| 1 | 1 | | I |
|---|
| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
|---|
| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
|---|
| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 1242 |
|---|
| 5 | 5 | | To require the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to establish |
|---|
| 6 | 6 | | a pilot program to identify and refer veterans for potential employment |
|---|
| 7 | 7 | | with Federal land management agencies, and for other purposes. |
|---|
| 8 | 8 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
|---|
| 9 | 9 | | FEBRUARY12, 2025 |
|---|
| 10 | 10 | | Mr. C |
|---|
| 11 | 11 | | RANE(for himself and Mr. LEVIN) introduced the following bill; which |
|---|
| 12 | 12 | | was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, |
|---|
| 13 | 13 | | and in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, and Agri- |
|---|
| 14 | 14 | | culture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in |
|---|
| 15 | 15 | | each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- |
|---|
| 16 | 16 | | tion of the committee concerned |
|---|
| 17 | 17 | | A BILL |
|---|
| 18 | 18 | | To require the Director of the Office of Personnel Manage- |
|---|
| 19 | 19 | | ment to establish a pilot program to identify and refer |
|---|
| 20 | 20 | | veterans for potential employment with Federal land |
|---|
| 21 | 21 | | management agencies, and for other purposes. |
|---|
| 22 | 22 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
|---|
| 23 | 23 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
|---|
| 24 | 24 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
|---|
| 25 | 25 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hire Veterans Act’’. 4 |
|---|
| 26 | 26 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Mar 08, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1242.IH H1242 |
|---|
| 27 | 27 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
|---|
| 28 | 28 | | •HR 1242 IH |
|---|
| 29 | 29 | | SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM ON IDENTIFICATION, APPOINT-1 |
|---|
| 30 | 30 | | MENT, OR REFERRAL OF VETERANS FOR PO-2 |
|---|
| 31 | 31 | | TENTIAL EMPLOYMENT WITH FEDERAL LAND 3 |
|---|
| 32 | 32 | | MANAGEMENT AGENCIES. 4 |
|---|
| 33 | 33 | | (a) D |
|---|
| 34 | 34 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 5 |
|---|
| 35 | 35 | | (1) A |
|---|
| 36 | 36 | | PPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON -6 |
|---|
| 37 | 37 | | GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con-7 |
|---|
| 38 | 38 | | gress’’ means— 8 |
|---|
| 39 | 39 | | (A) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 9 |
|---|
| 40 | 40 | | the Senate; 10 |
|---|
| 41 | 41 | | (B) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri-11 |
|---|
| 42 | 42 | | tion, and Forestry of the Senate; 12 |
|---|
| 43 | 43 | | (C) the Committee on Energy and Natural 13 |
|---|
| 44 | 44 | | Resources of the Senate; 14 |
|---|
| 45 | 45 | | (D) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 15 |
|---|
| 46 | 46 | | the House of Representatives; 16 |
|---|
| 47 | 47 | | (E) the Committee on Agriculture of the 17 |
|---|
| 48 | 48 | | House of Representatives; and 18 |
|---|
| 49 | 49 | | (F) the Committee on Natural Resources 19 |
|---|
| 50 | 50 | | of the House of Representatives. 20 |
|---|
| 51 | 51 | | (2) D |
|---|
| 52 | 52 | | IRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 21 |
|---|
| 53 | 53 | | the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. 22 |
|---|
| 54 | 54 | | (3) F |
|---|
| 55 | 55 | | EDERAL LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCY .— 23 |
|---|
| 56 | 56 | | The term ‘‘Federal land management agency’’ 24 |
|---|
| 57 | 57 | | means— 25 |
|---|
| 58 | 58 | | (A) the Forest Service; 26 |
|---|
| 59 | 59 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Mar 08, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1242.IH H1242 |
|---|
| 60 | 60 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
|---|
| 61 | 61 | | •HR 1242 IH |
|---|
| 62 | 62 | | (B) the National Park Service; 1 |
|---|
