Bill > HR5091

This bill amends section 5545 of title 5 of the United States Code to provide hazard pay for federal firefighters performing prescribed burns and smokejumpers. The bill recognizes that prescribed burn firefighters and smokejumpers perform dangerous duties that involve significant physical risks, comparable to fighting wildfires, and therefore deserve additional compensation. Specifically, the legislation defines a "prescribed burn" as the intentional application of fire to vegetation or landscapes for land or resource management purposes. The bill mandates that the pay differential for these firefighters should be equal to the pay rate for fighting forest and range fires on the fireline. The Director of the Office of Personnel Management is required to issue implementing regulations within 90 days of the Act's enactment, and the new pay provisions will apply to pay periods beginning after either the date of regulation issuance or 90 days after the Act's enactment, whichever comes first. The bill emphasizes that these provisions do not rescind or replace existing pay differentials for hazardous duties, but rather supplement them by specifically addressing prescribed burn and smokejumper firefighting activities.

Government Affairs

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5091/all-info