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FOIA Number: 2013-0661-F (2)
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This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the William J. Clinton
Presidential Library Staff.
Collection/Record Group: Clinton Presidential Records
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National Service
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Jim Kreidler
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1284
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[Proposal - American Wetlands - Earth Corps] [loose]
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66
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1
AWA
American Wildlands
VMV
3609 S. Wadsworth Blvd., Suite 123, Lakewood, CO 80235
(303) 988-2291 /Fax (303) 988-6573
March 19, 1993
Mr. Eli Segal, Director
Office of National Service
Old Executive Office Building, Room 145
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. Segal:
Last week Gary Hart spoke with you about the 'Earth Corps' proposal. I had
asked him to pass a copy along to you and suggest you and I meet to further discuss this
aspect of President Clinton's national service package.
I will be in Washington March 29 - April 2. I have called your office several times
in an attempt to arrange that meeting, trying to reach you, Karen or Rick Allen to establish a
meeting time.
Briefly, you should be aware that First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton personally
asked me, and Vice President Al Gore made a separate request of Owen Byrd, Program
Director of GreenVote, to prepare specifics on a national environmental service program.
Consequently, we developed a proposal for a national 'Earth Corps'. Although a national
environmental service corps is not a new idea, it is one that is appallingly overdue in this
country.
These requests were made on the cusp of the elections when over 100,000 young
eco-voters and 2,500 young campaign volunteers were recruited for the Clinton/Gore ticket
and other pro-environment candidates. Countless young people wanted to answer Bill
Clinton's call for a "season of service" by working on their most passionate concern -- the
environment.
I have enclosed a copy of the latest proposal draft. It represents hundreds of hours
of work and scores of discussions with individuals involved in national service, education,
environmental protection and government. The Earth Corps Design Team, the authors of
this document, believe this proposal encompasses recommendations that can best serve
youth and the environment, create jobs and provide opportunities for young people to earn
and pay back college loans, or accrue credits for non-college alternatives, through the
National Service Trust Fund.
It is my understanding the administration is planning to complete its national service
legislative package in the next several weeks. The proposed Health Care Corps, Teacher
Corps and Police Corps appear to be the primary focus of President Clinton's national
service initiative, with environment only recently incorporated. While we are pleased to see
environmental service included, it is a 'step child' of the national service plan, receiving
much less attention and planning already devoted to the other service programs.
Working Together To
Conserve Wild America
Recycled paper
The 'Earth Corps' must be, as we propose, created as a distinct, independent,
minimum bureaucracy service entity if the Clinton administration's commitment to
America's youth is truly going to reflect their concerns and support for this administration.
Many polls of young people indicate that the majority view environment as one of society's
foremost responsibilities. Personal action for the environment is perceived as equally
important. Therefore, it is critical that environmental service have equal standing with the
other service alternatives.
With Earth Day, April 22, fast approaching, President Clinton could launch a pilot
'Earth Corps' national service program with an Executive Order, thereby taking advantage
of the opportunity to link his observance of this day to one of his primary initiatives. This
would send the clearest possible message to the youth of America that he intends
environmental service to be a significant part of both the new administration's national
service and environmental agendas.
Mr. Segal, I look forward to our meeting. Thank you for your thoughtful
consideration.
Sincerely,
Sally A. G. Ranney
President
SAR/tcl
Enclosures
AWA
Sally A.G. Ranney
President
VMV
American
Wildlands
Phone (303) 988-2291
3609 S. Wadsworth Blvd., Suite 123
Lakewood, CO 8O235
Fax (3O3) 988-6573
THE EARTH CORPS
DRAFT PROPOSAL MARCH 1, 1993
Proposal to establish a federal, national service Earth Corps to
stimulate hands-on environmental action and create jobs; provide the
opportunity for youth to pay back college loans or accrue credits for
non-college alternatives from the National Service Trust Fund;
enhance and restore the environment; promote global environmental
cooperation and economic health; provide youth and others with
education and skills required to develop a sustainable future; foster a
global environmental ethic of a balanced human relationship with the
Earth.
Prepared by:
Earth Corps Design Team
Team Coordinators:
Sally A. Ranney
Suzanne Brown
Owen Byrd
President, American Wildlands
Chairman, Daedalus Education
Director of Policy & Legal Defense,
Chairman, Earth Restoration
Foundation
Greenbelt Alliance
Alliance
Vice President, Earth Restoration
Program Director, Green Vote
(303) 988-2291
Alliance
(415) 543-4291
(619) 793-0411
(415) 323-7277
Earth Restoration Alliance
California: 12702 Via Cortina, Suite 201B, Del Mar, CA 92014 (619) 793-0411 Fax (619) 793-0523
Colorado: 3609 S. Wadsworth Blvd., Suite 123, Lakewood, CO 80235 (303) 988-2291 Fax (303) 988-6573
THE EARTH CORPS DRAFT PROPOSAL
MARCH 1, 1993
To:
President Bill Clinton
Prepared upon request for: Vice President AI Gore, Jr.
First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton
Prepared by:
EARTH CORPS Design Team
Sally Ranney, Team Coordinator
President, American Wildlands
Former member, President's Commission on American Outdoors
Chairman, Earth Restoration Alliance
Owen Byrd, Team Coordinator
Director of Policy & Legal Defense, Greenbelt Alliance
Program Director, GreenVote
Hanne Strong, President, Manitou Foundation
Suzanne Brown, Founder, Daedalus Education Foundation
Director & Vice President, Earth Restoration Alliance
Christopher Kelly, Technical Assistant/Writer
Earth Restoration Alliance
Karen Byrne, Project Coordinator, Earth Restoration Alliance
Daedalus Education Foundation
Rio de la Vista, Research, Earth Restoration Alliance
Lynwood Brown, President, Skyloom Development Services
Christopher Fox, Research, Student, Yale University
Jack W. Lampl III, Technical Assistance, Earth Restoration Alliance
Copies to interested parties:
The White House
William Galston, Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy
Michael Lux, Special Assistant to the President for Public Liasion
Kathleen McGinty, Director, Office of Environmental Policy
Eli Segal, Director, Office of National Service
Federal Departments and Agencies
Department of Agriculture:
Honorable Michael Espy, Secretary
Department of Education:
Honorable Madeine Kunin, Deputy Secretary Designate
Environmental Protection Agency:
Honorable Carol Browner, Administrator
Honorable Richard Morgenstern, Acting Deputy Administrator
Department of Interior:
Honorable Bruce Babbitt, Secretary
Honorable George Frampton, Assistant Secretary Designate, Fish, Wildlife and Parks
Honorable James Baca, Director Designate, Bureau of Land Management
Department of State:
Honorable Timothy Wirth, Undersecretary Designate of State for Global Affairs
U.S. Congress
Senator Max Baucus
Senator Barbara Boxer
Senator Edward Kennedy
Senator Patrick Leahy
Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Senator Harris Wofford
