WASHINGTON — As he did during the last session of Congress, Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., introduced legislation Wednesday that would tighten loopholes that Oregon companies used to hire foreign workers to complete local forestry projects.

Under the American Jobs in American Forests Act, companies would have to make an extensive effort to hire American workers before they could apply for an H-2B visa. The H-2B visa program, which received a major injection of stimulus funding from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, authorizes companies to import workers for nonagricultural seasonal work if they are unable to find U.S. citizens to fill the positions.

Under the current rules, four Oregon companies received more than $7 million in federal funds to hire foreign workers for forestry projects through the H-2B program in 2010. Oregon had double-digit unemployment at the time.

“There really is no excuse for what happened, and this makes sure that it will never happen again,” Merkley said.

His proposed legislation would require companies to beef up their efforts to recruit locally by advertising on local radio and Internet job sites, as well as consulting with the state workforce agency to make sure that local job seekers are aware of the opportunities. The state workforce agency would have to certify that a robust effort had been made before a company could apply to bring in foreign labor, and would put in stricter recruiting rules for multi-state projects.

Under the current system, companies have to advertise only in states where the jobs “originated,” which often are not the states in which the work was to be performed. The companies can self-attest that they were unable to find U.S. workers before asking permission to hire foreign labor.

Consequently, unemployed workers in Oregon, many with forestry experience and expertise, might never learn about job openings for local forestry projects.

There are currently 3,492 forest and conservation workers and 1,489 forest and conservation technicians looking for work, according to the Oregon Employment Department.

After a series of articles in The Bulletin revealed that millions in federal funds went to import foreign labor under the H-2B program for Oregon forestry jobs, Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Springfield, asked the Department of Labor to investigate the situation. In October 2011, the department’s inspector general issued a scathing report, concluding it could find no evidence that the four Oregon companies made any effort to recruit in Oregon at all.

“We couldn’t find any evidence that any Oregonian was ever contacted about a job,” Merkley added.

In the meantime, the program continues to grow under the old rules. Over the past four years, the number of visas issued has grown from 44,847 in fiscal year 2009 to 47,403 in 2010 and 50,826 in 2011, according to the U.S. State Department. Figures for 2012 were not available.

Oregon is not one of the top 10 states in terms of total positions certified, according to Department of Labor figures. In 2012, forest worker was the second highest H-2B worker category, behind landscaper. For 2013, forest worker ranks fourth, behind landscaper/groundskeeper, maid/housekeeper/cleaner, and amusement and recreation attendant.

Merkley said the Forest Service is being much more careful about how it oversees its projects involving H-2B labor, based on multiple conversations with Forest Service officials. The new rules proposed under his legislation would remove any possible conflict of interest by having the state workforce agencies determine when a company had made a sufficient effort to recruit locally.

“This legislation makes it much easier for (the Forest Service), because it lays out very clear boundaries about the process,” he said.

The legislation would also crack down on multi-state projects that never recruit locally, but instead advertise jobs in the state where the project “originated.” If a project involves seven days of work in the non-primary state, the employer would have to submit a separate H-2B application.

Merkley said he hopes to fold his H-2B bill into the larger immigration package currently being developed by a bipartisan group of senators known as the “Gang of Eight.” He has spoken to members of the group about it and received positive responses, he said.