I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 977
To amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to provide 
death and disability benefits for aerial firefighters who work on a contract 
basis for the Forest Service or an agency of the Department of the 
Interior and suffer death or disability in the line of duty, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 27, 2003
Mrs. CUBIN (for herself and Mr. ISSA) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Commit-
tees on Agriculture and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently de-
termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
of 1976 to provide death and disability benefits for aerial 
firefighters who work on a contract basis for the Forest 
Service or an agency of the Department of the Interior 
and suffer death or disability in the line of duty, and 
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Aerial Firefighter Re-
lief Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. DEATH AND DISABILITY BENEFITS FOR AERIAL 
FIREFIGHTERS OF THE FOREST SERVICE 
AND DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AGEN-
CIES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) Pilots and crew members of aircraft used to 
fight wildfires generally work on a contract basis 
with a State or Federal agency and, as a result, are 
not eligible for death or disability benefits should 
they be killed or injured in the line of duty. 
(2) Employer death benefits and life insurance 
for aerial firefighters are expensive, and the families 
of these unsung heroes have to cope not only with 
the loss of a loved one, but also the additional finan-
cial loss of a wage earner. 
(3) It is vital that Congress continue to encour-
age the recruitment and retention of skilled and ex-
perienced aerial firefighters. 
(b) ELIGIBILITY FOR DEATH AND DISABILITY BENE-
FITS.—Section 308 of the Federal Land Policy and Man-
agement Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1738) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new subsection:
‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY OF AERIAL FIREFIGHTERS FOR 
DEATH AND DISABILITY BENEFITS.—
‘‘(1) ELIGIBILITY.—An individual who serves a 
public agency specified in paragraph (2), or a con-
tractor or subcontractor of such a public agency, in 
an official capacity, with or without compensation, 
as a pilot or a crew member of an aircraft carrying 
out a firefighting mission on behalf of such public 
agency and who is killed or disabled as a result of 
an injury that occurs while the aircraft is moving 
under its own power for the purpose of take off, 
flight, or landing shall be eligible for a death or dis-
ability benefit under section 1201 of Public Law 90–
351 (42 U.S.C. 3796). 
‘‘(2) COVERED PUBLIC AGENCIES.—Subsection 
(a) applies with respect to the Forest Service and 
any agency of the Department of the Interior. 
‘‘(3) APPLICABILITY.—This subsection shall 
apply with respect to death or injuries occurring on 
or after September 29, 1976.’’. 
SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY OF AERIAL FIREFIGHTERS FOR PUB-
LIC SAFETY OFFICER DEATH BENEFITS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (7) of section 1204 of 
the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 
(42 U.S.C. 3796b) is amended—
(1) in subparagraph (B) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 
end; 
(2) in subparagraph (C) by striking the period 
at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph: 
‘‘(D) an individual serving a public agency, 
or a contractor or subcontractor at any tier of 
a public agency, in an official capacity, with or 
without compensation, as a pilot or a crew 
member of an aircraft carrying out a fire-
fighting mission on behalf of such public agen-
cy, so long as the injury occurs during the con-
tract period beginning with the moment in 
which the aircraft moves under its own power 
for the purpose of flight and ending with the 
moment in which the aircraft comes to rest 
after landing.’’. 
(b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by sub-
section (a) shall apply with respect to injuries occurring 
on or after September 29, 1976.
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