Labor Standards Act which clearly state that such 
situations are compensable. 
(4) Supervisors are expected to remain respon-
sible for their crews 24 hours a day while on assign-
ment and to ensure that their crews are able to re-
spond at a moment’s notice, even when both super-
visors and crew members are in a non-pay status. 
(5) Wildland firefighters must remain available 
and ‘‘fit to work’’ 24 hours a day in case of imme-
diate need, even when ‘‘off the clock’’ and uncom-
pensated. 
(6) Developing, maintaining, and retaining 
skilled personnel in the Federal wildland firefighting 
agencies is a growing problem that jeopardizes pub-
lic safety and the effectiveness of wildland fire pre-
paredness and suppression efforts across the Nation. 
(b) PORTAL-TO-PORTAL COMPENSATION PILOT PRO-
GRAM.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a wildland 
firefighter, for full-time, part-time, and intermittent 
tours of duty, hours of work officially ordered or ap-
proved in excess of 40 hours per week or 8 hours 
per day shall be considered overtime work, inclusive 
of all time the firefighter is away from their official 
duty station assigned to an emergency incident, in 
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support of an emergency incident, or pre-positioned 
for emergency response, and shall be compensable as 
work time in accordance with 5542(a) of title 5, 
United States Code, as amended by paragraph 
(2)(A). 
(2) REQUIREMENTS.— 
(A) AMENDMENT
TO
TITLE 5.—Section 
5542(a) of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end (as a flush left 
sentence) the following: 
‘‘Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2), for a wildland 
firefighter assigned to an emergency incident, assigned in 
support of an emergency incident, or pre-positioned for 
emergency response, the overtime hourly rate of pay is an 
amount equal to one and one-half times the hourly rate 
of the basic pay of the employee, and that entire amount 
is premium pay’’. 
(B) FAIR
LABOR
STANDARDS
ACT
OF 
1938.—For the purpose of applying the provi-
sions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 
with respect to wildland firefighters, no viola-
tion referred to in such provisions shall be con-
sidered to have occurred if the requirements de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) are met. 
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(C) FUNDING.—There is authorized to be 
appropriated $25,000,000 to initiate a portal- 
to-portal pilot program under this subsection, 
commencing with the 2010 wildfire season. Any 
sums required in addition to amounts appro-
priated pursuant to the preceding sentence may 
be secured from the existing wildfire suppres-
sion budget for the fiscal year in which the sea-
son occurs. 
(D) DURATION.—The pilot program shall 
be carried out by the Department of the Inte-
rior and the Department of Agriculture for a 
period not to exceed 3 calendar years beginning 
as of the start of the 2010 wildfire season. 
(E) REPORT.—At the end of the pilot pro-
gram, the Secretary of the Interior and the Sec-
retary of Agriculture shall submit to Congress 
a joint report on the effectiveness of the pilot 
program. Such report shall specifically address 
the effect of the program with respect to— 
(i) 
recruitment 
and 
retention 
of 
wildland firefighters; and 
(ii) any cost savings. 
(F) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—To en-
sure adequate funding and to realize maximum 
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wildfire suppression savings, the Secretary of 
the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture 
shall take appropriate measures to provide that 
total funding for non-Federal fire suppression 
resources by their respective Departments— 
(i) for the first year of the pilot pro-
gram, do not exceed 90 percent of their 
combined non-Federal fire suppression 
costs for the 2008 and 2009 wildfire sea-
sons; 
(ii) for the second year of the pilot 
program, do not exceed 75 percent of their 
combined non-Federal fire suppression 
costs for the 2008 and 2009 wildfire sea-
sons; and 
(iii) for the third year of the pilot pro-
gram, do not exceed 65 percent of their 
combined non-Federal fire suppression 
costs for the 2008 and 2009 wildfire sea-
sons. 
(G) EXEMPTION.—Employees compensated 
under the pilot program shall, for the period of 
such program, be exempt from any limitation 
on premium pay under section 5547 of title 5, 
United States Code. 
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(c) HAZARDOUS
DUTY
DIFFERENTIAL
TO
BE 
TREATED
AS PART
OF
A WILDLAND FIREFIGHTER’S 
BASE PAY FOR RETIREMENT PURPOSES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 8331(3) of title 5, 
United States Code is amended— 
(A) in subparagraph (G), by striking 
‘‘and’’ at the end; 
(B) in subparagraph (H), by inserting 
‘‘and’’ at the end; and 
(C) by adding after subparagraph (H) the 
following: 
‘‘(I) with respect to a wildland firefighter 
(as defined by section 2 of the National Wild-
fire Infrastructure Improvement and Cost Con-
tainment Act), any pay differential received 
under section 5545(d);’’. 
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Such section 
8331(3) is further amended, in the matter following 
subparagraph (I) (as added by paragraph (1)(C)), 
by striking ‘‘subparagraphs (B) through (H) of this 
paragraph’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (B) 
through (I),’’. 
(d) HAZARDOUS DUTY DIFFERENTIAL.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—In the administration of sec-
tion 5545(d) of title 5, United States Code, the Of-
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fice of Personnel Management shall take such meas-
ures as may be necessary to ensure that, under the 
schedule or schedules of pay differentials for duty 
involving unusual physical hardship or hazard, a pay 
differential of 25 percent shall be payable to an indi-
vidual while serving as a member of a wildland fire-
fighting crew. 
