43 U.S.C. § 1475b : US Code - Section 1475B: Volunteer authority

Search 43 U.S.C. § 1475b : US Code - Section 1475B: Volunteer authority

(a) In general
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) Restrictions on activities of volunteers
(1) In general
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) Private property
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) Hazardous duty
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) Supervision
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) Provision of services and costs
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) Federal employment status of volunteers
(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.