[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4831 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4831

      To provide a special rate of basic pay for Federal wildland 
firefighters during fiscal years 2024 and 2025, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 24, 2023

 Mr. LaMalfa introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
   Committee on Oversight and Accountability, and in addition to the 
 Committees on Natural Resources, and Agriculture, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To provide a special rate of basic pay for Federal wildland 
firefighters during fiscal years 2024 and 2025, 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 ``Fair Pay for Federal Firefighters 
Act''.

SEC. 2. INCREASE IN RATE OF BASIC PAY FOR FEDERAL WILDLAND FIREFIGHTERS 
              DURING FISCAL YEARS 2024 AND 2025.

    (a) Special Rate of Basic Pay.--
            (1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        law, including section 5332 of title 5, United States Code, 
        during fiscal years 2024 and 2025, a wildland firefighter shall 
        receive a special rate of basic pay, at grades 1 through 15, as 
        provided under paragraph (2). Such rate of pay shall--
                    (A) replace the otherwise applicable General 
                Schedule basic rate of pay, and shall be considered 
                basic pay for all purposes including computing 
                locality-based comparability payments under section 
                5304 or 5304a of such title;
                    (B) when expressed as an hourly, daily, weekly, or 
                biweekly rate, be computed from the appropriate annual 
                rate of basic pay provided under paragraph (2) in 
                accordance with section 5504(b) of such title;
                    (C) be adjusted at the time of any adjustments to 
                the rates of pay under the General Schedule; and
                    (D) begin to apply in the first pay period 
                beginning on or after October 1, 2023.
            (2) Rates of pay.--The special rate of basic pay for a 
        wildland firefighter shall be derived by increasing the 
        otherwise applicable General Schedule rate of basic pay 
        applicable to such wildland firefighter by the following 
        percentage amount, rounded to the nearest whole dollar:
                    (A) GS-1, 42 percent.
                    (B) GS-2, 39 percent.
                    (C) GS-3, 36 percent.
                    (D) GS-4, 33 percent.
                    (E) GS-5, 30 percent.
                    (F) GS-6, 27 percent.
                    (G) GS-7, 24 percent.
                    (H) GS-8, 21 percent.
                    (I) GS-9, 18 percent.
                    (J) GS-10, 15 percent.
                    (K) GS-11, 12 percent.
                    (L) GS-12, 9 percent.
                    (M) GS-13, 6 percent.
                    (N) GS-14, 3 percent.
                    (O) GS-15, 1.5 percent.
    (b) Prevailing Rate Employees.--For any prevailing rate employee 
described in section 5342(a)(2)(A) of title 5, United States Code, who 
is a wildland firefighter, during fiscal year 2024 and 2025, the 
Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior (as 
applicable) shall increase the wage rates of such employees by amounts 
that are generally consistent with the percentage increases given to 
wildland firefighters in the General Schedule under subsection (a). 
Such an increased wage rate--
            (1) shall begin to apply in the first pay period beginning 
        on or after October 1, 2023;
            (2) shall be determined at the sole discretion of the 
        applicable Secretary, after consultation with the other 
        Secretary;
            (3) shall be basic pay for the same purposes as the wage 
        rate otherwise established under section 5343 of such title; 
        and
            (4) may not cause an employee's wage rate to increase 
        beyond a rate that would produce an annualized rate in excess 
        of the annual rate of pay for level IV of the Executive 
        Schedule under section 5315 of such title.
    (c) Rescission.--The unobligated balance of amounts available under 
each of sections 50221 through 50224 of Public Law 117-169 (commonly 
referred to as the ``Inflation Reduction Act'') are hereby permanently 
rescinded.
    (d) Wildland Firefighter Defined.--In this section, the term 
``wildland firefighter'' means a firefighter--
            (1) who is employed by the Forest Service or the Department 
        of the Interior; and
            (2) the duties of the position of whom primarily relate to 
        fires occurring in forests, range lands, or other wildlands, as 
        opposed to structural fires.

