provided under this Act, and other resources available in the local community to assist such youths in obtaining employment;

"(6) set forth assurances that youth participants will be chosen from among youths who are eligible participants who need work to remain in school, and shall be selected by the appropriate educational agency or institution, based on the certification for each participating youth by the school-based guidance counselor that the work experience provided is an appropriate component of the overall educational program of each youth.

"REVIEW OF PLANS BY SECRETARY

"SEC. 347. The provisions of sections 108, 109, and 110 of this Act shall apply to all programs and activities authorized under 342.

"SECRETARY'S DISCRETIONARY PROJECTS

"SEC. 348. (a) (1) The Secretary of Labor is authorized, either directly or by way of contract or other arrangement, with prime sponsors, public agencies and private organizations to carry out innovative and experimental programs to test new approaches for dealing with the unemployment problems of youth and to enable eligible participants to prepare for, enhance their prospects for, or secure employment in occupations through which they may reasonably be expected to advance to productive working lives. Such programs shall include, where appropriate, cooperative arrangements, with educational agencies to provide special programs and services for eligible participants enrolled in secondary schools, postsecondary educational institutions and technical and trade schools, including job experience, counseling and guidance prior to the completion of secondary or postsecondary education and making available occupational, educational, and training information. through statewide career information systems.

"(2) In carrying out or supporting such programs, the Secretary of Labor shall consult, as appropriate, with the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Director of the ACTION Agency, and the Director of the Community Services Administration.

"(3) Funds available under this section may be transferred to other Federal departments and agencies to carry out functions delegated to them pursuant to agreements with the Secretary.

"(b) The Secretary and prime sponsors, as the case may be, shall give special consideration in carrying out innovative and experimental programs assisted under this section to community-based organizations which

have demonstrated effectiveness in the delivery of employment and training services, such as the Opportunities Industrialization Centers, the National Urban League, SER-Jobs for Progress, Mainstream, Community Action Agencies, union-related organizations, employer-related nonprofit organizations, and other similar organizations.

"(c) (1) In carrying out its responsibilities under this subsection and under section 161 of the Vocational Education Act, the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee shall give special attention to the problems of unemployed youths. The Committee shall also carry out other activities consistent with the purposes of this title, including but not limited to the following:

"(A) assisting and encouraging local areas to adopt methods of translating national aggregate occupational outlook data into local terms;

"(B) assisting and encouraging the development of State occupational information systems, to be used in the maintenance of local job banks and job vacancy reports, accessible to local schools, and including pilot programs in the use of computers to facilitate such access;

"(C) in cooperation with State and local correctional agencies, encouraging programs of counseling and employment services for youth in correctional institutions;

"(D) providing technical assistance for programs of computer on-line terminals and other facilities to utilize and implement occupational and career outlook information and projections supplies by State employment service offices and to improve the match of youth career desires with available and anticipated labor demand;

"(E) in cooperation with State and local educational agencies, and other appropriate persons and organizations, encouraging programs to make available employment and carrer counseling to presecondary youths; and

"(F) providing technical assistance for programs designed to encourage public and private employers to list all available job opportunities for youths with the appropriate eligible applicant conducting occupational information and career counseling programs, local public employment services offices and to encourage cooperation and contact among such eligible applicants, employers and offices.

"(2) All funds available to the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee under this Act and under section 161 of the Vocational Education Act may be used by the Committee to carry out any of its functions and responsibilities authorized by law.

"SUBPART 4-GENERAL PROVISIONS

"AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS

"SEC. 351. (a) There are authorized to be appropriated for the fiscal year 1978 such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this part.

"(b) of the sums available for carrying out the provisions of this part

"(1) fifteen percent shall be available for subpart 1; "(2) fifteen percent shall be available for subpart 2; and

"(3) seventy percent shall be available for subpart 3.

"WAGE PROVISIONS

"SEC. 352. Rates of pay under this part shall be no less than the higher of—

"(1) the minimum wage under section 6(a) (1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, but in the case of an individual who is fourteen or fifteen years old, the wage provided in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) of section 14 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938;

"(2) the State or local minimum wage for the most nearly comparable employment, but in the case of an individual who is 14 or 15 years old the wage provided in accordance with the applicable provisions of the applicable State or local minimum wage law; or

"(3) the prevailing rates of pay, if any, for occupations and job classifications of individuals employed by the same employer, except that—

"(A) whenever the prime sponsor has entered into an agreement with the employer and the labor organization representing employees engaged in similar work in the same area to pay less than the rates provided in this paragraph, youths may be paid the rates specified in such agreement;