| 63 | 63 | | (C) the United States Fish and Wildlife 2 |
|---|
| 64 | 64 | | Service; 3 |
|---|
| 65 | 65 | | (D) the Bureau of Land Management; or 4 |
|---|
| 66 | 66 | | (E) the Bureau of Reclamation. 5 |
|---|
| 67 | 67 | | (4) N |
|---|
| 68 | 68 | | ONCOMPETITIVE.—The term ‘‘noncompeti-6 |
|---|
| 69 | 69 | | tive’’, when used with respect to an appointment, 7 |
|---|
| 70 | 70 | | means an appointment made without regard to sub-8 |
|---|
| 71 | 71 | | chapter I of chapter 33 of title 5, United States 9 |
|---|
| 72 | 72 | | Code, other than sections 3303 and 3328 of that 10 |
|---|
| 73 | 73 | | title. 11 |
|---|
| 74 | 74 | | (5) P |
|---|
| 75 | 75 | | ILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘pilot pro-12 |
|---|
| 76 | 76 | | gram’’ means the pilot program established by the 13 |
|---|
| 77 | 77 | | Director under subsection (b). 14 |
|---|
| 78 | 78 | | (6) R |
|---|
| 79 | 79 | | ECOGNIZED POSTSECONDARY CREDEN -15 |
|---|
| 80 | 80 | | TIAL.—The term ‘‘recognized postsecondary creden-16 |
|---|
| 81 | 81 | | tial’’ has the meaning given the term in section 3 of 17 |
|---|
| 82 | 82 | | the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 18 |
|---|
| 83 | 83 | | U.S.C. 3102). 19 |
|---|
| 84 | 84 | | (7) V |
|---|
| 85 | 85 | | ETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 20 |
|---|
| 86 | 86 | | meaning given the term in section 101 of title 38, 21 |
|---|
| 87 | 87 | | United States Code. 22 |
|---|
| 88 | 88 | | (b) E |
|---|
| 89 | 89 | | STABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 23 |
|---|
| 90 | 90 | | the date of enactment of this Act, the Director (in con-24 |
|---|
| 91 | 91 | | sultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Sec-25 |
|---|
| 92 | 92 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Mar 08, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1242.IH H1242 |
|---|
| 93 | 93 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 |
|---|
| 94 | 94 | | •HR 1242 IH |
|---|
| 95 | 95 | | retary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Agriculture) 1 |
|---|
| 96 | 96 | | shall establish a pilot program to recruit veterans with rel-2 |
|---|
| 97 | 97 | | evant strengths and abilities and refer the veterans to su-3 |
|---|
| 98 | 98 | | pervisory or nonsupervisory positions in Federal land 4 |
|---|
| 99 | 99 | | management agencies. 5 |
|---|
| 100 | 100 | | (c) P |
|---|
| 101 | 101 | | UBLICATION OFINFORMATIONAPPLICATION.— 6 |
|---|
| 102 | 102 | | (1) P |
|---|
| 103 | 103 | | UBLICATION.—The Director shall pub-7 |
|---|
| 104 | 104 | | licize, and disseminate information about, the pilot 8 |
|---|
| 105 | 105 | | program on the website of the Office of Personnel 9 |
|---|
| 106 | 106 | | Management. 10 |
|---|
| 107 | 107 | | (2) A |
|---|
| 108 | 108 | | PPLICATION.—A veteran seeking to par-11 |
|---|
| 109 | 109 | | ticipate in the pilot program shall submit to the Di-12 |
|---|
| 110 | 110 | | rector an application in such form, in such manner, 13 |
|---|
| 111 | 111 | | and containing such information as the Director 14 |
|---|
| 112 | 112 | | may require. 15 |
|---|
| 113 | 113 | | (d) T |
|---|
| 114 | 114 | | ESTS OFSTRENGTHS ANDABILITIES.— 16 |
|---|
| 115 | 115 | | (1) G |
|---|
| 116 | 116 | | UIDANCE.—Not later than 180 days after 17 |
|---|
| 117 | 117 | | the date of enactment of this Act, the Director (in 18 |
|---|
| 118 | 118 | | consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 19 |
|---|
| 119 | 119 | | the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of 20 |
|---|
| 120 | 120 | | Agriculture) shall issue guidance on the development 21 |
|---|
| 121 | 121 | | of individual tests to be administered for the pur-22 |
|---|
| 122 | 122 | | poses of the pilot program to determine the 23 |
|---|
| 123 | 123 | | strengths and abilities of veterans for positions in 24 |
|---|
| 124 | 124 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Mar 08, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1242.IH H1242 |
|---|
| 125 | 125 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 |
|---|
| 126 | 126 | | •HR 1242 IH |
|---|
