Title 16 — ConservationRelease 119-73

§4604 Volunteers

Title 16 › Chapter CHAPTER 66— - TAKE PRIDE IN AMERICA PROGRAM › § 4604

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary may recruit, train, and accept unpaid volunteers—people or organizations—to help the TPIA Program. These volunteers can be brought in without following the usual federal hiring and pay rules in title 5, including chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53. The Secretary may pay small expenses like travel, uniforms, lodging, or meals. Volunteers are not federal employees for most job rules (hours, pay, leave, unemployment, and benefits). But for the Federal Tort Claims Act (chapter 171 of title 28, section 2671) and for federal workers’ compensation (subchapter I of chapter 81 of title 5, section 8101), volunteers are treated as employees.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §4604

Conservation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary is authorized to recruit, train, and accept the services of individuals or entities, without compensation, as volunteers for or in aid of the purposes of the TPIA Program, without regard to the provisions of title 5, that govern appointments in the competitive service, and the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, that relate to classification and General Schedule pay rates.

(b)The Secretary is authorized to provide for the incidental expenses of such volunteers, such as transportation, uniforms, lodging, or subsistence.

(c)(1)Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a volunteer shall not be deemed a Federal employee and shall not be subject to the provisions of law relating to Federal employment, including those provisions relating to hours of work, rates of compensation, leave, unemployment compensation, and Federal employee benefits.

(2)For purposes of chapter 171 of title 28 (commonly referred to as the “Federal Tort Claims Act”), a volunteer under this subsection shall be considered an employee of the government (as defined in section 2671 of such title).

(3)For purposes of subchapter I of chapter 81 of title 5, relating to compensation to Federal employees for work injuries, a volunteer under this subsection shall be considered an employee (as defined in section 8101 of title 5).

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 4604

Title 16 — Conservation

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73