Senator Claiborne Pell
Congresswoman Anna Eshoo
Congressman David McCurdy
Congressman George Miller
Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder
Congressman Bruce Vento
The United Nations
Noel Brown, Director, Environmental Program, Regional Office of North America
William Draper III, Administrator, United Nations Development Program
Aditi Desari, Program Director, U.N. Volunteers
Maurice Strong, former Secretary General, UNCED; Chairman, Earth Council
Moustafa Tolba, former Director, U.S. Environmental Program
Environmental Organizations
John Adams, Executive Director, Natural Resources Defense Council
Peter A.A. Berle, President, National Audubon Society
David Brower, Chairman, Earth Island Institute
Gina Collins, Executive Director, Green Corps
Kevin Coyle, President, American Rivers
Gilbert Grosvenor, President, National Geographic Society
Jay Hair, President, National Wildlife Federation
Jan Hartke, President, EarthKind
Tina Hobson, President, Renew America
Charles Jordan, Director of Parks and Recreation, Portland, Oregon
Gene Karpinski, Executive Director, U.S. Public Interest Research Group
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Senior Attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council
Fred Krupp, Executive Director, Environmental Defense Fund
Andy Lipkis, Executive Director, Treepeople
Thomas Lovejoy III, Assistant Secretary for External Affairs, Smithsonian Institution
Claes Nobel, Chairman, United Earth
Patrick Noonan, President, Conservation Fund
Larry Orman, Executive Director, Greenbelt Alliance
Carl Pope, Executive Director, Sierra Club
Benjamin H. Read, former Undersecretary of State; President, Eco-Fund
Robert Redford, President, Sundance Institute
Honorable William Reilly, Senior Fellow, World Wildlife Fund
Frank Smith, Treasurer, GreenVote
James Gustave Speth, former President, World Resources Institute
William Toor, Executive Director, Environmental Center, University of Colorado
Brian Trelstad, Director, Campus Green Vote
Honorable Stewart Udall, former Secretary of Interior, Chairman, National Arbor Day
Foundation
Service and Citizen Action Organizations
John Amsterdam, Program Director, DC Service Corps
Robert Borsage, Director, Campaign for New Priorities
Heather Booth, former Executive Director, Citizen Action
Judy Braus, Environmental Education Specialist, Peace Corps
Michael Closson, Executive Director, Center for Economic Conversion
Don Eberly, National Service Secretariat
Destry Jarvis, Executive Vice-President, Student Conservation Association
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Executive Director, Maryland Student Service Alliance
Vanessa Kirsch, Executive Director, Public Allies
James Krelsmyer, Campus Outreach Opportunity League
Katherine Milton, Executive Director, Commission on National and Community Service
Honorable Paul N. McCloskey, Jr., Member and former Chairman, Commission on
National and Community Service
Andrew Moore, Executive Director, National Association of State Conservation Corps
Sargent Shriver, President, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation, former Director, Peace
Corps
Timothy Stanton, Action Director, Haas Public Service Center, Stanford University
Dwight Wilson, Program Director, Earth Stewards Network
Universities, Foundations and Authors
Garry Brewer, Dean, School of Natural Resources, University of Michigan
AI From, Executive Director, Democratic Leadership Council
Ted Gaebler, Author, Reinventing Government
John Gardner, Professor of Public Service, Stanford University
Jared Cohen, Dean, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University
Dennis Hayes, President, Bullitt Foundation
John Hunting, President, Beldon Fund
Frank Loy, President, German Marshall Foundation of the United States
William Marshall, President, Progressive Policy Institute
Robert Mueller, Chancellor, University of Peace
Robert McNamara, former President, World Bank; former Secretary of Defense
David Orr, Professor of Environmental Studies, Oberlin College
Robert Stavin, Professor of Public Policy, J.F.K. School of Government, Harvard Univ.
Robbie Tisch, Director of Philanthropic Services, International Youth Foundation
EARTH CORPS DESIGN TEAM
Organizational Members
Earth Restoration Alliance -an international, nonprofit organization
dedicated to the support of activities that will educate, train, mobilize and
provide jobs for youth and others for the purposes of restoring, enhancing
and protecting natural systems. Objectives include: (1) preparing and
distributing a Global Earth Restoration Manual including sustainable
development technologies and the time-honored natural-resource
stewardship knowledge of indigenous peoples, (2) providing technical
and financial support to local restoration projects and sustainable
communities, (3) stimulating Earth restoration activities at the local, bio-
regional and national government levels.
Green Vote -an independent national political committee with state and
local chapters. The organization supports pro-environment candidates for
federal and state office, ballot initiatives and legislation. During the fall of
1992, GreenVote's student campaign reached more than 100,000 young
voters.
American Wildlands (AWL)-a national, nonprofit environmental
organization dedicated to the ecologically sustainable management of
natural resources, particularly wildland resources including wilderness,
wildlife, watersheds, fisheries, forests, wetlands and rivers. AWL carries
its mission forward through its Public Land Policy Reform Program,
Wildland Resource Research, Corridors of Life, River Defense Fund,
Wilderness Conservation Programs and selected international
involvements.
Daedalus Education Foundation -a nonprofit environnmental
education organization that produces science-based environmental
learning programs for schools in the United States and Mexico.
Manitou Foundation -a nonprofit foundation that identifies and
supports programs and individuals around the world engaged in activities,
programs and projects that promote sustainable agricultural systems,
protect indigenous cultures and knowledge, expand the environmental
awareness of children and youth and develop informational databases
supporting the same.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE
1
I.
INTRODUCTION
2
II.
PROPOSED LEGISLATION (Summary)
4
Description
Programs Administered
III.
POLICY
5
Contemporary Rationale
Historical Rationale and Background
Operational Principles
IV.
INITIAL TARGETS (Summary)
13
Earth Corps U.S.A.
Earth Corps International
Earth Corps Fellows and Interns
V.
DESCRIPTION OF LEGISLATION
15
Earth Corps U.S.A.
Environmental Service Corps
Community Development Corps
Earth Corps International
Earth Corps Ambassadors
Earth Corps Exchange
Earth Corps Fellowships and Internships
Governance and Structure
Earth Corps Council
Earth Corps Agency
Earth Corps Foundation
VI.
GOVERNANCE AND STRUCTURE
21
VII.
IMPACT ON EXISTING PROGRAMS
26
Federal Agencies
Federal Commissions
Federal Legislation
VIII.
BUDGETARY IMPACT
28
IX.
POLICY OPTIONS AND QUESTIONS
30
X.
EARTH CORPS COSTS
32
PREFACE
The EARTH CORPS Design Team includes public-interest
environmental and educational organizations concerned about the state of the
environment and service opportunities for America's young people.
This proposal follows up on two presentations of the EARTH CORPS
concept that have been made to the highest levels of the new administration.
At a campaign breakfast in Washington, D.C., Owen Byrd of GreenVote
presented the EARTH CORPS proposal to then-Senator AI Gore, who
expressed his enthusiasm for the project and encouraged further
development by GreenVote. Sally Ranney of American Wildlands talked with
Hillary Clinton about the same concept at the "Million Dollar Day with Hillary
and Tipper" in Denver, Colorado. Ms. Clinton expressed a high degree of
interest and asked Ms. Ranney to prepare a proposal.
