§ 1726 — Compensation And Terms Of Service

(a) The Secretary shall provide each participant in the Public Lands Corps and each resource assistant with a living allowance in an amount established by the Secretary. (b) The Secretary may provide a Corps participant with an educational credit that may be applied toward a program of postsecondary education at an institution of higher education that agrees to award the credit for participation in the Corps. (1) Each participant in the Corps and each resource assistant shall agree to participate in the Corps or serve as a resource assistant, as the case may be, for such term of service as may be established by the Secretary enrolling or selecting the individual. (2) With respect to the Indian Youth Service Corps established under section 1727b of this title, the Secretary shall establish the term of service of participants in consultation with the affected Indian tribe. (1) The Secretary may— (A) grant to a member of the Public Lands Corps credit for time served with the Public Lands Corps, which may be used toward future Federal hiring; and (B) provide to a former member of the Public Lands Corps noncompetitive hiring status for a period of not more than 2 years after the date on which the member’s service with the Public Lands Corps is complete. (2) For purposes of section 9602 of title 5, a former member of the Corps hired by the Secretary under paragraph (1)(B) for a time-limited appointment shall be considered to be appointed initially under open, competitive examination. (e) The hiring and compensation standards described in this section shall apply to any individual participating in an appropriate conservation project through a qualified youth or conservation corps, including an individual placed through a contract or cooperative agreement, as approved by the Secretary.