This bill would add a new subsection to 5 U.S.C. 5545 to provide hazard pay for federal employees who carry out prescribed burns and for smokejumper parachute jumps. It says the pay differential for those duties must be equal to the existing pay differential for fighting forest and range fires on the fireline. The bill defines “prescribed burn” as intentionally applying fire to vegetation or landscapes for land or resource management. The Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must issue regulations within 90 days of enactment. The change applies to pay periods beginning after OPM issues the regulations or 90 days after enactment, whichever comes first. The bill also says it does not rescind or replace other existing pay determinations except as needed to apply this new differential.
No publicly available information on cost estimates or budgetary effects is included in the bill text. The bill does not specify dollar amounts, funding sources, or estimated implementation costs.
The bill’s text states that controlling and suppressing prescribed fires involves risks, smoke exposure, and hard work comparable to wildfire suppression, and that smokejumpers face hazardous duties from parachute jumps. It says those workers should receive hazard pay to fairly compensate their risk and efforts.
No publicly available information on opponents’ views or stated objections appears in the bill text or provided metadata.