54 U.S.C. § 102301 — Volunteers in parks program

(a) Establishment.— The Secretary^* can recruit, train, and accept unpaid volunteers. This is allowed without following the normal civil service^* hiring rules in chapter 51 and part of chapter 53 of title 5. Volunteers help with interpretive work or other visitor services in System^* units and related areas. The Secretary cannot let volunteers do hazardous duty, law enforcement work, or policymaking. Volunteers cannot replace any paid employee. But the Secretary can accept volunteers who are skilled at hazardous activities, if the Secretary decides they are qualified.

(b) Incidental Expenses.— The Secretary can pay for small volunteer costs, like transportation, uniforms, lodging, and food.

(c) Federal Employee Status for Volunteers.— (1) Normally, a volunteer is not treated as a federal employee. Volunteers do not get the usual rules on federal work hours, pay, leave, unemployment pay, or federal benefits. (2) For injury and tort-claim lawsuits under certain listed laws, a volunteer counts as a federal employee. (3) For federal workers' compensation purposes under chapter 81 of title 5, a volunteer counts as a civil employee of the United States. (4) If a volunteer's personal property is lost or damaged while volunteering, the volunteer counts as a federal employee for making a claim under section 3721 of title 31.

(d) Authorization of Appropriations.— Congress may spend no more than $9,000,000 per year to run this program.