Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB279 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 279
5	5	To reform and enhance the pay and benefits of Federal wildland firefighters,
6	6	and for other purposes.
7	7	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
8	8	JANUARY28, 2025
9	9	Mr. B
10	10	ENNETintroduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
11	11	to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
12	12	A BILL
13	13	To reform and enhance the pay and benefits of Federal
14	14	wildland firefighters, and for other purposes.
15	15	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
16	16	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
17	17	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; DEFINITIONS; TABLE OF CON-3
18	18	TENTS. 4
19	19	(a) S
20	20	HORTTITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 5
21	21	‘‘Tim Hart Wildland Firefighter Classification and Pay 6
22	22	Parity Act’’ or ‘‘Tim’s Act’’. 7
23	23	(b) D
24	24	EFINITIONS.—In this Act: 8
25	25	(1) D
26	26	IRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 9
27	27	the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. 10
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31	31	(2) FEDERAL WILDLAND FIREFIGHTER .—The 1
32	32	term ‘‘Federal wildland firefighter’’ means any tem-2
33	33	porary, seasonal, or permanent position at the De-3
34	34	partment of Agriculture or the Department of the 4
35	35	Interior, or any Tribal Firefighter, that maintains 5
36	36	group, emergency incident management, or fire 6
37	37	qualifications, as established annually by the Stand-7
38	38	ards for Wildland Fire Position Qualifications pub-8
39	39	lished by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, 9
40	40	and primarily engages in or supports wildland fire 10
41	41	management activities, including forestry and range-11
42	42	land technicians and positions concerning aviation, 12
43	43	engineering heavy equipment operations, dispatch, or 13
44	44	fire and fuels management. 14
45	45	(3) S
46	46	ECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 15
47	47	means the Secretary of Agriculture and the Sec-16
48	48	retary of the Interior. 17
49	49	(c) T
50	50	ABLE OFCONTENTS.—The table of contents for 18
51	51	this Act is as follows: 19
52	52	Sec. 1. Short title; definitions; table of contents.
53	53	Sec. 2. Special base rates of pay for wildland firefighters.
54	54	Sec. 3. Wildland fire incident response premium pay.
55	55	Sec. 4. Special limitations on pay for wildland firefighters.
56	56	Sec. 5. Rest and recuperation leave for employees engaged in wildland fire-
57	57	fighting.
58	58	Sec. 6. Health provisions.
59	59	Sec. 7. Retirement for firefighters.
60	60	Sec. 8. Pay parity for Federal structural firefighters.
61	61	Sec. 9. Pay adjustments and other matters.
62	62	Sec. 10. Wildland Fire Management Casualty Assistance Program.
63	63	Sec. 11. Continuing accrual of service for firefighters.
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67	67	SEC. 2. SPECIAL BASE RATES OF PAY FOR WILDLAND FIRE-1
68	68	FIGHTERS. 2
69	69	(a) I
70	70	NGENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 53 of 3
71	71	title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 4
72	72	section 5332 the following: 5
73	73	‘‘§ 5332a. Special base rates of pay for wildland fire-6
74	74	fighters 7
75	75	‘‘(a) D
76	76	EFINITIONS.—In this section— 8
77	77	‘‘(1) the term ‘firefighter’ means an employee 9
78	78	who— 10
79	79	‘‘(A) is a firefighter within the meaning of 11
80	80	section 8331(21) or section 8401(14); 12
81	81	‘‘(B) in the case of an employee who holds 13
82	82	a supervisory or administrative position and is 14
83	83	subject to subchapter III of chapter 83, but 15
84	84	who does not qualify to be considered a fire-16
85	85	fighter within the meaning of section 8331(21), 17
86	86	would otherwise qualify if the employee had 18
87	87	transferred directly to that position after serv-19
88	88	ing as a firefighter within the meaning of that 20
89	89	section; 21
90	90	‘‘(C) in the case of an employee who holds 22
91	91	a supervisory or administrative position and is 23
92	92	subject to chapter 84, but who does not qualify 24
93	93	to be considered a firefighter within the mean-25
94	94	ing of section 8401(14), would otherwise qualify 26
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98	98	if the employee had transferred directly to that 1
99	99	position after performing duties described in 2
100	100	section 8401(14)(A) for at least 3 years; or 3
101	101	‘‘(D) in the case of an employee who is not 4
102	102	subject to subchapter III of chapter 83 or chap-5
103	103	ter 84, holds a position that the Office of Per-6
104	104	sonnel Management determines would satisfy 7
105	105	subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) if the employee 8
106	106	were subject to subchapter III of chapter 83 or 9
107	107	chapter 84; 10
108	108	‘‘(2) the term ‘General Schedule base rate’ 11
109	109	means an annual rate of basic pay established under 12
110	110	section 5332 before any additions, such as a locality- 13
111	111	based comparability payment under section 5304 or 14
112	112	5304a or a special rate supplement under section 15
113	113	5305; 16
114	114	‘‘(3) the term ‘special base rate’ means an an-17
115	115	nual rate of basic pay payable to a wildland fire-18
116	116	fighter, before any additions or reductions, that re-19
117	117	places the General Schedule base rate otherwise ap-20
118	118	plicable to the wildland firefighter and that is ad-21
119	119	ministered in the same manner as a General Sched-22
120	120	ule base rate; and 23
121	121	‘‘(4) the term ‘wildland firefighter’ has the 24
122	122	meaning given the term ‘Federal wildland fire-25
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126	126	fighter’ in section 1(b) of the Tim Hart Wildland 1
127	127	Firefighter Classification and Pay Parity Act. 2
128	128	‘‘(b) S
129	129	PECIALBASERATES OFPAY.— 3
130	130	‘‘(1) E
131	131	NTITLEMENT TO SPECIAL RATE .—Not-4
132	132	withstanding section 5332, a wildland firefighter is 5
133	133	entitled to a special base rate at grades 1 through 6
134	134	15, which shall— 7
135	135	‘‘(A) replace the otherwise applicable Gen-8
136	136	eral Schedule base rate for the wildland fire-9
137	137	fighter; 10
138	138	‘‘(B) be basic pay for all purposes, includ-11
139	139	ing the purpose of computing a locality-based 12
140	140	comparability payment under section 5304 or 13
141	141	5304a; and 14
142	142	‘‘(C) be computed as described in para-15
143	143	graph (2) and adjusted at the time of adjust-16
144	144	ments in the General Schedule. 17
145	145	‘‘(2) C
146	146	OMPUTATION.— 18
147	147	‘‘(A) I
148	148	N GENERAL.—The special base rate 19
149	149	for a wildland firefighter shall be derived by in-20
150	150	creasing the otherwise applicable General 21
151	151	Schedule base rate for the wildland firefighter 22
152	152	by the following applicable percentage for the 23
153	153	grade of the wildland firefighter and rounding 24
154	154	the result to the nearest whole dollar: 25
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158	158	‘‘(i) For GS–1, 42 percent. 1
159	159	‘‘(ii) For GS–2, 39 percent. 2
160	160	‘‘(iii) For GS–3, 36 percent. 3
161	161	‘‘(iv) For GS–4, 33 percent. 4
162	162	‘‘(v) For GS–5, 30 percent. 5
163	163	‘‘(vi) For GS–6, 27 percent. 6
164	164	‘‘(vii) For GS–7, 24 percent. 7
165	165	‘‘(viii) For GS–8, 21 percent. 8
166	166	‘‘(ix) For GS–9, 18 percent. 9
167	167	‘‘(x) For GS–10, 15 percent. 10
168	168	‘‘(xi) For GS–11, 12 percent. 11
169	169	‘‘(xii) For GS–12, 9 percent. 12
170	170	‘‘(xiii) For GS–13, 6 percent. 13
171	171	‘‘(xiv) For GS–14, 3 percent. 14
172	172	‘‘(xv) For GS–15, 1.5 percent. 15
173	173	‘‘(B) H
174	174	OURLY, DAILY, WEEKLY, OR BI-16
175	175	WEEKLY RATES.—When the special base rate 17
176	176	with respect to a wildland firefighter is ex-18
177	177	pressed as an hourly, daily, weekly, or biweekly 19
178	178	rate, the special base rate shall be computed 20
179	179	from the appropriate annual rate of basic pay 21
180	180	derived under subparagraph (A) in accordance 22
181	181	with the rules under section 5504(b).’’. 23
182	182	(b) C
183	183	LERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of sections 24
184	184	for subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, United States 25
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188	188	Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 1
189	189	section 5332 the following: 2
190	190	‘‘5332a. Special base rates of pay for wildland firefighters.’’.
