[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1505 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1505

    To reform and enhance the pay and benefits of Federal wildland 
                 firefighters, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 9, 2023

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To reform and enhance the pay and benefits of Federal wildland 
                 firefighters, 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; DEFINITIONS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Tim Hart Wildland 
Firefighter Classification and Pay Parity Act'' or ``Tim's Act''.
    (b) Definitions.--In this Act:
            (1) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
        the Office of Personnel Management.
            (2) Federal wildland firefighter.--The term ``Federal 
        wildland firefighter'' means any temporary, seasonal, or 
        permanent position at the Department of Agriculture or the 
        Department of the Interior, and Tribal Firefighters, that 
        maintains group, emergency incident management, or fire 
        qualifications, as established annually by the Standards for 
        Wildland Fire Position Qualifications published by the National 
        Wildfire Coordinating Group, and primarily engages in or 
        supports wildland fire management activities, including 
        forestry and rangeland technicians and positions concerning 
        aviation, engineering heavy equipment operations, dispatch, or 
        fire and fuels management.
            (3) Secretaries.--The term ``Secretaries'' means the 
        Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior.

SEC. 2. SPECIAL BASE PAY RATES FOR WILDLAND FIREFIGHTERS.

    (a) In General.--Title 5, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting after section 5332 the following:
``Sec. 5332a. Special base rates of pay for wildland firefighters
    ``(a) In this section--
            ``(1) the term `firefighter' means an employee who--
                    ``(A) is a firefighter within the meaning of 
                section 8331(21) or section 8401(14);
                    ``(B) in the case of an employee who holds a 
                supervisory or administrative position and is subject 
                to subchapter III of chapter 83, but who does not 
                qualify to be considered a firefighter within the 
                meaning of section 8331(21), would otherwise qualify if 
                the employee had transferred directly to such position 
                after serving as a firefighter within the meaning of 
                that section;
                    ``(C) in the case of an employee who holds a 
                supervisory or administrative position and is subject 
                to chapter 84, but who does not qualify to be 
                considered a firefighter within the meaning of section 
                8401(14), would otherwise qualify if the employee had 
                transferred directly to such position after performing 
                duties described in section 8401(14)(A) for at least 3 
                years; and
                    ``(D) in the case of an employee who is not subject 
                to subchapter III of chapter 83 or chapter 84, holds a 
                position that the Office of Personnel Management 
                determines would satisfy subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) 
                if the employee were subject to subchapter III of 
                chapter 83 or chapter 84;
            ``(2) the term `General Schedule base rate' means an annual 
        rate of basic pay established under section 5332, before any 
        additions such as a locality-based comparability payment under 
        section 5304 or 5304a or a special rate supplement under 
        section 5305;
            ``(3) the term `special base rate' means an annual rate of 
        basic pay payable to a wildland firefighter, before any 
        additions or reductions, that replaces the General Schedule 
        base rate otherwise applicable to the wildland firefighter and 
        that is administered in the same manner as General Schedule 
        base rates; and
            ``(4) the term `wildland firefighter' means any temporary, 
        seasonal, or permanent position at the Department of 
        Agriculture or the Department of the Interior, or Tribal 
        Firefighters, that maintains group, emergency incident 
        management, or fire qualifications, as established annually by 
        the Standards for Wildland Fire Position Qualifications 
        published by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, and 
        primarily engages in or supports wildland fire management 
        activities, including forestry and rangeland technicians and 
        positions concerning aviation, engineering heavy equipment 
        operations, dispatch, training, development and technology, or 
        fire and fuels management.
    ``(b)(1) Notwithstanding section 5332, a wildland firefighter is 
entitled to a special base rate of pay at grades 1 through 15 of the 
General Schedule, as prescribed by this subsection. This special base 
rate shall replace the otherwise applicable General Schedule base rate 
and shall be basic pay for all purposes, including the purpose of 
computing a locality-based comparability payment under section 5304 or 
5304a. Such special base rates shall be computed as described in 
paragraphs (2) and (3) and adjusted at the time of adjustments in the 
General Schedule.
    ``(2) The minimum rate of basic pay for any wildland firefighter in 
levels 1 through 5 of the General Schedule shall--
            ``(A) be not less than the rate of pay for step 3 of GS-6, 
        as adjusted by the pay locality designated as `Rest of U.S.' 
        under section 5304; and
            ``(B) not be greater than the minimum rate of basic pay 
        provided to GS-6 under paragraph (3).
    ``(3) The special base rates for a wildland firefighter in levels 6 
through 15 of the General Schedule shall be derived by increasing the 
otherwise applicable General Schedule base rate on the date of 
enactment of this Act by the applicable percentage for the wildland 
firefighter's grade as shown below and rounding the result to the 
nearest whole dollar:
            ``GS-6, 27 percent.
            ``GS-7, 24 percent.
            ``GS-8, 21 percent.
            ``GS-9, 18 percent.
            ``GS-10, 15 percent.
            ``GS-11, 12 percent.
            ``GS-12, 9 percent.
            ``GS-13, 6 percent.
            ``GS-14, 3 percent.
            ``GS-15, 1.5 percent.
    ``(4) When the special base rate is expressed as an hourly, daily, 
weekly, or biweekly rate, the rate is computed from the appropriate 
annual rate of basic pay derived under paragraph (2) or (3) in 
accordance with the rules prescribed by section 5504(b).''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsections (a) and (d) 
shall be effective on the first day of the first applicable pay period 
beginning on or after October 1, 2023.
    (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 53 of 
title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to section 5332 the following:

