On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, formerly known as the Serve America Act and renamed in honor of Sen. Ted Kennedy. The Senate passed its version last week, so as soon as President Obama returns from London, it will be signed into law. The law, which will cost approximately $6 billion over the next five years, will greatly expand the number of positions in AmeriCorps from the current 75,000 to 250,000 by 2017.

Significantly, the law creates the Clean Energy Service Corps, an idea long backed by national environmental organizations such as Green for All. Under the bill, any recipient of federal funds (up to the maximum Pell grant for college students) can use those funds on projects that identify and meet “unmet environmental needs.” Some of the activities listed in the bill include weatherizing housing units for low-income households, building energy-efficient housing units in low-income communities, conducting energy audits for low-income households, providing clean energy-related services in rural communities, educate students and youth about ways to reduce home energy use, assist in the development of local recycling programs, and various projects related to state and national parks.

How does this affect green IT? First, if your organization recruits college grads, it’s important to know that the national service program has been greatly expanded, and if green tech is important to your firm, you can specifically identify grads from this program for recruitment. Second, if your organization is looking for ways to establish some green credentials, partnering with a college or university to offer internships or co-ops to students in the Clean Energy Service Corps can be a terrific way to get your foot in the door early with developing tech and applications. Finally, this program is real. It’s being signed into law, and the federal government is dead serious about funding the Clean Energy Service Corps. Unlike other pie-in-the-sky proposals, if your firm can get in on this on the ground floor, you could be part of a renaissance in public-private cooperation in applying green tech to underserved communities.