Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB1943 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 1943
5	5	To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for special base rates
6	6	of pay for wildland firefighters, and for other purposes.
7	7	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
8	8	MARCH6, 2025
9	9	Mr. N
10	10	EGUSE(for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. HARDERof California, Mr.
11	11	B
12	12	ERGMAN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. CISCOMANI, Ms. LEEof Nevada, Mr.
13	13	B
14	14	ACON, Mr. COSTA, Mr. VALADAO, Mr. WHITESIDES, and Mrs. KIM) in-
15	15	troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Over-
16	16	sight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on
17	17	Natural Resources, and Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently de-
18	18	termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions
19	19	as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
20	20	A BILL
21	21	To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for special
22	22	base rates of pay for wildland firefighters, and for other
23	23	purposes.
24	24	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
25	25	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
26	26	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
27	27	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wildland Firefighter 4
28	28	Paycheck Protection Act of 2025’’. 5
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31	31	•HR 1943 IH
32	32	SEC. 2. SPECIAL BASE RATES OF PAY FOR WILDLAND FIRE-1
33	33	FIGHTERS. 2
34	34	(a) I
35	35	NGENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 53 of 3
36	36	title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 4
37	37	section 5332 the following: 5
38	38	‘‘§ 5332a. Special base rates of pay for wildland fire-6
39	39	fighters 7
40	40	‘‘(a) D
41	41	EFINITIONS.—In this section— 8
42	42	‘‘(1) the term ‘firefighter’ means an employee 9
43	43	who— 10
44	44	‘‘(A) is a firefighter within the meaning of 11
45	45	section 8331(21) or section 8401(14); 12
46	46	‘‘(B) in the case of an employee who holds 13
47	47	a supervisory or administrative position and is 14
48	48	subject to subchapter III of chapter 83, but 15
49	49	who does not qualify to be considered a fire-16
50	50	fighter within the meaning of section 8331(21), 17
51	51	would otherwise qualify if the employee had 18
52	52	transferred directly to that position after serv-19
53	53	ing as a firefighter within the meaning of that 20
54	54	section; 21
55	55	‘‘(C) in the case of an employee who holds 22
56	56	a supervisory or administrative position and is 23
57	57	subject to chapter 84, but who does not qualify 24
58	58	to be considered a firefighter within the mean-25
59	59	ing of section 8401(14), would otherwise qualify 26
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62	62	•HR 1943 IH
63	63	if the employee had transferred directly to that 1
64	64	position after performing duties described in 2
65	65	section 8401(14)(A) for at least 3 years; or 3
66	66	‘‘(D) in the case of an employee who is not 4
67	67	subject to subchapter III of chapter 83 or chap-5
68	68	ter 84, holds a position that the Office of Per-6
69	69	sonnel Management determines would satisfy 7
70	70	subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) if the employee 8
71	71	were subject to subchapter III of chapter 83 or 9
72	72	chapter 84; 10
73	73	‘‘(2) the term ‘General Schedule base rate’ 11
74	74	means an annual rate of basic pay established under 12
75	75	section 5332 before any additions, such as a locality- 13