``5332a. Special base rates of pay for wildland firefighters.''.
    (d) Prevailing Rate Employees.--Section 5343 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) For prevailing rate employees described in section 
5342(a)(2)(A) who qualify as a `wildland firefighter' based on the 
definitions of `firefighter' and `wildland firefighter' in section 
5332a(a), the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior 
(as applicable) shall increase the wage rates of such employees by 
amounts (determined at the sole and exclusive discretion of the 
applicable Secretary after consultation with the other Secretary) that 
are generally consistent with the percentage increases given to 
wildland firefighters in the General Schedule under section 5332a. Such 
an increased wage rate shall be basic pay for the same purposes as the 
wage rate otherwise established under this section. An increase under 
this subsection 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 for level IV of the Executive Schedule.''.

SEC. 3. WILDLAND FIRE INCIDENT STANDBY PREMIUM PAY.

    (a) In General.--Title 5, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting after section 5545b the following:
``Sec. 5545c. Incident standby premium pay for employees engaged in 
              wildland firefighting
    ``(a) In this section--
            ``(1) the term `covered employee' means an employee of the 
        Forest Service or the Department of the Interior who--
                    ``(A) qualifies as a wildland firefighter based on 
                the definitions of `firefighter' and `wildland 
                firefighter' in section 5332a(a); or
                    ``(B) is certified by the applicable agency to 
                perform wildland fire incident related duties during 
                the period such employee is assigned to a qualifying 
                incident;
            ``(2) the term `designated sleep and rest period' means the 
        hours during an incident deployment that a covered employee is 
        deemed to be in sleep or rest status for pay computation 
        purposes, regardless of actual hours spent in that status;
            ``(3) the term `incident standby 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' means a wildfire 
        incident, a prescribed fire incident, or a severity incident, 
        but excludes an initial response incident involving a single 
        operational period of less than 36 hours (unless a longer 
        period is approved by an authorized agency official due to 
        exceptional circumstances) if the employee is in continual work 
        status with no designated sleep and rest period established by 
        the agency;
            ``(6) the term `severity incident' means an incident in 
        which a covered employee is pre-positioned in an area where 
        conditions indicate there is a high risk of wildfires; and
            ``(7) the term `wildfire incident' means a wildland fire 
        originating from an unplanned ignition, such as lightning, 
        volcanos, unauthorized and accidental human-caused fires, and 
        prescribed fires that are declared wildfires.
    ``(b) A covered employee is eligible for incident standby premium 
pay under this section when meeting all of the following conditions:
            ``(1) The employee is deployed to the field by the 
        employing agency to respond to a qualifying incident.
            ``(2) The employee is placed by the employing agency in 
        continuous duty status during the incident deployment.
            ``(3) Any periods of sleeping and resting occur in a field 
        location associated with the duty assignment.
    ``(c) A covered employee who meets the conditions in subsection (b) 
is entitled to incident standby premium pay for designated sleep and 
