpose.

(D) Definitions

In this paragraph, the terms "military institution" ¹ and "realignment" have the meanings given the terms in section 2910 of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 (Public Law 101–510; 10 U.S.C. 2687 note).

(d) Disaster relief employment assistance requirements

(1) In general

Funds made available under subsection (a)(2) of this section-

(A) shall be used to provide disaster relief employment on projects that provide food, clothing, shelter, and other humanitarian assistance for disaster victims, and projects regarding demolition, cleaning, repair, renovation, and reconstruction of damaged and destroyed structures, facilities, and lands located within the disaster area;

(B) may be expended through public and private agencies and organizations engaged in such projects; and

(C) may be expended to provide employment and training activities.

(2) Eligibility

An individual shall be eligible to be offered disaster relief employment under subsection (a)(2) of this section if such individual is a dislocated worker, is a long-term unemployed individual, or is temporarily or permanently laid off as a consequence of the disaster.

(3) Limitations on disaster relief employment

No individual shall be employed under subsection (a)(2) of this section for more than 6 months for work related to recovery from a single natural disaster.

(e) Additional assistance

(1) In general

From the amount appropriated and made available to carry out this section for any program year, the Secretary shall use not more than $15,000,000 to make grants to not more than 8 States to provide employment and training activities under section 2864 of this title, in accordance with subchapter II of this chapter.

(2) Eligible States

The Secretary shall make a grant under paragraph (1) to a State for a program year if-

(A)(i) the amount of the allotment that would be made to the State for the program year under the formula specified in section 1602(a) of this title, as in effect on July 1, 1998; is greater than

(ii) the amount of the allotment that would be made to the State for the program year under the formula specified in section 2862(b)(1)(B) of this title; and

(B) the State is 1 of the 8 States with the greatest quotient obtained by dividing-

(i) the amount described in subparagraph (A)(i); by

(ii) the amount described in subparagraph (A)(ii).

(3) Amount of grants

Subject to paragraph (1), the amount of the grant made under paragraph (1) to a State for a program year shall be based on the difference between-

(A) the amount of the allotment that would be made to the State for the program year under the formula specified in section 1602(a) of this title, as in effect on July 1, 1998; and

(B) the amount of the allotment that would be made to the State for the program year under the formula specified in section 2862(b)(1)(B) of this title.

(4) Allocation of funds

A State that receives a grant under paragraph (1) for a program year-

(A) shall allocate funds made available through the grant on the basis of the formula used by the State to allocate funds within the State for that program year under-

(i) paragraph (2)(A) or (3) of section 2863(b) of this title; or

(ii) paragraph (2)(B) of section 2863(b) of this title; and

(B) shall use the funds in the same manner as the State uses other funds allocated under the appropriate paragraph of section 2863(b) of this title.

( Pub. L. 105–220, title I, §173, Aug. 7, 1998, 112 Stat. 1035 ; Pub. L. 105–277, div. A, §101(f) [title VIII, §401(12)], Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681–337 , 2681-411, 2681-435.)

References in Text

Section 1602 of this title, referred to in subsec. (e)(2)(A)(i), (3)(A), was repealed by Pub. L. 105–220, title I, §199(b)(2), Aug. 7, 1998, 112 Stat. 1059 , effective July 1, 2000.

Amendments

1998-Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 105–277, §101(f) [title VIII, §401(12)], made technical amendment to reference in original act which appears in text as reference to section 5122 of title 42.

Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 105–277, §101(f) [title VIII], added subsec. (e).

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in sections 2862, 2915, 2916 of this title.

¹ So in original. Probably should be " 'military installation' ".