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Adds new section 6329e to subchapter II (chapter 63) of title 5 establishing rest and recuperation leave for covered employees engaged in wildland firefighting.
Amends the table of sections for subchapter II of title 5 by inserting an item for the newly added section 6329e after the item relating to section 6329d.
Adds a new section establishing 'incident response premium pay' for employees engaged in wildland firefighting, including definitions (covered employee, qualifying incident, prescribed fire incident, severity incident), eligibility criteria, computation rules (daily rate set at 450 percent of hourly rate of basic pay with a $9,000 annual cap and specific limits for pay rates above GS-10 step 10), adjustment and assessment requirements, reporting and congressional notification requirements, and treatment of the premium pay (not part of basic pay and excluded for certain pay computations).
Amends section 5544 by changing the section heading (text for new heading not shown in the provided section) and by adding a new subsection (d) that directs that a prevailing rate employee described in section 5342(a)(2)(A) and employed by the Forest Service or the Department of the Interior who is a wildland firefighter (as defined in 5332a(a)) or certified to perform wildland fire incident-related duties while deployed to a qualifying incident shall receive incident response premium pay under the same terms and conditions that apply to a covered employee under new section 5545c.
Amends the matter preceding paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of 5 U.S.C. 5547 by inserting additional text; the specific inserted text is not included in the provided section excerpt.
Clerical amendments to the table of sections for subchapter V of title 5: updates the item relating to section 5544 and inserts a new item for the newly added section 5545c after the item relating to section 5545b.
Creates an exception to section 40803(c)(2) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (codified at 16 U.S.C. 6592) by authorizing up to $5,000,000 of unobligated balances made available pursuant to section 40803(c)(2)(B) to be transferred to and merged with amounts made available under another heading in title VI of division J of that Act to continue the Federal wildland firefighter base salary increase described in section 40803(d)(4)(B).
Adds a new section 5332a to subchapter III of title 5, U.S. Code, titled 'Special base rates of pay for wildland firefighters' that defines firefighter and wildland firefighter, establishes entitlement to special base rates replacing applicable General Schedule base rates, specifies percentage increases by GS grade (GS-1 through GS-15), and provides rules for computing and converting those rates.
Amends 5 U.S.C. 5343 by adding a new subsection (g) that directs the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior to increase wage rates for prevailing rate employees who are wildland firefighters in a manner generally consistent with the percentage increases for wildland firefighters in the General Schedule under new section 5332a; declares such increased wage rates to be basic pay for the same purposes as other wage rates under the section; and limits increases so they do not produce an annualized rate in excess of the annual rate for level IV of the Executive Schedule.
Creates new pay and leave rules for federal wildland firefighting personnel and a limited funding transfer to keep a recently established base-salary increase in place. It (1) establishes a special base pay rate for wildland firefighters that replaces the normal GS base rate and is treated as basic pay for all purposes; (2) creates a daily "incident response premium pay" for Forest Service and Department of the Interior employees who fight or support wildland fire incidents (paid at 450% of hourly basic pay, capped annually); (3) provides paid rest-and-recovery (R&R) leave after qualifying deployments; and (4) permits up to $5 million to be transferred between specified IIJA accounts to avoid an interruption in the wildland firefighter base salary increase.
Defines the term "firefighter" to include employees who meet certain statutory firefighter definitions, supervisory or administrative employees who would qualify if they had transferred after serving as firefighters, and other employees whose positions the Office of Personnel Management determines are equivalent. (See text for full four-part definition.)
Defines "General Schedule base rate" as the annual rate of basic pay established under section 5332 before additions such as locality pay or special rate supplements.
Defines "special base rate" as an annual rate of basic pay payable to a wildland firefighter that replaces the applicable General Schedule base rate and is administered the same way as a GS base rate.
Defines "wildland firefighter" as a firefighter employed by the Forest Service or the Department of the Interior whose duties relate primarily to wildland fires (not structure fires).
Entitles a wildland firefighter (grades GS‑1 through GS‑15) to a special base rate that: (A) replaces the otherwise applicable GS base rate, (B) is basic pay for all purposes (including computing locality payments under sections 5304 or 5304a), and (C) is computed per the section and adjusted when the General Schedule is adjusted.
Primary effects:
Federal wildland firefighters employed by the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of the Interior (and certain prevailing‑rate/wage wildland firefighters covered by the law) receive higher base pay via a new special base rate, which is explicitly treated as basic pay for all purposes. That treatment increases retirement and other pay-linked benefit calculations for those employees.
Incident-response personnel at USDA and DOI who meet the eligibility criteria can earn a substantial daily premium (450% of hourly basic pay) when deployed or performing qualifying incident duties, but total premium earnings are capped at $9,000 per calendar year and the premium is not basic pay (so it will not affect retirement computations).
Eligible employees are entitled to paid R&R leave after qualifying deployments; Secretaries may set uniform thresholds and durations. This supports recovery time for personnel but creates additional paid-leave obligations for agencies.
Budgetary and operational impacts:
Agencies must budget for higher ongoing pay and leave costs. The law authorizes a limited $5 million transfer from specific IIJA accounts to prevent an interruption of the base-salary increase, which provides short-term bridging funding but may require reallocation of IIJA funds and further budgetary planning.
Treating the special base rate as basic pay raises long-term personnel cost projections (retirement accruals, FERS/CSRS calculations, life insurance/FEHB contributions tied to pay) for affected employees.
The premium pay cap and explicit non-basic-pay status limit some long-term liabilities, but agencies will need administrative guidance to implement eligibility, payroll calculations, and leave tracking—especially for intermittent and prevailing-rate employees.
Broader effects:
Expand sections to see detailed analysis
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Introduced January 16, 2025 by Alejandro Padilla · Last progress January 16, 2025
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Introduced in Senate