rest periods, and such pay shall be the only compensation payable to 
the employee for those periods, notwithstanding any other law. Such 
premium pay shall be paid at an hourly rate equal to 50 percent of the 
employee's hourly rate of basic pay, rounded to the nearest whole cent. 
In determining an employee's minimum wage and overtime pay entitlements 
under the Fair Labor Standards Act, incident standby premium pay and 
associated hours shall be disregarded.
    ``(d) A covered employee's designated sleep and rest periods shall 
be fixed at 9 hours for every 24-hour duty period associated with a 
qualifying incident, including necessary travel time. If the hours of 
an incident deployment are not an exact multiple of 24-hour periods, 
the ratio of 9/24 shall be multiplied by hours for the less-than-24-
hours period of duty to derive the designated sleep and rest period for 
that duty period, with the result rounded to the nearest fractional 
increment established by the agency in tracking hours of work.
    ``(e) Incident standby premium pay under this section--
            ``(1) is not considered part of the basic pay of an 
        employee for any purpose;
            ``(2) may not be considered in determining an 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 
        (related to workers' compensation); and
            ``(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.''.
    (b) Other Employees.--Title 5, United States Code, is further 
amended--
            (1) in section 5544, by--
                    (A) adding the following:
    ``(d) A prevailing rate employee described in section 5342(a)(2)(a) 
shall receive incident standby premium pay under the same terms and 
conditions that apply to a covered employee under section 5545c if such 
employee is employed by the Forest Service or the Department of the 
Interior and--
            ``(1) qualifies as a wildland firefighter based on the 
        definitions of `firefighter' and `wildland firefighter' in 
        section 5332a(a); or
            ``(2) is certified by the applicable agency to perform 
        wildland fire incident related duties during the period such 
        employee is assigned to a qualifying incident (as defined in 
        section 5545c(a)(5)).''; and
                    (B) amending the section heading to read: ``Wage-
                board overtime, Sunday rates, and other premium pay'';
            (2) in section 5545, by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) For an employee of the Forest Service or the Department of 
the Interior who is temporarily deployed to perform wildland fire 
incident related duties, subsection (c)(2) shall not apply to hours 
during such temporary deployment notwithstanding any other provision of 
law.'';
            (3) in section 5545a, by adding at the end the following:
    ``(l) For an employee of the Forest Service or the Department of 
the Interior who is temporarily deployed to perform wildland fire 
incident related duties, subsection (c)(2) shall not apply to hours 
during such temporary deployment notwithstanding any other provision of 
law.''; and
            (4) in section 5547(a), by inserting ``5545c,'' after 
        ``5545a,''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall be 
effective on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning 
on or after October 1, 2023.
    (d) Clerical Amendments.--The table of sections for chapter 55 of 
title 5, United States Code, is amended by--
            (1) amending the item relating to section 5544 to read as 
        follows:

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

``5545c. Incident standby premium pay for employees engaged in wildland 
                            firefighting.''.

SEC. 4. SPECIAL LIMITATIONS ON PAY FOR WILDLAND FIREFIGHTERS.

