[Senate Report 117-119]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                      Calendar No. 401
117th Congress      }                                      {    Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session         }                                      {   117-119
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     



                   WILDLAND FIREFIGHTER FAIR PAY ACT

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

                   COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND

                          GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                              to accompany

                                 S. 138

           TO WAIVE CERTAIN PAY LIMITATIONS FOR DEPARTMENT OF
          AGRICULTURE AND DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR EMPLOYEES
             ENGAGED IN EMERGENCY WILDLAND FIRE SUPPRESSION
                   ACTIVITIES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                  June 9, 2022.--Ordered to be printed  
                  
                  
                             _________
                              
                 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
                 
29-010                   WASHINGTON : 2022
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
        COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                   GARY C. PETERS, Michigan, Chairman
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware           ROB PORTMAN, Ohio
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire         RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona              RAND PAUL, Kentucky
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada                  JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
ALEX PADILLA, California             MITT ROMNEY, Utah
JON OSSOFF, Georgia                  RICK SCOTT, Florida
                                     JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri

                   David M. Weinberg, Staff Director
                    Zachary I. Schram, Chief Counsel
              Devin M. Parsons, Professional Staff Member
                Pamela Thiessen, Minority Staff Director
            Sam J. Mulopulos, Minority Deputy Staff Director
                  Andrew J. Hopkins, Minority Counsel
                     Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk




















                                                      Calendar No. 401
117th Congress      }                                      {    Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session         }                                      {   117-119
======================================================================



 
                   WILDLAND FIREFIGHTER FAIR PAY ACT

                                _______
                                

                  June 9, 2022.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Peters, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
                    Affairs, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 138]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 138) to waive 
certain pay limitations for Department of Agriculture and 
Department of the Interior employees engaged in emergency 
wildland fire suppression activities, and for other purposes, 
having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an 
amendment (in the nature of a substitute) and recommends that 
the bill, as amended, do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                    Page
  I. Purpose and Summary.............................................. 1
 II. Background and Need for the Legislation.......................... 2
III. Legislative History.............................................. 3
 IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported............. 4
  V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact.................................. 4
 VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................ 4
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............ 5

                         I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

    S. 138, the Wildland Firefighter Fair Pay Act, establishes 
a pay waiver for federal firefighters at the Departments of 
Agriculture and the Interior which ensures that firefighters 
receive pay for all the overtime hours they work through 
calendar year 2022. The waiver also applies to incident 
meteorologists in the National Weather Service who accompany 
firefighters in responding to wildfire emergencies. The bill 
requires each agency head to submit to Congress by March 30, 
2022 a plan for hiring and training additional wildland 
firefighters and incident meteorologists. The bill also 
requires the plan to determine ways to modernize firefighter 
compensation to eliminate the need for such waivers going 
forward.

