§ 3.23 — New York state conservation corps

New York § 3.23

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law PAR: Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
• Title B: Organization and General Powers, Functions and Duties of Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
• Art. 3: Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; Commissioner

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§ 3.23 New York state conservation corps. 1. A New York state\nconservation corps (hereafter referred to as the "corps") within the\noffice is hereby established for the following purposes:\n a. To protect air, fish, forest, land, water and wildlife;\n b. To help maintain and improve botanical gardens, historic sites,\nlibraries, museums, parks, parkways, refuges, trails, zoos and other\nrecreational investments;\n c. To aid agricultural, fishing, forestry and tourist industries;\n d. To provide jobs and job training for young unemployed men and\nwomen, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds, to act as a stepladder\nto permanent employment;\n e. To foster co-operation among civilian and governmental agencies in\norder to educate the public about state resources;\n f. To reinforce the "I Love New York" campaign;\n g. To take advantage of the capital investment in facilities and\nequipment already in place from the programs of youth and young adult\nand civilian conservation corps paid for by federal dollars;\n h. To educate the participants about our natural environment and\ncultural heritage, teach first aid and disaster procedures, and to\notherwise encourage them to further their education; and\n i. To do such other projects which provide disaster relief, increase\nenergy conservation, improve fire prevention, beautify highways, control\ninsects and rodents, upgrade public lands, and revitalize urban areas.\n 2. The office is authorized to provide for the use of state\nappropriations as are available for such purposes:\n a. To coordinate corps participants in doing projects on land owned by\nthe state or by a municipality or by an Indian nation, or activities\ntaking place at nonproject sites when appropriate; and\n b. To enter into agreements with any municipal corporation, state\nagency, not-for-profit organization or Indian nation which will agree to\ndo projects consistent with this section.\n 3. The corps shall consist of the following components:\n a. Summer: for youth enrollees, aged fourteen--eighteen;\n b. Seasonal: for unemployed young adult enrollees, aged\nsixteen--twenty-four;\n c. Non-residential: for young adult enrollees, aged\nsixteen--twenty-four;\n d. Residential: for young adult enrollees, aged eighteen--twenty-five;\n e. Volunteer: for interested persons of any age who are members of an\norganized group which has proper leadership and insurance;\n f. Crew Leader: for young adults, aged eighteen and over;\n g. Staff: for adults, aged twenty-one and up, who are needed for the\nfew positions enrollees or crew leaders cannot fill; and\n h. Director: for adults, aged twenty-five and up, who are in charge of\nlocal or state projects, residential camps, or overall program of corps.\n 4. The following minimum standards and requirements shall apply for\nall projects funded pursuant to the provisions of this section:\n a. Enrollees and crew leaders shall be paid at rates set by the\noffice, and may have incentive steps up to twice the rate of the federal\nminimum wage;\n b. The distribution of projects should as much as practicable reflect\nthe population of the state as a whole, the usage of qualifying sites,\nthe population of and unemployment rates among the target age group,\nexcept for special needs arising from disasters caused by man and/or\nnature;\n c. Applicants for summer and seasonal enrollee positions shall be\nchosen for interview by random methods;\n d. Local operators shall match funds received from the state by\nproviding for twenty percent local share of project costs consisting of\ncash or in kind services;\n e. No participant in the corps shall displace or be substituted for\nexisting employees;\n f. No individual may be an enrollee in the corps for more than\ntwenty-four months of accumulated service;\n g. All residential camps shall be operated by the office;\n h. Projects will receive preference which provide for the most long\nterm benefits to the public, meaningful work, work experiences, and are\nlabor intensive;\n i. A corps member must be a citizen or lawful permanent resident or\nlawfully admitted noncitizen;\n j. Applicants for seasonal enrollee positions shall be unemployed;\n k. Special consideration shall be given to the recruitment of\nenrollees who are economically, socially, physically, and educationally\ndisadvantaged;\n l. Volunteers may not be used for hazardous duties or law enforcement\nwork;\n m. Program funds may be expended to provide for services or costs\nincidental to the utilization of volunteers, including transportation,\nsupplies, lodging, recruiting, training and supervision;\n n. Volunteers shall not be deemed to be employees, except for tort\nclaims relating to compensation for work injuries;\n o. The corps may do work at federal sites;\n p. The corps will help support the empire state games, the state fair,\nand other events consistent with this section;\n q. The corps will help the department of commerce, the Olympic\nregional development authority, the Adirondack park agency, and local\nagencies in their tourist development activities;\n r. The office shall whenever possible coordinate program activities\nwith other youth sections of the office, department of labor, department\nof environmental conservation, the division for youth, agencies or\nprograms operating pursuant to the Federal job training partnership act,\ndepartment of social services, department of education, and local youth\nagencies;\n s. Of the sums appropriated to carry out this section for any fiscal\nyear from state and/or federal and/or private sources:\n (i) not less than fifty percent shall go to local governments and\nnot-for-profit groups,\n (ii) not less than ten percent shall be spent on summer component,\n (iii) not less than twenty-five percent of state projects shall be\noperated by the department of environmental conservation,\n (iv) not less than ten percent of state projects shall be operated by\nIndian nations;\n (v) not less than fifty percent of state projects shall be operated by\nthe office;\n t. Educational opportunities for corps participants shall be enhanced\nby:\n (i) the provision of training and reference materials, both internal\nand from other state or federal sources,\n (ii) arranging with educational institutions for the awarding of\nacademic credit for competencies developed,\n (iii) encouraging corps members to continue studies during non-working\nhours to complete high school equivalency diploma or college courses or\njob skill training;\n u. The office shall coordinate educational, recruiting and training\nmaterials of the corps with the departments of education, environmental\nconservation and labor and the division for youth; and\n v. The corps shall take advantage of the services available from the\nstate university of New York, local community colleges and school boards\nand the University of New York.\n 5. The office may accept supplementary public and private funds to\nassist in meeting the costs of operating the corps.\n 6. The commissioner shall prepare an annual report on the corps and\nsubmit such report to the legislature.\n 7. The office shall promulgate such rules and regulations as are\nnecessary and appropriate and shall establish the corps as a separate\nbureau within the office.\n 8. The commencement of the corps and other provisions under this\nsection shall be contingent upon the availability of federal and/or\nstate moneys appropriated for such purposes.\n