"(B) whenever an existing job is reclassified or restructured, youths employed in such jobs shall be paid at rates not less than are provided under paragraph (1) or (2) of this section, but if a labor organization represents employees engaged in similar work in the same area, such youths shall be paid at rates specified in an agreement entered into by the appropriate prime sponsor, the employer, and the labor organization with respect to such reclassified or restructured jobs, and if no agreement is reached within 30 days after the initiation of the agreement procedure referred to in this subparagraph, the labor organization, prime sponsor, or employer may petition the Secretary of Labor who shall establish appropriate wages for the reclassified or restruc

tured positions, taking into account wages paid by the same employer to persons engaged in similar work;

"(C) whenever a new or different job classification or occupation is established and there is no dispute with respect to such new or different job classification or occupation, youths to be employed in such jobs shall be paid at rates not less than are provided in paragraph (1) or (2) of this section, but if there is a dispute with respect to such new or different job classification or occupation, the Secretary of Labor shall, within 30 days after receipt of the notice of protest by the labor organization representing employees engaged in similar work in the same area, make a determination whether such job is a new or different job classification or occupation; and

"(D) in the case of projects to which the provisions of the Davis-Bacon Act (or any Federal law containing labor standards in accordance with the Davis-Bacon Act) otherwise apply, the Secretary is authorized, for projects financed under subparts 2 and 3 of this part under $5,000, to prescribe rates of pay for youth participants which are not less than the applicable minimum wage but not more than the wage rate of the entering apprentice in the most nearly comparable apprenticeable trade, and to prescribe the appropriate ratio of journeymen to such participating youths.

"SPECIAL CONDITIONS

"SEC. 353. (a) The Secretary shall provide financial assistance under this part only if he determines that the activities to be assisted meet the requirements of this section.

"(b) The Secretary shall determine that the activities assisted under this part

"(1) will result in an increase in employment opportunities over those opportunities which would otherwise be available;

"(2) will not result in the displacement of currently employed workers (including partial displacement such as reduction in the hours of non-overtime work or wages or employment benefits);

"(3) will not impair existing contracts for services or result in the substitution of Federal for other funds in connection with work that would otherwise be performed;

"(4) will not substitute jobs assisted under this part for existing federally assisted jobs;

"(5) will not employ any youth when any other person is on layoff by the employer from the same or any substantially equivalent job in the same area; and

"(6) will not be used to employ any person to fill a job opening created by the act of an employer in

laying off or terminating employment of any regular employee, or otherwise reducing the regular work force not supported under this part, in anticipation of filling the vacancy so created by hiring a youth to be supported under this part.

"(c) The jobs in each promotional line will in no way infringe upon the promotional opportunities which would otherwise be available to persons currently employed in public services not subsidized under this Act and no job will be filled in other than an entry level position in each promotional line until applicable personnel procedures and collective bargaining agreements have been complied with.

"(d) Where a labor organization represents employees who are engaged in similar work in the same area to that proposed to be performed under the program for which an application is being developed for submission under this part, such organization shall be notified and shall be afforded a reasonable period of time prior to the submission of the application in which to make comments to the applicant and to the Secretary.

"(e) Activities funded under this part shall meet such other standards as the Secretary may deem appropriate to carry out the purposes of this Act.

"(f) Funds under this part shall not be used to provide full-time employment opportunities (1) for any person who has not attained the age with respect to which the requirement of compulsory education ceases to apply under the laws of the State in which such individual resides, except (A) during periods when school is not in session, and (B) where such employment is undertaken. in cooperation with school-related programs awarding academic credit for the work experience, or (2) for any person who has not attained a high school degree or its equivalent if it is determined, in accordance with procedures established by the Secretary of Labor, that there is substantial evidence that such person left school in order to participate in any program under this part.

"SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR SUBPARTS 2 AND 3

"SEC. 354. (a) Appropriate efforts shall be made to insure that youths participating in programs, projects, and activities under subparts 2 and 3 of this part shall be youths who are experiencing severe handicaps in obtaining employment, including but not limited to those who lack credentials (such as a high school diploma), those who require substantial basic and remedial skill development, those who are women and minorities, those who are veterans of military service, those who are offenders, those who are handicapped, those with dependents, or those who have otherwise demonstrated special need, as determined by the Secretary.

"(b) The Secretary is authorized to make such reallocation as the Secretary deems appropriate of any amount of any allocation under subparts 2 and 3 of this