§1475b — Title 43 Public Lands | U.S. Code

Summary

The Secretary of the Interior can recruit, train, and accept unpaid volunteers to help with work run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the United States Geological Survey, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Office of the Secretary. Volunteers cannot be used for law enforcement, regulatory or enforcement duties, policymaking, or to replace paid employees. Volunteers may only work on private property if the supervisor gets the owner’s permission. Hazardous tasks are allowed only if the Secretary finds the volunteer is skilled for them. Each volunteer must be supervised by a United States officer or employee. The Secretary may pay costs tied to using volunteers, like travel, supplies, uniforms, lodging, meals (no matter where the volunteer lives), recruiting, training, supervision, and awards (including small cash awards). Volunteers are not federal employees and do not get federal pay, leave, unemployment, or benefits. They are treated as federal employees for the tort claims in title 28; for subchapter I of chapter 81 of title 5; and for claims about loss or damage to a volunteer’s personal property under section 3721 of title 31. Volunteers are subject to chapter 11 of title 18 unless the Secretary and the Director of the Office of Government Ethics publish a written decision in the Federal Register saying parts of that chapter (except section 201) do not apply to a specified class of volunteers doing only the duties named in that decision.

Title 43, §1475b

Public Lands — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary of the Interior may recruit, train, and accept, without regard to the civil service classification laws, rules, or regulations, the services of individuals, contributed without compensation as volunteers, for aiding in or facilitating the activities administered by the Secretary through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the United States Geological Survey, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Office of the Secretary.

(b)(1)In accepting such services of individuals as volunteers, the Secretary shall not permit the use of volunteers in law enforcement work, in regulatory and enforcement work, in policymaking processes, or to displace any employee.

(2)No volunteer services authorized by this Act may be conducted on private property unless the officer or employee charged with supervising the volunteer obtains appropriate consent to enter the property from the property owner.

(3)The Secretary may accept the services of individuals in hazardous duty only upon a determination by the Secretary that such individuals are skilled in performing hazardous duty activities.

(4)The Secretary shall ensure that an appropriate officer or employee of the United States provides adequate and appropriate supervision of each volunteer whose services the Secretary accepts.

(c)The Secretary may provide for services and costs incidental to the utilization of volunteers, including transportation, supplies, uniforms, lodging, subsistence (without regard to place of residence), recruiting, training, supervision, and awards and recognition (including nominal cash awards).

(d)(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)Volunteers shall be deemed employees of the United States for the purposes of—

(A)the tort claims provisions of title 28;

(B)subchapter I of chapter 81 of title 5; and

(C)claims relating to damage to, or loss of, personal property of a volunteer incident to volunteer service, in which case the provisions of section 3721 of title 31 shall apply.

(3)Volunteers under this Act shall be subject to chapter 11 of title 18, unless the Secretary, with the concurrence of the Director of the Office of Government Ethics, determines in writing published in the Federal Register that the provisions of that chapter, except section 201, shall not apply to the actions of a class or classes of volunteers who carry out only those duties or functions specified in the determination.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This Act, referred to in subsecs. (b)(2) and (d)(3), is Pub. L. 109–125, Dec. 7, 2005, 119 Stat. 2544, known as the Department of the Interior Volunteer Recruitment Act of 2005, which enacted this section and provisions set out as notes under this section and section 1451 of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

of 2005 Amendment note set out under section 1451 of this title and Tables.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Purpose Pub. L. 109–125, § 2, Dec. 7, 2005, 119 Stat. 2544, provided that: “The purpose of this Act [enacting this section and provisions set out as a note under section 1451 of this title] is to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to recruit and use volunteers to assist with, or facilitate, the programs of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the United States Geological Survey, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Office of the Secretary.”

§1475b Volunteer Authority