76	76	based comparability payment under section 5304 or 14
77	77	5304a or a special rate supplement under section 15
78	78	5305; 16
79	79	‘‘(3) the term ‘special base rate’ means an an-17
80	80	nual rate of basic pay payable to a wildland fire-18
81	81	fighter, before any additions or reductions, that re-19
82	82	places the General Schedule base rate otherwise ap-20
83	83	plicable to the wildland firefighter and that is ad-21
84	84	ministered in the same manner as a General Sched-22
85	85	ule base rate; and 23
86	86	‘‘(4) the term ‘wildland firefighter’ means a 24
87	87	firefighter— 25
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90	90	•HR 1943 IH
91	91	‘‘(A) who is employed by the Forest Serv-1
92	92	ice or the Department of the Interior; and 2
93	93	‘‘(B) the duties of the position of whom re-3
94	94	late primarily to wildland fires, as opposed to 4
95	95	structure fires. 5
96	96	‘‘(b) S
97	97	PECIALBASERATES OFPAY.— 6
98	98	‘‘(1) E
99	99	NTITLEMENT TO SPECIAL RATE .—Not-7
100	100	withstanding section 5332, a wildland firefighter is 8
101	101	entitled to a special base rate at grades 1 through 9
102	102	15, which shall— 10
103	103	‘‘(A) replace the otherwise applicable Gen-11
104	104	eral Schedule base rate for the wildland fire-12
105	105	fighter; 13
106	106	‘‘(B) be basic pay for all purposes, includ-14
107	107	ing the purpose of computing a locality-based 15
108	108	comparability payment under section 5304 or 16
109	109	5304a; and 17
110	110	‘‘(C) be computed as described in para-18
111	111	graph (2) and adjusted at the time of adjust-19
112	112	ments in the General Schedule. 20
113	113	‘‘(2) C
114	114	OMPUTATION.— 21
115	115	‘‘(A) I
116	116	N GENERAL.—The special base rate 22
117	117	for a wildland firefighter shall be derived by in-23
118	118	creasing the otherwise applicable General 24
119	119	Schedule base rate for the wildland firefighter 25
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122	122	•HR 1943 IH
123	123	by the following applicable percentage for the 1
124	124	grade of the wildland firefighter and rounding 2
125	125	the result to the nearest whole dollar: 3
126	126	‘‘(i) For GS–1, 42 percent. 4
127	127	‘‘(ii) For GS–2, 39 percent. 5
128	128	‘‘(iii) For GS–3, 36 percent. 6
129	129	‘‘(iv) For GS–4, 33 percent. 7
130	130	‘‘(v) For GS–5, 30 percent. 8
131	131	‘‘(vi) For GS–6, 27 percent. 9
132	132	‘‘(vii) For GS–7, 24 percent. 10
133	133	‘‘(viii) For GS–8, 21 percent. 11
134	134	‘‘(ix) For GS–9, 18 percent. 12
135	135	‘‘(x) For GS–10, 15 percent. 13
136	136	‘‘(xi) For GS–11, 12 percent. 14
137	137	‘‘(xii) For GS–12, 9 percent. 15
138	138	‘‘(xiii) For GS–13, 6 percent. 16
139	139	‘‘(xiv) For GS–14, 3 percent. 17
140	140	‘‘(xv) For GS–15, 1.5 percent. 18
141	141	‘‘(B) H
142	142	OURLY, DAILY, WEEKLY, OR BI-19
143	143	WEEKLY RATES.—When the special base rate 20
144	144	with respect to a wildland firefighter is ex-21
145	145	pressed as an hourly, daily, weekly, or biweekly 22
146	146	rate, the special base rate shall be computed 23
147	147	from the appropriate annual rate of basic pay 24
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150	150	•HR 1943 IH
151	151	derived under subparagraph (A) in accordance 1
152	152	with the rules under section 5504(b).’’. 2
153	153	(b) C
154	154	LERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of sections 3
155	155	for subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, United States 4
156	156	Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 5
157	157	section 5332 the following: 6
158	158	‘‘5332a. Special base rates of pay for wildland firefighters.’’.