191	191	(c) PREVAILINGRATEEMPLOYEES.—Section 5343 3
192	192	of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at 4
193	193	the end the following: 5
194	194	‘‘(g)(1) For a prevailing rate employee described in 6
195	195	section 5342(a)(2)(A) who is a wildland firefighter, as de-7
196	196	fined in section 5332a(a), the Secretary of Agriculture or 8
197	197	the Secretary of the Interior (as applicable) shall increase 9
198	198	the wage rates of that employee by an amount (determined 10
199	199	at the sole and exclusive discretion of the applicable Sec-11
200	200	retary after consultation with the other Secretary) that is 12
201	201	generally consistent with the percentage increases given 13
202	202	to wildland firefighters in the General Schedule under sec-14
203	203	tion 5332a. 15
204	204	‘‘(2) An increased wage rate under paragraph (1) 16
205	205	shall be basic pay for the same purposes as the wage rate 17
206	206	otherwise established under this section. 18
207	207	‘‘(3) An increase under this subsection may not cause 19
208	208	the wage rate of an employee to increase to a rate that 20
209	209	would produce an annualized rate in excess of the annual 21
210	210	rate for level IV of the Executive Schedule.’’. 22
211	211	(d) E
212	212	FFECTIVEDATE.—The amendments made by 23
213	213	this section shall take effect on the first day of the first 24
214	214	applicable pay period beginning after the last day of the 25
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218	218	last pay period for which Federal wildland firefighter tem-1
219	219	porary salary increases were in effect, as originally author-2
220	220	ized under section 40803(d)(4)(B) of the Infrastructure 3
221	221	Investment and Jobs Act (16 U.S.C. 6592(d)(4)(B)) and 4
222	222	as extended under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 5
223	223	2024 (Public Law 118–42; 138 Stat. 25), the Continuing 6
224	224	Appropriations Act, 2025 (division A of Public Law 118– 7
225	225	83; 138 Stat. 1524), and the Further Continuing Appro-8
226	226	priations Act, 2025 (division A of Public Law 118–158). 9
227	227	SEC. 3. WILDLAND FIRE INCIDENT RESPONSE PREMIUM 10
228	228	PAY. 11
229	229	(a) I
230	230	NGENERAL.—Subchapter V of chapter 55 of 12
231	231	title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 13
232	232	section 5545b the following: 14
233	233	‘‘§ 5545c. Incident response premium pay for employ-15
234	234	ees engaged in wildland firefighting 16
235	235	‘‘(a) D
236	236	EFINITIONS.—In this section— 17
237	237	‘‘(1) the term ‘appropriate committees of Con-18
238	238	gress’ means— 19
239	239	‘‘(A) the Committee on Homeland Security 20
240	240	and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 21
241	241	‘‘(B) the Committee on Energy and Nat-22
242	242	ural Resources of the Senate; 23
243	243	‘‘(C) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri-24
244	244	tion, and Forestry of the Senate; 25
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248	248	‘‘(D) the Committee on Appropriations of 1
249	249	the Senate; 2
250	250	‘‘(E) the Committee on Oversight and Ac-3
251	251	countability of the House of Representatives; 4
252	252	‘‘(F) the Committee on Agriculture of the 5
253	253	House of Representatives; 6
254	254	‘‘(G) the Committee on Natural Resources 7
255	255	of the House of Representatives; and 8
256	256	‘‘(H) the Committee on Appropriations of 9
257	257	the House of Representatives; 10
258	258	‘‘(2) the term ‘covered employee’ means an em-11
259	259	ployee of the Forest Service or the Department of 12
260	260	the Interior who is— 13
261	261	‘‘(A) a wildland firefighter, as defined in 14
262	262	section 5332a(a); or 15
263	263	‘‘(B) certified by the applicable agency to 16
264	264	perform wildland fire incident-related duties 17
265	265	during the period that employee is deployed to 18
266	266	respond to a qualifying incident; 19
267	267	‘‘(3) the term ‘incident response premium pay’ 20
268	268	means pay to which a covered employee is entitled 21
269	269	under subsection (c); 22
270	270	‘‘(4) the term ‘prescribed fire incident’ means a 23
271	271	wildland fire originating from a planned ignition in 24
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275	275	accordance with applicable laws, policies, and regula-1
276	276	tions to meet specific objectives; 2
277	277	‘‘(5) the term ‘qualifying incident’— 3
278	278	‘‘(A) means— 4
279	279	‘‘(i) a wildfire incident, a prescribed 5
280	280	fire incident, or a severity incident; or 6
281	281	‘‘(ii) an incident that the Secretary of 7
282	282	Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior 8
283	283	determines is similar in nature to an inci-9
284	284	dent described in clause (i); and 10
285	285	‘‘(B) does not include an initial response 11
286	286	(including an initial attack fire) in which a 12
287	287	wildfire is contained within 36 hours; and 13
288	288	‘‘(6) the term ‘severity incident’ means an inci-14
289	289	dent in which a covered employee is pre-positioned 15
290	290	in an area in which conditions indicate there is a 16
291	291	high risk of wildfires. 17
292	292	‘‘(b) E
293	293	LIGIBILITY.—A covered employee is eligible for 18
294	294	incident response premium pay under this section if— 19
295	295	‘‘(1) the covered employee is deployed to re-20
296	296	spond to a qualifying incident; and 21
297	297	‘‘(2) the deployment described in paragraph (1) 22
298	298	is— 23
299	299	‘‘(A) outside of the official duty station of 24
300	300	the covered employee; or 25
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304	304	‘‘(B) within the official duty station of the 1
305	305	covered employee and the covered employee is 2
306	306	assigned to an incident-adjacent fire camp or 3
307	307	other designated field location. 4
308	308	‘‘(c) E
309	309	NTITLEMENT TO INCIDENTRESPONSEPRE-5
310	310	MIUMPAY.— 6
311	311	‘‘(1) I
312	312	N GENERAL.—A covered employee who 7
313	313	satisfies the conditions under subsection (b) is enti-8
314	314	tled to premium pay for the period in which the cov-9
315	315	ered employee is deployed to respond to the applica-10
316	316	ble qualifying incident. 11
317	317	‘‘(2) C
318	318	OMPUTATION.— 12
319	319	‘‘(A) F
320	320	ORMULA.—Subject to subpara-13
