H.R. 3499 would permanently authorize the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior to directly recruit, hire, and retain wildland firefighters and firefighting support personnel, instead of conducting such processes through the Office of Personnel Management. The bill also would require those agencies to report annually to the Congress on that hiring. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 3499 would not affect direct spending or revenues. CBO has not estimated the bill’s effects on spending subject to appropriation. The bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