159	159	(c) PREVAILINGRATEEMPLOYEES.—Section 5343 7
160	160	of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at 8
161	161	the end the following: 9
162	162	‘‘(g)(1) For a prevailing rate employee described in 10
163	163	section 5342(a)(2)(A) who is a wildland firefighter, as de-11
164	164	fined in section 5332a(a), the Secretary of Agriculture or 12
165	165	the Secretary of the Interior (as applicable) shall increase 13
166	166	the wage rates of that employee by an amount (determined 14
167	167	at the sole and exclusive discretion of the applicable Sec-15
168	168	retary after consultation with the other Secretary) that is 16
169	169	generally consistent with the percentage increases given 17
170	170	to wildland firefighters in the General Schedule under sec-18
171	171	tion 5332a. 19
172	172	‘‘(2) An increased wage rate under paragraph (1) 20
173	173	shall be basic pay for the same purposes as the wage rate 21
174	174	otherwise established under this section. 22
175	175	‘‘(3) An increase under this subsection may not cause 23
176	176	the wage rate of an employee to increase to a rate that 24
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179	179	•HR 1943 IH
180	180	would produce an annualized rate in excess of the annual 1
181	181	rate for level IV of the Executive Schedule.’’. 2
182	182	(d) E
183	183	FFECTIVEDATE.—The amendments made by 3
184	184	this section shall take effect on the first day of the first 4
185	185	applicable pay period beginning after the last day of the 5
186	186	last pay period for which Federal wildland firefighter tem-6
187	187	porary salary increases were in effect, as originally author-7
188	188	ized under section 40803(d)(4)(B) of the Infrastructure 8
189	189	Investment and Jobs Act (16 U.S.C. 6592(d)(4)(B)) and 9
190	190	as extended under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 10
191	191	2024 (Public Law 118–42; 138 Stat. 25), the Continuing 11
192	192	Appropriations Act, 2025 (division A of Public Law 118– 12
193	193	83; 138 Stat. 1524), and the Further Continuing Appro-13
194	194	priations Act, 2025 (division A of Public Law 118–158). 14
195	195	SEC. 3. WILDLAND FIRE INCIDENT RESPONSE PREMIUM 15
196	196	PAY. 16
197	197	(a) I
198	198	NGENERAL.—Subchapter V of chapter 55 of 17
199	199	title 5, United Sates Code, is amended by inserting after 18
200	200	section 5545b the following: 19
201	201	‘‘§ 5545c. Incident response premium pay for employ-20
202	202	ees engaged in wildland firefighting 21
203	203	‘‘(a) D
204	204	EFINITIONS.—In this section— 22
205	205	‘‘(1) the term ‘appropriate committees of Con-23
206	206	gress’ means— 24
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209	209	•HR 1943 IH
210	210	‘‘(A) the Committee on Homeland Security 1
211	211	and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 2
212	212	‘‘(B) the Committee on Energy and Nat-3
213	213	ural Resources of the Senate; 4
214	214	‘‘(C) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri-5
215	215	tion, and Forestry of the Senate; 6
216	216	‘‘(D) the Committee on Appropriations of 7
217	217	the Senate; 8
218	218	‘‘(E) the Committee on Oversight and Ac-9
219	219	countability of the House of Representatives; 10
220	220	‘‘(F) the Committee on Agriculture of the 11
221	221	House of Representatives; 12
222	222	‘‘(G) the Committee on Natural Resources 13
223	223	of the House of Representatives; and 14
224	224	‘‘(H) the Committee on Appropriations of 15
225	225	the House of Representatives; 16
226	226	‘‘(2) the term ‘covered employee’ means an em-17
227	227	ployee of the Forest Service or the Department of 18
228	228	the Interior who is— 19
229	229	‘‘(A) a wildland firefighter, as defined in 20
230	230	section 5332a(a); or 21
231	231	‘‘(B) certified by the applicable agency to 22
232	232	perform wildland fire incident-related duties 23
233	233	during the period that employee is deployed to 24
234	234	respond to a qualifying incident; 25
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237	237	•HR 1943 IH
238	238	‘‘(3) the term ‘incident response premium pay’ 1
239	239	means pay to which a covered employee is entitled 2
240	240	under subsection (c); 3
241	241	‘‘(4) the term ‘prescribed fire incident’ means a 4