321	321	graphs (B) and (C), premium pay under para-14
322	322	graph (1) shall be paid to a covered employee 15
323	323	at a daily rate of 450 percent of the hourly rate 16
324	324	of basic pay of the covered employee for each 17
325	325	day that the covered employee satisfies the re-18
326	326	quirements under subsection (b), rounded to 19
327	327	the nearest whole cent. 20
328	328	‘‘(B) L
329	329	IMITATION.—Premium pay under 21
330	330	this subsection— 22
331	331	‘‘(i) with respect to a covered em-23
332	332	ployee for whom the annual rate of basic 24
333	333	pay is greater than that for step 10 of GS– 25
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337	337	10, shall be paid at the daily rate estab-1
338	338	lished under subparagraph (A) for the ap-2
339	339	plicable rate for step 10 of GS–10 (where 3
340	340	the applicable rate is the rate in effect in 4
341	341	the same locality that is the basis for a lo-5
342	342	cality-based comparability payment payable 6
343	343	to the covered employee under section 7
344	344	5304); and 8
345	345	‘‘(ii) may not be paid to a covered em-9
346	346	ployee in a total amount that exceeds 10
347	347	$9,000 in any calendar year. 11
348	348	‘‘(C) A
349	349	DJUSTMENTS.— 12
350	350	‘‘(i) A
351	351	SSESSMENT.—The Secretary of 13
352	352	Agriculture and the Secretary of the Inte-14
353	353	rior shall assess the difference between the 15
354	354	average total amount of compensation that 16
355	355	was paid to covered employees, by grade, 17
356	356	in fiscal years 2023 and 2024. 18
357	357	‘‘(ii) R
358	358	EPORT.—Not later than 180 19
359	359	days after the date that is 1 year after the 20
360	360	effective date of this section, the Secretary 21
361	361	of Agriculture and the Secretary of the In-22
362	362	terior shall jointly publish a report on the 23
363	363	results of the assessment conducted under 24
364	364	clause (i). 25
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368	368	‘‘(iii) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS .— 1
369	369	After publishing the report required under 2
370	370	clause (ii), the Secretary of Agriculture 3
371	371	and the Secretary of the Interior, in con-4
372	372	sultation with the Director of the Office of 5
373	373	Personnel Management, may, in the sole 6
374	374	and exclusive discretion of the Secretaries 7
375	375	acting jointly, administratively adjust the 8
376	376	amount of premium pay paid under this 9
377	377	subsection (or take other administrative 10
378	378	action) to ensure that the average annual 11
379	379	amount of total compensation paid to cov-12
380	380	ered employees, by grade, is more con-13
381	381	sistent with such amount that was paid to 14
382	382	those employees in fiscal year 2023. 15
383	383	‘‘(iv) C
384	384	ONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICA -16
385	385	TION.—Not later than 3 days after an ad-17
386	386	justment made, or other administrative ac-18
387	387	tion taken, under clause (iii) becomes final, 19
388	388	the Secretary of Agriculture and the Sec-20
389	389	retary of the Interior shall jointly submit 21
390	390	to the appropriate committees of Congress 22
391	391	a notification regarding that adjustment or 23
392	392	other administrative action, as applicable. 24
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396	396	‘‘(d) TREATMENT OFINCIDENTRESPONSEPREMIUM 1
397	397	P
398	398	AY.—Incident response premium pay under this sec-2
399	399	tion— 3
400	400	‘‘(1) is not considered part of the basic pay of 4
401	401	a covered employee for any purpose; 5
402	402	‘‘(2) may not be considered in determining the 6
403	403	lump-sum payment of a covered employee for accu-7
404	404	mulated and accrued annual leave under section 8
405	405	5551 or section 5552; 9
406	406	‘‘(3) may not be used in determining pay under 10
407	407	section 8114; 11
408	408	‘‘(4) may not be considered in determining pay 12
409	409	for hours of paid leave or other paid time off during 13
410	410	which the premium pay is not payable; and 14
411	411	‘‘(5) shall be disregarded in determining the 15
412	412	minimum wage and overtime pay to which a covered 16
413	413	employee is entitled under the Fair Labor Standards 17
414	414	Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.).’’. 18
415	415	(b) A
416	416	DDITIONALPREMIUMPAYAMENDMENTS.— 19
417	417	Subchapter V of chapter 55 of title 5, United States Code, 20
418	418	is amended— 21
419	419	(1) in section 5544— 22
420	420	(A) by amending the section heading to 23
421	421	read as follows: ‘‘
422	422	WAGE-BOARD OVERTIME , 24
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426	426	SUNDAY RATES , AND OTHER PREMIUM 1
427	427	PAY’’; and 2
428	428	(B) by adding at the end the following: 3
429	429	‘‘(d) A prevailing rate employee described in section 4
430	430	5342(a)(2)(A) shall receive incident response premium 5
431	431	pay under the same terms and conditions that apply to 6
432	432	a covered employee under section 5545c if that em-7
433	433	ployee— 8
434	434	‘‘(1) is employed by the Forest Service or the 9
435	435	Department of the Interior; and 10
436	436	‘‘(2)(A) is a wildland firefighter, as defined in 11
437	437	section 5332a(a); or 12
438	438	‘‘(B) is certified by the applicable agency to 13
439	439	perform wildland fire incident-related duties during 14
440	440	the period the employee is deployed to respond to a 15
441	441	qualifying incident (as defined in section 16
442	442	5545c(a)).’’; and 17
443	443	(2) in section 5547(a), in the matter preceding 18
444	444	paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘5545c,’’ after 19
445	445	‘‘5545a,’’. 20
446	446	(c) C
447	447	LERICALAMENDMENTS.—The table of sections 21
448	448	for subchapter V of chapter 55 of title 5, United States 22
449	449	Code, is amended— 23
450	450	(1) by amending the item relating to section 24
451	451	5544 to read as follows: 25
452	452	‘‘5544. Wage-board overtime, Sunday rates, and other premium pay.’’;
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456	456	and 1
457	457	(2) by inserting after the item relating to sec-2
458	458	tion 5545b the following: 3
459	459	‘‘5545c. Incident response premium pay for employees engaged in wildland fire-
460	460	fighting.’’.