| 127 | 127 | | the following career fields at Federal land manage-1 |
|---|
| 128 | 128 | | ment agencies: 2 |
|---|
| 129 | 129 | | (A) Outdoor recreation management. 3 |
|---|
| 130 | 130 | | (B) Management of volunteers. 4 |
|---|
| 131 | 131 | | (C) Fire planning and fire analysis. 5 |
|---|
| 132 | 132 | | (D) Firefighting. 6 |
|---|
| 133 | 133 | | (E) Aviation. 7 |
|---|
| 134 | 134 | | (F) Forest engineering. 8 |
|---|
| 135 | 135 | | (G) Inventory monitoring of land under the 9 |
|---|
| 136 | 136 | | management of a Federal land management 10 |
|---|
| 137 | 137 | | agency. 11 |
|---|
| 138 | 138 | | (H) Landscape restoration. 12 |
|---|
| 139 | 139 | | (I) Ecology. 13 |
|---|
| 140 | 140 | | (J) Sustainability of ecosystems. 14 |
|---|
| 141 | 141 | | (K) Archeology. 15 |
|---|
| 142 | 142 | | (L) Range management. 16 |
|---|
| 143 | 143 | | (M) Analysis of geospatial data. 17 |
|---|
| 144 | 144 | | (N) Biology. 18 |
|---|
| 145 | 145 | | (O) Geology. 19 |
|---|
| 146 | 146 | | (P) Land use. 20 |
|---|
| 147 | 147 | | (Q) Physical sciences. 21 |
|---|
| 148 | 148 | | (R) Civil Engineering. 22 |
|---|
| 149 | 149 | | (S) Hydrology. 23 |
|---|
| 150 | 150 | | (T) Land surveying. 24 |
|---|
| 151 | 151 | | (U) Water reclamation. 25 |
|---|
| 152 | 152 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Mar 08, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1242.IH H1242 |
|---|
| 153 | 153 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 |
|---|
| 154 | 154 | | •HR 1242 IH |
|---|
| 155 | 155 | | (V) Finance, budget, and administration. 1 |
|---|
| 156 | 156 | | (2) W |
|---|
| 157 | 157 | | AIVER.—For purposes of the pilot pro-2 |
|---|
| 158 | 158 | | gram, the Director (in consultation with, as appro-3 |
|---|
| 159 | 159 | | priate, the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary 4 |
|---|
| 160 | 160 | | of the Interior) may waive any requirement for a 5 |
|---|
| 161 | 161 | | recognized postsecondary credential for a position in 6 |
|---|
| 162 | 162 | | a career field described in paragraph (1), if the Di-7 |
|---|
| 163 | 163 | | rector determines that such a waiver is necessary. 8 |
|---|
| 164 | 164 | | (3) A |
|---|
| 165 | 165 | | DMINISTRATION.—The head of a Federal 9 |
|---|
| 166 | 166 | | land management agency shall— 10 |
|---|
| 167 | 167 | | (A) administer a test developed described 11 |
|---|
| 168 | 168 | | in paragraph (1) to each veteran who applies 12 |
|---|
| 169 | 169 | | for participation in the pilot program; 13 |
|---|
| 170 | 170 | | (B) develop assessments to measure the 14 |
|---|
| 171 | 171 | | relative capacity and fitness of veterans de-15 |
|---|
| 172 | 172 | | scribed in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph 16 |
|---|
| 173 | 173 | | for positions in the career fields described in 17 |
|---|
| 174 | 174 | | paragraph (1); and 18 |
|---|
| 175 | 175 | | (C) refer each veteran described in sub-19 |
|---|
| 176 | 176 | | paragraph (A) to the official employment 20 |
|---|
| 177 | 177 | | website of the Federal Government. 21 |
|---|
| 178 | 178 | | (4) M |
|---|
| 179 | 179 | | ANAGEMENT.—The Director (in consulta-22 |
|---|
| 180 | 180 | | tion with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs) shall de-23 |
|---|
| 181 | 181 | | velop a method to oversee and manage the employ-24 |
|---|
| 182 | 182 | | ment of veterans within Federal land management 25 |
|---|
| 183 | 183 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Mar 08, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1242.IH H1242 |
|---|
| 184 | 184 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 |
|---|
| 185 | 185 | | •HR 1242 IH |
|---|
| 186 | 186 | | agencies in positions in the career fields that are 1 |
|---|
| 187 | 187 | | covered by the pilot program. 2 |
|---|
| 188 | 188 | | (e) A |
|---|
| 189 | 189 | | PPOINTMENT AND REFERRAL.—The head of a 3 |
|---|
| 190 | 190 | | Federal land management agency (in consultation with the 4 |
|---|
| 191 | 191 | | Secretary of Veterans Affairs), with respect to a veteran 5 |
|---|
| 192 | 192 | | who has taken a test administered under subsection 6 |