(2) DEFINITION.—For purposes this sub-
section, the term ‘‘wildland firefighting crew’’ in-
cludes ground (hand crew, hotshot, engine, and 
other fire apparatus personnel) and airborne (smoke 
jumper or helitack) firefighting personnel on the fire 
line of any wildfire or prescribed fuel treatment burn 
or fire, as further defined in regulations of the Of-
fice. 
(e) BENEFITS
FOR SEASONAL WILDLAND FIRE-
FIGHTERS.— 
(1) PROVISIONS
RELATING
TO
LIFE
INSUR-
ANCE.—Section 8716(b) of title 5, United States 
Code, is amended— 
(A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 
the end; 
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking the pe-
riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 
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(C) by adding after paragraph (3) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(4) a wildland firefighter within the meaning 
of section 2 of the National Wildfire Infrastructure 
Improvement and Cost Containment Act.’’. 
(2) PROVISIONS RELATING TO HEALTH BENE-
FITS.—Section 8906a of title 5, United States Code, 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(c)(1) For purposes of this subsection, the term 
‘wildland firefighter’ has the meaning given such term by 
section 2 of the National Wildfire Infrastructure Improve-
ment and Cost Containment Act. 
‘‘(2) In the case of a wildland firefighter— 
‘‘(A) subsection (a)(2) shall be applied by sub-
stituting ‘cumulative’ for ‘current continuous’; and 
‘‘(B) an individual is deemed not to have ceased 
to be a wildland firefighter during an interim period 
between wildfire seasons if such individual shows to 
the satisfaction of the Office of Personnel Manage-
ment that such individual has a bona fide intention 
of continuing as a wildland firefighter immediately 
after such period, subject to section 8906(e)(1).’’. 
(f) BUY BACK OF CIVILIAN TIME AFTER 1989.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Any individual who is sub-
ject to the Federal Employees’ Retirement System 
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as a firefighter (within the meaning of section 8401 
of title 5, United States Code) on the date of the en-
actment of this Act shall be entitled to have any 
qualifying firefighter service treated as creditable 
service under section 8411 of such title. 
(2) QUALIFYING FIREFIGHTER SERVICE.—For 
purposes of this subsection, the term ‘‘qualifying 
firefighter service’’ means, in connection with an in-
dividual, any service— 
(A) which was performed by such indi-
vidual, as a wildland firefighter, after 1989 and 
before the date of the enactment of this Act; 
and 
(B) for which such individual was not al-
lowed to receive retirement credit by reason of 
section 8347(g) or 8402(c) of such title 5. 
(3) DEPOSIT REQUIREMENT.—Credit for a pe-
riod of service may not be given under this sub-
section unless the individual involved makes a de-
posit, in such manner as the Office of Personnel 
Management may by regulation require, equal to the 
employee contributions that would have been re-
quired (in the case of a firefighter) for such period 
under section 8334(c) or 8422(a) of such title 5, 
with interest. 
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(4) CERTIFICATION.—The Office of Personnel 
Management shall accept the certification of the 
Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agri-
culture, as the case may be, concerning whether an 
individual performed qualifying firefighter service 
and the length of the period of such service the indi-
vidual performed. 
SEC. 8. FIREFIGHTER LIABILITY. 
(a) INSPECTOR GENERAL INVESTIGATION OF FIRE-
FIGHTER DEATHS.— 
(1) FOREST SERVICE EMPLOYEES.—In the case 
of each fatality of a firefighter or other employee of 
the Forest Service due to wildfire entrapment or 
burrower, the Inspector General of the Department 
of Agriculture shall conduct an investigation of the 
fatality. 
(2) DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR EMPLOY-
EES.—In the case of each fatality of a firefighter or 
other employee of the Bureau of Land Management, 
the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the United States 
Fish and Wildlife Service, or the National Park 
Service due to wildfire entrapment or burrower, the 
Inspector General of the Department of the Interior 
shall conduct an investigation of the fatality. 
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(b) INVESTIGATION
PROCEDURES
AND
PROTO-
COLS.—Not later than 60 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Inspector Generals of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior 
shall publish the procedures and protocols to be used to 
conduct fatality investigations required by subsection (a). 
The procedures and protocols shall outline the training, 
experience, and expertise necessary to serve as an investi-
gator conducting a fatality investigation. 
(c) TRAINING.—The Inspector Generals of the De-
partment of Agriculture and the Department of the Inte-
rior shall ensure that persons assigned to conduct a fatal-
ity investigation required by subsection (a) have the nec-
essary training, skills, and experience to competently con-
duct the investigation. 
(d) INDEPENDENCE.—An investigation of a fatality 
under this section shall not rely on, and shall be com-
pletely independent of, any investigation conducted by the 
head of the land management agency whose employee was 
killed. 
(e) SUBMISSION OF RESULTS.—Not later than 30 
days after completing an investigation under subsection 
(a), the Inspector General conducting the investigation 
shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 
and Forestry and the Committee on Energy and Natural 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
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Resources of the Senate, the Committee on Natural Re-
sources of the House of Representatives, the Secretary of 
Agriculture, and the Secretary of the Interior a report 
containing the results of the investigation. The investiga-
tions and accompanying reports shall be used by all land 
management agency fire programs to build upon the con-
cept of lessons learned from the fire event. It is not the 
intent of Congress that the investigations and reports 
would be used to find fault or place blame for a fatality, 
but rather to recognize that wildland firefighting is an in-
herently dangerous occupation and to reduce the number 
of fatalities from due to wildfire entrapment or burrower. 
(f) REPEAL OF FORMER INVESTIGATION REQUIRE-
MENT.—Public Law 107–203 (7 U.S.C. 2270b, 2270c) is 
repealed. 
Æ 
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