(B) be considered to be annual or vacation 
leave for purposes of section 5551 or 5552 of 
title 5, United States Code, or for any other 
purpose. 
(c) COORDINATION.—In carrying out subsections (a) 
and (b), the Secretaries may enter into partnerships or 
cooperative agreements with other Federal agencies, uni-
versities, or non-profit institutions. 
(d) OWCP.—The Office of Workers’ Compensation 
Programs within the Department of Labor shall— 
(1) recognize post-traumatic stress disorder and 
psychological stress-related injuries or illnesses cor-
related to fire protection, suppression, and incident 
support activities, and ensure long-term coverage for 
the duration of the illnesses; and 
(2) expand the Special Claims Unit to ensure 
adequate unit staffing levels are sufficient to expe-
dite the claims process and shorten response times 
to wildland firefighter and incident support per-
sonnel injured or effected on the job in order to al-
leviate the psychological and financial burdens 
placed on the patient and their families. 
SEC. 7. RETIREMENT FOR FIREFIGHTERS. 
(a) DEPOSIT SERVICE.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, any service performed by an individual 
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as a Federal wildland firefighter on or after January 1, 
1989, for which retirement deductions under chapter 84 
of title 5, United States Code, have not been made shall 
be creditable under such chapter, but only if such fire-
fighter— 
(1) submits a written election to the Director; 
and 
(2) the deposit requirements of section 8411(f) 
of such title had been met with respect to such serv-
ice. 
(b) DISABILITY ANNUITY.—Beginning on the date of 
enactment of this Act, any Federal wildland firefighter 
who suffers from a disease described in section 
8143b(b)(2) of title 5, United States Code, due to environ-
mental job-related exposure, including smoke inhalation, 
silicate inhalation, and firefighting toxic exposure, shall be 
considered to be disabled for purposes of section 8451 of 
such title. Such section 8451 shall be applied to any such 
firefighter by substituting ‘‘12 months’’ for ‘‘18 months’’. 
(c) INCLUDING OVERTIME AS BASIC PAY.—Section 
8331(3) of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (H), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(2) in subparagraph (I), by inserting ‘‘and’’ 
after the semicolon; 
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(3) by inserting after subparagraph (I) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(J) with respect to a Federal wildland 
firefighter (as that term is defined in section 
1(b) of the Tim Hart Wildland Firefighter 
Classification and Pay Parity Act), overtime 
pay received on or after the date of enactment 
of this subparagraph;’’; and 
(4) in the undesignated matter following sub-
paragraph (J) (as added by paragraph (3)), by strik-
ing ‘‘subparagraphs (B) through (I) of this para-
graph’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (B) through 
(J) of this paragraph,’’. 
(d) SEPARATE NORMAL-COST PERCENTAGE.—Sec-
tion 8423(a)(1)(B)(i) of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after ‘‘firefighters,’’ the following: 
‘‘Federal wildland firefighter (as that term is defined in 
section 1 of the Tim Hart Wildland Firefighter Classifica-
tion and Pay Parity Act),’’. 
SEC. 8. PAY PARITY FOR FEDERAL STRUCTURAL FIRE-
FIGHTERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this Act, any pay, benefits, and bo-
nuses provided to any Federal structural firefighter shall 
be comparable with the pay, benefits, and bonuses pro-
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vided for Federal wildland firefighters under this Act and 
the amendments made by this Act. Not later than 1 year 
after the date the pay scale is established under section 
5332a of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 
2 of this Act, the Director shall submit a report to Con-
gress on whether pay for such Federal structural fire-
fighters is competitive with Federal wildland firefighters. 
(b) FEDERAL
STRUCTURAL
FIREFIGHTER
DE-
FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘Federal structural fire-
fighter’’— 
(1) has the meaning given the term ‘‘fire-
fighter’’ in section 8401 of chapter 84 of title 5, 
United States Code; and 
(2) does not include any Federal wildland fire-
fighter. 
SEC. 9. PAY ADJUSTMENTS AND OTHER MATTERS. 
(a) ANNUAL ADJUSTMENTS.—Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, beginning in the first pay period 
beginning on or after the date that the pay scale is estab-
lished under section 5332a of title 5, United States Code, 
as added by section 2 of this Act, and annually thereafter, 
the basic rate of pay for each Federal wildland firefighter 
occupying a position within such pay scale shall be in-
creased by not less than the percentage equal to the per-
cent change in the Consumer Price Index (all items— 
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United States city average), published monthly by the Bu-
reau of Labor Statistics, for December of the preceding 
year over such Consumer Price Index for the December 
of the year prior to the preceding year, adjusted to the 
nearest one-tenth of 1 percent. 
(b) COMPENSATION COMPARABLE TO NON-FEDERAL 
FIREFIGHTERS.—Not later than 1 year after the date the 
pay scale is established under section 5332a of title 5, 
United States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act, 
the Secretaries shall submit a report to Congress on 
whether pay, benefits, and bonuses provided to Federal 
wildland firefighters are comparable to the pay, benefits, 
and bonuses provided for non-Federal firefighters in the 
State or locality where Federal wildland firefighters are 
based. 
(c) HAZARDOUS DUTY PAY.—Each Federal wildland 
firefighter carrying out work completed during prescribed 
fire, parachuting, tree climbing over 20 feet, hazard tree 
removal, and other hazardous work as identified by the 
Secretaries, shall be entitled to be paid the appropriate 
differential under section 5545(d) of title 5, United States 
Code, as if such employee was covered by such section. 
The Director may prescribe regulations to carry out this 
subsection. 
(d) OTHER MATTERS.— 
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