Both groups set up separate design teams and developed EARTH
CORPS plans that were remarkably similar. Determining that environmental
service is important enough to be pressed as quickly as possible by the new
administration, the two groups combined forces. This proposal is the result of
that collaboration. The proposal sets forth a coherent, unified program to be
either included in the Clinton national-service package as a specific initiative
or to be established as a separate, independent agency.
I.
INTRODUCTION
The Earth Corps, as proposed here, draws upon America's long and
distinguished history of civilian national service. More importantly, it offers a
relevant and practical answer to today's challenges in the domains of
environment, education, the economy and youth. The program will link locally
and regionally based youth corps into an efficient national network, assisting,
training and mobilizing them for the purpose of environmental restoration and
preservation.
The Earth Corps is designed as a decentralized, minimum-bureaucracy
federal agency (or component of a decentralized national-service system). It
will provide important national service and educational opportunities for
America's young people, while helping to meet the country's environmental
goals. Participation in the program will give students the benefit of college-
loan forgiveness or accrue credits that could be used in a variety of approved
ways (including paying for college tuition or non-college alternatives).
A nationally coordinated Earth Corps would also serve to empower
communities from the bottom up, reinvigorating already-existing restoration
efforts and supporting the proliferation of new corps and programs. An
international exchange program would link America's Earth Corps with similar
programs abroad.
Franklin Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation Corps set a standard for
national environmental service of this caliber. The tradition has been carried
on through the years by small conservation corps in land-use agencies such
as the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service. State and regional
efforts, such as the ongoing California Conservation Corps, have also met
with success in addressing more local needs.
Conservation corps were largely neglected during the Reagan-Bush
years. Today there currently is not enough funding or corps spaces available
for students and other interested individuals. The need for courageous,
comprehensive programs to address environmental decline and decay has
grown critical in many areas. The EARTH CORPS is a visionary and urgently
needed program that would leave a Clinton-Gore environmental legacy to
equal that of the Kennedy Administration's Peace Corps.
2
In Summary, the Earth Corps would:
engage youth in national and international environmental service;
integrate federal education, job training and employment goals with
environmental protection and restoration goals;
implement specific educational, environmental and earth-restoration
objectives of Agenda 21 of the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development (UNCED);
provide a flexible, innovative structure for implementing environmental
service.
provide a basis for lifelong learning;
facilitate cooperation through structured networks and partnerships
among local, state and federal agencies, colleges and universities,
non-governmental organizations(NGOs), the private sector,
international organizations and other entities;
enhance environmental literacy through EARTH CORPS' basic
education and training for all recruits, including preparation of an
EARTH CORPS manual(s).
The EARTH CORPS is a necessary addition to Clinton-Gore
national-service initiatives and a demonstration of the new
administration's commitment to the country's environmental cleanup
and restoration needs.
3
II. PROPOSED LEGISLATION (SUMMARY)
Short Title: The EARTH CORPS Act of 1993
Brief Description:
The EARTH CORPS Act of 1993 would establish either a separate
federal EARTH CORPS agency, or a division within the Clinton
Administration's National Service Trust Fund, dedicated specifically to
providing and promoting opportunities for environmental service.
The EARTH CORPS would channel young people's efforts into
environmental protection and restoration, the EARTH CORPS would provide
the vehicle for hands-on experiences in protecting and restoring the
environment, enhancing global environmental cooperation, and increasing
the visible commitment of the federal government to the environmental
concerns and national service needs of younger Americans.
The EARTH CORPS would be one of the approved service alternatives
under which students could earn money and/or credits before, during or after
college, or other benefits (for the non-college bound) authorized by the
Clinton National Service Plan
The EARTH CORPS would administer three programs:
A.
EARTH CORPS U.S.A.
1. Environmental Service Corps - to establish new and
supplement existing hands-on environmental conservation and
restoration work programs.
2. Community Development Corps - to help communities
solve their existing environmental problems and avoid creating
new ones.
B.
EARTH CORPS INTERNATIONAL
1. Environmental Ambassadors - to send trained American
environmental experts and students to assist and form
partnerships with officials and citizens in countries facing
discrete and pressing environmental problems.
2. Environmental Exchange - to bring foreign environmental
experts and students to the United States to share information
and expertise on global environmental problems.
4
C.
EARTH CORPS FELLOWSHIPS AND INTERNSHIPS
1. Fellowships - to provide opportunities for young
environmental-policy students to serve with policy makers and
experts in pertinent departments and agencies.
2. Interns - to provide opportunities for students to spend
summers assisting environmental policy makers.
III. POLICY
"Over the years I've learned to reject the false choice
between environmental protection and jobs
Today you
can't have a healthy economy without a healthy environment,
and you don't have to sacrifice environmental protection to
get economic growth. The collapse of communism and the
end of the Cold War have created new markets and a new
urgency for environmental cleanup. We have an
unprecedented opportunity to protect the earth and make our
economy grow."
-Bill Clinton, Earth Day, April 22, 1992
"National service is an idea as old as America. Time and
again, our people have found new ways to honor citizenship
and match the needs of changing times
We'll put still
others to work controlling pollution and recycling waste to
help insure that we pass on to our children a nation that is
clean and safe for years to come."
-Bill Clinton, New York Times, February 23, 1993
"The task of saving the earth's environment must and will
become the central organizing principle of the post -Cold
War world. And just as the false assumption that we are not
connected to the earth has led to the ecological crisis, so the
equally false assumption that we are not connected to each
other has led to our social crisis."
- Al Gore, 1992 Democratic National Convention
5
"[A domestic Peace Corps] would mean going back to your
home state, working at reduced wages for two years in a field
like health care, cleaning up the environment, policing. Pay
off your college loan and ,at the same time, build up this
country."
- Al Gore, University of Missouri, September 13, 1992
"We believe youth can serve their country well through a
civilian conservation corps."
- 1992 Democratic Party Platform
A. CONTEMPORARY RATIONALE
The need for an Earth Corps to implement this administration's environmental
and social agendas is evident in many areas.
security
America's security is linked to economic and environmental
health as never before. To help solve economic and
environmental problems, the United States needs to create
environmental protection and restoration jobs and train its
citizens to be the "earth stewards" of the 21st century.
education
With the advent of President Clinton's National Service Trust
Fund, a number of different avenues will need to be available for
students to pay off the debt they incur. Environmental service, as
Vice President Gore has said on a number of occasions, can and
should be one of those avenues.
environmental challenges for minorities
Low-income people, older people, small children, or those in
small communities -- often suffer disproportionately from
environmental degradation. They deserve community projects
that empower them to address their own environmental
problems.
6
the global environment
EARTH CORPS' first priority must be to serve America's interests
at home. However, many environmental problems are regional
or global in scope. Environmental agencies and organizations in
other countries could benefit from the skilled assistance of young
Americans, just as Americans can learn from the expertise of
those from other countries. Through exchanges of knowledge
and personnel, Earth Corps International will assist the global
community in addressing problems such as climate change and
deforestation and encourage international cooperation and
goodwill.
youth and environmental policy
Students and young people interested in environmental policy
must have opportunities to assist and learn from environmental
decision-makers in the federal government if America is to have
sound environmental policy making in the future.
