§1475b Volunteer authority

Summary

The Secretary of the Interior can recruit, train, and accept unpaid volunteers to help work run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the United States Geological Survey, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Office of the Secretary. Volunteers may be brought in without following civil service classification rules. They cannot do law enforcement, regulatory or enforcement work, make policy, or replace paid employees. Work on private land needs the owner’s permission. Hazardous tasks are allowed only if the Secretary finds the volunteer is properly skilled. Each volunteer must have supervision by a U.S. officer or employee. The Secretary may pay for things tied to volunteers, like travel, supplies, uniforms, lodging, food (regardless of where the volunteer lives), recruiting, training, supervision, and awards including small cash awards. Volunteers are not federal employees for pay, hours, leave, unemployment, or federal benefits. They are treated as federal employees for claims under title 28, for subchapter I of chapter 81 of title 5, and for loss or damage to personal property under section 3721 of title 31. They must follow chapter 11 of title 18 unless the Secretary and the Director of the Office of Government Ethics publish a written notice in the Federal Register saying those rules (except section 201) do not apply to a named class of volunteers doing only specified duties.