242	242	wildland fire originating from a planned ignition in 5
243	243	accordance with applicable laws, policies, and regula-6
244	244	tions to meet specific objectives; 7
245	245	‘‘(5) the term ‘qualifying incident’— 8
246	246	‘‘(A) means— 9
247	247	‘‘(i) a wildfire incident, a prescribed 10
248	248	fire incident, or a severity incident; or 11
249	249	‘‘(ii) an incident that the Secretary of 12
250	250	Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior 13
251	251	determines is similar in nature to an inci-14
252	252	dent described in clause (i); and 15
253	253	‘‘(B) does not include an initial response 16
254	254	(including an initial attack fire) in which a 17
255	255	wildfire is contained within 36 hours; and 18
256	256	‘‘(6) the term ‘severity incident’ means an inci-19
257	257	dent in which a covered employee is pre-positioned 20
258	258	in an area in which conditions indicate there is a 21
259	259	high risk of wildfires. 22
260	260	‘‘(b) E
261	261	LIGIBILITY.—A covered employee is eligible for 23
262	262	incident response premium pay under this section if— 24
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265	265	•HR 1943 IH
266	266	‘‘(1) the covered employee is deployed to re-1
267	267	spond to a qualifying incident; and 2
268	268	‘‘(2) the deployment described in paragraph (1) 3
269	269	is— 4
270	270	‘‘(A) outside of the official duty station of 5
271	271	the covered employee; or 6
272	272	‘‘(B) within the official duty station of the 7
273	273	covered employee and the covered employee is 8
274	274	assigned to an incident-adjacent fire camp or 9
275	275	other designated field location. 10
276	276	‘‘(c) E
277	277	NTITLEMENT TO INCIDENTRESPONSEPRE-11
278	278	MIUMPAY.— 12
279	279	‘‘(1) I
280	280	N GENERAL.—A covered employee who 13
281	281	satisfies the conditions under subsection (b) is enti-14
282	282	tled to premium pay for the period in which the cov-15
283	283	ered employee is deployed to respond to the applica-16
284	284	ble qualifying incident. 17
285	285	‘‘(2) C
286	286	OMPUTATION.— 18
287	287	‘‘(A) F
288	288	ORMULA.—Subject to subpara-19
289	289	graphs (B) and (C), premium pay under para-20
290	290	graph (1) shall be paid to a covered employee 21
291	291	at a daily rate of 450 percent of the hourly rate 22
292	292	of basic pay of the covered employee for each 23
293	293	day that the covered employee satisfies the re-24
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296	296	•HR 1943 IH
297	297	quirements under subsection (b), rounded to 1
298	298	the nearest whole cent. 2
299	299	‘‘(B) L
300	300	IMITATION.—Premium pay under 3
301	301	this subsection— 4
302	302	‘‘(i) with respect to a covered em-5
303	303	ployee for whom the annual rate of basic 6
304	304	pay is greater than that for step 10 of GS– 7
305	305	10, shall be paid at the daily rate estab-8
306	306	lished under subparagraph (A) for the ap-9
307	307	plicable rate for step 10 of GS–10 (where 10
308	308	the applicable rate is the rate in effect in 11
309	309	the same locality that is the basis for a lo-12
310	310	cality-based comparability payment payable 13
311	311	to the covered employee under section 14
312	312	5304); and 15
313	313	‘‘(ii) may not be paid to a covered em-16
314	314	ployee in a total amount that exceeds 17
315	315	$9,000 in any calendar year. 18
316	316	‘‘(C) A
317	317	DJUSTMENTS.— 19
318	318	‘‘(i) A
319	319	SSESSMENT.—The Secretary of 20
320	320	Agriculture and the Secretary of the Inte-21
321	321	rior shall assess the difference between the 22
322	322	average total amount of compensation that 23
323	323	was paid to covered employees, by grade, 24
324	324	in fiscal years 2023 and 2024. 25
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327	327	•HR 1943 IH
328	328	‘‘(ii) REPORT.—Not later than 180 1
329	329	days after the date that is 1 year after the 2
330	330	effective date of this section, the Secretary 3
331	331	of Agriculture and the Secretary of the In-4
332	332	terior shall jointly publish a report on the 5
333	333	results of the assessment conducted under 6
334	334	clause (i). 7
335	335	‘‘(iii) A
336	336	DMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS .— 8
337	337	After publishing the report required under 9