B. HISTORICAL RATIONALE AND BACKGROUND
1. EARTH CORPS U.S.A.
a. Environmental Service Corps (ESC)
The experience of past programs suggests that the
EARTH CORPS will work:
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). During
its more than nine years of existence between 1933 and
1942, the CCC employed almost three million men,
mostly between the ages of 17 and 23. The Federal
Security Agency's annual report for 1941 documents
that between April 1933 and 1941, "the CCC planted
2,246,100,600 trees, improved 3,998,328 acres of forest
stands, spent 6,304,211 man-days fighting forest fires
and completed 20,934,581 acres of tree and plant
disease control. One of the most significant contributions
of the CCC was the "shelter breaks"-233,000,000 trees
in all-which helped stop severe erosion and aided in
the protection of wildlife as well as agricultural land.
7
Youth Conservation Corps (YCC). A more recent
predecessor is the YCC, operated throughout the 1970s
and still operating on a very small scale through the
Agriculture and Interior Departments. Enrollment in the
program peaked in 1978 at 46,000 participants, with
federal appropriations of $60 million. Participants, ages
15 to 18, spend between four and eight weeks during
the summer in the program, performing such services as
tree and grass planting, timber-stand improvement, fish
and wildlife habitat restoration, erosion control and
much more.
Young Adult Conservation Corps (YACC). The
YACC operated for four years between 1978 and 1981
under Title VIII of the Comprehensive Employment and
Training Act (CETA). YACC was a year-round program
of minimum-wage employment for young adults, ages
16 through 23, who were unemployed and out of school.
Overall federal responsibility for YACC rested with the
Department of Labor, which contracted with the
Departments of Interior and Agriculture to administer
both federal centers and state grants. About $900 million
was appropriated for the YACC during its four years of
existence and it served about 269,000 participants.
California Conservation Corps. More than 12
million hours have been devoted by CCC Corps
members and staff to more than 5,760 public-works and
conservation projects since 1976, including project
categories such as: reforestation, fish and wildlife
conservation, soil and water conservation, energy
conservation and construction of solar heating systems.
American Conservation and Youth Service
Corps. The National and Community Service Act of
1990 authorized the Commission on National and
Community Service to award grants to states, the U.S.
Departments of Agriculture and Interior, or the ACTION
agency for creation or expansion of conservation
programs including rehabilitation and improvement of
wildlife habitat, road maintenance and energy
conservation projects, among others. On June 8, 1992,
the Commission announced grants totaling $21.5 million
to youth corps in 25 states, including five corps operated
by Native American tribes, to establish this corps. The
commission was put in place for a three-year period to
make such grants and recommendations to Congress.
8
b. Community Development Corps (CDC)
The experience of past programs suggests
that the Community Development Corps would
increase the capacity of people to improve the
environmental conditions of their own communities:
VISTA/ACTION. Volunteers in Service to America was
first authorized in 1964 under the Economic Opportunity
Act. It was conceived as a domestic Peace Corps,
where volunteers would serve full-time in projects
designed to reduce poverty and poverty-related
problems. Since 1964, more than 100,000 individuals
have volunteered in VISTA, which now is housed under
the federal ACTION agency. In fiscal year 1988, more
than half of VISTA's projects focused on alcohol/drug
abuse, illiteracy, unemployment, hunger and
homelessness, with many volunteers specifically
helping youth in these areas. VISTA projects are
sponsored by public and private nonprofit agencies and
organizations, and are approved by the governor of the
state in which volunteers are assigned. The average
cost of a VISTA volunteer in 1989 was about $8,000
(including all allowances, stipends, and training costs).
In FY 1989, 2,700 volunteers in approximately 675
projects served communities across the country. In FY
1990, $25.06 million was appropriated for VISTA.
ACTION Environmental Projects. The ACTION
agency administers a number of different programs for
domestic volunteer service, including the VISTA
program. It was initially established in 1971 and given
statutory authority under the Domestic Volunteer Service
Act of 1973. During the summer of 1972, ACTION
undertook a pilot program to engage college students in
a series of environmental projects the agency identified
as related to poverty. Twenty-eight work-study students
from the University of Washington and Shoreline
Community College were placed in substantive jobs
with the EPA's Region X office in Seattle. In August of
1972, two cost-shared volunteers were assigned to the
Environmental Action Coalition in New York City to
coordinate a recycling program for disadvantaged
areas. Over the course of several months, the recycling
program was improved to the point where it processed
9
more than 140 tons of materials. As the program
became self-sustaining, the volunteers were assigned
the task of developing an anti-poverty environmental
program that could be used in inner cities across the
nation.
2. EARTH CORPS INTERNATIONAL
The experience of past programs suggests that global
service and exchange programs are proven methods of creating
understanding and solving global problems:
Peace Corps. President John F. Kennedy created the
Peace Corps by Executive Order on March 1, 1961. It was
then authorized by Congress on September 22, 1961.
Since its founding, more than 131,000 men and women
have served in the Peace Corps in more than 100 nations
around the world. Peace Corps members have taught
English to more than five million people and have made
significant contributions to improving agricultural
techniques. They have also provided, among other
services, assistance with nutrition, health care and safe
drinking water. Recently, the Peace Corps has
undertaken a number of environmental projects in host
countries. The Peace Corps currently has approximately
6,000 volunteers serving in 90 countries.
Private Programs: Various private programs have
existed over the years, including a current exchange with
Central and Eastern European countries run by the
German Marshall Fund of the United States.
3. EARTH CORPS Fellowships and Internships
The experience of past programs suggests that
fellowships and internships are a proven method of developing
future policy experts and public servants:
The White House Fellows Program. On October 3,
1964, President Johnson created the White House
Fellows program by Executive Order. It sought to bring a
number of young men and women (23 to 35 years of age)
from business, law, education, journalism and other
occupations to Washington to provide them with 15
months of "firsthand, high-level experience with the
10
workings of the Federal Government." The current budget
for between 10 and 20 fellows comes to roughly $750,000
per year, including salaries, recruitment, travel, etc.
Among the early Fellows who went on to substantial
public service are former Colorado Senator Tim Wirth and
HUD Secretary-designate Henry Cisneros.
Internships at the EPA, and the Interior,
Agriculture and Energy Departments: Young
people have been participating for years at various levels
of federal departments and agencies doing work with
environmental impact. These jobs give young people the
chance to see the policy-making process, and provide
education for future policy makers that cannot be gained
in the classroom.
B. OPERATIONAL PRINCIPLES
The Earth Corps structure is designed to maximize efficiency and
minimize agency overlap and bureaucracy. Specifically, it will:
Bring environmental service programs together under
one agency:
EARTH CORPS programs will promote the coherent approach
to environmental action that has been absent from the
government for the past 12 years. The EARTH CORPS, as a
completely independent agency in partnership with the National
Service Trust Fund, or as a division within the National Service
Trust Fund, will encourage linkages between otherwise insular
and competitive agencies or organizations.
Serve as a model of innovative governmental
programs:
It will foster entrepreneurial efforts and encourage constant
innovation through its decentralized structure by allowing the
best efforts of local and state agencies, as well as nonprofit
organizations, to be showcased. It is an idea that President-Elect
Clinton once called "the symbol of what this campaign is all
about."
