S. 135 would set special base pay rates for eligible wildland firefighters employed by the Forest Service or the Department of the Interior. The increases would range from 42% for GS-1 to 1.5% for GS-15. Agency secretaries would set increases for eligible prevailing-rate employees. The bill would also provide eligible employees deployed to qualifying fire incidents with premium pay, capped at $9,000 per calendar year, and allow paid rest and recovery leave under joint agency policies. The bill was introduced in the Senate and referred to committee.
Eligible federal wildland firefighters could receive higher base pay. Employees deployed to qualifying incidents could receive extra pay for deployment days, subject to the bill’s limits. Employees could also receive paid rest and recovery leave after an incident, based on policies set by the agencies. Some employees certified for incident-related duties could qualify for the extra pay and leave while deployed.
The bill does not state an overall cost. It authorizes transferring up to $5 million from certain Forest Service funds to Interior Department funds to help continue an existing firefighter base salary increase. It also provides for higher base pay and incident premium pay, which is limited to $9,000 per employee per calendar year.
No publicly available information.
No publicly available information.