[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3499 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3499
To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide direct hire authority
to appoint individuals to Federal wildland firefighting and
firefighting support positions in the Forest Service or the Department
of the Interior, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 18, 2023
Mr. Issa (for himself and Mr. LaMalfa) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability,
and in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, and
Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker,
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide direct hire authority
to appoint individuals to Federal wildland firefighting and
firefighting support positions in the Forest Service or the Department
of the Interior, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Direct Hire To Fight Fires''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Veterans are an appreciated and sought after population
for positions within the Forest Service and in the positions
contained in this Act.
(2) Veterans deserve expedited hiring and employment.
(3) In fiscal year 2020, the use of the Fire Direct Hire
Authority (``DHA'') was on average 31 days compared to non-use
of the Fire DHA at 51 days and overall Forest Service (``FS'')
hiring at 65 days.
(4) In fiscal year 2021, the use of the Fire DHA was on
average 40 days compared to non-use of Fire DHA at 94 days and
overall FS hiring at 73 days.
(5) In fiscal year 2022, the use of the Fire DHA was on
average 58 days compared to non-use of Fire DHA at 96 days and
overall FS hiring at 104 days.
(6) In fiscal year 2020, the number of days from
authorization to employee entry on duty averaged 55 days with
the use of the Fire DHA compared to non-use of the Fire DHA at
103 days and overall FS hiring at 92 days.
(7) In fiscal year 2021, the number of days from
authorization to employee entry on duty averaged 57 days with
the use of the Fire DHA compared to non-use of the Fire DHA at
105 days and overall FS hiring at 94 days.
(8) In fiscal year 2022, the number of days from
authorization to employee entry on duty averaged 101 days with
the use of the Fire DHA compared to non-use of the Fire DHA at
139 days and overall FS hiring at 146 days.
SEC. 3. DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY TO APPOINT INDIVIDUALS TO FEDERAL
WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING AND FIREFIGHTING SUPPORT POSITIONS
IN THE FOREST SERVICE OR THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR.
(a) In General.--Chapter 96 of title 5, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 9603. Direct hire authority to appoint individuals to Federal
wildland firefighting and firefighting support positions
in Forest Service and Department of the Interior
``(a) In General.--The Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary
of the Interior may appoint, without regard to the provisions of
sections 3309 through 3318 of title 5, United States Code (other than
sections 3303 and 3328 of such chapter), and part 211 and part 337 of
subpart A of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, qualified candidates
to any position described in subsection (b) in the Forest Service or
the Department of the Interior, respectively.
``(b) Positions.--A position described in this subsection is any
Federal wildland firefighting position, or any position in support of
such firefighting position, within any of the following occupational
series (or any successor series):
``(1) Forestry Technician Series, GS-0462.
``(2) Aircraft Operation Series, GS-2181.
``(3) Miscellaneous Administration and Program Series, GS-
0301, that supports firefighting and is eligible for primary or
secondary firefighter retirement coverage.
``(4) General Natural Resources Management and Biological
Sciences Series, GS-0401, that supports firefighting and is
eligible for primary or secondary firefighter retirement
coverage.
``(5) Aviation Management Specialist Series, GS-2101.
``(6) Engineering Equipment Operator, WG, WL, or WS-5716,
that supports firefighting and is eligible for primary or
secondary firefighter retirement coverage.
``(7) Dispatching Series, GS-2151, that supports
firefighting and is eligible for primary or secondary
firefighter retirement coverage.
``(8) Equipment Specialist, GS-1670.
``(9) Any additional occupational series developed
specifically for wildland firefighting.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for such chapter is
amended by adding after the item relating to section 9602 the
following:
``9603. Direct hire authority to appoint individuals to Federal
wildland firefighting and firefighting
support positions in Forest Service and
Department of the Interior.''.
SEC. 4. STREAMLINING AND TRANSPARENCY IN FEDERAL WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING
HIRING AT THE FOREST SERVICE AND THE DEPARTMENT OF THE
INTERIOR.
(a) Streamlined Hiring.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretaries, in consultation with the
Director of the Office of Personnel Management, shall implement
policies to recruit and retain wildland firefighters that--
(1) reduce the amount of time required to hire wildland
firefighters and wildland firefighting support personnel;
(2) address and eliminate redundancies in the Federal
hiring process for wildland firefighters and wildland
firefighting support personnel;
(3) streamline the process for hiring wildland firefighters
and wildland firefighting support personnel who were employed
by the agencies in prior years; and
(4) reduce barriers for wildland firefighters transferring
between agencies.
(b) Transparency.--
(1) In general.--Beginning 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the Secretaries
shall each submit a report to the relevant Congressional
Committees that includes the information described in paragraph
(2) no later than February 1st of each calendar year.
(2) Requirements.--As part of the report submitted under
paragraph (1), the Secretaries shall include information
regarding--
(A) the number of wildland firefighters and
wildland firefighting support personnel the agency
anticipates it will need for that calendar year,
delineated by position;
(B) the number of hiring events the agency is
planning to hold that calendar year;
(C) the number of wildland firefighters and
wildland firefighting support personnel currently
employed by the agency, delineated by position;
(D) the number of wildland firefighting vacancies
by State;
(E) any barriers the agency is facing to meet the
hiring goal outlined in subsection (a);
(F) the implementation of the direct hiring
authority provided in section 3 of this Act;
(G) the implementation of the streamlined hiring
policies developed under subsection (a); and
(H) recommendations to Congress to further improve
the recruitment and retention of wildland firefighters
and wildland firefighting support personnel.
(3) Public availability.--The Secretaries shall each
annually publish the report submitted under paragraph (1) on a
publicly available website.
(4) Definitions.--In this section:
(A) Agency.--The term ``agency'' means--
(i) the Forest Service, with respect to
National Forest System lands; and
(ii) the Department of the Interior, with
respect to lands under the jurisdiction of the
Secretary of the Interior.
(B) Relevant congressional committees.--The term
``relevant Congressional Committees'' means--
(i) the Committees on Agriculture and
Natural Resources of the House of
Representatives; and
(ii) the Committees on Agriculture,
Nutrition, and Forestry and Energy and Natural
Resources of the Senate.
(C) Secretaries.--The term ``Secretaries'' means
the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the
Interior.
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