11
Keep programs close to the people served:
A large portion of grants and recruitment will be administered
through state and local government, as well as through local
nonprofit organizations, in order to minimize the potential of
internal bureaucratic stagnation.
Bridge the nation's environmental and educational
agendas:
Earth Corps will foster cooperative programs with universities
and colleges to augment environmental literacy among youth in
America through basic EARTH CORPS-generated materials
and Manual(s). It will also function as a clearinghouse for other
relevant environmental education materials, manuals and
curricula. These materials will form the basis for training and
educating all recruits prior to placement. Manual(s) would
include an overview of ecological restoration technologies, basic
environmental education and time-honored sustainable living
principles and philosophies.
Facilitate inter-agency cooperation:
Earth Corps will assign staff when and where appropriate to
assist and work under the technical supervision of other federal
agencies, state and local agencies, organizations and private
sponsors.
Provide feedback to the environmental service
community:
The Earth Corps will track, report and publish the results,
providing a repository and communications center for successes
and shortcomings of environmental restoration efforts.
12
IV. INITIAL TARGETS (SUMMARY)
The following summary of initial target numbers provides a list of partial examples
of work product. They reflect a moderate level of environmental service as a way to pay
off college loans or to save up credits toward education and could therefore be adjusted
to reflect demand as the programs are phased in.
A. EARTH CORPS U.S.A
1. Environmental Service Corps by FY 1997*
Jobs:
113,000 jobs created in conservation work
programs (target of 50,000 jobs per year,
assuming a phase-in structure that has one-
fifth of the program operational in FY 1994,
two-fifths in 1995, two-thirds in 1996, and full
operation in 1997).
Hours:
55.2 million hours of public-service
conservation work performed
Training:
two million hours of specific training
Education:
Thousands of young people are given public-
service opportunity to pay for college or other
approved benefits.
Program examples:
Trees:
90 million trees planted
Erosion:
15,000 feet of retaining walls built
300,000 acres of rangeland
restored/replanted
Streams:
18,800 miles with channels and quality-
improved
- figures based on estimates from the California Conservation Corps
13
2. Community Development Corps by FY 1997
Jobs:
3,000 corps members hired (target of 1,250
jobs per year; phase-in structure same as
above)
Sites:
1,500 communities
Hours:
5.75 million hours of community-development
work performed
Training:
160,000 hours of specific training
Program examples:
Recycling:
1,800 municipal recycling programs
strengthened
Energy:
6,000 homes weather-stripped and retrofitted
Lead:
36,000 soil samples taken
B. EARTH CORPS INTERNATIONAL BY FY 1997
Jobs:
700 overseas Environmental Ambassador
jobs (target of 300 jobs per year, phased in as
above)
Countries: 70 countries total; 20 countries with National
Service EARTH CORPS established
Exchanges: 400 visits by foreign environmental-policy
specialists and students
C. EARTH CORPS FELLOWS AND INTERNS BY FY 1997
Positions:
10 Fellows and 100 Interns annually (effective
FY 1994)
Hours:
20,000 fellowship hours; 128,000 internship
hours
Programs:
Hundreds of federal policy makers assisted by
skilled help
14
V.
DESCRIPTION OF LEGISLATION
The EARTH CORPS Act of 1993 would establish a new agency, which shall be
known as the EARTH CORPS, (either a totally separate, independent agency or a
division of the National Service Trust Fund along with the Nurse Corps and Police
Corps) to consolidate a number of new and modified federal environmental protection
and restoration programs. Those proposed programs are:
A. EARTH CORPS U.S.A
Establishes the EARTH CORPS U.S.A. and directs it to work
with the heads of relevant departments and agencies, including
but not limited to the Secretaries of Interior, Energy and
Agriculture, and the Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency, to the end of recruiting, providing basic
environmental training and education, and placing youth and
others, in cooperation with such agencies, into environmental
restoration and protection programs, and to provide grants to
states, local government and nonprofit organizations for activities
and programs that meet the criteria of the following two domestic
programs:
1. Environmental Service Corps
The Act Directs the EARTH CORPS agency to establish
and/or bolster service programs on federal lands through
joint recruiting and through grants to federal agencies,
and to oversee those agencies' performance in meeting
targets set during the grant and recruitment process.
Encourages federal agencies to enter into agreements
with program agencies, local governments and nonprofit
organizations to promote program goals.
The Act directs the EARTH CORPS agency to establish a
program of cooperative/joint recruitment and education of
recruits and a program of grants to states, localities, and
nonprofit organizations to administer the component of the
EARTH CORPS involving work on non federal public
lands and waters. For grants to states, requests each
governor to designate a state program agency. Authorizes
local governments to establish a program agency to carry
out the state component within its political subdivision if
the state program agency has not been designated at the
commencement of a fiscal year. Requests that states
carrying out such programs provide mechanisms for
15
participation by local governments and nonprofit
organizations. Demands strict monitoring of performance
standards by the EARTH CORPS agency and authorizes
revocation of grants at any time if in the opinions of the
Corps Director and Council there has not been clear and
substantial progress made toward performance goals.
Authorizes EARTH CORPS recruit recipients and grantees
to carry out environmental-protection and restoration-
action projects relating but not limited to:
A environmental education, including dissemination
of energy-saving techniques and technologies
A wildlife habitat, range lands, parks, and
recreational areas
A tree planting and other gardening in urban areas
A highway and urban litter clean-up
A roads and trails
A streams, lakes, waterfront harbors, and ports
A wetlands protection and pollution control
A fire prevention and control
A improvement of abandoned railroad beds and
right-of-ways
A energy conservation, renewable resources, and
biomass recovery
A reclamation and improvement of strip-mined land
A forestry, nursery, and cultivation
A fish and fisheries
A erosion, floods, droughts, and storm-damage
assistance and control
A the development and promotion of sustainable
agricultural practices
A urban wildlife enhancement
A forums to help the communities address
environmental problems
Limits such projects to those on public or Native American
lands, except where the administering Secretary or
agency head determines that a project involving other
lands will provide a public benefit.
Encourages any land or water conservation or related
program administered in any state under authority of any
federal program to EARTH CORPS U.S.A. services.
16
Requires the administering Secretary or Director to
provide guidance and assistance in securing educational
aid toward a high school diploma or a college degree for
public-service work performed under this program.
Authorizes appropriations for FY 1994 and succeeding
fiscal years to carry out this program. (see budget figures
in section X.)
a. Existing Legislation/Programs
American Conservation Corps, authorized by the
Commission on National and Community Service in
accordance with Title I, Subtitle C of the National and
Community Service Act of 1990.
Youth Conservation Corps, established in 1970, focuses
on summer employment for youth. Expansion legislation
introduced in the 102nd Congress, but not passed.
2. Community Development Corps
Directs the EARTH CORPS to administer a Community
Development Corps program to recruit U.S. citizens or
permanent residents, 18 years of age and older, from all
backgrounds, to commit themselves to increasing the
capability of people to improve the environmental
conditions of their own lives.