461	461	(d) EFFECTIVEDATE.—The amendments made by 4
462	462	this section shall take effect on the first day of the first 5
463	463	applicable pay period beginning after the last day of the 6
464	464	last pay period for which Federal wildland firefighter tem-7
465	465	porary salary increases were in effect, as originally author-8
466	466	ized under section 40803(d)(4)(B) of the Infrastructure 9
467	467	Investment and Jobs Act (16 U.S.C. 6592(d)(4)(B)) and 10
468	468	as extended under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 11
469	469	2024 (Public Law 118–42; 138 Stat. 25), the Continuing 12
470	470	Appropriations Act, 2025 (division A of Public Law 118– 13
471	471	83; 138 Stat. 1524), and the Further Continuing Appro-14
472	472	priations Act, 2025 (division A of Public Law 118–158). 15
473	473	SEC. 4. SPECIAL LIMITATIONS ON PAY FOR WILDLAND 16
474	474	FIREFIGHTERS. 17
475	475	(a) I
476	476	NGENERAL.—Subchapter V of chapter 55 of 18
477	477	title 5, United States Code, is amended— 19
478	478	(1) by inserting after section 5547 the fol-20
479	479	lowing: 21
480	480	‘‘§ 5547a. Special limitations on premium pay for em-22
481	481	ployees engaged in wildland firefighting 23
482	482	‘‘(a) D
483	483	EFINITIONS.—In this section— 24
484	484	VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Feb 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S279.IS S279
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486	486	•S 279 IS
487	487	‘‘(1) the term ‘covered employee’ means an em-1
488	488	ployee of the Forest Service or the Department of 2
489	489	the Interior who— 3
490	490	‘‘(A) qualifies as a wildland firefighter 4
491	491	based on the definitions of ‘firefighter’ and 5
492	492	‘wildland firefighter’ in section 5332a(a); or 6
493	493	‘‘(B) is certified by the applicable agency 7
494	494	to perform wildland fire incident related duties 8
495	495	during the period the employee is assigned to a 9
496	496	qualifying incident; 10
497	497	‘‘(2) the term ‘covered services’ means services 11
498	498	performed by an employee that are determined by 12
499	499	the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Ag-13
500	500	riculture, as applicable, to primarily involve emer-14
501	501	gency wildfire suppression activities, including any 15
502	502	period of duty when the employee is sleeping or rest-16
503	503	ing during an extended period of deployment to en-17
504	504	gage in those activities; 18
505	505	‘‘(3) the term ‘emergency wildland fire suppres-19
506	506	sion activities’— 20
507	507	‘‘(A) means initial-response and extended- 21
508	508	response activities that directly relate to sup-22
509	509	pression of a wildfire; 23
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512	512	•S 279 IS
513	513	‘‘(B) includes activities associated with a 1
514	514	severity incident, as defined in section 2
515	515	5545c(a); and 3
516	516	‘‘(C) does not include activities associated 4
517	517	with a prescribed fire incident, as defined in 5
518	518	section 5545c(a); and 6
519	519	‘‘(4) the term ‘premium pay’ means the pre-7
520	520	mium pay paid under the provisions of law cited in 8
521	521	section 5547(a), except as otherwise provided in sub-9
522	522	section (h). 10
523	523	‘‘(b) R
524	524	ELATIONSHIP TO LIMITATION ONPREMIUM 11
525	525	P
526	526	AY.—Any premium pay earned by a covered employee 12
527	527	for covered services shall be disregarded in calculating the 13
528	528	aggregate of the basic pay and premium pay of that cov-14
529	529	ered employee for purposes of applying a limitation under 15
530	530	section 5547. 16
531	531	‘‘(c) R
532	532	ELATIONSHIP TO LIMITATION ONCERTAIN 17
533	533	P
534	534	AYMENTS.—Any premium pay of a covered employee 18
535	535	that is disregarded under subsection (b) shall be dis-19
536	536	regarded in calculating the aggregate pay of that covered 20
537	537	employee for purposes of applying the limitation under 21
538	538	section 5307. 22
539	539	‘‘(d) L
540	540	IMITATION.— 23
541	541	‘‘(1) I
542	542	N GENERAL.—Pay that is disregarded 24
543	543	under subsection (b) may not be paid to the extent 25
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545	545	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 19
546	546	•S 279 IS
547	547	that the pay would cause the aggregate of the basic 1
548	548	pay, premium pay, and hazard pay under section 2
549	549	5545(d) payable in the applicable calendar year to 3
550	550	the applicable covered employee to exceed the rate of 4
551	551	basic pay payable for a position at level II of the Ex-5
552	552	ecutive Schedule under section 5313, as in effect at 6
553	553	the end of that calendar year. 7
554	554	‘‘(2) B
555	555	IWEEKLY LIMITATION .—Any premium 8
556	556	pay that is subject to a biweekly limitation under 9
557	557	section 5547(c) shall be paid first before other pre-10
558	558	mium pay in applying the limitation under para-11
559	559	graph (1). 12
560	560	‘‘(e) W
561	561	AIVER.— 13
562	562	‘‘(1) I
563	563	N GENERAL.—Application of the limit in 14
564	564	subsection (d) or subsection (h) to a covered em-15
565	565	ployee may be waived at the sole and exclusive dis-16
566	566	cretion of the Secretary of the Interior or the Sec-17
567	567	retary of Agriculture, as applicable. 18
568	568	‘‘(2) P
569	569	RESCRIPTION OF CRITERIA .—Before au-19
570	570	thorizing a waiver under paragraph (1) for a covered 20
571	571	employee, the Secretary of the Interior or the Sec-21
572	572	retary of Agriculture, as applicable, after consulting 22
573	573	with the other Secretary, shall prescribe criteria that 23
574	574	will be applied in making a determination to grant 24
575	575	a waiver. 25
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578	578	•S 279 IS
579	579	‘‘(f) LUMP-SUMPAYMENTS.—Any additional pay re-1
580	580	sulting from application of this section may not be used 2
581	581	in computing a lump-sum payment for accumulated and 3
582	582	accrued annual leave under section 5551 or 5552. 4
583	583	‘‘(g) M
584	584	AINTENANCE OFRECORDS.—The Secretary of 5
585	585	the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall main-6
586	586	tain records that document uses of the authority provided 7
587	587	by this section. 8
588	588	‘‘(h) C
589	589	ERTAINRATEEMPLOYEES.— 9
590	590	‘‘(1) I
591	591	N GENERAL.—For a prevailing rate em-10
592	592	ployee described in section 5342(a)(2)(A) who is a 11
593	593	covered employee, premium pay may not be paid to 12
594	594	the extent the premium pay would cause the aggre-13
595	595	gate of the basic pay and premium pay of the em-14
596	596	ployee in the applicable calendar year to exceed the 15
597	597	rate of basic pay payable for a position at level II 16
598	598	of the Executive Schedule under section 5313, as in 17
599	599	effect at the end of that calendar year. 18
600	600	‘‘(2) D
601	601	EFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this 19
602	602	subsection— 20
603	603	‘‘(A) the term ‘basic pay’ means wages, en-21
604	604	vironmental differential pay, and night shift dif-22
605	605	ferential pay; and 23
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608	608	•S 279 IS
609	609	‘‘(B) the term ‘premium pay’ means over-1
610	610	time pay, Sunday premium pay, and holiday 2
611	611	premium pay.’’; and 3
612	612	(2) in section 5541(2)(xi), by inserting ‘‘, 4
613	613	5547a(h),’’ after ‘‘section 5544’’. 5
614	614	(b) C
615	615	ALENDARYEAR2025.—For the purpose of ap-6
616	616	plying section 5547 of title 5, United States Code, and 7
617	617	section 1701 of division B of the Extending Government 8
618	618	Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act (5 9
619	619	U.S.C. 5547 note) in calendar year 2025, incident standby 10
620	620	premium pay shall be included in premium pay that is sub-11
621	621	ject to the limits established in those sections. 12
622	622	(c) E
623	623	FFECTIVEDATES.— 13
624	624	(1) A
625	625	MENDMENTS.—The amendments made by 14
626	626	subsection (a) shall take effect on the first day of 15
627	627	the first pay period that has a payment date in Jan-16
628	628	uary 2026. 17
629	629	(2) C
630	630	ALENDAR YEAR 2025 APPLICATION .—Sub-18
631	631	section (b) shall take effect on the first day of the 19
632	632	first applicable pay period beginning on or after Oc-20
633	633	tober 1, 2025. 21
634	634	(d) C
635	635	LERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of sections 22
636	636	for subchapter V of chapter 55 of title 5, United States 23
637	637	Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 24
638	638	section 5547 the following: 25
639	639	VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Feb 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S279.IS S279
640	640	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 22
641	641	•S 279 IS
642	642	‘‘5547a. Special limitations on premium pay for employees engaged in wildland
643	643	firefighting.’’.