338	338	clause (ii), the Secretary of Agriculture 10
339	339	and the Secretary of the Interior, in con-11
340	340	sultation with the Director of the Office of 12
341	341	Personnel Management, may, in the sole 13
342	342	and exclusive discretion of the Secretaries 14
343	343	acting jointly, administratively adjust the 15
344	344	amount of premium pay paid under this 16
345	345	subsection (or take other administrative 17
346	346	action) to ensure that the average annual 18
347	347	amount of total compensation paid to cov-19
348	348	ered employees, by grade, is more con-20
349	349	sistent with such amount that was paid to 21
350	350	those employees in fiscal year 2023. 22
351	351	‘‘(iv) C
352	352	ONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICA -23
353	353	TION.—Not later than 3 days after an ad-24
354	354	justment made, or other administrative ac-25
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357	357	•HR 1943 IH
358	358	tion taken, under clause (iii) becomes final, 1
359	359	the Secretary of Agriculture and the Sec-2
360	360	retary of the Interior shall jointly submit 3
361	361	to the appropriate committees of Congress 4
362	362	a notification regarding that adjustment or 5
363	363	other administrative action, as applicable. 6
364	364	‘‘(d) T
365	365	REATMENT OFINCIDENTRESPONSEPREMIUM 7
366	366	P
367	367	AY.—Incident response premium pay under this sec-8
368	368	tion— 9
369	369	‘‘(1) is not considered part of the basic pay of 10
370	370	a covered employee for any purpose; 11
371	371	‘‘(2) may not be considered in determining the 12
372	372	lump-sum payment of a covered employee for accu-13
373	373	mulated and accrued annual leave under section 14
374	374	5551 or section 5552; 15
375	375	‘‘(3) may not be used in determining pay under 16
376	376	section 8114; 17
377	377	‘‘(4) may not be considered in determining pay 18
378	378	for hours of paid leave or other paid time off during 19
379	379	which the premium pay is not payable; and 20
380	380	‘‘(5) shall be disregarded in determining the 21
381	381	minimum wage and overtime pay to which a covered 22
382	382	employee is entitled under the Fair Labor Standards 23
383	383	Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.).’’. 24
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386	386	•HR 1943 IH
387	387	(b) ADDITIONALPREMIUMPAYAMENDMENTS.— 1
388	388	Subchapter V of chapter 55 of title 5, United States Code, 2
389	389	is amended— 3
390	390	(1) in section 5544— 4
391	391	(A) by amending the section heading to 5
392	392	read as follows: ‘‘
393	393	WAGE-BOARD OVERTIME , 6
394	394	SUNDAY RATES , AND OTHER PREMIUM 7
395	395	PAY’’; and 8
396	396	(B) by adding at the end the following: 9
397	397	‘‘(d) A prevailing rate employee described in section 10
398	398	5342(a)(2)(A) shall receive incident response premium 11
399	399	pay under the same terms and conditions that apply to 12
400	400	a covered employee under section 5545c if that em-13
401	401	ployee— 14
402	402	‘‘(1) is employed by the Forest Service or the 15
403	403	Department of the Interior; and 16
404	404	‘‘(2)(A) is a wildland firefighter, as defined in 17
405	405	section 5332a(a); or 18
406	406	‘‘(B) is certified by the applicable agency to 19
407	407	perform wildland fire incident-related duties during 20
408	408	the period the employee is deployed to respond to a 21
409	409	qualifying incident (as defined in section 22
410	410	5545c(a)).’’; and 23
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413	413	•HR 1943 IH
414	414	(2) in section 5547(a), in the matter preceding 1
415	415	paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘5545c,’’ after 2
416	416	‘‘5545a,’’. 3
417	417	(c) C
418	418	LERICALAMENDMENTS.—The table of sections 4
419	419	for subchapter V of chapter 55 of title 5, United States 5
420	420	Code, is amended— 6
421	421	(1) by amending the item relating to section 7
422	422	5544 to read as follows: 8
423	423	‘‘5544. Wage-board overtime, Sunday rates, and other premium pay.’’;
424	424	and 9
425	425	(2) by inserting after the item relating to sec-10
426	426	tion 5545b the following: 11
427	427	‘‘5545c. Incident response premium pay for employees engaged in wildland fire-
428	428	fighting.’’.
