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.
About This Bill
Committee
Latest Action · November 9, 2023
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
This bill gives the U.S. Forest Service and Department of the Interior the authority to hire wildland firefighters and firefighting support staff more quickly by bypassing some standard federal hiring procedures. The legislation applies to positions in nine occupational categories, ranging from forestry technicians and aircraft operators to dispatchers and equipment specialists. Within one year of enactment, the two agencies must work together to streamline their hiring processes by reducing wait times, eliminating redundancies, and making it easier for firefighters to transfer between agencies or return to jobs they held previously. Starting in February of the year after enactment and every year thereafter, the agencies must report to Congress on their hiring needs, current staffing levels, vacancies by state, and their progress implementing the new hiring authority, with this information also made available to the public online. The bill aims to address chronic staffing shortages in federal wildland firefighting by making it faster and easier to fill critical positions during fire season.
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