|---|
| 193 | 193 | | (d)(3)(A)— 7 |
|---|
| 194 | 194 | | (1) if the veteran has demonstrated through the 8 |
|---|
| 195 | 195 | | test the necessary strengths and abilities for a va-9 |
|---|
| 196 | 196 | | cant supervisory or nonsupervisory position in a ca-10 |
|---|
| 197 | 197 | | reer field covered by the pilot program in the Fed-11 |
|---|
| 198 | 198 | | eral land management agency, as determined by the 12 |
|---|
| 199 | 199 | | head of the Federal land management agency, may 13 |
|---|
| 200 | 200 | | make a noncompetitive career-conditional appoint-14 |
|---|
| 201 | 201 | | ment of the veteran to that vacant position; or 15 |
|---|
| 202 | 202 | | (2) if the veteran has not demonstrated through 16 |
|---|
| 203 | 203 | | the test the necessary strengths and abilities for a 17 |
|---|
| 204 | 204 | | vacant supervisory or nonsupervisory position in a 18 |
|---|
| 205 | 205 | | career field covered by the pilot program in the Fed-19 |
|---|
| 206 | 206 | | eral land management agency, as determined by the 20 |
|---|
| 207 | 207 | | head of the Federal land management agency— 21 |
|---|
| 208 | 208 | | (A) shall refer the veteran to a recruiter of 22 |
|---|
| 209 | 209 | | that Federal land management agency for par-23 |
|---|
| 210 | 210 | | ticipation in a training program that the agency 24 |
|---|
| 211 | 211 | | shall establish for the purposes of this section, 25 |
|---|
| 212 | 212 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Mar 08, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1242.IH H1242 |
|---|
| 213 | 213 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 |
|---|
| 214 | 214 | | •HR 1242 IH |
|---|
| 215 | 215 | | which shall provide the veteran with the 1 |
|---|
| 216 | 216 | | strengths and abilities for a position in such a 2 |
|---|
| 217 | 217 | | career field; 3 |
|---|
| 218 | 218 | | (B) shall, after the participation by the 4 |
|---|
| 219 | 219 | | veteran in a training program described in sub-5 |
|---|
| 220 | 220 | | paragraph (A), re-administer that test, for the 6 |
|---|
| 221 | 221 | | purpose of re-evaluation, to the veteran as fre-7 |
|---|
| 222 | 222 | | quently as the head of the Federal land man-8 |
|---|
| 223 | 223 | | agement agency determines appropriate until 9 |
|---|
| 224 | 224 | | the veteran demonstrates through the test the 10 |
|---|
| 225 | 225 | | necessary strengths and abilities; and 11 |
|---|
| 226 | 226 | | (C) may, if the veteran has demonstrated 12 |
|---|
| 227 | 227 | | through the test the necessary strengths and 13 |
|---|
| 228 | 228 | | abilities, make a noncompetitive career-condi-14 |
|---|
| 229 | 229 | | tional appointment of the veteran to a position 15 |
|---|
| 230 | 230 | | in such a career field. 16 |
|---|
| 231 | 231 | | (f) R |
|---|
| 232 | 232 | | EPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the date 17 |
|---|
| 233 | 233 | | of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter until the 18 |
|---|
| 234 | 234 | | termination of the pilot program, the Director (in con-19 |
|---|
| 235 | 235 | | sultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the 20 |
|---|
| 236 | 236 | | heads of the Federal land management agencies) shall 21 |
|---|
| 237 | 237 | | submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report 22 |
|---|
| 238 | 238 | | on the pilot program. 23 |
|---|
| 239 | 239 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Mar 08, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1242.IH H1242 |
|---|
| 240 | 240 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9 |
|---|
| 241 | 241 | | •HR 1242 IH |
|---|
| 242 | 242 | | (g) TERMINATION.—The pilot program shall termi-1 |
|---|
| 243 | 243 | | nate on the date that is 5 years after the date on which 2 |
|---|
| 244 | 244 | | the Director establishes the pilot program. 3 |
|---|
| 245 | 245 | | Æ |
|---|
| 246 | 246 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Mar 08, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1242.IH H1242 |
|---|
| 247 | 247 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB |
|---|