§ 3.23 New York state conservation corps. 1. A New York state
conservation corps (hereafter referred to as the "corps") within the
office is hereby established for the following purposes:

a. To protect air, fish, forest, land, water and wildlife;

b. To help maintain and improve botanical gardens, historic sites,
libraries, museums, parks, parkways, refuges, trails, zoos and other
recreational investments;

c. To aid agricultural, fishing, forestry and tourist industries;

d. To provide jobs and job training for young unemployed men and
women, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds, to act as a stepladder
to permanent employment;

e. To foster co-operation among civilian and governmental agencies in
order to educate the public about state resources;

f. To reinforce the "I Love New York" campaign;

g. To take advantage of the capital investment in facilities and
equipment already in place from the programs of youth and young adult
and civilian conservation corps paid for by federal dollars;

h. To educate the participants about our natural environment and
cultural heritage, teach first aid and disaster procedures, and to
otherwise encourage them to further their education; and

i. To do such other projects which provide disaster relief, increase
energy conservation, improve fire prevention, beautify highways, control
insects and rodents, upgrade public lands, and revitalize urban areas.

2. The office is authorized to provide for the use of state
appropriations as are available for such purposes:

a. To coordinate corps participants in doing projects on land owned by
the state or by a municipality or by an Indian nation, or activities
taking place at nonproject sites when appropriate; and

b. To enter into agreements with any municipal corporation, state
agency, not-for-profit organization or Indian nation which will agree to
do projects consistent with this section.

3. The corps shall consist of the following components:

a. Summer: for youth enrollees, aged fourteen--eighteen;

b. Seasonal: for unemployed young adult enrollees, aged
sixteen--twenty-four;

c. Non-residential: for young adult enrollees, aged
sixteen--twenty-four;

d. Residential: for young adult enrollees, aged eighteen--twenty-five;

e. Volunteer: for interested persons of any age who are members of an
organized group which has proper leadership and insurance;

f. Crew Leader: for young adults, aged eighteen and over;

g. Staff: for adults, aged twenty-one and up, who are needed for the
few positions enrollees or crew leaders cannot fill; and

h. Director: for adults, aged twenty-five and up, who are in charge of
local or state projects, residential camps, or overall program of corps.

4. The following minimum standards and requirements shall apply for
all projects funded pursuant to the provisions of this section:

a. Enrollees and crew leaders shall be paid at rates set by the
office, and may have incentive steps up to twice the rate of the federal
minimum wage;

b. The distribution of projects should as much as practicable reflect
the population of the state as a whole, the usage of qualifying sites,
the population of and unemployment rates among the target age group,
except for special needs arising from disasters caused by man and/or
nature;

c. Applicants for summer and seasonal enrollee positions shall be
chosen for interview by random methods;

d. Local operators shall match funds received from the state by
providing for twenty percent local share of project costs consisting of
cash or in kind services;

e. No participant in the corps shall displace or be substituted for
existing employees;

f. No individual may be an enrollee in the corps for more than
twenty-four months of accumulated service;

g. All residential camps shall be operated by the office;

h. Projects will receive preference which provide for the most long
term benefits to the public, meaningful work, work experiences, and are
labor intensive;

i. A corps member must be a citizen or lawful permanent resident or
lawfully admitted noncitizen;

j. Applicants for seasonal enrollee positions shall be unemployed;

k. Special consideration shall be given to the recruitment of
enrollees who are economically, socially, physically, and educationally
disadvantaged;

l. Volunteers may not be used for hazardous duties or law enforcement
work;

m. Program funds may be expended to provide for services or costs
incidental to the utilization of volunteers, including transportation,
supplies, lodging, recruiting, training and supervision;

n. Volunteers shall not be deemed to be employees, except for tort
claims relating to compensation for work injuries;

o. The corps may do work at federal sites;

p. The corps will help support the empire state games, the state fair,
and other events consistent with this section;

q. The corps will help the department of commerce, the Olympic
regional development authority, the Adirondack park agency, and local
agencies in their tourist development activities;

r. The office shall whenever possible coordinate program activities
with other youth sections of the office, department of labor, department
of environmental conservation, the division for youth, agencies or
programs operating pursuant to the Federal job training partnership act,
department of social services, department of education, and local youth
agencies;

s. Of the sums appropriated to carry out this section for any fiscal
year from state and/or federal and/or private sources:

(i) not less than fifty percent shall go to local governments and
not-for-profit groups,

(ii) not less than ten percent shall be spent on summer component,

(iii) not less than twenty-five percent of state projects shall be
operated by the department of environmental conservation,

(iv) not less than ten percent of state projects shall be operated by
Indian nations;

(v) not less than fifty percent of state projects shall be operated by
the office;

t. Educational opportunities for corps participants shall be enhanced
by:

(i) the provision of training and reference materials, both internal
and from other state or federal sources,

(ii) arranging with educational institutions for the awarding of
academic credit for competencies developed,

(iii) encouraging corps members to continue studies during non-working
hours to complete high school equivalency diploma or college courses or
job skill training;

u. The office shall coordinate educational, recruiting and training
materials of the corps with the departments of education, environmental
conservation and labor and the division for youth; and

v. The corps shall take advantage of the services available from the
state university of New York, local community colleges and school boards
and the University of New York.

5. The office may accept supplementary public and private funds to
assist in meeting the costs of operating the corps.

6. The commissioner shall prepare an annual report on the corps and
submit such report to the legislature.

7. The office shall promulgate such rules and regulations as are
necessary and appropriate and shall establish the corps as a separate
bureau within the office.

8. The commencement of the corps and other provisions under this
section shall be contingent upon the availability of federal and/or
state moneys appropriated for such purposes.