              II. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR THE LEGISLATION

    The size, spread, and danger posed by wildfires in the 
United States is worsening and intensifying.\1\ Fires, 
including some of the largest wildfires in the history of the 
United States, have engulfed millions of acres of wildlands 
over the past decade, causing extensive property damage and 
loss of life.\2\ Over the past 60 years, the top three highest 
amounts of acreage lost due to wild fires occurred in or after 
2015. In 2020 alone, the country saw over 10.1 million acres 
burned.\3\ In 2021, the United States set a record for the 
longest span of days in which the country remained at the two 
most severe Fire Preparedness Levels, Levels 4 and 5. The 
nation reached Fire Preparedness Level 4 early, in June 2021, 
and stayed at either Level 4 or 5 for 99 consecutive days.\4\
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    \1\See, e.g., Wildfires are Intensifying. Here's Why, and What Can 
be Done, New York Times (July 16, 2021) (www.nytimes.com/2021/07/16/
climate/wildfires-smoke-safety-questions.html).
    \2\See, e.g., NASA Earthdata, Wildfires (earthdata.nasa.gov/learn/
toolkits/wildfires) (accessed Dec. 16, 2021); National Interagency 
Coordination Center, Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics Annual Report 
2020, at 7-8 (2021); Congressional Research Service, Wildfire 
Statistics (IF10244) (July 15, 2021).
    \3\Congressional Research Service, Wildfire Statistics (IF10244) 
(Oct. 4, 2021) (www.crs.gov/reports/pdf/IF10244).
    \4\House Subcommittee on Natural Parks, Forests, and Public Lands, 
Testimony Submitted for the Record of Jeffery Rupert, Director of 
Office of Wildland Fire, U.S. Department of the Interior, Hearing on 
Wildland Firefighter Workforce Reforms (Oct. 27, 2021) (H. Hrg. 117-
XX).
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    Federal firefighters play a critical role in responding to 
wildfire emergencies. There are approximately 14,500 wildland 
firefighters employed by the Department of Agriculture who 
manage the wildfire response across a 193-acre National Forest 
System.\5\ The 5,000 wildland firefighters employed by the 
Department of the Interior carry out wildfire responses across 
400 million acres of national parks, wildlife refuges and 
preserves, other public lands, and Indian reservations.\6\ In 
addition, approximately 80 incident meteorologists employed by 
the National Weather Service accompany deployed wildland 
firefighters to provide critical weather information that 
influences the behavior and severity of wildfires, such as 
temperature, humidity, and wind speed.\7\
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    \5\Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Agriculture Secretary 
Tom Vilsack: Secretaries Haaland and Vilsack Announce Implementation of 
New Pay Initiatives for Wildland Firefighters (Release No. 0181.21) 
(Aug. 17, 2021) (www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2021/08/17/
secretaries-haaland-and-vilsack-announce-implementation-new-pay); and 
Congressional Research Service, Federal Assistance for Wildfire 
Response and Recovery (IF10732) (Aug. 6, 2021) (www.crs.gov/reports/
pdf/IF10732).
    \6\Id.
    \7\Production from National Weather Service Employees Organization 
(copy on file with Committee).
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    As fire seasons have lengthened and intensified, wildland 
firefighters have worked increasingly longer shifts and a 
greater number of days.\8\ However, when federal wildland fire 
professionals hit their annual pay limit, they must make the 
unfair decision either to stop taking wildfire assignments or 
to work without overtime pay for the rest of the year.\9\
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    \8\Letter from Randy L. Erwin, National Federation of Federal 
Employees, to Chairman Peters and Ranking Member Portman (Nov. 1, 
2021).
    \9\Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 
Statement Submitted for the Record of Senator Dianne Feinstein, 
Business Meeting (Nov. 3, 2021) (S. Hrg. 117-XX).
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    Title 5 of United States Code sets the limit on the total 
amount of combined basic pay and premium pay that federal fire 
response personnel can receive.\10\ The pay is capped either at 
the maximum rate of pay for a GS 15 position or at the rate 
paid for a level V position of the Executive Schedule, 
whichever is greater.\11\ In 2021, this equated to a cap of 
$161,700.\12\ The Departments of Agriculture and the Interior 
estimate that around 500 federal firefighters have been in the 
position of hitting the pay limitation given recent wildfire 
demands, projected to continue into 2022.\13\
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    \10\5 U.S.C. Sec. 5547.
    \11\Id.
    \12\Office of Personnel Management, Salary Table No. 2021-EX 
(www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-
tables/pdf/2021/EX.pdf) (accessed Dec. 16, 2021).
    \13\Statement Submitted for the Record of Senator Dianne Feinstein, 
supra note 9.
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    In September 2021, Congress passed and the President signed 
into law, the Extending Government Funding and Delivering 
Emergency Assistance Act. This legislation contains provisions 
to address the wildland firefighter pay cap issue for calendar 
year 2021 by establishing a waiver to the title 5 pay 
limitation.\14\
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    \14\Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency 
Assistance Act, Pub. L. 117-43, Sec. 1701 (2021).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Wildland Firefighter Fair Pay Act will extend the pay 
cap waiver through calendar year 2022, and applies the waiver 
to federal incident meteorologists, who are dispatched to 
wildfires. The bill also requires the relevant Departments to 
submit a plan to Congress on how to address this issue long-
term. The plan must include a more comprehensive strategy for 
hiring and training additional wildland firefighters and 
incident meteorologists, as well as a compensation model that 
guarantees sufficient firefighting resources each year without 
the use of pay cap waivers.

