(1) RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION BONUS.— 
In order to promote the recruitment and retention of 
Federal wildland firefighters, the Director, in coordi-
nation with the Secretaries, shall establish a pro-
gram under which a recruitment or retention bonus 
of not less than $1,000 may be paid to a Federal 
wildland firefighter in an amount as determined ap-
propriate by the Director and the Secretaries. The 
minimum amount of such bonus in the previous sen-
tence shall be increased each year by the Consumer 
Price Index in the manner prescribed under sub-
section (a). Any bonus under this subsection— 
(A) shall be paid to any primary or sec-
ondary Federal wildland firefighter upon the 
date that such firefighter successfully completes 
a work capacity test; and 
(B) may not be paid to any such fire-
fighter more than once per calendar year. 
(2) HOUSING
ALLOWANCE.—The Secretaries 
shall provide a housing allowance to any Federal 
wildland firefighter deployed to a location more than 
50 miles from their primary residence. Such allow-
ance shall be in an amount determined appropriate 
by the Secretaries and adjusted based on the cost of 
housing in the area of deployment. 
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(3) CAREER TRANSITION.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retaries shall establish, maintain, coordinate, 
and operate a voluntary tuition assistance pro-
gram for Federal wildland firefighters occu-
pying a permanent position that encompass a 
broad range of educational experiences (either 
in-person or through distance-learning), includ-
ing academic skills development, vocational pro-
grams, career and technical programs, and pro-
grams leading to the award of undergraduate 
and graduate degrees. 
(B) AMOUNT.—The program under sub-
paragraph (A) shall provide, not more than 
once during each calendar year, a payment of 
not less than $4,000 to each Federal wildland 
firefighter who elects to participate in the pro-
gram. 
(C) REVIEW.—The Secretaries shall con-
duct an annual review of whether the amount 
provided under subparagraph (B) is adequate, 
in consideration of inflation and other effects. 
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SEC. 10. WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT CASUALTY ASSIST-
ANCE PROGRAM. 
(a) DEVELOPMENT OF PROGRAM.—Not later than 6 
months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of the Interior shall develop a Wildland Fire 
Management Casualty Assistance Program (referred to in 
this section as the ‘‘Program’’) to provide assistance to 
the next-of-kin of— 
(1) firefighters who, while in the line of duty, 
suffer illness or are critically injured or killed; and 
(2) wildland fire support personnel critically in-
jured or killed in the line of duty. 
(b) ASPECTS OF PROGRAM.—The Program shall ad-
dress the following: 
(1) The initial and any subsequent notifications 
to the next-of-kin of a firefighter or wildland fire 
support personnel who— 
(A) is killed in the line of duty; or 
(B) requires hospitalization or treatment 
at a medical facility due to a line-of-duty injury 
or illness. 
(2) The reimbursement of next-of-kin for ex-
penses associated with travel to visit a firefighter or 
wildland fire support personnel who— 
(A) is killed in the line of duty; or 
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(B) requires hospitalization or treatment 
at a medical facility due to a line-of-duty injury 
or illness. 
(3) The qualifications, assignment, training, du-
ties, supervision, and accountability for the perform-
ance of casualty assistance responsibilities. 
(4) The relief or transfer of casualty assistance 
officers, including notification to survivors of critical 
injury or illness in the line of duty and next-of-kin 
of the reassignment of such officers to other duties. 
(5) Centralized, short-term and long-term case 
management procedures for casualty assistance, in-
cluding rapid access by survivors of firefighters or 
wildland fire support personnel and casualty assist-
ance officers to expert case managers and coun-
selors. 
(6) The provision, through a computer acces-
sible website and other means and at no cost to sur-
vivors and next-of-kin of firefighters or wildland fire 
support personnel, of personalized, integrated infor-
mation on the benefits and financial assistance avail-
able to such survivors from the Federal Government. 
(7) The provision of information to survivors 
and next-of-kin of firefighters or wildland fire sup-
port personnel on mechanisms for registering com-
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plaints about, or requests for, additional assistance 
related to casualty assistance. 
(8) Liaison with the Department of the Inte-
rior, the Department of Justice, and the Social Se-
curity Administration to ensure prompt and accurate 
resolution of issues relating to benefits administered 
by those agencies for survivors of firefighters or 
wildland fire support personnel. 
(9) Data collection, in consultation with the 
United States Fire Administration and the National 
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, re-
garding the incidence and quality of casualty assist-
ance provided to survivors of firefighters or wildland 
fire support personnel. 
(c) LINE OF DUTY DEATH BENEFITS.—The Pro-
gram shall not affect existing authorities for Line of Duty 
Death benefits for Federal firefighters and wildland fire 
support personnel. 