    (a) In General.--Title 5, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by inserting after section 5547 the following:
``Sec. 5547a. Special limitations on premium pay for employees engaged 
              in wildland firefighting
    ``(a) In this section--
            ``(1) the term `covered employee' means an employee of the 
        Forest Service or the Department of the Interior who--
                    ``(A) qualifies as a wildland firefighter based on 
                the definitions of `firefighter' and `wildland 
                firefighter' in section 5332a(a); or
                    ``(B) is certified by the applicable agency to 
                perform wildland fire incident related duties during 
                the period such employee is assigned to a qualifying 
                incident;
            ``(2) the term `covered services' means services performed 
        by an employee that are determined by the Secretary of the 
        Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture, as applicable, to 
        primarily involve emergency wildfire suppression activities, 
        including any periods of duty when the employee is sleeping or 
        resting during an extended period of deployment to engage in 
        those activities;
            ``(3) the term `emergency wildland fire suppression 
        activities' means initial-response and extended-response 
        activities that directly relate to suppression of a wildfire, 
        including activities associated with a severity incident but 
        excluding activities associated with a prescribed fire incident 
        (as those terms are defined section 5545c); and
            ``(4) the term `premium pay' means the premium pay paid 
        under the provisions of law cited in section 5547(a), except as 
        otherwise provided in subsection (h).
    ``(b) Any premium pay earned by a covered employee for covered 
services shall be disregarded in calculating the aggregate of such 
employee's basic pay and premium pay for purposes of applying a 
limitation under section 5547.
    ``(c) Any premium pay that is disregarded under subsection (b) 
shall be disregarded in calculating such employee's aggregate pay for 
purposes of applying the limitation in section 5307.
    ``(d) Pay that is disregarded under subsection (b) may not be paid 
to the extent it would cause the aggregate of the employee's basic pay, 
premium pay, and hazard pay under section 5545(d) payable in the 
applicable calendar year to exceed the rate of basic pay payable for a 
position at level II of the Executive Schedule under section 5313, as 
in effect at the end of such calendar year. Any premium pay that is 
subject to a biweekly limitation under section 5547(c) must be paid 
first before other premium pay in applying the level II limitation.
    ``(e) Application of the limit in subsection (d) or subsection (h) 
to a covered employee may be waived at the sole and exclusive 
discretion of the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of 
Agriculture, as applicable. Before authorizing such a waiver for 
employees of their respective agencies, each Secretary, after 
consulting with the other Secretary, shall prescribe criteria that will 
be applied in making a determination to grant a waiver.
    ``(f) Any additional pay resulting from application of this section 
may not be used in computing a lump-sum payment for accumulated and 
accrued annual leave under section 5551 or section 5552.
    ``(g) The Departments of the Interior and Agriculture shall 
maintain records that document uses of the authority provided by this 
section.
    ``(h)(1) For prevailing rate employees described in section 
5342(a)(2)(A) who meet the requirements in subsection (a)(l) to qualify 
as a covered employee, premium pay may not be paid to the extent it 
would cause the aggregate of the employee's basic pay and premium pay 
in the applicable calendar year to exceed the rate of basic pay payable 
for a position at level II of the Executive Schedule under section 
5313, as in effect at the end of such calendar year.
    ``(2) For the purposes of this subsection, the term `basic pay' 
means wages, environmental differential pay, and night shift 
differential pay, and the term `premium pay' means overtime pay, Sunday 
premium pay, and holiday premium pay.''; and
            (2) in section 5541(2)(xi), by inserting ``, section 
        5547a(h),'' after ``section 5544''.
    (b) Calendar Year 2023.--For the purpose of applying section 5547 
and section 1701 of division B of Public Law 117-43 (5 U.S.C. 5547 
note) in calendar year 2023, incident standby premium pay shall be 
included in premium pay that is subject to the limits established in 
those sections.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect on the first day of the first pay period that has a payment 
date in January 2024. Subsection (b) shall be effective on the first 
day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after October 1, 
2023.
    (d) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 55 of 
title 5, United States Code, is further amended by inserting after the 
item for section 5547 the following new item:

``5547a. Special limitations on premium pay for employees engaged in 
                            wildland firefighting.''.

