[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3544 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3544

     To amend title 5, United States Code, to ensure that certain 
firefighters retain retirement benefits while injured or disabled, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            December 9, 2016

  Mr. Daines introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend title 5, United States Code, to ensure that certain 
firefighters retain retirement benefits while injured or disabled, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Wildland Firefighter Retirement and 
Disability Compensation Benefits Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. CIVIL SERVICE RETENTION RIGHTS.

    Section 8151 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking 
subsection (b) and inserting the following:
    ``(b) Regulations.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection--
                    ``(A) the term `covered employee' means an employee 
                who--
                            ``(i) held a position with the Forest 
                        Service or the Department of the Interior as a 
                        wildland firefighter; and
                            ``(ii) sustained an injury while in the 
                        performance of duty, as determined by the 
                        Director of the Office of Personnel Management, 
                        that prevents the employee from performing the 
                        physical duties of a firefighter;
                    ``(B) `equivalent position' includes a position for 
                a covered employee that allows the covered employee 
                to--
                            ``(i) receive the same retirement benefits 
                        under subchapter III of chapter 83 or chapter 
                        84 that the covered employee would receive in 
                        the former position had the covered employee 
                        not been injured or disabled; and
                            ``(ii) does not require the covered 
                        employee to complete any more years of service 
                        that the covered employee would be required to 
                        complete to receive the benefits described in 
                        clause (i) had the covered employee not been 
                        injured or disabled; and
                    ``(C) the term `firefighter' has the meaning given 
                the term in section 8331.
            ``(2) Regulations.--Under regulations issued by the Office 
        of Personnel Management--
                    ``(A) the department or agency which was the last 
                employer shall immediately and unconditionally accord 
                the employee, if the injury or disability has been 
                overcome within 1 year after the date of commencement 
                of compensation or from the time compensable disability 
                recurs if the recurrence begins after the injured 
                employee resumes regular full-time employment with the 
                United States, the right to resume the former or an 
                equivalent position of the employee, as well as all 
                other attendant rights which the employee would have 
                had, or acquired, in the former position of the 
                employee had the employee not been injured or disabled, 
                including the rights to tenure, promotion, and 
                safeguards in reductions-in-force procedures;
                    ``(B) the department or agency which was the last 
                employer shall, if the injury or disability is overcome 
                within a period of more than 1 year after the date of 
                commencement of compensation, make all reasonable 
                efforts to place, and accord priority to placing, the 
                employee in the former or equivalent position of the 
                employee within such department or agency, or within 
                any other department or agency; and
                    ``(C) a covered employee who was injured during the 
                20-year period ending on the date of enactment of the 
                Wildland Firefighter Retirement and Disability 
                Compensation Benefits Act of 2016 may not receive the 
                same retirement benefits described in paragraph 
                (1)(B)(ii) unless the covered employee first makes a 
                payment to the Forest Service or the Department of the 
                Interior, as applicable, equal to the amount that would 
                have been deducted from pay under section 8334 or 8442, 
                as applicable, had the covered employee not been 
                injured or disabled.''.

SEC. 3. COMPUTATION OF PAY.

    (a) In General.--Section 8114 of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended by striking subsection (e) and inserting the following:
    ``(e) Overtime.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection, the term `covered 
        overtime pay' means pay received by an employee who holds a 
        position with the Forest Service or the Department of the 
        Interior as a wildland firefighter while engaged in wildland 
        fire suppression activity.
            ``(2) Overtime.--The value of subsistence and quarters, and 
        of any other form of remuneration in kind for services if its 
        value can be estimated in money, and covered overtime pay and 
        premium pay under section 5545(c)(1) of this title are included 
        as part of the pay, but account is not taken of--
                    ``(A) overtime pay;
                    ``(B) additional pay or allowance authorized 
                outside the United States because of differential in 
                cost of living or other special circumstances; or
                    ``(C) bonus or premium pay for extraordinary 
                service including bonus or pay for particularly 
                hazardous service in time of war.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect on October 1, 2016.
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