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<section article="gle" article_name="Labor and Employment" number="11-708.1" title_number="11" title_name="Division of Workforce Development and Adult Learning" subtitle_number="7" subtitle_name="Maryland Employment Advancement Right Now Program">
  <level label="a">
    <text>There is a Clean Energy Workforce Account.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="b">
    <text>The Account shall be funded from the Strategic Energy Investment Fund in accordance with § 9–20B–05(f)(10), (f–2), and (f–3) of the State Government Article.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="c">
    <level label="1">
      <text>In this subsection, “clean energy industry” has the meaning stated in § 9–20B–01 of the State Government Article.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>The Account shall be used to provide grants to support workforce development programs that provide:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>pre–apprenticeship jobs training;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>youth apprenticeship jobs training; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>registered apprenticeship jobs training.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>A pre–apprenticeship jobs training program must:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>be designed to prepare individuals to enter and succeed in an apprenticeship program registered by the Maryland Apprenticeship and Training Council;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>include:</text>
        <level label="1">
          <text>training and curriculum based on national best practices that prepare individuals with the skills and competencies to enter one or more State–registered or U.S. Department of Labor–registered apprenticeship programs that prepare workers for careers in the clean energy industry;</text>
        </level>
        <level label="2">
          <text>a documented strategy for increasing apprenticeship opportunities for unemployed and underemployed individuals, including:</text>
        </level>
        <level label="A">
          <text>recruitment strategies to bring these individuals into the pre–apprenticeship jobs training program;</text>
        </level>
        <level label="B">
          <text>educational and pre–vocational services to prepare program participants to meet the entry requirements of one or more registered apprenticeship programs;</text>
        </level>
        <level label="C">
          <text>access to appropriate support services to enable program participants to maintain participation in the program; and</text>
        </level>
        <level label="D">
          <text>mechanisms to assist program participants in identifying and applying to registered apprenticeship programs; and</text>
        </level>
        <level label="3">
          <text>rigorous performance and evaluation methods to ensure program effectiveness and improvement; and</text>
        </level>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>have a documented partnership with at least one registered apprenticeship program described in item (ii)2 of this paragraph.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="4">
      <text>Eligible clean energy industry jobs for a pre–apprenticeship jobs training program include positions in:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>renewable energy;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>energy efficiency;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>energy storage;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iv">
        <text>resource conservation; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="v">
        <text>advanced transportation.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="5">
      <level label="i">
        <text>This paragraph applies to youth apprenticeship jobs training programs and registered apprenticeship jobs training programs supported by the Account under this subsection.</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>An apprenticeship sponsor shall receive as a grant from the Account:</text>
        <level label="1">
          <text>up to $150,000 for a program proposal and planning expenses; and</text>
        </level>
        <level label="2">
          <text>$3,000 for each successfully completed apprenticeship.</text>
        </level>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>The youth apprenticeship jobs training programs and the registered apprenticeship jobs training programs:</text>
        <level label="1">
          <text>shall comply with:</text>
        </level>
        <level label="A">
          <text>all rules and regulations for the establishment of a registered apprenticeship and youth apprenticeship standard for sponsorship; and</text>
        </level>
        <level label="B">
          <text>the Maryland Apprenticeship and Training Program; and</text>
        </level>
        <level label="2">
          <text>must prepare workers for careers in the energy efficiency, geothermal, solar, and wind sectors of the clean energy industry.</text>
        </level>
      </level>
      <level label="iv">
        <text>This paragraph may not be construed to alter or amend the definition of “youth apprentice” or “registered apprentice” as defined by the Maryland Apprenticeship and Training Council and approved by the Secretary.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="d">
    <level label="1">
      <level label="i">
        <text>In this subsection the following words have the meanings indicated.</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>“American manufactured goods” means goods that are:</text>
        <level label="1">
          <text>manufactured in the United States; or</text>
        </level>
        <level label="2">
          <text>assembled in the United States.</text>
        </level>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>“Assembled in the United States” means that the final production takes place at a facility within the United States, regardless of the origin of the components or subcomponents.</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iv">
        <text>“Manufactured in the United States” means:</text>
        <level label="1">
          <text>that all manufacturing processes take place within the United States; and</text>
        </level>
        <level label="2">
          <text>that all component parts and the manufacturing processes of the component parts originate from within the United States, regardless of the origin of the subcomponents.</text>
        </level>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>A grant from the Account may be made only to a program that agrees to:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>use or supply American manufactured goods; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>initiate a project labor agreement.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>Paragraph (2)(i) of this subsection does not apply if:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>the price of the American manufactured goods exceeds the price of a similar manufactured good that is not manufactured in the United States by more than 25%;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>the item or a similar item is not manufactured or available for purchase in the United States in reasonably available quantities;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>the quality of the item or a similar item manufactured in the United States is substantially less than the quality of a comparably priced, similar, and available item that is not manufactured in the United States; or</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iv">
        <text>the procurement of a manufactured good would be inconsistent with the public interest.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="4">
      <text>The Board of Public Works shall adopt regulations to define the following terms for the purposes of this subsection:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>“reasonably available”; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>“substantially less”.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="5">
      <text>If a court or a federal or State agency determines that a program receiving money from the Account has misrepresented that goods used in a program to which paragraph (2)(i) of this subsection applies were manufactured or assembled in the United States, that program shall be ineligible to receive a grant from the Account for 5 years following the date that the court or federal or State agency makes the determination.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="e">
    <text>A program that receives a grant from the Account shall meet the requirements of the State prevailing wage law under Title 17, Subtitle 2 of the State Finance and Procurement Article.</text>
  </level>
</section>