Assigns Community Development Corps members to
state or local government agencies or private, nonprofit
organizations located in the 50 states, the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands.
Directs Community Development Corps members to work
to reduce the burden of pollution and other environmental
problems on affected communities.
Directs the EARTH CORPS agency to train the Community
Development Corps members in the most effective skills
of energy conservation, waste reduction and a host of
other areas. Directs Community Development Corps
members to work on human and social problems by
encouraging and enabling persons from all walks of life
and age groups, including elderly and retired Americans,
to perform meaningful and constructive environmental
service.
17
Prohibits Community Development Corps members from
providing direct services; they should not serve as case
workers or counselors. Rather, a Community
Development Corps member might develop and
implement a public relations and recruiting plan to
augment the environmental-action work force of a local
agency or nonprofit organization and facilitate a
partnership with a local corporation.
The Community Development Corps might develop an
outreach program or a community volunteer program that
recruits and provides the basic EARTH CORPS
environmental education and training, and also helps
place community residents in environmental-action
activities and jobs specific to their community. EARTH
CORPS programs would be designed to facilitate local
people eventually assuming responsibility for the
environmental protection and restoration action activities
within their community without EARTH CORPS
assistance.
Authorizes appropriations for FY 1994 and succeeding
fiscal years to carry out this program.
a. Existing Legislation / Programs:
Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), administered
by ACTION under the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of
1973, re authorized in 1989.
B. EARTH CORPS INTERNATIONAL
Direct the EARTH CORPS agency to establish exchange
programs in environmental service with foreign governments
and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with two programs:
1. EARTH CORPS AMBASSADORS - to send trained
American environmental experts and students to countries
who invite them.
Establishes the Environmental Ambassadors
program with the assistance of existing federal
agencies, foreign governments and NGOs.
18
Participants in the two-year program would serve
as facilitators to help local communities in foreign
countries find solutions to environmental problems
by using appropriate technology and other
resources and forging alliances with the
appropriate level of government or the appropriate
NGOs.
Provides models, training and assistance for
development of national service EARTH CORPS
initiatives within other countries.
Existing Programs: The Peace Corps, U.S. Agency
for International Development
2. EARTH CORPS EXCHANGE - to bring trained foreign
environmental experts and students to the United States
to share information on global environmental problems.
Establishes environmental training centers for
teachers and students around the world by working
with the United Nations, foreign governments,
colleges and universities, and NGOs.
Authorizes appropriations for FY 1994 and
succeeding fiscal years to carry out this program.
C. EARTH CORPS FELLOWSHIPS AND INTERNSHIPS
Directs the EARTH CORPS U.S.A. Director to set standards and
procedures to enable the EARTH CORPS to:
1. Establish the EARTH CORPS Fellows
Select annually a group of 10 outstanding young
persons as EARTH CORPS Fellows. EARTH
CORPS Fellows will be appointed to serve for
approximately twelve months on the staff of the
White House, the Vice President's office, or the
offices of the heads of the executive departments or
agencies, as they may be assigned, beginning on
or about June 1 of the year in which they are
selected.
19
Requires all participants in the fellowship program
to be college graduates not over the age of 35.
Existing Programs:
The White House Fellows program, which selects
11-20 outstanding young people from various fields
to work with White House policy makers at the
Special Assistant level
2. Establish the EARTH CORPS Interns
Select one hundred college students who have
demonstrated environmental leadership to spend a
summer working for government executives who
have major responsibility for the student's area of
environmental interest. Upon their return to school,
each student would be charged with developing a
course or a program built around their summer
experience.
Requires the administering Secretary or Director to
provide guidance and assistance in securing
college or university credit for participants in the
program.
Existing Programs: Internships at the EPA, Energy
Department, Agriculture Department and
Department of the Interior
20
VI. GOVERNANCE AND STRUCTURE
Principles and philosophy of governance and structure:
Under girding all of these programs would be a simple
governance structure, predicated upon a central focus but
dedicated to minimum bureaucracy and decentralization. The
structure will provide support and facilitation, recruiting and
grants-in-aid for environmental-restoration activities to be
conducted primarily at the local level.
The following outlined structure attends to the overall needs
of the EARTH CORPS and promotes "structured networks," a
highly successful approach used in the business community to
facilitate partnerships and joint cooperation. Structured networks
are efficient mechanisms to enhance and leverage already
existing resources, budgets and personnel.
The Earth Corps structure also provides direction and vision
for the EARTH CORPS, substantially assists in the dissemination
of information regarding existing programs, identifies gaps and
needs, promotes state-of-the art restoration technologies, and
publishes results achieved. Fundraising from private sources is
also addressed.
A. EARTH CORPS COUNCIL
A 9- to 15- member council, chaired by the Vice-President, the
Secretary of the Interior or the Administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency, will be appointed to serve as the final authority, to provide the long-
term vision for the corps and set general policy and direction. The Council
should reflect regional balance and be representative of pertinent fields of
interest and expertise. The Council will operate with minimal staff and budget.
There would be at least one representative each for youth and Native
American interests.
Primary Functions are to:
>
have final authority over and responsibility for the EARTH CORPS
mission including all component entities and organizational bodies
>
implement strategic policy planning
>
oversee partnership planning
>
oversee EARTH CORPS implementation
>
maintain public visibility
21
B. EARTH CORPS AGENCY/EARTH CORPS DIVISION OF
THE NATIONAL SERVICE PROGRAM
The EARTH CORPS will be managed by a director and two appointed
program deputies, one of whom will be responsible for EARTH CORPS and
the EARTH CORPS Fellows and Internship Programs and the other
responsible for the EARTH CORPS International and the EARTH CORPS
Ambassadors Program. Each will be responsible for developing manuals
describing the planning and execution of their programs, and will be required
to update these manuals yearly.
Primary functions will be to:
>
Carry out the policies of the EARTH CORPS Council
>
Coordinate the overall CORPS activities and programs
>
Oversee the general EARTH CORPS recruiting, training, placement,
granting, public relations and performance activities.
The EARTH CORPS Director, under whom the program deputies for
EARTH CORPS U.S.A and EARTH CORPS International will function,
will be responsible to the Earth Corps Council for the EARTH CORPS
performance.
Components of the EARTH CORPS AGENCY would include:
1. EARTH CORPS Communications Center
A Communications Center will manage the information flow
of the overall program. It will be staffed by a team of seasoned
resource managers, partnership facilitators, community
developers, environmental educators, communication
specialists, trainers, program designers and project organizers.
primary functions will be to:
>
gather and disseminate information
>
facilitate networking between federal, state, regional and
local organizations, non governmental organizations and
the private sector
>
coordinate needs assessments for programs and grant
opportunities
>
publish a "Results Index"
>
prepare an EARTH CORPS educational materials and
manual(s)
22
>
act as an incubator for new ideas and promote state-of-
the-art research and restoration technologies
>
identify opportunities for recruitment and identification of
potential grantees and partnerships
>
act as the public affairs and Congressional relations office
of the EARTH CORPS
Quality management of Program
The Communications Center would maintain
scrupulous performance indicators for ongoing
grant and recruitment programs and partnerships,
and conduct a public visibility campaign for the
EARTH CORPS and its environmental service.