644	644	SEC. 5. REST AND RECUPERATION LEAVE FOR EMPLOYEES
645	645	1
646	646	ENGAGED IN WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING. 2
647	647	(a) I
648	648	NGENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 63 of 3
649	649	title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 4
650	650	section 6329d the following: 5
651	651	‘‘§ 6329e. Rest and recuperation leave for employees 6
652	652	engaged in wildland firefighting 7
653	653	‘‘(a) D
654	654	EFINITIONS.—In this section— 8
655	655	‘‘(1) the term ‘applicable Secretary’ means the 9
656	656	Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the In-10
657	657	terior, as applicable to a covered employee; 11
658	658	‘‘(2) the term ‘covered employee’ means an em-12
659	659	ployee of the Forest Service or the Department of 13
660	660	the Interior who— 14
661	661	‘‘(A) qualifies as a wildland firefighter 15
662	662	based on the definitions of the terms ‘fire-16
663	663	fighter’ and ‘wildland firefighter’ in section 17
664	664	5332a(a) (applying the definition of ‘employee’ 18
665	665	in section 6301(2) in lieu of the definition of 19
666	666	‘employee’ in section 5331(a)); or 20
667	667	‘‘(B) is certified by the applicable Sec-21
668	668	retary to perform wildland fire incident related 22
669	669	duties during the period the employee is as-23
670	670	signed to a qualifying incident; and 24
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673	673	•S 279 IS
674	674	‘‘(3) the term ‘qualifying incident’ has the 1
675	675	meaning given the term in section 5545c(a)(5). 2
676	676	‘‘(b) R
677	677	EST ANDRECUPERATIONLEAVE.—A covered 3
678	678	employee may receive paid rest and recuperation leave fol-4
679	679	lowing the completion of service under a qualifying inci-5
680	680	dent, subject to policies established at the sole and exclu-6
681	681	sive discretion of the applicable Secretary, after consulting 7
682	682	with the other Secretary. 8
683	683	‘‘(c) U
684	684	SE OFLEAVE.— 9
685	685	‘‘(1) I
686	686	N GENERAL.—Rest and recuperation 10
687	687	leave granted under this section— 11
688	688	‘‘(A) shall be used during scheduled hours 12
689	689	within the tour of duty of the applicable covered 13
690	690	employee established for leave-charging pur-14
691	691	poses and shall be paid in the same manner as 15
692	692	annual leave; 16
693	693	‘‘(B) shall be used immediately after a 17
694	694	qualifying incident; and 18
695	695	‘‘(C) may not be set aside for later use. 19
696	696	‘‘(2) N
697	697	O PAYMENT FOR UNUSED LEAVE .—A 20
698	698	covered employee may not receive any payment for 21
699	699	unused rest and recuperation leave granted under 22
700	700	this section. 23
701	701	‘‘(d) I
702	702	NTERMITTENT WORKSCHEDULE.—A covered 24
703	703	employee with an intermittent work schedule shall— 25
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706	706	•S 279 IS
707	707	‘‘(1) be excused from duty during the same pe-1
708	708	riod of time that other covered employees in the 2
709	709	same circumstances are entitled to rest and recuper-3
710	710	ation leave; and 4
711	711	‘‘(2) receive a payment as if the covered em-5
712	712	ployee were entitled to rest and recuperation leave 6
713	713	under subsections (b) and (c).’’. 7
714	714	(b) E
715	715	FFECTIVEDATE.—The amendments made by 8
716	716	subsection (a) shall take effect on the first day of the first 9
717	717	applicable pay period beginning on or after October 1, 10
718	718	2025. 11
719	719	(c) C
720	720	LERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of sections 12
721	721	for subchapter II of chapter 63 of title 5, United States 13
722	722	Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 14
723	723	section 6329d the following: 15
724	724	‘‘6329e. Rest and recuperation leave for employees engaged in wildland fire-
725	725	fighting.’’.
726	726	SEC. 6. HEALTH PROVISIONS.
727	727	16
728	728	(a) D
729	729	ATABASE; RECOMMENDATIONS .—Not later than 17
730	730	1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secre-18
731	731	taries shall— 19
732	732	(1) establish and maintain on a website a pub-20
733	733	licly accessible, searchable database, to be known as 21
734	734	the ‘‘Federal Wildland Firefighter Cancer and Car-22
735	735	diovascular Disease Database’’, to track chronic dis-23
736	736	ease caused by on-the-job environmental exposure 24
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739	739	•S 279 IS
740	740	over the lifetimes of current and former Federal 1
741	741	wildland firefighters; 2
742	742	(2) update the database under paragraph (1) 3
743	743	not less frequently than annually; and 4
744	744	(3) develop and adhere to recommendations re-5
745	745	garding mitigation strategies to minimize exposure 6
746	746	to environmental hazards for Federal wildland fire-7
747	747	fighters. 8
748	748	(b) M
749	749	ENTALHEALTH.— 9
750	750	(1) E
751	751	STABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM .— 10
752	752	(A) I
753	753	N GENERAL.—Not later than January 11
754	754	1, 2026, the Secretaries shall establish and 12
755	755	carry out a mental health awareness and sup-13
756	756	port program for Federal wildland firefighters. 14
757	757	(B) I
758	758	NCLUSIONS.—The program under this 15
759	759	paragraph shall include the following: 16
760	760	(i) A mental health awareness cam-17
761	761	paign. 18
762	762	(ii) A mental health education and 19
763	763	training program that includes an 20
764	764	onboarding curriculum. 21
765	765	(iii) An extensive peer-to-peer mental 22
766	766	health support network for Federal 23
767	767	wildland firefighters and their immediate 24
768	768	families. 25
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771	771	•S 279 IS
772	772	(iv) Expansion of the Critical Incident 1
773	773	Stress Management Program— 2
774	774	(I) to develop and retain a larger 3
775	775	pool of qualified mental health profes-4
776	776	sionals who are familiar with the ex-5
777	777	periences of the emergency response 6
778	778	workforce; and 7
779	779	(II) to monitor and track mental 8
780	780	health in the Federal wildland fire-9
781	781	fighter profession to better— 10
782	782	(aa) understand the scope of 11
783	783	the issue of mental health; and 12
784	784	(bb) provide ongoing assist-13
785	785	ance and professional long-term 14
786	786	care to patients. 15
787	787	(v) Establish and carry out a new and 16
788	788	distinct mental health support service spe-17
789	789	cific to Federal wildland firefighters and 18
790	790	their immediate families— 19
791	791	(I) with culturally relevant and 20
792	792	trauma-informed mental health pro-21
793	793	fessionals who are readily available; 22
794	794	and 23
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797	797	•S 279 IS
798	798	(II) not subject to any limit on 1
799	799	the number of sessions or services 2
800	800	provided. 3
801	801	(2) M
802	802	ENTAL HEALTH LEAVE .— 4
803	803	(A) I
804	804	N GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-5
805	805	graph (B), each Federal wildland firefighter 6
806	806	shall be entitled to 7 consecutive days of mental 7
807	807	health leave, without loss or reduction in pay, 8
808	808	during a calendar year. 9
809	809	(B) R
810	810	EQUIREMENTS.—Mental health leave 10
811	811	provided under subparagraph (A) shall not— 11
812	812	(i) accumulate for use in any suc-12
813	813	ceeding calendar year; or 13
814	814	(ii) be considered to be annual or va-14
815	815	cation leave— 15
816	816	(I) for purposes of section 5551 16
817	817	or 5552 of title 5, United States 17
818	818	Code; or 18
819	819	(II) for any other purpose. 19
820	820	(c) C
821	821	OORDINATION.—In carrying out subsections (a) 20
822	822	and (b), the Secretaries may enter into partnerships or 21
823	823	cooperative agreements with other Federal agencies, insti-22
824	824	tutions of higher education, or nonprofit organizations. 23
825	825	(d) OWCP.—The Office of Workers’ Compensation 24
826	826	Programs within the Department of Labor shall— 25
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829	829	•S 279 IS
830	830	(1) recognize post-traumatic stress disorder and 1
831	831	psychological stress-related injuries and illnesses cor-2