(d) NEXT-OF-KIN DEFINED.—In this section, the 
term ‘‘next-of-kin’’ means person or persons in the highest 
category of priority as determined by the following list 
(categories appear in descending order of priority): 
(1) Surviving legal spouse. 
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(2) Children (whether by current or prior mar-
riage) age 18 years or older in descending prece-
dence by age. 
(3) Father or mother, unless by court order 
custody has been vested in another (adoptive parent 
takes precedence over natural parent); 
(4) Siblings (whole or half) age 18 years or 
older in descending precedence by age. 
(5) Grandfather or grandmother. 
(6) Any other relative (precedence to be deter-
mined in accordance with the civil law of descent of 
the deceased former member’s State of domicile at 
time of death). 
SEC. 11. CONTINUING ACCRUAL OF SERVICE FOR FIRE-
FIGHTERS. 
(a) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM.— 
Section 8401(14) of title 5, United States Code, is amend-
ed to read as follows: 
‘‘(14) the term ‘firefighter’ means— 
‘‘(A) an employee, the duties of whose po-
sition— 
‘‘(i) are primarily to perform work di-
rectly connected with the control and extin-
guishment of non-wildland fires; and 
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‘‘(D) an employee who— 
‘‘(i) occupies a supervisory or admin-
istrative position after performing duties 
described in subparagraph (B) for not less 
than 3 years; and 
‘‘(ii) has not more than 24 months in 
total time of breaks in service;’’. 
(b) SERVICE BEFORE DATE OF ENACTMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the requirements 
under paragraph (2), service performed before the 
date of enactment of this Act by an individual who, 
on the date of enactment of this Act, is an employee 
(as defined in section 8401(11) of title 5, United 
States Code) shall, for the purposes of chapter 84 of 
title 5, United States Code, be treated as service 
performed by a firefighter if— 
(A) such service was performed during the 
period beginning on October 1, 2003, and end-
ing on the day before the date of enactment of 
this Act; 
(B) at the time of performing such serv-
ice— 
(i) the individual did not meet the re-
quirements to be a firefighter under sec-
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tion 8401(14) of title 5, United States 
Code, because of a break in service; and 
(ii) would have met the requirements 
to 
be 
a 
firefighter 
under 
section 
8401(14)(D) of title 5, United States 
Code, as amended by this Act; and 
(C) 
appropriate 
deductions 
and 
withholdings under sections 8422 and 8423 of 
title 5, United States Code, were made during 
such service. 
(2) CREDIT FOR SERVICE.—To receive credit 
for eligible service under paragraph (1), the applica-
ble individual shall— 
(A) before the date on which the individual 
separates from service in the agency in which 
the individual holds a position on the date of 
enactment of this Act, submit a written election 
to the agency employing the individual; 
(B) if the individual is not employed by the 
agency that employed the individual when the 
service described in paragraph (1) was per-
formed, submit a written election to such agen-
cy; and 
(C) remit to the agency that employed the 
individual when such service was performed the 
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additional amount that would have been de-
ducted during the period of prior service under 
section 8422 of title 5, United States Code, 
from the pay of the individual if the amend-
ments made by subsection (a) had been in ef-
fect during the prior service, plus any applicable 
interest computed under section 8334(e) of title 
5, United States Code. 
(3) GOVERNMENT CONTRIBUTIONS.—If an indi-
vidual remits payment under paragraph (2)(C) with 
respect to service described in paragraph (1), the 
agency that employed the individual when such serv-
ice was performed shall remit to the Office of Per-
sonnel Management (for deposit in the Treasury of 
the United States to the credit of the Civil Service 
Retirement and Disability Fund) the total additional 
amount of Federal contributions that would have 
been paid under section 8423 of title 5, United 
States Code, if the amendments made by subsection 
(a) had been in effect during the prior service, plus 
any applicable interest computed in accordance with 
section 8334(e) of title 5, United States Code. 
(4) NOTIFICATION AND ASSISTANCE REQUIRE-
MENTS.—The Director of the Office of Personnel 
Management shall— 
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(A) take such action as may be necessary 
and appropriate to inform individuals entitled 
to have any service credited under this sub-
section, or to have any annuity computed under 
this subsection, of the entitlement to the credit 
or computation; and 
(B) upon request, assist any individual de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) in obtaining such 
information in the possession of the Secretary 
of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior, 
as applicable, as may be necessary to verify the 
entitlement of the individual to have any service 
credited, or to have any annuity computed, pur-
suant to this subsection. 
(5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 
section shall be construed to permit or require the 
making of any contribution to the Thrift Savings 
Fund that would not otherwise have been permitted 
or required but for the enactment of this section. 
Æ 
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