[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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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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