832	832	related to fire protection, suppression, and incident 3
833	833	support activities; 4
834	834	(2) ensure long-term coverage for the duration 5
835	835	of the injuries and illnesses described in paragraph 6
836	836	(1); and 7
837	837	(3) expand the Special Claims Unit to ensure 8
838	838	unit staffing levels are sufficient to expedite the 9
839	839	claims process and shorten response times to Fed-10
840	840	eral wildland firefighters and incident support per-11
841	841	sonnel injured or affected on the job in order to al-12
842	842	leviate the psychological and financial burdens 13
843	843	placed on patients and their families. 14
844	844	SEC. 7. RETIREMENT FOR FIREFIGHTERS. 15
845	845	(a) D
846	846	EPOSITSERVICE.—Notwithstanding any other 16
847	847	provision of law, any service performed by an individual 17
848	848	as a Federal wildland firefighter on or after January 1, 18
849	849	1989, for which retirement deductions under chapter 84 19
850	850	of title 5, United States Code, have not been made shall 20
851	851	be creditable under that chapter, if— 21
852	852	(1) that firefighter submits a written election to 22
853	853	the Director; and 23
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856	856	•S 279 IS
857	857	(2) the deposit requirements of section 8411(f) 1
858	858	of that title have been met with respect to that serv-2
859	859	ice. 3
860	860	(b) D
861	861	ISABILITYANNUITY.—Beginning on the date of 4
862	862	enactment of this Act, any Federal wildland firefighter 5
863	863	who suffers from a disease described in section 6
864	864	8143b(b)(2) of title 5, United States Code, due to environ-7
865	865	mental job-related exposure, including smoke inhalation, 8
866	866	silicate inhalation, and firefighting toxic exposure, shall be 9
867	867	considered to be disabled for purposes of section 8451 of 10
868	868	that title, except that such section 8451 shall be applied 11
869	869	to any such firefighter by substituting ‘‘12 months’’ for 12
870	870	‘‘18 months’’. 13
871	871	(c) I
872	872	NCLUDINGOVERTIME ASBASICPAY.—Section 14
873	873	8331(3) of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 15
874	874	(1) in subparagraph (H), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 16
875	875	the end; 17
876	876	(2) in subparagraph (I), by inserting ‘‘and’’ 18
877	877	after the semicolon; 19
878	878	(3) by inserting after subparagraph (I) the fol-20
879	879	lowing: 21
880	880	‘‘(J) with respect to a Federal wildland 22
881	881	firefighter (as that term is defined in section 23
882	882	1(b) of the Tim Hart Wildland Firefighter 24
883	883	Classification and Pay Parity Act), overtime 25
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886	886	•S 279 IS
887	887	pay received on or after the date of enactment 1
888	888	of this subparagraph;’’; and 2
889	889	(4) in the undesignated matter following sub-3
890	890	paragraph (J) (as added by paragraph (3)), by strik-4
891	891	ing ‘‘subparagraphs (B) through (I) of this para-5
892	892	graph’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (B) through 6
893	893	(J) of this paragraph,’’. 7
894	894	(d) S
895	895	EPARATENORMAL-COSTPERCENTAGE.—Sec-8
896	896	tion 8423(a)(1)(B)(i) of title 5, United States Code, is 9
897	897	amended by inserting after ‘‘firefighters,’’ the following: 10
898	898	‘‘Federal wildland firefighters (as that term is defined in 11
899	899	section 1(b) of the Tim Hart Wildland Firefighter Classi-12
900	900	fication and Pay Parity Act),’’. 13
901	901	SEC. 8. PAY PARITY FOR FEDERAL STRUCTURAL FIRE-14
902	902	FIGHTERS. 15
903	903	(a) D
904	904	EFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘Federal 16
905	905	structural firefighter’’— 17
906	906	(1) has the meaning given the term ‘‘fire-18
907	907	fighter’’ in section 8401 of title 5, United States 19
908	908	Code; and 20
909	909	(2) does not include a Federal wildland fire-21
910	910	fighter. 22
911	911	(b) R
912	912	EQUIREMENTS.— 23
913	913	(1) I
914	914	N GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that 24
915	915	is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, any 25
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918	918	•S 279 IS
919	919	pay, benefits, and bonuses provided to any Federal 1
920	920	structural firefighter shall be comparable with the 2
921	921	pay, benefits, and bonuses provided to Federal 3
922	922	wildland firefighters under this Act and the amend-4
923	923	ments made by this Act. 5
924	924	(2) R
925	925	EPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 6
926	926	date on which special base rates of pay are estab-7
927	927	lished under section 5332a of title 5, United States 8
928	928	Code, as added by section 2 of this Act, the Director 9
929	929	shall submit to Congress a report on whether pay 10
930	930	for such Federal structural firefighters is competi-11
931	931	tive with that for Federal wildland firefighters. 12
932	932	SEC. 9. PAY ADJUSTMENTS AND OTHER MATTERS. 13
933	933	(a) A
934	934	NNUALADJUSTMENTS.—Notwithstanding any 14
935	935	other provision of law, beginning in the first pay period 15
936	936	beginning on or after the date on which special base rates 16
937	937	of pay are established under section 5332a of title 5, 17
938	938	United States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act, 18
939	939	and annually thereafter, the basic rate of pay for each 19
940	940	Federal wildland firefighter to which those special base 20
941	941	rates of pay apply shall be increased by not less than the 21
942	942	percentage equal to the percent change in the Consumer 22
943	943	Price Index (all items—United States city average), pub-23
944	944	lished monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for De-24
945	945	cember of the preceding year over such Consumer Price 25
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948	948	•S 279 IS
949	949	Index for the December of the year prior to the preceding 1
950	950	year, adjusted to the nearest
951	951	1
952	952	⁄10of 1 percent. 2
953	953	(b) C
954	954	OMPENSATIONCOMPARABLE TONON-FEDERAL 3
955	955	F
956	956	IREFIGHTERS.—Not later than 1 year after the date on 4
957	957	which special base rates of pay are established under sec-5
958	958	tion 5332a of title 5, United States Code, as added by 6
959	959	section 2 of this Act, the Secretaries shall submit to Con-7
960	960	gress a report on whether pay, benefits, and bonuses pro-8
961	961	vided to Federal wildland firefighters are comparable to 9
962	962	the pay, benefits, and bonuses provided for non-Federal 10
963	963	firefighters in the State or locality where Federal wildland 11
964	964	firefighters are based. 12
965	965	(c) H
966	966	AZARDOUSDUTYPAY.— 13
967	967	(1) I
968	968	N GENERAL.—Each Federal wildland fire-14
969	969	fighter carrying out work completed during pre-15
970	970	scribed fire, parachuting, tree climbing over 20 feet, 16
971	971	hazard tree removal, and other hazardous work, as 17
972	972	identified by the Secretaries, shall be entitled to be 18
973	973	paid the appropriate differential under section 19
974	974	5545(d) of title 5, United States Code, as if that 20
975	975	Federal wildland firefighter was covered by such sec-21
976	976	tion 5545(d). 22
977	977	(2) R
978	978	EGULATIONS.—The Director may pre-23
979	979	scribe regulations to carry out this subsection. 24
980	980	(d) O
981	981	THERMATTERS.— 25
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984	984	•S 279 IS
985	985	(1) RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION BONUS .— 1
986	986	(A) I
987	987	N GENERAL.—In order to promote the 2
988	988	recruitment and retention of Federal wildland 3
989	989	firefighters, the Director, in coordination with 4
990	990	the Secretaries, shall establish a program under 5
991	991	which a recruitment or retention bonus of not 6
992	992	less than $1,000 may be paid to a Federal 7
993	993	wildland firefighter in an amount determined 8
994	994	appropriate by the Director and the Secretaries. 9
995	995	(B) M
996	996	INIMUM AMOUNT .—The minimum 10
997	997	amount of a bonus described in subparagraph 11
998	998	(A) shall be increased each year by the Con-12
