I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7490 
To require the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to establish 
a pilot program to identify and refer veterans for potential employment 
with Federal land management agencies, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 29, 2024 
Mr. CRANE (for himself, Mr. LEVIN, Mrs. MILLER of Illinois, and Mr. GOSAR) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Oversight and Accountability, and in addition to the Committees on Nat-
ural Resources, and Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To require the Director of the Office of Personnel Manage-
ment to establish a pilot program to identify and refer 
veterans for potential employment with Federal land 
management agencies, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hire Veterans Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM ON IDENTIFICATION, APPOINT-
MENT, OR REFERRAL OF VETERANS FOR PO-
TENTIAL EMPLOYMENT WITH FEDERAL LAND 
MANAGEMENT AGENCIES. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) 
APPROPRIATE
COMMITTEES
OF
CON-
GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con-
gress’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 
the Senate; 
(B) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri-
tion, and Forestry of the Senate; 
(C) the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources of the Senate; 
(D) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 
the House of Representatives; 
(E) the Committee on Agriculture of the 
House of Representatives; and 
(F) the Committee on Natural Resources 
of the House of Representatives. 
(2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 
the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. 
(3) FEDERAL LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCY.— 
The term ‘‘Federal land management agency’’ 
means— 
(A) the Forest Service; 
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(B) the National Park Service; 
(C) the United States Fish and Wildlife 
Service; 
(D) the Bureau of Land Management; or 
(E) the Bureau of Reclamation. 
(4) NONCOMPETITIVE.—The term ‘‘noncompeti-
tive’’, when used with respect to an appointment, 
means an appointment made without regard to sub-
chapter I of chapter 33 of title 5, United States 
Code, other than sections 3303 and 3328 of that 
title. 
(5) PILOT
PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘pilot pro-
gram’’ means the pilot program established by the 
Director under subsection (b). 
(6) RECOGNIZED
POSTSECONDARY
CREDEN-
TIAL.—The term ‘‘recognized postsecondary creden-
tial’’ has the meaning given the term in section 3 of 
the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 
U.S.C. 3102). 
(7) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 
meaning given the term in section 101 of title 38, 
United States Code. 
(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Director (in con-
sultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Sec-
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retary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Agriculture) 
shall establish a pilot program to recruit veterans with rel-
evant strengths and abilities and refer the veterans to su-
pervisory or nonsupervisory positions in Federal land 
management agencies. 
(c) PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION APPLICATION.— 
(1) PUBLICATION.—The Director shall pub-
licize, and disseminate information about, the pilot 
program on the website of the Office of Personnel 
Management. 
(2) APPLICATION.—A veteran seeking to par-
ticipate in the pilot program shall submit to the Di-
rector an application in such form, in such manner, 
and containing such information as the Director 
may require. 
(d) TESTS OF STRENGTHS AND ABILITIES.— 
(1) GUIDANCE.—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 pur-
poses of the pilot program to determine the 
strengths and abilities of veterans for positions in 
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the following career fields at Federal land manage-
ment agencies: 
(A) Outdoor recreation management. 
(B) Management of volunteers. 
(C) Fire planning and fire analysis. 
(D) Firefighting. 
(E) Aviation. 
(F) Forest engineering. 
(G) Inventory monitoring of land under the 
management of a Federal land management 
agency. 
(H) Landscape restoration. 
(I) Ecology. 
(J) Sustainability of ecosystems. 
(K) Archeology. 
(L) Range management. 
(M) Analysis of geospatial data. 
(N) Biology. 
(O) Geology. 
(P) Land use. 
(Q) Physical sciences. 
(R) Civil Engineering. 
(S) Hydrology. 
(T) Land surveying. 
(U) Water reclamation. 
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(V) Finance, budget, and administration. 
(2) WAIVER.—For purposes of the pilot pro-
gram, the Director (in consultation with, as appro-
priate, 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 Di-
rector determines that such a waiver is necessary. 
(3) ADMINISTRATION.—The head of a Federal 
land management agency shall— 
(A) administer a test developed described 
in paragraph (1) to each veteran who applies 
for participation in the pilot program; 
(B) develop assessments to measure the 
relative capacity and fitness of veterans de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph 
for positions in the career fields described in 
paragraph (1); and 
(C) refer each veteran described in sub-
paragraph (A) to the official employment 
website of the Federal Government. 
(4) MANAGEMENT.—The Director (in consulta-
tion with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs) shall de-
velop a method to oversee and manage the employ-
ment of veterans within Federal land management 
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which shall provide the veteran with the 
strengths and abilities for a position in such a 
career field; 
(B) shall, after the participation by the 
veteran in a training program described in sub-
paragraph (A), re-administer that test, for the 
purpose of re-evaluation, to the veteran as fre-
quently as the head of the Federal land man-
agement agency determines appropriate until 
the veteran demonstrates through the test the 
necessary strengths and abilities; and 
(C) may, if the veteran has demonstrated 
through the test the necessary strengths and 
abilities, make a noncompetitive career-condi-
tional appointment of the veteran to a position 
in such a career field. 
(f) REPORTS.—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 con-
sultation 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. 
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(g) TERMINATION.—The pilot program shall termi-
nate on the date that is 5 years after the date on which 
the Director establishes the pilot program. 
Æ 
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