Corps created; purposes; rules and regulations

(a) There is created within the department the Georgia Youth Conservation Corps. (b) The purposes and objectives of the corps authorized by this chapter shall be to: (1) Encourage and develop work skills, discipline, cooperation, and educational opportunities for corps members; (2) Conserve, rehabilitate, and enhance the state’s natural, historic, environmental, and recreational resources; (3) Develop the state’s youth resources through meaningful work experiences and training; (4) Make outdoor and historic resources of the state available for public enjoyment; (5) Assist agencies of the state and its political subdivisions in carrying out statutory assignments with limited funding resources; (6) Provide needed public services in both urban and rural settings; (7) Protect air, fish, forest, land, water, and wildlife; (8) Help maintain and improve botanical gardens, historic sites, libraries, museums, parks, parkways, refuges, trails, zoos, and other recreational investments; (8.1) Assist in residential home improvement weatherization projects having the purpose of reducing energy consumption for home 1149 12-11-4 CONSERVATION & NATURAL RES. 12-11-5 heating and cooling, to the extent authorized by subsection (a.1) of Code Section 12-11-8; (9) Aid agricultural, fishing, forestry, and tourist industries; (10) Provide job training for young men and women to act as a stepladder to permanent employment; (11) Help eradicate fire ants; and (12) Cooperate specifically with state conservation agencies, the United States Forest Service and the Soil Conservation Service of the federal Department of Agriculture, and with the National Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service of the federal Department of Interior. (c) The board is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations not inconsistent with this chapter for the implementation and operation of the corps program. History. — Code 1981, § 12-11-4, enacted by Ga. L. 1987, p. 922, § 1; Ga. L. 2010, p. 321, § 1/HB 493; Ga. L. 2011, p. 752, § 12/HB 142. 12-11-5. Director; administration of corps programs; energy savings initiatives. (a) There is created the position of director of the Georgia Youth Conservation Corps. The director shall be appointed by the commissioner and shall be in the unclassified service as defined by Code Section 45-20-2. (b) The commissioner shall be charged with the overall administration of corps programs under the provisions of this chapter and such rules and regulations as are adopted by the board. The commissioner may delegate to the director any or all of the duties and functions prescribed by this chapter. Such duties and functions may include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) Recruiting and employing staff and corps member leaders and specialists; (2) Adopting criteria for the selection of applicants to the corps; (3) Executing agreements for furnishing the services of the corps to any federal, state, or local agency or to any local organization concerned with the overall objectives of the corps and all other agreements necessary and proper for the implementation and administration of this chapter; (4) Applying for and accepting grants or contributions of funds from any source, public or private; 1150 12-11-7 (5) Providing funds and matching funds to other corps programs meeting the specifications of this chapter and the rules and regulations of the board; and (6) Reporting annually to the council, the Governor, and the General Assembly on the activities undertaken by the corps in the preceding fiscal year, including a cost-effectiveness analysis of all completed, ongoing, and proposed projects. (c) The commissioner shall have the authority to contract with the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority and the Department of Labor for purposes of management and installation of energy saving material or devices or other projects under this chapter. The commissioner, the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority, and the Department of Labor are encouraged to use the corps for such purposes. History. — Code 1981, § 12-11-5, enacted by Ga. L. 1987, p. 922, § 1; Ga. L. 2009, p. 745, § 1/SB 97; Ga. L. 2010, p. 321, § 2/HB 493; Ga. L. 2012, p. 446, § 2-8/HB 642.