999	999	sumer Price Index in the manner prescribed 13
1000	1000	under subsection (a). 14
1001	1001	(C) T
1002	1002	IMING OF PAYMENTS .—Any bonus 15
1003	1003	under this subsection— 16
1004	1004	(i) shall be paid to any primary or 17
1005	1005	secondary Federal wildland firefighter 18
1006	1006	upon the date that such firefighter success-19
1007	1007	fully completes a work capacity test; and 20
1008	1008	(ii) may not be paid to an individual 21
1009	1009	described in clause (i) more than once per 22
1010	1010	calendar year. 23
1011	1011	(2) H
1012	1012	OUSING ALLOWANCE .— 24
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1015	1015	•S 279 IS
1016	1016	(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall 1
1017	1017	provide a housing allowance to any Federal 2
1018	1018	wildland firefighter deployed to a location more 3
1019	1019	than 50 miles from the primary residence of 4
1020	1020	that Federal wildland firefighter. 5
1021	1021	(B) A
1022	1022	MOUNT.—An allowance paid under 6
1023	1023	subparagraph (A) shall be in an amount deter-7
1024	1024	mined appropriate by the Secretaries and ad-8
1025	1025	justed based on the cost of housing in the area 9
1026	1026	of deployment. 10
1027	1027	(3) C
1028	1028	AREER TRANSITION.— 11
1029	1029	(A) I
1030	1030	N GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 12
1031	1031	after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-13
1032	1032	retaries shall establish, and thereafter shall 14
1033	1033	maintain, coordinate, and operate, a voluntary 15
1034	1034	tuition assistance program for Federal wildland 16
1035	1035	firefighters occupying permanent positions, 17
1036	1036	which shall encompass a broad range of edu-18
1037	1037	cational experiences (either in-person or 19
1038	1038	through distance-learning), including academic 20
1039	1039	skills development, vocational programs, career 21
1040	1040	and technical programs, and programs leading 22
1041	1041	to the award of undergraduate and graduate 23
1042	1042	degrees. 24
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1045	1045	•S 279 IS
1046	1046	(B) AMOUNT.—The program under sub-1
1047	1047	paragraph (A) shall provide, not more than 2
1048	1048	once during each calendar year, a payment of 3
1049	1049	not less than $4,000 to each Federal wildland 4
1050	1050	firefighter who elects to participate in the pro-5
1051	1051	gram. 6
1052	1052	(C) R
1053	1053	EVIEW.—The Secretaries shall con-7
1054	1054	duct an annual review of whether the amount 8
1055	1055	provided under subparagraph (B) is adequate, 9
1056	1056	in consideration of inflation and other effects. 10
1057	1057	SEC. 10. WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT CASUALTY ASSIST-11
1058	1058	ANCE PROGRAM. 12
1059	1059	(a) D
1060	1060	EFINITIONS.—In this section: 13
1061	1061	(1) A
1062	1062	FFECTED FIREFIGHTER .—The term ‘‘af-14
1063	1063	fected firefighter’’ means any Federal wildland fire-15
1064	1064	fighter or Federal wildland fire support personnel 16
1065	1065	who— 17
1066	1066	(A) requires hospitalization or treatment at 18
1067	1067	a medical facility due to a line-of-duty injury or 19
1068	1068	illness; or 20
1069	1069	(B) is killed in the line of duty. 21
1070	1070	(2) A
1071	1071	FFECTED NEXT-OF-KIN.—The term ‘‘af-22
1072	1072	fected next-of-kin’’, with respect to an affected fire-23
1073	1073	fighter, means an individual related to the affected 24
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1076	1076	•S 279 IS
1077	1077	firefighter, as determined in accordance with the fol-1
1078	1078	lowing descending order of priority: 2
1079	1079	(A) A surviving legal spouse. 3
1080	1080	(B) A child (whether by current or prior 4
1081	1081	relationship) aged 18 years or older, in descend-5
1082	1082	ing precedence by age. 6
1083	1083	(C) A parent, unless custody has been 7
1084	1084	vested in another individual by court order, in 8
1085	1085	which case an adoptive parent shall take prece-9
1086	1086	dence over the natural parent from whom cus-10
1087	1087	tody has been so removed. 11
1088	1088	(D) A sibling (whether whole or half) aged 12
1089	1089	18 years or older, in descending precedence by 13
1090	1090	age. 14
1091	1091	(E) A grandparent. 15
1092	1092	(F) Any other relative, with precedence to 16
1093	1093	be determined in accordance with the applicable 17
1094	1094	civil law of descent of the State of domicile of 18
1095	1095	the affected firefighter at the time of the appli-19
1096	1096	cable illness or injury or death. 20
1097	1097	(3) C
1098	1098	ASUALTY ASSISTANCE OFFICER .—The 21
1099	1099	term ‘‘casualty assistance officer’’ means an indi-22
1100	1100	vidual employed by the Department of the Interior 23
1101	1101	to assist affected firefighters and affected next-of- 24
1102	1102	kin with respect to the injury, illness, or death of an 25
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1105	1105	•S 279 IS
1106	1106	affected firefighter, including by providing advice re-1
1107	1107	lating to— 2
1108	1108	(A) services and benefits available under 3
1109	1109	the Program to affected firefighters and af-4
1110	1110	fected next-of-kin; and 5
1111	1111	(B) funeral arrangements, if applicable. 6
1112	1112	(4) P
1113	1113	ROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 7
1114	1114	the Wildland Fire Management Casualty Assistance 8
1115	1115	Program established under subsection (b). 9
1116	1116	(5) S
1117	1117	ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 10
1118	1118	the Secretary of the Interior. 11
1119	1119	(b) E
1120	1120	STABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 12
1121	1121	the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es-13
1122	1122	tablish a program, to be known as the ‘‘Wildland Fire 14
1123	1123	Management Casualty Assistance Program’’, under which 15
1124	1124	the Secretary shall provide assistance in accordance with 16
1125	1125	this section to affected firefighters and affected next-of- 17
1126	1126	kin. 18
1127	1127	(c) I
1128	1128	NCLUSIONS.—The Program shall include the fol-19
1129	1129	lowing: 20
1130	1130	(1) The provision to affected next-of-kin of the 21
1131	1131	initial, and any subsequent, notification regarding 22
1132	1132	the injury, illness, or death of an affected firefighter. 23
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1135	1135	•S 279 IS
1136	1136	(2) The reimbursement of affected next-of-kin 1
1137	1137	for expenses associated with travel to visit an af-2
1138	1138	fected firefighter. 3
1139	1139	(3) The qualifications, assignment, training, du-4
1140	1140	ties, supervision, and accountability for the perform-5
1141	1141	ance of casualty assistance officers. 6
1142	1142	(4) The relief or transfer of casualty assistance 7
1143	1143	officers, including, in any case in which a casualty 8
1144	1144	assistance officer is reassigned to another duty, the 9
1145	1145	provision of notice of that reassignment to the appli-10
1146	1146	cable affected firefighters and affected next-of-kin. 11
1147	1147	(5) Centralized short-term and long-term case 12
1148	1148	management procedures for casualty assistance offi-13
1149	1149	cers, including ensuring rapid access to expert case 14
1150	1150	managers and counselors by— 15
1151	1151	(A) casualty assistance officers; and 16
1152	1152	(B) affected firefighters and affected next- 17
1153	1153	of-kin. 18
1154	1154	(6) The provision, through a computer-acces-19
1155	1155	sible website and other means and at no cost to af-20
1156	1156	fected firefighters and affected next-of-kin, of per-21
1157	1157	sonalized, integrated information relating to the ben-22
1158	1158	efits and financial assistance available from the Fed-23
1159	1159	eral Government to affected firefighters and affected 24
1160	1160	next-of-kin. 25
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1163	1163	•S 279 IS
1164	1164	(7) The provision to affected firefighters and 1
1165	1165	affected next-of-kin of information relating to mech-2
1166	1166	anisms for registering complaints regarding, or re-3
1167	1167	quests for, additional casualty assistance. 4
1168	1168	(8) Coordination among the Department of the 5
1169	1169	Interior, the Department of Justice, and the Social 6