                        III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) introduced S. 138, the 
Wildland Firefighter Fair Pay Act, on January 28, 2021. The 
bill was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs on January 28, 2021. Senator Alex Padilla 
(D-CA) joined as a cosponsor on March 16, 2021, and Senators 
Steve Daines (R-MT) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) joined as cosponsors 
on April 19, 2021.
    The Committee considered S. 138 at a business meeting on 
November 3, 2021. During the business meeting, Senator Padilla 
offered a substitute amendment that made significant changes to 
the underlying text, including setting an expiration date for 
the pay cap waiver at the end of calendar year 2022 and 
requiring the affected agencies to submit a plan to Congress 
with recommendations for a longer term solution. Senators Rosen 
and Padilla offered an amendment to include National Weather 
Service incident meteorologists in the pay cap wavier. The 
Padilla substitute amendment was adopted by unanimous consent 
and the Rosen-Padilla amendment was adopted by voice vote, with 
Senators Peters, Hassan, Sinema, Rosen, Padilla, Ossoff, 
Portman, Johnson, Lankford, Romney, Scott, and Hawley present. 
The bill, as amended, was ordered reported favorably by voice 
vote, with Senators Peters, Hassan, Sinema, Rosen, Padilla, 
Ossoff, Portman, Johnson, Lankford, Romney, Scott, and Hawley 
present.

        IV. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE BILL, AS REPORTED

Section 1. Short title

    This section establishes the short title of the bill as the 
``Wildland Firefighter Fair Pay Act.''

Sec. 2. Waiver of premium pay limitations for Department of 
        Agriculture, Department of the Interior, and National Weather 
        Service employees engaged in emergency wildland fire 
        suppression activities

    Subsection (a) defines the terms ``basic pay,'' ``covered 
employee,'' ``covered services,'' ``premium pay,'' ``relevant 
committees,'' and ``Secretary concerned'' in the context of 
this section.
    Subsection (b) establishes a waiver of the pay limitation 
for covered wildland firefighting services in calendar year 
2022. It includes a directive to disregard premium pay for 
covered services when calculating the aggregate of basic pay 
and premium pay for the purposes of the pay limitation under 
section 5547 of title 5, United States Code, or any other 
provision of current law. The bill sets a new, higher cap for 
total premium pay under this subsection at level II of the 
Executive Schedule. In 2021, this would equate to $199,300.
    Subsection (c) requires a submission of a plan to the 
relevant committees in Congress no later than March 30, 2022. 
The plan must address the needs of the Department of 
Agriculture, Department of the Interior, and the National 
Weather Service to hire and train additional wildland 
firefighters and incident meteorologists and modernize their 
compensation so that pay cap waivers are not necessary going 
forward.

                   V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

    Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule 
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has 
considered the regulatory impact of this bill and determined 
that the bill will have no regulatory impact within the meaning 
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional 
Budget Office's statement that the bill contains no 
intergovernmental or privatesector mandates as defined in the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs 
on state, local, or tribal governments.

             VI. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                      Washington, DC, May 27, 2022.
Hon. Gary Peters,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. 
        Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 138, the Wildland 
Firefighter Fair Pay Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Janani 
Shankaran.
            Sincerely,
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                                                          Director.

    Enclosure.

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    

    S. 138 would exempt wildland firefighters, meteorologists, 
and incident management teams working in the Forest Service, 
the Department of the Interior, and the National Weather 
Service from premium pay limitations for work related to 
wildfire emergencies conducted in calendar year 2022. That is, 
the bill would increase the pay those federal employees could 
receive. S. 138 also would direct the affected agencies to 
submit a plan to the Congress that addresses the hiring and 
training of wildland firefighters.
    For this estimate, CBO assumes that the legislation will be 
enacted near the end of fiscal year 2022. As a result, any 
additional pay under this bill would be disbursed in fiscal 
year 2023.
    Public Law 117-103, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 
2022, increased the pay cap for firefighters within the Forest 
Service and Department of the Interior for calendar year 2022. 
Because of the small number of employees that would be 
affected, CBO estimates that extending the waiver to eligible 
National Weather Service employees and completing the required 
plan would have insignificant costs; any spending would be 
subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Janani 
Shankaran. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, 
Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.

       VII. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

    Because S. 138 would not repeal or amend any provision of 
current law, it would make no changes in existing law within 
the meaning of clauses (a) and (b) of paragraph 12 of rule XXVI 
of the Standing Rules of the Senate.

                                  [all]