§6243 Department of Energy defense nuclear facilities workforce restructuring plan

Summary

Requires the Secretary of Energy to make a workforce restructuring plan when job changes are needed at a defense nuclear facility. The plan must consider how the facility will be changed and the most recent nuclear weapons stockpile plan. The Secretary must talk with the Secretary of Labor, union leaders, state and local officials, colleges, and local community groups, and pick the right people to represent each. The plan must try to reduce social and economic harm, give at least 120 days’ notice before changes start, and use retraining, early retirement, attrition, and other steps to avoid layoffs. Laid-off workers should get hiring preference with DOE when possible, consistent with DOE seniority rules and section 3152 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991 (Public Law 101–189; 103 Stat. 1682). DOE should offer retraining, relocation help, job placement help, and local impact assistance, coordinated with programs under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (title I, 29 U.S.C. 3111 et seq.), the Defense Economic Adjustment, Diversification, Conversion, and Stabilization Act of 1990 (division D of Public Law 101–510; 10 U.S.C. 2391 note), and the Public Works and Economic Development Act (title II, 42 U.S.C. 3141 et seq.). The Secretary must keep working with these partners as money is available. The Secretary must send the plan to Congress within 90 days after the required 120-day notice is given to employees, or within 90 days after the law’s enactment, whichever is later. Every six months the Secretary must report to Congress on local impact assistance given in the prior six months, including amounts or values. “Department of Energy defense nuclear facility” covers: a production or utilization facility used for national security (examples include the tritium loading facility and the 236 H facility at Savannah River, South Carolina); a nuclear waste storage or disposal facility under DOE control; a testing and assembly facility used for national security (examples include the Nevada National Security Site, Nevada, and the Pantex facility, Texas); an atomic weapons research facility under DOE control (examples include Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, and Sandia National Laboratories); and any site like the above that is no longer operating but was once under DOD, the Atomic Energy Commission, or the Energy Research and Development Administration and used for national security.