Information on past and present EARTH
CORPS -facilitated ventures and partnerships,
along with case studies analyses and all other
pertinent information, should be placed into a
library, the contents of which would be readily
available to the public, and potential grant and
recruit recipients.
The library should be available in a variety of
different computer formats to facilitate quick search
and retrieval of information.
Public Relations
The public-visibility campaign will rest solely
with the Communications Center. EARTH CORPS
service and specific local recruiting, public-service
announcements and a comprehensive outreach
program will be submitted to the Director and the
Council on an annual basis. (For several of these
tasks, the Communications Center will be largely
dependent upon "circuit riders" and regional
EARTH CORPS Hubs.)
23
2. Regional EARTH CORPS "hubs" and Circuit
riders
It is imperative that one-to-one contact and
relationships at the local level be nurtured and
consistently maintained. Regional EARTH CORPS "hubs"
would be comprised of "circuit riders," EARTH CORPS
representatives assigned to and traveling extensively in
specific regions to work with local, state and regional
concerns. In partnership with existing agencies and
organizations, the EARTH CORPS would establish small
regional/local satellite offices (i.e. it could use existing
federal facilities like the Presidio in San Francisco) to
support the "circuit riders." Through the "circuit riders" and
computer communications there will be ongoing contact
with recruits, local partnerships and programs, grants and
recruit recipients as well as potential new grants and
recruit recipients.
Primary functions will be to:
>
assess EARTH CORPS recruiting and granting
needs within each region
>
monitor program methods, performance and goals
>
help to organize regional EARTH CORPS councils
comprised of local citizens, in order to build
ongoing environmental action leadership at the
local level. Eventually, responsibilities for
restoration activities are assumed without the
presence of the EARTH CORPS
>
keep programs close to the people they serve
>
work closely with the Communications Center to
ensure an efficient flow of ideas, expertise, new
restoration technologies, networking, information
and support between regions and at the national
level.
3. EARTH CORPS Recruitment, Training and
Placement Centers
This office will work closely with the Communications
Center and circuit riders for the purpose of managing
overall recruiting, basic education, and participation in the
National Service Trust Fund system. It will also facilitate
transitions between college or the work force after
successful Earth Corps service.
24
Primary functions will be to:
>
design length of service terms (2 years with options
for further service and advancement) and manage
the interrelationships of recruitment, service,
educational progress of the various aspects of the
CORPS and the CORPS' interface with the
National Service Trust Fund.
>
provide information on high school equivalency
testing for those who have not completed high
school.
>
serve as a repository of information on colleges,
universities and vocational schools. The placement
service will provide the crucial follow-up link to job
opportunities in the nonprofit and business sectors
for EARTH CORPS participants upon completion of
their service.
>
act as an information service system to the non-
college bound, instructing them about approved
options for the use service vouchers earned in the
EARTH CORPS
>
be responsible for the general, basic-minimum
EARTH CORPS environmental education and
training of recruits, as well as for the training of the
"trainers."
C. EARTH CORPS FOUNDATION
The EARTH CORPS FOUNDATION will be chartered by
Congress to serve as a companion entity to the EARTH CORPS
Agency in order that the Corps can solicit and receive both funds
and in-kind services from the private sector and nonprofits (in
addition to its Congressional appropriations). A Foundation
director will serve on the EARTH CORPS Council. All
contributions must be fully disclosed so as to avoid even the
appearance of a conflict of interest.
Similar existing programs: National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation and the Peace Corps Foundation.
25
VII. IMPACT ON EXISTING PROGRAMS
Establishing an EARTH CORPS Agency and implementing the programs
outlined previously would affect the following:
A. FEDERAL AGENCIES
ACTION: EARTH CORPS would assume responsibility for the
Conservation Corps and environmental community-action
elements of programs under ACTION's current umbrella.
EPA: EARTH CORPS would have final responsibility for
selecting EARTH CORPS Fellows and Interns who would be
working with EPA policy makers, though these decisions would
of course be made with full consultation with the EPA.
Interior: the same arrangement as with the EPA would prevail.
Agriculture: the same arrangement as with the EPA would
prevail.
Energy: the same arrangement as with the EPA would prevail.
Peace Corps: Future environmental initiatives in the countries
currently covered by the Peace Corps would be performed
primarily by EARTH CORPS, freeing the Peace Corps to
concentrate on more traditional development work and
education. Close coordination between those involved in the
Peace Corps programs and EARTH CORPS should be the basic
principle of both the implementation and full activity phase of the
EARTH CORPS International program.
B. FEDERAL COMMISSIONS
Commission on National and Community Service-The
American Conservation Corps, authorized under Section I,
Subtitle C of the National and Community Service Act of 1990
and recently established under a CNCS grant, would fall under
the authority of EARTH CORPS.
26
C. FEDERAL LEGISLATION:
Job Training Partnership Act-A number of state and local
conservation corps are currently funded under the JTPA. Grants
for those programs would be administered through EARTH
CORPS in FY 1994 and afterwards.
27
VIII. BUDGETARY IMPACT
Whether the EARTH CORPS is established as a totally separate and
independent agency or as a division or component of the National Service
Trust Fund, its real strength is the structured network design. Such networks
provide for the highest possible leveraging of Earth Corps' budget; resources
and personnel are also rendered more cost-efficient. Structured networks are
achieved through various partnerships, such as cost and facility sharing, grant
matching programs and cooperative recruitment programs.
The full range of impacts is not solely budgetary. The EARTH CORPS
and the National Service Trust Fund are both investments. In the immediate
future, the Earth Corps is an investment in (1) environmental restoration and
protection, (2) a higher level of general environmental literacy, and (3) the
youth of America.
Despite the many positive effects EARTH CORPS and the Trust Fund
can promise, there will be a significant budgetary impact of the EARTH
CORPS Act, even without the costs of the Trust Fund factored in. A preliminary
estimate of those costs indicate that full implementation in FY 1997 will cost
approximately $613.11 million. The sums necessary to run the EARTH
CORPS program would be covered, in large part, by President Clinton's
Budget for Lifetime Learning, which includes costs for the National Service
Trust Fund. These numbers do not discount current and planned expenditures
for programs, such as the American Conservation Corps, that would be
brought under the EARTH CORPS AGENCY. In reality, new expenditures will
be somewhat lower than the attached chart reflects.
The actual costs to the federal government for the Environmental
Service Corps and Community Development Corps will also depend on the
costs expected by the states, localities, and nonprofit organizations that
directly administer the programs. States and localities should be expected to
assume some of the budgetary burden, as they receive the program's most
direct benefits. At the same time, however, this burden should not be too great,
as the share of state and local budgets provided by the federal government
declined precipitously over the past 12 years. Placing substantial new
burdens on the states and localities might discourage them from seeking and
accepting EARTH CORPS grants, working counter to the intent of the program
In any case, modest burdens of program costs should be allocated, and
are therefore calculated at two possible rates for government and non federal
agencies: 20 and 33 percent. This would shift approximately $61 million in
costs to state and local governments under the 20 percent figure in FY 1997
(the first year of full implementation). Under the 33 percent figure,
approximately $104 million in costs would be shifted to service providers in FY
1997. States and local governments required to provide some of the program
costs could, of course, pay their share out of general funds. A nonprofit
organizations, in order to cover their share of the costs, could search for
funding from the private sector, state and local governments, and foundations.
