118 HR 4831 IH: Fair Pay for Federal Firefighters Act
U.S. House of Representatives
2023-07-24
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I
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4831
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.
1.

Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Fair Pay for Federal Firefighters Act”.
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.
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:
“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.
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.