429	429	(d) EFFECTIVEDATE.—The amendments made by 12
430	430	this section shall take effect on the first day of the first 13
431	431	applicable pay period beginning after the last day of the 14
432	432	last pay period for which Federal wildland firefighter tem-15
433	433	porary salary increases were in effect, as originally author-16
434	434	ized under section 40803(d)(4)(B) of the Infrastructure 17
435	435	Investment and Jobs Act (16 U.S.C. 6592(d)(4)(B)) and 18
436	436	as extended under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 19
437	437	2024 (Public Law 118–42; 138 Stat. 25), the Continuing 20
438	438	Appropriations Act, 2025 (division A of Public Law 118– 21
439	439	83; 138 Stat. 1524), and the Further Continuing Appro-22
440	440	priations Act, 2025 (division A of Public Law 118–158). 23
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443	443	•HR 1943 IH
444	444	SEC. 4. REST AND RECUPERATION LEAVE FOR EMPLOYEES 1
445	445	ENGAGED IN WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING. 2
446	446	(a) I
447	447	NGENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 63 of 3
448	448	title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 4
449	449	end the following: 5
450	450	‘‘§ 6329e. Rest and recuperation leave for employees 6
451	451	engaged in wildland firefighting 7
452	452	‘‘(a) D
453	453	EFINITIONS.—In this section— 8
454	454	‘‘(1) the term ‘applicable Secretary’ means the 9
455	455	Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the In-10
456	456	terior, as applicable to a covered employee; 11
457	457	‘‘(2) the term ‘covered employee’ means an em-12
458	458	ployee of the Forest Service or the Department of 13
459	459	the Interior who— 14
460	460	‘‘(A) qualifies as a wildland firefighter 15
461	461	based on the definitions of the terms ‘fire-16
462	462	fighter’ and ‘wildland firefighter’ in section 17
463	463	5332a(a) (applying the definition of ‘employee’ 18
464	464	in section 6301(2) in lieu of the definition of 19
465	465	‘employee’ in section 5331(a)); or 20
466	466	‘‘(B) is certified by the applicable Sec-21
467	467	retary to perform wildland fire incident-related 22
468	468	duties during the period the employee is de-23
469	469	ployed to respond to a qualifying incident; and 24
470	470	‘‘(3) the term ‘qualifying incident’ has the 25
471	471	meaning given the term in section 5545c(a). 26
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474	474	•HR 1943 IH
475	475	‘‘(b) REST ANDRECUPERATIONLEAVE.— 1
476	476	‘‘(1) I
477	477	N GENERAL.—A covered employee may 2
478	478	receive paid rest and recuperation leave following the 3
479	479	completion of service in which the covered employee 4
480	480	is deployed to respond to a qualifying incident, sub-5
481	481	ject to the policies prescribed under this subsection. 6
482	482	‘‘(2) P
483	483	RESCRIPTION OF POLICIES .—The Sec-7
484	484	retary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Inte-8
485	485	rior shall, in the sole and exclusive discretion of the 9
486	486	Secretaries acting jointly, prescribe uniform policies 10
487	487	described in paragraph (1) after consulting with the 11
488	488	other applicable Secretary. 12
489	489	‘‘(3) C
490	490	ONTENT OF POLICIES.—The policies pre-13
491	491	scribed under paragraph (2) may include— 14
492	492	‘‘(A) a maximum period of days in which 15
493	493	a covered employee is deployed to respond to a 16
494	494	qualifying incident, which shall— 17
495	495	‘‘(i) begin on the date on which the 18
496	496	covered employee departs from the official 19
497	497	duty station of the covered employee and 20