28
CALCULATION ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODOLOGY:
The base cost for the Environmental Service and
Community Development Corps is set at $9,400 per participant
in FY 1994, taken from an estimate of yearly program expenditures
on a VISTA participant. Both programs are assumed to have a 25
percent residential component. Additional residential expenses,
based on figures from the Young Adult Conservation Corps, are
factored in at a rate of $10,182 per participant in FY 1994. This does
not include administrative costs, which are estimated at $6 million
for FY 1994 and expand with the size of the program. An average of
4.5 percent yearly inflation is assumed over FY 1994-98, and the
programs are to be phased on the schedule of one-fifth
implementation in FY 1994, two-fifths in FY 1995, two-thirds in FY
1996, and full implementation (50,000 students per year) in FY 1997
and beyond.
The numbers for the EARTH CORPS Fellows and Interns
Program come directly from current figures on the White House
Fellows program (a budget of approximately $750,000 per year,
including all recruitment activities), and on an estimate of $2,500 per
student intern per summer. Inflation is again factored in at a 4.5
percent annual rate for FY 1994-98.
Numbers on EARTH CORPS International Service Abroad
are based on a target involvement of 300 people per year and
Peace Corps costs of $32,200 per volunteer for FY 1992 (including
all administrative costs). The phase-in process for these programs is
the same as for the Environmental Service and Community
Development Corps described above. Inflation is factored in at 3
percent for FY 1993 and at an average of 4.5 percent over FY 1994-
98. The exchange-program numbers are based on a goal of
bringing 400 environmental policy makers and students to America
over four years. The allocation of $2 million over the four years for
this purpose should be sufficient.
29
IX. POLICY OPTIONS AND QUESTIONS
Question 1: Should the EARTH CORPS be a separate agency?
Recommendation:
Yes. Without a special identity of its own, the Earth
Corps would attract few recruits, get snarled in red tape and
fail to be as effective and innovative as possible. Corps
programs would lose their visibility and fail to inspire people
to channel their concern for the environment into the
Clinton/Gore Administration.
The model of government taking action concerning
the direction in which the country should move and then
leaving the practical details to specific, relatively
decentralized operational agencies is well-established in
the thoughts of President Clinton and Vice President Gore.
To use the terms of Democratic Leadership Council fellow
and government organizational theorist David Osborne,
government on high levels should be concerned primarily
with "steering" the country in a certain direction, as opposed
to worrying about the "rowing" work of service delivery. On
the executive and legislative level, government should
establish specific goals for agencies and hold the agencies
to those goals, but should not establish giant centralized
bureaucracies with the power to micro manage individual
programs. Establishing EARTH CORPS as a separate
agency would be a solid first step toward assuring that this
does not happen to the National Service Trust Fund.
To address the question of special identity, it should
be noted that when the Peace Corps began, many people
thought it should be brought under the Agency for
International Development (AID). Vice President Lyndon
Johnson told President Kennedy that the Peace Corps
would be destroyed if it went under AID because the
agency would submerge the Peace Corps and run it in an
entirely different way than intended. Additionally, as
Johnson reminded Kennedy, FDR had benefited from the
high visibility and relative autonomy of his New Deal
programs, especially the Civilian Conservation Corps
(CCC).
30
The Kennedy/Johnson Administration ultimately
gained much political benefit from the visibility of the Peace
Corps. The Clinton/Gore Administration would receive a
similar benefit from the visibility of the EARTH CORPS, from
its idealistic underpinnings to passage in the first 100 days
to the signing (perhaps in the Rose Garden on Earth Day-
April 22, 1993) to implementation.
Question 2:
Can the EARTH CORPS pilot programs be
launched by Executive Order?
Recommendation::
Like the Peace Corps and the White House Fellows
Program, many elements of EARTH CORPS could in fact be
launched by Executive Order as well as by its initial start-up
budget from discretionary funds.. But as programs of this
scale will require the continuing support of a diverse group
of people in Congress and the country, introducing EARTH
CORPS in a separate act, as laid out here, would be the
better course to take.
Question 3:
What percentage of costs should be assumed by
agencies directly administering the programs,
such as state and local governments?
Recommendation:
This number is likely to be either a program-wide
one, set up across the programs that will be approved ways
to pay back college loans from the National Service Trust
Fund, or one that will be left to the board that eventually
administers grants to particular programs. (These actions
could be handled on a case-by-case basis by the body that
makes grant and recruiting decisions). Figures vary
between 20 percent and 33 percent, to give a rough,
macroeconomic idea of how much of a burden cost-sharing
would be on state and local programs. These percentages,
combined with the fact that the share of federal money
comprising state and local budgets has shrunk significantly
over the past 12 years, suggest that the final number should
probably not go above 33 percent under any
circumstances, and that some rate around 20 percent could
be the most fair.
31
X. PROJECTED EARTH CORPS COSTS
(AS OF JANUARY 15,1993)
(numbers in millions)
FY 1994
FY 1995
FY 1996
FY 1997
FY 1998
EARTH CORPS
1. Service Corps
$126.96
$208.38
$353.98
$556.06
$581.09
2. Community Development
$2.99
$6.23
$10.81
$17.04
$17.80
Corps
Fellows/Interns
$0.75
$0.78
$0.82
$0.86
$0.89
International
1. Service Abroad
$2.08
$4.35
$7.57
$11.87
$12.40
2. Environmental Exchange
$0.15
$0.31
$0.65
$0.89
$0.93
TOTAL
$132.92
$220.05
$373.83
$586.72
$613.11
If 20 percent of EARTH CORPS community service costs are covered by direct-service provider:
FY 1994
FY 1995
FY 1996
FY 1997
FY 1998
EARTH CORPS
1. Service Corps
$101.56
$166.71
$283.18
$444.85
$464.87
2. Community Development
$2.39
$4.98
$8.65
$13.63
$14.24
Corps
Fellows/Interns
$0.75
$0.78
$0.82
$0.86
$0.89
International
1. Service abroad
$2.08
$4.35
$7.57
$11.87
$12.40
2. Environmental Exchange
$0.15
$0.31
$0.65
$0.89
$0.93
TOTAL
$106.93
$177.13
$300.87
$472.10
$493.33
If 33 percent of EARTH CORPS community service costs are covered by direct-service provider:
FY 1994
FY 1995
FY 1996
FY 1997
FY 1998
EARTH CORPS
1. Service Corps
$83.79
$137.53
$233.63
$367.00
$383.52
2. Community Development
$1.97
$4.11
$7.13
$11.25
$11.75
Corps
Fellows/Interns
$0.75
$0.78
$0.82
$0.86
$0.89
International
1. Service Abroad
$2.08
$4.35
$7.57
$11.87
$12.40
2. Environmental Exchange
$0.15
$0.31
$0.65
$0.89
$0.93
TOTAL
$88.74
$147.08
$249.80
$391.87
$409.49
32