[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3268 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 3268
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 and the Department
of the Interior, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 9, 2023
Mr. Daines (for himself and Mr. Lankford) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs
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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 and 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 Act of
2023''.
SEC. 2. 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 or the Secretary of
the Interior may appoint, without regard to the provisions of sections
3309 through 3318 and part 211 and subpart A of part 337 of title 5,
Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulations, a qualified
candidate 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 a firefighting position, that is described as follows:
``(1) Such a position within the Forestry Technician
Series, GS-0462, or any successor series.
``(2) Such a position within the Aircraft Operation Series,
GS-2181, or any successor series.
``(3) Such a position within the Miscellaneous
Administration and Program Series, GS-0301, or any successor
series, if the position supports firefighting and is eligible
for primary or secondary firefighter retirement coverage.
``(4) Such a position within the General Natural Resources
Management and Biological Sciences Series, GS-0401, or any
successor series, if the position supports firefighting and is
eligible for primary or secondary firefighter retirement
coverage.
``(5) Such a position within the Aviation Management
Specialist Series, GS-2101, or any successor series.
``(6) Such a position as an Engineering Equipment Operator,
WG, WL, or WS-5716, or any successor series, if the position
supports firefighting and is eligible for primary or secondary
firefighter retirement coverage.
``(7) Such a position within the Dispatching Series, GS-
2151, if the position supports firefighting and is eligible for
primary or secondary firefighter retirement coverage.
``(8) Such a position as an Equipment Specialist, GS-1670,
or any successor series.
``(9) Such a position within any additional occupational
series developed specifically for wildland firefighting.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 96 of
title 5, United States Code, 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. 3. STREAMLINING AND TRANSPARENCY IN FEDERAL WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING
HIRING AT THE FOREST SERVICE AND THE DEPARTMENT OF THE
INTERIOR.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Agency.--The term ``agency'' means--
(A) the Forest Service, with respect to National
Forest System land; and
(B) the Department of the Interior, with respect to
land under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the
Interior.
(2) Relevant congressional committees.--The term ``relevant
congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs, the Committee on Agriculture,
Nutrition, and Forestry, and the Committee on Energy
and Natural Resources of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Oversight and Accountability,
the Committee on Agriculture, and the Committee on
Natural Resources of the House of Representatives.
(3) Secretaries.--The term ``Secretaries'' means the
Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior.
(b) 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 the agencies.
(c) Transparency.--
(1) In general.--Not later than February 1 of the first
calendar year that begins after the date of enactment of this
Act, and not later than February 1 of each calendar year
thereafter, the Secretaries shall each submit to the relevant
congressional committees a report that contains the following
information:
(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 firefighter and wildland
firefighting support personnel vacancies by State.
(E) The implementation of the direct hiring
authority under section 9603 of title 5, United States
Code.
(F) The implementation of the streamlined hiring
policies developed under subsection (b).
(G) Recommendations to Congress to further improve
the recruitment and retention of wildland firefighters
and wildland firefighting support personnel.
(2) Public availability.--The Secretaries shall each
annually publish the report submitted under paragraph (1) on a
publicly available website.
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