498	498	end on the date on which the covered em-21
499	499	ployee returns to the official duty station 22
500	500	of the covered employee; and 23
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503	503	•HR 1943 IH
504	504	‘‘(ii) be followed by a minimum num-1
505	505	ber of days of rest and recuperation for the 2
506	506	covered employee; or 3
507	507	‘‘(B) a requirement that prohibits a cov-4
508	508	ered employee from working more than 16 5
509	509	hours per day on average over a 14-day period 6
510	510	during which the covered employee is deployed 7
511	511	to respond to a qualifying incident. 8
512	512	‘‘(c) U
513	513	SE OFLEAVE.— 9
514	514	‘‘(1) I
515	515	N GENERAL.—Rest and recuperation 10
516	516	leave granted under this section— 11
517	517	‘‘(A) shall be used during scheduled hours 12
518	518	within the tour of duty of the applicable covered 13
519	519	employee established for leave-charging pur-14
520	520	poses; 15
521	521	‘‘(B) shall be paid in the same manner as 16
522	522	annual leave; 17
523	523	‘‘(C) shall be used immediately after a 18
524	524	qualifying incident; and 19
525	525	‘‘(D) may not be set aside for later use. 20
526	526	‘‘(2) N
527	527	O PAYMENT.—A covered employee may 21
528	528	not receive any payment for unused rest and recu-22
529	529	peration leave granted under this section. 23
530	530	‘‘(d) I
531	531	NTERMITTENT WORKSCHEDULE.—A covered 24
532	532	employee with an intermittent work schedule— 25
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535	535	•HR 1943 IH
536	536	‘‘(1) shall be excused from duty during the 1
537	537	same period of time that other covered employees in 2
538	538	the same circumstances are entitled to rest and re-3
539	539	cuperation leave; and 4
540	540	‘‘(2) shall receive a payment as if the covered 5
541	541	employee were entitled to rest and recuperation leave 6
542	542	under subsection (b).’’. 7
543	543	(b) T
544	544	ECHNICAL AND CONFORMINGAMENDMENT.— 8
545	545	The table of sections for subchapter II of chapter 63 of 9
546	546	title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 10
547	547	the item relating to section 6329d the following: 11
548	548	‘‘6329e. Rest and recuperation leave for employees engaged in wildland fire-
549	549	fighting.’’.
550	550	SECTION 5. TRANSFER AUTHORITY.
551	551	12
552	552	Notwithstanding section 40803(c)(2) of the Infra-13
553	553	structure Investment and Jobs Act (16 U.S.C. 14
554	554	6592(c)(2)), not more than $5,000,000 of the unobligated 15
555	555	balances of amounts made available under the heading 16
556	556	‘‘
557	557	WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT ’’ under the heading 17
558	558	‘‘F
559	559	ORESTSERVICE’’ under the heading ‘‘DEPARTMENT 18
560	560	OF AGRICULTURE’’ in title VI of division J of that Act 19
561	561	(Public Law 117–58; 135 Stat. 1410) pursuant to section 20
562	562	40803(c)(2)(B) of that Act (16 U.S.C. 6592(c)(2)(B)) 21
563	563	may, as necessary to continue uninterrupted the Federal 22
564	564	wildland firefighter base salary increase described in sec-23
565	565	tion 40803(d)(4)(B) of that Act (16 U.S.C. 24
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568	568	•HR 1943 IH
569	569	6592(d)(4)(B)), be transferred to and merged with the 1
570	570	amounts made available under the heading ‘‘
571	571	WILDLAND 2
572	572	FIRE MANAGEMENT ’’ under the heading ‘‘DEPARTMENT- 3
573	573	WIDEPROGRAMS’’ under the heading ‘‘DEPARTMENT 4
574	574	OF THE INTERIOR’’ in title VI of division J of that 5
575	575	Act (Public Law 117–58; 135 Stat. 1393). 6
576	576	Æ
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