SEC. 5. REST AND RECUPERATION LEAVE FOR EMPLOYEES ENGAGED IN WILDLAND 
              FIREFIGHTING.

    (a) In General.--Title 5, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting after section 6329d the following:
``Sec. 6329e. Rest and recuperation leave for employees engaged in 
              wildland firefighting
    ``(a) In this section--
            ``(1) the term `applicable Secretary' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior;
            ``(2) the term `covered employee' means an employee of the 
        Forest Service or the Department of the Interior who--
                    ``(A) qualifies as a `wildland firefighter' based 
                on the definitions of `firefighter' and `wildland 
                firefighter' in section 5332a(a) (applying the 
                definition of `employee' in section 6301(2) in lieu of 
                the definition of `employee' in section 5331(a)); or
                    ``(B) is certified by the applicable agency to 
                perform wildland fire incident related duties dwing the 
                period such employee is assigned to a qualifying 
                incident; and
            ``(3) the term `qualifying incident' has the meaning given 
        that term in section 5545c(a)(5).
    ``(b) A covered employee may receive paid rest and recuperation 
leave following the completion of service under a qualifying incident, 
subject to policies established at the sole and exclusive discretion of 
the Secretary of the Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior, as 
applicable. Each Secretary shall prescribe such policies after 
consulting with the other Secretary.
    ``(c) Rest and recuperation leave granted under this section shall 
be used during scheduled hours within the covered employee's tour of 
duty established for leave-charging purposes and shall be paid in the 
same manner as annual leave. Rest and recuperation leave must be used 
immediately after a qualifying incident and may not be set aside for 
later use. A covered employee may not receive any payment for unused 
rest and recuperation leave.
    ``(d) A covered employee with an intermittent work schedule shall 
be excused from duty during the same period of time that other covered 
employees in the same circumstances are entitled to rest and 
recuperation leave and shall receive a payment as if the covered 
employee with an intermittent work schedule were entitled to rest and 
recuperation leave under subsections (b) and (c).''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall be 
effective on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning 
on or after October 1, 2023.
    (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for subchapter II of 
chapter 63 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to section 6329d the following new item:

``6329e. Rest and recuperation leave for employees engaged in wildland 
                            firefighting.''.

SEC. 6. HEALTH PROVISIONS.

    (a) Database; Recommendations.--Not later than one year after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretaries shall--
            (1) establish and maintain a publicly accessible, 
        searchable database on a website, to be called the ``Federal 
        Wildland Firefighter Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease 
        Database'', to track chronic disease caused by on-the-job 
        environmental exposure over the lifetimes of current and former 
        Federal wildland firefighters;
            (2) update such database not less than on a yearly basis; 
        and
            (3) develop and adhere to recommendations on mitigation 
        strategies to minimize exposure to environmental hazards for 
        Federal wildland firefighters.
    (b) Mental Health.--
            (1) Mental health program.--Not later than January 1, 2024, 
        the Secretaries shall establish and carry out a program for 
        Federal wildland firefighters for mental health awareness and 
        support. Such program shall include the following:
                    (A) A mental health awareness campaign.
                    (B) A mental health education and training program 
                that includes an on-boarding curriculum.
                    (C) An extensive peer-to-peer mental health support 
                network for Federal wildland firefighters and their 
                immediate family.
                    (D) Expansion of the Critical Incident Stress 
                Management Program, to develop and retain a larger pool 
                of qualified mental health professionals who are 
                familiar with the experiences of the emergency response 
                workforce. The Program shall monitor and track mental 
                health in the profession to better understand the scope 
                of the issue and provide ongoing assistance and 
                professional long term care to patients.
                    (E) Establish and carry out a new and distinct 
                mental health support service specific to Federal 
                wildland firefighters and their immediate family, with 
                culturally relevant and trauma informed mental health 
                professionals who are readily available, and not 
                subject to any limit on the number of sessions or 
                service provided.
            (2) Mental health leave.--Each Federal wildland firefighter 
        shall be entitled to 7 consecutive days of leave, without loss 
        or reduction in pay, during any calendar year. Leave provided 
        under this paragraph shall not--
                    (A) accumulate for use in succeeding years; and
                    (B) be considered to be annual or vacation leave 
                for purposes of section 5551 or 5552 of title 5, United 
                States Code, or for any other purpose.
    (c) Coordination.--In carrying out subsections (a) and (b), the 
Secretaries may enter into partnerships or cooperative agreements with 
other Federal agencies, universities, or non-profit institutions.
    (d) OWCP.--The Office of Workers' Compensation Programs within the 
Department of Labor shall--
            (1) recognize post-traumatic stress disorder and 
        psychological stress-related injuries or illnesses correlated 
        to fire protection, suppression, and incident support 
        activities, and ensure long term coverage for the duration of 
        the illnesses; and
            (2) expand the Special Claims Unit to ensure adequate unit 
        staffing levels are sufficient to expedite the claims process 
        and shorten response times to wildland firefighter and incident 
        support personnel injured or effected on the job in order to 
        alleviate the psychological and financial burdens placed on the 
        patient and their families.

