Public Lands Corps (PLC) Participant Verification of Work Hours Form and Certificate of Eligibility for Non-Competitive Hiring Status

The purpose of this Information Bulletin (IB) is to update the Public Land Corps (PLC) Participant Verification of Work Hours Form and the PLC Certificate of Eligibility for Non-Competitive Hiring Status, in accordance with the Department of the Interior (DOI) Personnel Bulletin 21-09, Departmental Policy on Public Lands Hiring Authority (November 5, 2021). Personnel Bulletin 21-09 updated the requirements for information to be included on the PLC Participant Verification of Work Hours Form and Certificate of Eligibility for Non-Competitive Hiring Status. This IB transmits updated forms to meet these new requirements.

A PLC participant is required to complete a minimum of 640 hours, with 120 of those being completed on federal public lands, to be eligible for the PLC Hiring Authority. A properly filled out form with all required signatures must be submitted to the appropriate State Youth Program Lead, who will verify the hours and provide the Certificate of Eligibility for Non-Competitive Hiring Status using the attached updated form. Former PLC participants may also use this form to document their non-competitive eligibility to apply to job opportunity announcements on USA Jobs by attaching the PLC Participant Verification of Work Hours Form and Certificate of Eligibility for Non-Competitive Hiring Status.

The updated PLC Participant Verification of Work Hours Form will improve efficiency in the verification of PLC participant work hours for the issuance of a Certificate of Eligibility for Non-Competitive Hiring Status, as required by Personnel Bulletin 21-09, and for collection of participant information for future use. Previous forms will be accepted if they contain the information needed for State Youth Program Leads to certify the hours and award the certification of non-competitive eligibility when appropriate.

The authority to collect this information is derived from the Public Lands Corps Hiring Authority, which is authorized by Congress under 16 USC Sec.1721-1726, Public Law 109-154, PLC Healthy Forest Restoration Act of 2005 (amends the PLC Act of 1993). The authorization permits the Secretary of the Interior to grant members of the PLC credit for time served with the PLC, which may be used towards future federal hiring. It also affords former PLC members non-competitive hiring status for a period of not more than two years after completion of required PLC service.

Please direct questions regarding this IB or updated forms to Michael Brown, National Youth Programs Lead at m55brown@blm.gov.