1170	1170	Security Administration to ensure prompt and accu-7
1171	1171	rate resolution of issues relating to benefits adminis-8
1172	1172	tered by those agencies for affected firefighters and 9
1173	1173	affected next-of-kin. 10
1174	1174	(9) Data collection, in consultation with the 11
1175	1175	United States Fire Administration and the National 12
1176	1176	Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, re-13
1177	1177	garding the incidence and quality of casualty assist-14
1178	1178	ance provided to affected firefighters and affected 15
1179	1179	next-of-kin. 16
1180	1180	(d) N
1181	1181	OEFFECT ONCERTAINBENEFITS.—The Pro-17
1182	1182	gram shall not affect any existing authority relating to 18
1183	1183	line-of-duty death benefits for affected firefighters. 19
1184	1184	SEC. 11. CONTINUING ACCRUAL OF SERVICE FOR FIRE-20
1185	1185	FIGHTERS. 21
1186	1186	(a) F
1187	1187	EDERALEMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENTSYSTEM.— 22
1188	1188	Section 8401(14) of title 5, United States Code, is amend-23
1189	1189	ed to read as follows: 24
1190	1190	‘‘(14) the term ‘firefighter’ means— 25
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1193	1193	•S 279 IS
1194	1194	‘‘(A) an employee, the duties of whose po-1
1195	1195	sition— 2
1196	1196	‘‘(i) are primarily to perform work di-3
1197	1197	rectly connected with the control and extin-4
1198	1198	guishment of non-wildland fires; and 5
1199	1199	‘‘(ii) are sufficiently rigorous that em-6
1200	1200	ployment opportunities should be limited to 7
1201	1201	young and physically vigorous individuals, 8
1202	1202	as determined by the Director considering 9
1203	1203	the recommendations of the employing 10
1204	1204	agency; 11
1205	1205	‘‘(B) an employee, the duties of whose po-12
1206	1206	sition— 13
1207	1207	‘‘(i) are primarily to perform work di-14
1208	1208	rectly connected with the control and extin-15
1209	1209	guishment of wildland fires; and 16
1210	1210	‘‘(ii) are sufficiently rigorous that em-17
1211	1211	ployment opportunities should be limited to 18
1212	1212	young and physically vigorous individuals, 19
1213	1213	as determined by the Director considering 20
1214	1214	the recommendations of the employing 21
1215	1215	agency; 22
1216	1216	‘‘(C) an employee who— 23
1217	1217	‘‘(i) is transferred directly to a super-24
1218	1218	visory or administrative position after per-25
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1221	1221	•S 279 IS
1222	1222	forming duties described in subparagraph 1
1223	1223	(A) for at least 3 years; and 2
1224	1224	‘‘(ii) while serving in the supervisory 3
1225	1225	or administrative position described in 4
1226	1226	clause (i), has no break in service; or 5
1227	1227	‘‘(D) an employee who— 6
1228	1228	‘‘(i) occupies a supervisory or admin-7
1229	1229	istrative position after performing duties 8
1230	1230	described in subparagraph (B) for at least 9
1231	1231	3 years; and 10
1232	1232	‘‘(ii) has not more than 24 months in 11
1233	1233	total time of breaks in service;’’. 12
1234	1234	(b) S
1235	1235	ERVICEBEFOREDATE OFENACTMENT.— 13
1236	1236	(1) I
1237	1237	N GENERAL.—Subject to the requirements 14
1238	1238	under paragraph (2), service performed before the 15
1239	1239	date of enactment of this Act by an individual who, 16
1240	1240	on the date of enactment of this Act, is an employee 17
1241	1241	(as defined in section 8401(11) of title 5, United 18
1242	1242	States Code) shall, for the purposes of chapter 84 of 19
1243	1243	title 5, United States Code, be treated as service 20
1244	1244	performed by a firefighter if— 21
1245	1245	(A) that service was performed during the 22
1246	1246	period beginning on October 1, 2003, and end-23
1247	1247	ing on the day before the date of enactment of 24
1248	1248	this Act; 25
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1251	1251	•S 279 IS
1252	1252	(B) at the time of performing such serv-1
1253	1253	ice— 2
1254	1254	(i) the individual did not meet the re-3
1255	1255	quirements to be a firefighter under sec-4
1256	1256	tion 8401(14) of title 5, United States 5
1257	1257	Code, because of a break in service; and 6
1258	1258	(ii) would have met the requirements 7
1259	1259	to be a firefighter under section 8
1260	1260	8401(14)(D) of title 5, United States 9
1261	1261	Code, as amended by this Act; and 10
1262	1262	(C) appropriate deductions and 11
1263	1263	withholdings under sections 8422 and 8423 of 12
1264	1264	title 5, United States Code, were made during 13
1265	1265	such service. 14
1266	1266	(2) C
1267	1267	REDIT FOR SERVICE .—To receive credit 15
1268	1268	for eligible service under paragraph (1), the applica-16
1269	1269	ble individual shall— 17
1270	1270	(A) before the date on which the individual 18
1271	1271	separates from service in the agency in which 19
1272	1272	the individual holds a position on the date of 20
1273	1273	enactment of this Act, submit a written election 21
1274	1274	to the agency employing the individual; 22
1275	1275	(B) if the individual is not employed by the 23
1276	1276	agency that employed the individual when the 24
1277	1277	service described in paragraph (1) was per-25
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1280	1280	•S 279 IS
1281	1281	formed, submit a written election to such agen-1
1282	1282	cy; and 2
1283	1283	(C) remit to the agency that employed the 3
1284	1284	individual when such service was performed the 4
1285	1285	additional amount that would have been de-5
1286	1286	ducted during the period of prior service under 6
1287	1287	section 8422 of title 5, United States Code, 7
1288	1288	from the pay of the individual if the amend-8
1289	1289	ments made by subsection (a) had been in ef-9
1290	1290	fect during the prior service, plus any applicable 10
1291	1291	interest computed under section 8334(e) of title 11
1292	1292	5, United States Code. 12
1293	1293	(3) G
1294	1294	OVERNMENT CONTRIBUTIONS .—If an indi-13
1295	1295	vidual remits payment under paragraph (2)(C) with 14
1296	1296	respect to service described in paragraph (1), the 15
1297	1297	agency that employed the individual when such serv-16
1298	1298	ice was performed shall remit to the Office of Per-17
1299	1299	sonnel Management (for deposit in the Treasury of 18
1300	1300	the United States to the credit of the Civil Service 19
1301	1301	Retirement and Disability Fund) the total additional 20
1302	1302	amount of Federal contributions that would have 21
1303	1303	been paid under section 8423 of title 5, United 22
1304	1304	States Code, if the amendments made by subsection 23
1305	1305	(a) had been in effect during the prior service, plus 24
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1308	1308	•S 279 IS
1309	1309	any applicable interest computed in accordance with 1
1310	1310	section 8334(e) of title 5, United States Code. 2
1311	1311	(4) N
1312	1312	OTIFICATION AND ASSISTANCE REQUIRE -3
1313	1313	MENTS.—The Director shall— 4
1314	1314	(A) take such action as may be necessary 5
1315	1315	and appropriate to inform individuals entitled 6
1316	1316	to have any service credited under this sub-7
1317	1317	section, or to have any annuity computed under 8
1318	1318	this subsection, of the entitlement to the credit 9
1319	1319	or computation; and 10
1320	1320	(B) upon request, assist any individual de-11
1321	1321	scribed in subparagraph (A) in obtaining such 12
1322	1322	information in the possession of the Secretary 13
1323	1323	of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior, 14
1324	1324	as applicable, as may be necessary to verify the 15
1325	1325	entitlement of the individual to have any service 16
1326	1326	credited, or to have any annuity computed, pur-17
1327	1327	suant to this subsection. 18
1328	1328	(5) R
1329	1329	ULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—Nothing in this 19
1330	1330	section may be construed to permit or require the 20
1331	1331	making of any contribution to the Thrift Savings 21
1332	1332	Fund that would not otherwise have been permitted 22
1333	1333	or required but for the enactment of this section. 23
1334	1334	Æ
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