Young adults participating in the corps program shall generally be engaged in projects that do the following:

subdivisions (a), (b), and (c).

habitat; and enhancing reforestation in both urban and rural areas.

The Governor shall appoint a director, who shall act as the administrative officer of the corps, and a deputy director. The appointment of the director is subject to confirmation by the Senate at the next regular or special session of the Legislature, and the refusal or failure of the Senate to confirm the appointment shall create a vacancy in the office. The director and deputy director shall be exempt from civil service, under subdivision (f) of Section 4 of Article XXIV of the California Constitution. The director shall employ, pursuant to the provisions of Article XXIV of the California Constitution and Part 2 (commencing with Section 18500) of Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code, such staff as is necessary to implement the provisions of this division.

Young adults shall be selected for participation in the corps program on the basis of motivation for hard work, personal development, and public service, and without regard to their prior employment or educational background. Participation shall be for a period of one year, which may be extended.

The corps, in conjunction with the Employment Development Department, shall place an emphasis on developing and executing plans to assist corpsmembers in obtaining employment following their participation in the corps program.

providing access to workforce services.

The director may employ special corpsmembers without regard to their age so that the corps may draw upon their special skills which may contribute to the attainment of the objectives of the program. Special corpsmembers may be assigned to headquarters, as well as field positions.

Projects shall be directed toward providing opportunities to the public for their education or the use of these natural resources and environmentally important public lands and waters, while at the same time providing young adults with an opportunity for personal development in a variety of basic skills. Projects shall be undertaken in both urban and rural areas and shall be selected on the basis of the environmental and natural resource benefits each offers, the opportunities for public education or use each offers, and the on-the-job training value of each.

In order to protect the rights of corpsmembers individually and the corps as a community, the director shall adopt a corpsmember bill of rights, corpsmember grievance procedures, and search and seizure guidelines.

These adopted rights, procedures, and guidelines shall serve to assist the director and corps staff in identifying problems and conflicts and resolving them with a minimum disruption of work and training, and shall be used by corps supervisors to interpret and consistently enforce policies and procedures of the corps.

To implement this division, the director may do all of the following:

for the enrollment of corpsmembers.

as specified in Sections 14000 and 14300; and any person, firm, partnership, or corporation concerned with these objectives.

make agreements with any agency of the state or take other actions that are reasonable and necessary.

assessment of all of the following:

Fire prevention, fire suppression, and disaster relief including, but not limited to, flood, earthquake, pest infestation assistance measures, and search and rescue efforts shall be a major emphasis of the program. Certain corps centers designated by the director as fire centers in locations specifically needed to assure emergency capability and readiness for firefighting and natural disaster relief shall be administered and directed jointly by the director of the corps and the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection. The director of the corps shall be responsible for setting the policies under which these centers shall be operated and shall be responsible for the recruitment, orientation, job training, project planning, and educational and other services generally provided in the corps at its base centers. The Director of Forestry and Fire Protection, and his or her designee, shall be responsible for the supervision of corps members engaged in public service conservation work and for the training, supervision, and direction of corps members engaged in fire prevention, fire suppression, and other emergency activities.

In carrying out this division, the director may utilize any services, materials, or property of any agency of the state and may make any agreements with any agency of the state, or take any other actions, that are reasonable and necessary.

In order to provide the best and most cost-effective training possible for corps members and other state employees, state agencies shall seek to combine or share training programs that provide related skills.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, corpsmembers and special corpsmembers, other than staff officers and employees, shall not receive state retirement benefits.

In keeping with the corps’ entrepreneurial nature and to expand the corpsmember population, the corps shall actively seek reimbursable work projects from state and nonstate entities that are in keeping with its mission. The corps shall use the following criteria in reviewing such a project offer:

To assist the corps’ operation as an entrepreneurial and incentive-based program, the director may seek and accept donations from private entities, foundations, or other sources outside of state government for purposes of accomplishing the corps’ mission.

shall be given to the use of corpsmembers over the use of other contracted labor.

Account in the State Transportation Fund.

The Department of Finance may make a loan from the General Fund to the Collins-Dugan California Conservation Corps Reimbursement Account, in an amount not to exceed a cumulative total of one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) to meet cashflow needs due to delays in collecting reimbursements. Any loan made by the Department of Finance pursuant to this section shall only be made if the corps has a valid contract or certification signed by a client agency that demonstrates that sufficient funds will be available to repay the loan. All money so transferred shall be repaid to the General Fund as soon as possible, but not later than one year from the date of the loan, with interest at the average rate earned by the Surplus Money Investment Fund.