SEC. 7. RETIREMENT FOR FIREFIGHTERS.

    (a) Deposit Service.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
any service performed by an individual as a Federal wildland 
firefighter on or after January 1, 1989, for which retirement 
deductions under chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code, have not 
been made shall be creditable under such chapter, but only if such 
firefighter--
            (1) submits a written election to the Director; and
            (2) the deposit requirements of section 8411(f) of such 
        title had been met with respect to such service.
    (b) Disability Annuity.--Beginning on the date of enactment of this 
Act, any Federal wildland firefighter who suffers from a disease 
described in section 8143b(b)(2) of title 5, United States Code, due to 
environmental job-related exposure, including smoke inhalation, 
silicate inhalation, and firefighting toxic exposure, shall be 
considered to be disabled for purposes of section 8451 of such title. 
Such section 8451 shall be applied to any such firefighter by 
substituting ``12 months'' for ``18 months''.
    (c) Including Overtime as Basic Pay.--Section 8331(3) of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (H), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in subparagraph (I), by inserting ``and'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (3) by inserting after subparagraph (I) the following:
                    ``(J) with respect to a Federal wildland 
                firefighter (as that term is defined in section 1(b) of 
                the Tim Hart Wildland Firefighter Classification and 
                Pay Parity Act), overtime pay received on or after the 
                date of enactment of this subparagraph;''; and
            (4) in the undesignated matter following subparagraph (J) 
        (as added by paragraph (3)), by striking ``subparagraphs (B) 
        through (I) of this paragraph'' and inserting ``subparagraphs 
        (B) through (J) of this paragraph,''.
    (d) Separate Normal-Cost Percentage.--Section 8423(a)(1)(B)(i) of 
title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 
``firefighters,'' the following: ``Federal wildland firefighter (as 
that term is defined in section 1 of the Tim Hart Wildland Firefighter 
Classification and Pay Parity Act),''.

SEC. 8. PAY PARITY FOR FEDERAL STRUCTURAL FIREFIGHTERS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, any pay, benefits, and bonuses provided to any Federal 
structural firefighter shall be comparable with the pay, benefits, and 
bonuses provided for Federal wildland firefighters under this Act and 
the amendments made by this Act. Not later than 1 year after the date 
the pay scale is established under section 5332a of title 5, United 
States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act, the Director shall 
submit a report to Congress on whether pay for such Federal structural 
firefighters is competitive with Federal wildland firefighters.
    (b) Federal Structural Firefighter Defined.--In this section, the 
term ``Federal structural firefighter''--
            (1) has the meaning given the term ``firefighter'' in 
        section 8401 of chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code; and
            (2) does not include any Federal wildland firefighter.

SEC. 9. OTHER MATTERS.