SEC. 3. WILDLAND FIRE INCIDENT RESPONSE PREMIUM PAY.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter V of chapter 55 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 5545b the following:
``Sec. 5545c. Incident response premium pay for employees engaged in 
              wildland firefighting
    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section--
            ``(1) the term `appropriate committees of Congress' means--
                    ``(A) the Committee on Homeland Security and 
                Governmental Affairs of the Senate;
                    ``(B) the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 
                of the Senate;
                    ``(C) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 
                Forestry of the Senate;
                    ``(D) the Committee on Appropriations of the 
                Senate;
                    ``(E) the Committee on Oversight and Accountability 
                of the House of Representatives;
                    ``(F) the Committee on Agriculture of the House of 
                Representatives;
                    ``(G) the Committee on Natural Resources of the 
                House of Representatives; and
                    ``(H) the Committee on Appropriations of the House 
                of Representatives;
            ``(2) the term `covered employee' means an employee of the 
        Forest Service or the Department of the Interior who is--
                    ``(A) a wildland firefighter; or
                    ``(B) certified by the applicable agency to perform 
                wildland fire incident-related duties during the period 
                that employee is deployed to respond to a qualifying 
                incident;
            ``(3) the term `incident response premium pay' means pay to 
        which a covered employee is entitled under subsection (c);
            ``(4) the term `prescribed fire incident' means a wildland 
        fire originating from a planned ignition in accordance with 
        applicable laws, policies, and regulations to meet specific 
        objectives;
            ``(5) the term `qualifying incident'--
                    ``(A) means--
                            ``(i) a wildfire incident, a prescribed 
                        fire incident, or a severity incident; or
                            ``(ii) an incident that the Secretary of 
                        Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior 
                        determines is similar in nature to an incident 
                        described in clause (i); and
                    ``(B) does not include an initial response incident 
                that is contained within 36 hours;
            ``(6) the term `severity incident' means an incident in 
        which a covered employee is pre-positioned in an area in which 
        conditions indicate there is a high risk of wildfires; and
            ``(7) the term `wildland firefighter' means a firefighter--
                    ``(A) who is employed by the Forest Service or the 
                Department of the Interior; and
                    ``(B) the duties of the position of whom primarily 
                relate to fires occurring in forests, range lands, or 
                other wildlands, as opposed to structural fires.
    ``(b) Eligibility.--A covered employee is eligible for incident 
response premium pay under this section if--
            ``(1) the covered employee is deployed to respond to a 
        qualifying incident; and
            ``(2) the deployment described in paragraph (1) is--
                    ``(A) outside of the official duty station of the 
                covered employee; or
                    ``(B) within the official duty station of the 
                covered employee and the covered employee is assigned 
                to an incident-adjacent fire camp or other designated 
                field location.
    ``(c) Entitlement to Incident Response Premium Pay.--
            ``(1) In general.--A covered employee who satisfies the 
        conditions under subsection (b) is entitled to premium pay for 
        the period in which the covered employee is deployed to respond 
        to the applicable qualifying incident.
            ``(2) Computation.--
                    ``(A) Formula.--Subject to subparagraphs (B) and 
                (C), premium pay under paragraph (1) shall be paid to a 
                covered employee at a daily rate of 450 percent of the 
                hourly rate of basic pay of the covered employee for 
                each day that the covered employee satisfies the 
                requirements under subsection (b), rounded to the 
                nearest whole cent.
                    ``(B) Limitation.--Premium pay under this 
                subsection may not be paid--
                            ``(i) with respect to a covered employee 
                        for whom the annual rate of basic pay is 
                        greater than that for step 10 of level 10 of 
                        the General Schedule, at a daily rate that 
                        exceeds the daily rate established under 
                        subparagraph (A) for step 10 of level 10 of the 
                        General Schedule; or
                            ``(ii) to a covered employee in a total 
                        amount that exceeds $9,000 in any calendar 
                        year.
                    ``(C) Waiver.--The Secretaries of Agriculture and 
                Interior may implement a waiver on the total limitation 
                in subparagraph (B)(ii) if the National Wildland Fire 
                Preparedness Level reaches or exceeds level three.
                    ``(D) Adjustments.--
                            ``(i) Assessment.--The Secretary of 
                        Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior 
                        shall assess the difference between the average 
                        total amount of compensation that was paid to 
                        covered employees, by grade, in fiscal years 
                        2023 and 2024.
                            ``(ii) Report.--Not later than 180 days 
                        after the date that is 1 year after the 
                        effective date of this section, the Secretary 
                        of Agriculture and the Secretary of the 
                        Interior shall jointly publish a report on the 
                        results of the assessment conducted under 
                        clause (i).
                            ``(iii) Administrative actions.--After 
                        publishing the report required under clause 
                        (ii), the Secretary of Agriculture and the 
                        Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with 
                        the Director of the Office of Personnel 
                        Management, may, in the sole and exclusive 
                        discretion of the Secretaries acting jointly, 
                        administratively adjust the amount of premium 
                        pay paid under this subsection (or take other 
                        administrative action) to ensure that the 
                        average annual amount of total compensation 
                        paid to covered employees, by grade, is more 
                        consistent with such amount that was paid to 
                        those employees in fiscal year 2023.
                            ``(iv) Congressional notification.--Not 
                        later than 3 days after an adjustment made, or 
                        other administrative action taken, under clause 
                        (iii) becomes final, the Secretary of 
                        Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior 
                        shall jointly submit to the appropriate 
                        committees of Congress a notification regarding 
                        that adjustment or other administrative action, 
                        as applicable.
    ``(d) Treatment of Incident Response Premium Pay.--Incident 
response premium pay under this section--
            ``(1) is not considered part of the basic pay of a covered 
        employee for any purpose;
            ``(2) may not be considered in determining a covered 
        employee's lump-sum payment for accumulated and accrued annual 
        leave under section 5551 or section 5552;
            ``(3) may not be used in determining pay under section 8114 
        (relating to compensation for work injuries);
            ``(4) may not be considered in determining pay for hours of 
        paid leave or other paid time off during which the premium pay 
        is not payable; and
            ``(5) shall be disregarded in determining the minimum wage 
        and overtime pay to which a covered employee is entitled under 
        the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et 
        seq.).''.
    (b) Additional Premium Pay Amendments.--Subchapter V of chapter 55 
of title 5, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in section 5544--
                    (A) by amending the section heading to read as 
                follows: ``Wage-board overtime, Sunday rates, and other 
                premium pay''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) A prevailing rate employee described in section 5342(a)(2)(A) 
shall receive incident response premium pay under the same terms and 
conditions that apply to a covered employee under section 5545c if that 
employee--
            ``(1) is employed by the Forest Service or the Department 
        of the Interior; and
            ``(2)(A) is a wildland firefighter (as that term is defined 
        in section 5545c); or
            ``(B) is certified by the applicable agency to perform 
        wildland fire incident-related duties during the period the 
        employee is deployed to respond to a qualifying incident (as 
        that term is defined in section 5545c).''; and
            (2) in section 5547(a), in the matter preceding paragraph 
        (1), by inserting ``5545c,'' after ``5545a,''.
    (c) Clerical Amendments.--The table of sections for subchapter V of 
chapter 55 of title 5, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by amending the item relating to section 5544 to read 
        as follows:

``5544. Wage-board overtime, Sunday rates, and other premium pay.''; 
                            and
            (2) by inserting after the item relating to section 5545b 
        the following:

``5545c. Incident response premium pay for employees engaged in 
                            wildland firefighting.''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on 
or after October 1, 2023.

SEC. 4. CONDITIONS IN FOREST MANAGEMENT.

    (a) Mandatory Use of Existing Authorities.--Not later than 120 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually after, with 
respect to each unit of public lands and within each unit of covered 
National Forest System lands, the Secretary concerned shall use not 
fewer than 1 of the following streamlined authorities including the 
authorities for environmental review:
            (1) Section 603(a) of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act 
        of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591b(a)).
            (2) Section 605(a) of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act 
        of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591d(a)).
            (3) Section 606(b) of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act 
        of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591e(b)).
            (4) Section 40806(b) of the Infrastructure Investment and 
        Jobs Act (16 U.S.C. 6592b(b)).
            (5) Section 40807 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs 
        Act (16 U.S.C. 6592c).
            (6) Section 207 of the Wildfire Suppression Funding and 
        Forest Management Activities Act (16 U.S.C. 6591c).
    (b) Covered National Forest System Lands Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``covered National Forest System lands'' means any area--
            (1) located within National Forest System lands;
            (2) that the Forest Service has identified as being located 
        in a fireshed ranked in the top 25 percent of wildfire exposure 
        (as determined using the most recently published models of 
        fireshed risk exposure published by the Forest Service); or
            (3) that the U.S. Drought Monitor has rated as having a D2 
        (severe drought) intensity, D3 (extreme drought) intensity, or 
        D4 (exceptional drought) intensity.
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