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Senate Bill 138
117th Congress(2021-2022)
Wildland Firefighter Fair Pay Act
Introduced
Introduced
Introduced in Senate on Jan 28, 2021
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S. 138 (Reported-in-Senate)

Calendar No. 401

117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 138

[Report No. 117–119]


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.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

January 28, 2021

Mrs. Feinstein (for herself, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Daines, Ms. Rosen, Mr. Wyden, and Mr. Luján) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

June 9, 2022

Reported by Mr. Peters, with an amendment

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

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.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. Short title.

This Act may be cited as the “Wildland Firefighter Fair Pay Act”.

SEC. 2. Waiver of premium pay limitations for Department of Agriculture and Department of the Interior employees engaged in emergency wildland fire suppression activities.

(a) Definitions.—In this section:

(1) COVERED EMPLOYEE.—The term “covered employee” means an employee of the Department of Agriculture or the Department of the Interior.

(2) COVERED SERVICES.—The term “covered services” means services performed by a covered employee that are determined by the Secretary concerned to be primarily relating to emergency wildland fire suppression activities.

(3) PREMIUM PAY.—The term “premium pay” means the premium pay paid under the provisions of law described in section 5547(a) of title 5, United States Code.

(4) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term “Secretary concerned” means—

(A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to an employee of the Department of Agriculture; and

(B) the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to an employee of the Department of the Interior.

(b) Waiver of premium pay period limitation.—Any premium pay for covered services shall be disregarded in calculating the aggregate of the basic pay and premium pay for the applicable covered employee for purposes of a pay period limitation under section 5547(a) of title 5, United States Code, or under any other provision of law.

(c) Waiver of annual premium pay limitation.—Any premium pay for covered services shall be disregarded in calculating any annual limitation on the amount of overtime pay payable in a calendar year or fiscal year under section 5547(b) of title 5, United States Code.

(d) Pay limitation.—A covered employee may not be paid premium pay if, or to the extent that, the aggregate amount of the basic pay and premium pay (including premium pay for covered services) of the covered employee for a calendar year would exceed the rate of basic pay payable for a position at level II of the Executive Schedule under section 5313 of title 5, United States Code, as in effect at the end of that calendar year.

(e) Treatment of additional premium pay.—If the application of this section results in the payment of additional premium pay to a covered employee of a type that is normally creditable as basic pay for retirement or any other purpose, that additional premium pay shall not be—

(1) considered to be basic pay of the covered employee for any purpose; or

(2) used in computing a lump-sum payment to the covered employee for accumulated and accrued annual leave under section 5551 or 5552 of title 5, United States Code.

(f) Overtime rates.—Section 5542(a)(5) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking “the United States Forest Service in”.

(g) Effective date.—This section and the amendment made by this section shall take effect as if enacted on January 1, 2020.

SECTION 1. Short title.

This Act may be cited 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.

(a) Definitions.—In this section:

(1) BASIC PAY.—The term “basic pay” includes any applicable locality-based comparability payment under section 5304 of title 5, United States Code, any applicable special rate supplement under section 5305 of that title, and any equivalent payment under a similar provision of law.

(2) COVERED EMPLOYEE.—The term “covered employee” means an employee of the Department of Agriculture, the Department of the Interior, or the National Weather Service.

(3) COVERED SERVICES.—The term “covered services” means services performed by a covered employee—

(A) serving as a wildland firefighter or a fire management response official, including a regional fire director, a deputy regional fire director, an agency official who directly oversees fire operations, and a fire management officer;

(B) serving as an incident meteorologist accompanying a wildland firefighter crew; or

(C) serving on an incident management team, at the National Interagency Fire Center, at a Geographic Area Coordinating Center, or at an operations center.

(4) PREMIUM PAY.—The term “premium pay” means the premium pay paid under the provisions of law described in section 5547(a) of title 5, United States Code.

(5) RELEVANT COMMITTEES.—The term “relevant committees” means—

(A) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate;

(B) the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the House of Representatives;

(C) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and

(D) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.

(6) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term “Secretary concerned” means—

(A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to an employee of the Department of Agriculture;

(B) the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to an employee of the Department of the Interior; and

(C) the Secretary of Commerce, with respect to an employee of the National Weather Service.

(b) Waivers of premium pay limitation.—

(1) WAIVER OF PREMIUM PAY PERIOD LIMITATION.—Any premium pay for covered services shall be disregarded in calculating the aggregate of the basic pay and premium pay for the applicable covered employee for purposes of a limitation under section 5547 of title 5, United States Code, or under any other provision of law.

(2) CALCULATION OF AGGREGATE PAY.—Any pay that is disregarded under paragraph (1) shall be disregarded in calculating the aggregate pay of the applicable covered employee for purposes of applying the limitation under section 5307 of title 5, United States Code, during calendar year 2022.

(3) PAY LIMITATION.—A covered employee may not be paid premium pay under this subsection if, or to the extent that, the aggregate amount of the basic pay and premium pay (including premium pay for covered services) of the covered employee for a calendar year would exceed the rate of basic pay payable for a position at level II of the Executive Schedule under section 5313 of title 5, United States Code, as in effect at the end of that calendar year.

(4) TREATMENT OF ADDITIONAL PREMIUM PAY.—If the application of this subsection results in the payment of additional premium pay to a covered employee of a type that is normally creditable as basic pay for retirement or any other purpose, that additional premium pay shall not be—

(A) considered to be basic pay of the covered employee for any purpose; or

(B) used in computing a lump-sum payment to the covered employee for accumulated and accrued annual leave under section 5551 or 5552 of title 5, United States Code.

(5) EFFECTIVE PERIOD.—This subsection shall be in effect during calendar year 2022 and apply to premium pay payable during that year.

(c) Submission of plan.—Not later than March 30, 2022, each Secretary concerned, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, shall submit to the relevant committees a plan that addresses the needs of the Department of Agriculture, the Department of the Interior, or the National Weather Service, as applicable, to hire and train additional wildland firefighters and incident meteorologists and modernize compensation for wildland firefighters and incident meteorologists such that sufficient firefighting resources are available throughout each year without the need for waivers of premium pay limitations.

Calendar No. 401

117th CONGRESS
     2d Session
S. 138
[Report No. 117–119]
A BILL
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.
June 9, 2022
Reported with an amendment