    (a) Annual Adjustments.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
law, beginning in the first pay period beginning on or after the date 
that the pay scale is established under section 5332a of title 5, 
United States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act, and annually 
thereafter, the basic rate of pay for each Federal wildland firefighter 
occupying a position within such pay scale shall be increased by not 
less than the percentage equal to the percent change in the Consumer 
Price Index (all items--United States city average), published monthly 
by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for December of the preceding year 
over such Consumer Price Index for the December of the year prior to 
the preceding year, adjusted to the nearest one-tenth of 1 percent.
    (b) Compensation Comparable to Non-Federal Firefighters.--Not later 
than 1 year after the date the pay scale is established under section 
5332a of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 2 of this 
Act, the Secretaries shall submit a report to Congress on whether pay, 
benefits, and bonuses provided to Federal wildland firefighters are 
comparable to the pay, benefits, and bonuses provided for non-Federal 
firefighters in the State or locality where Federal wildland 
firefighters are based.
    (c) Hazardous Duty Pay.--Each Federal wildland firefighter carrying 
out work completed during prescribed fire, parachuting, tree climbing 
over 20 feet, hazard tree removal, and other hazardous work as 
identified by the Secretaries, shall be entitled to be paid the 
appropriate differential under section 5545(d) of title 5, United 
States Code, as if such employee was covered by such section. The 
Director may prescribe regulations to carry out this subsection.
    (d) Other Matters.--
            (1) Unpaid leave to care for family member.--A Federal 
        wildland firefighter not covered by the Family and Medical 
        Leave Act of 1993 or subchapter V of chapter 63 of title 5, 
        United States Code, shall be allowed a period of unpaid leave, 
        during each calendar year, not to exceed 180 days in order to 
        care for the spouse, or a son, daughter, or parent, of the 
        employee, if such spouse, son, daughter, or parent has a 
        serious health condition. Leave provided under this paragraph 
        shall not accumulate for use in subsequent years.
            (2) Recruitment and retention bonus.--In order to promote 
        the recruitment and retention of Federal wildland firefighters, 
        the Director, in coordination with the Secretaries, shall 
        establish a program under which a recruitment or retention 
        bonus of not less than $1,000 may be paid to a Federal wildland 
        firefighter in an amount as determined appropriate by the 
        Director and the Secretaries. The minimum amount of such bonus 
        in the previous sentence shall be increased each year by the 
        Consumer Price Index in the manner prescribed under subsection 
        (a). Any bonus under this subsection--
                    (A) shall be paid to any primary or secondary 
                Federal wildland firefighter upon the date that such 
                firefighter successfully completes a work capacity 
                test; and
                    (B) may not be paid to any such firefighter more 
                than once per calendar year.
            (3) Housing allowance.--The Secretaries, if the Secretaries 
        are not already providing reasonable housing accommodations, 
        shall provide a housing allowance to any Federal wildland 
        firefighter deployed to a location more than 50 miles from 
        their primary residence. Such allowance shall be in an amount 
        determined appropriate by the Secretaries and adjusted based on 
        the cost of housing in the area of deployment.
            (4) Career transition.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than one year after the 
                date of enactment of this Act, the Secretaries shall 
                establish, maintain, coordinate, and operate a 
                voluntary tuition assistance program for Federal 
                wildland firefighters occupying a permanent position 
                that encompass a broad range of educational experiences 
                (either in-person or through distance-learning), 
                including academic skills development, vocational 
                programs, career and technical programs, and programs 
                leading to the award of undergraduate and graduate 
                degrees.
                    (B) Amount.--The program under subparagraph (A) 
                shall provide, not more than once during each calendar 
                year, a payment of not less than $4,000 to each Federal 
                wildland firefighter who elects to participate in the 
                program.
                    (C) Review.--The Secretaries shall conduct an 
                annual review of whether the amount provided under 
                subparagraph (B) is adequate, in consideration of 
                inflation and other effects.
                                 <all>