HR1242-119

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Hire Veterans Act.

2. Pilot program on identification, appointment, or referral of veterans for potential employment with Federal land management agencies In this section: The term appropriate committees of Congress means— the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate; the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate; the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate; the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives; the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives; and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives. The term Director means the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. The term Federal land management agency means— the Forest Service; the National Park Service; the United States Fish and Wildlife Service; the Bureau of Land Management; or the Bureau of Reclamation. The term noncompetitive, when used with respect to an appointment, means an appointment made without regard to subchapter I of chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, other than sections 3303 and 3328 of that title. The term pilot program means the pilot program established by the Director under subsection (b). The term recognized postsecondary credential has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102). The term veteran has the meaning given the term in section 101 of title 38, United States Code. Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director (in consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Agriculture) shall establish a pilot program to recruit veterans with relevant strengths and abilities and refer the veterans to supervisory or nonsupervisory positions in Federal land management agencies. The Director shall publicize, and disseminate information about, the pilot program on the website of the Office of Personnel Management. A veteran seeking to participate in the pilot program shall submit to the Director an application in such form, in such manner, and containing such information as the Director may require. Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director (in consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Agriculture) shall issue guidance on the development of individual tests to be administered for the purposes of the pilot program to determine the strengths and abilities of veterans for positions in the following career fields at Federal land management agencies: Outdoor recreation management. Management of volunteers. Fire planning and fire analysis. Firefighting. Aviation. Forest engineering. Inventory monitoring of land under the management of a Federal land management agency. Landscape restoration. Ecology. Sustainability of ecosystems. Archeology. Range management. Analysis of geospatial data. Biology. Geology. Land use. Physical sciences. Civil Engineering. Hydrology. Land surveying. Water reclamation. Finance, budget, and administration. For purposes of the pilot program, the Director (in consultation with, as appropriate, the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior) may waive any requirement for a recognized postsecondary credential for a position in a career field described in paragraph (1), if the Director determines that such a waiver is necessary. The head of a Federal land management agency shall— administer a test developed described in paragraph (1) to each veteran who applies for participation in the pilot program; develop assessments to measure the relative capacity and fitness of veterans described in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph for positions in the career fields described in paragraph (1); and refer each veteran described in subparagraph (A) to the official employment website of the Federal Government. The Director (in consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs) shall develop a method to oversee and manage the employment of veterans within Federal land management agencies in positions in the career fields that are covered by the pilot program. The head of a Federal land management agency (in consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs), with respect to a veteran who has taken a test administered under subsection (d)(3)(A)— if the veteran has demonstrated through the test the necessary strengths and abilities for a vacant supervisory or nonsupervisory position in a career field covered by the pilot program in the Federal land management agency, as determined by the head of the Federal land management agency, may make a noncompetitive career-conditional appointment of the veteran to that vacant position; or if the veteran has not demonstrated through the test the necessary strengths and abilities for a vacant supervisory or nonsupervisory position in a career field covered by the pilot program in the Federal land management agency, as determined by the head of the Federal land management agency— shall refer the veteran to a recruiter of that Federal land management agency for participation in a training program that the agency shall establish for the purposes of this section, which shall provide the veteran with the strengths and abilities for a position in such a career field; shall, after the participation by the veteran in a training program described in subparagraph (A), re-administer that test, for the purpose of re-evaluation, to the veteran as frequently as the head of the Federal land management agency determines appropriate until the veteran demonstrates through the test the necessary strengths and abilities; and may, if the veteran has demonstrated through the test the necessary strengths and abilities, make a noncompetitive career-conditional appointment of the veteran to a position in such a career field. Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter until the termination of the pilot program, the Director (in consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the heads of the Federal land management agencies) shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report on the pilot program. The pilot program shall terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date on which the Director establishes the pilot program.