tion taken, under clause (iii) becomes final, 
the Secretary of Agriculture and the Sec-
retary of the Interior shall jointly submit 
to the appropriate committees of Congress 
a notification regarding that adjustment or 
other administrative action, as applicable. 
‘‘(d) TREATMENT OF INCIDENT RESPONSE PREMIUM 
PAY.—Incident response premium pay under this sec-
tion— 
‘‘(1) is not considered part of the basic pay of 
a covered employee for any purpose; 
‘‘(2) may not be considered in determining the 
lump-sum payment of a covered employee for accu-
mulated and accrued annual leave under section 
5551 or section 5552; 
‘‘(3) may not be used in determining pay under 
section 8114; 
‘‘(4) may not be considered in determining pay 
for hours of paid leave or other paid time off during 
which the premium pay is not payable; and 
‘‘(5) shall be disregarded in determining the 
minimum wage and overtime pay to which a covered 
employee is entitled under the Fair Labor Standards 
Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.).’’. 
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(b) ADDITIONAL PREMIUM PAY AMENDMENTS.— 
Subchapter V of chapter 55 of title 5, United States Code, 
is amended— 
(1) in section 5544— 
(A) by amending the section heading to 
read as follows: ‘‘WAGE-BOARD OVERTIME, 
SUNDAY
RATES, AND
OTHER
PREMIUM 
PAY’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(d) A prevailing rate employee described in section 
5342(a)(2)(A) shall receive incident response premium 
pay under the same terms and conditions that apply to 
a covered employee under section 5545c if that em-
ployee— 
‘‘(1) is employed by the Forest Service or the 
Department of the Interior; and 
‘‘(2)(A) is a wildland firefighter, as defined in 
section 5332a(a); or 
‘‘(B) is certified by the applicable agency to 
perform wildland fire incident-related duties during 
the period the employee is deployed to respond to a 
qualifying 
incident 
(as 
defined 
in 
section 
5545c(a)).’’; and 
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(2) in section 5547(a), in the matter preceding 
paragraph 
(1), 
by 
inserting 
‘‘5545c,’’ 
after 
‘‘5545a,’’. 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of sections 
for subchapter V of chapter 55 of title 5, United States 
Code, is amended— 
(1) by amending the item relating to section 
5544 to read as follows: 
‘‘5544. Wage-board overtime, Sunday rates, and other premium pay.’’; 
and 
(2) by inserting after the item relating to sec-
tion 5545b the following: 
‘‘5545c. Incident response premium pay for employees engaged in wildland fire-
fighting.’’. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall take effect on the first day of the first 
applicable pay period beginning after the last day of the 
last pay period for which Federal wildland firefighter tem-
porary salary increases were in effect, as originally author-
ized under section 40803(d)(4)(B) of the Infrastructure 
Investment and Jobs Act (16 U.S.C. 6592(d)(4)(B)) and 
as extended under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 
2024 (Public Law 118–42; 138 Stat. 25), the Continuing 
Appropriations Act, 2025 (division A of Public Law 118– 
83; 138 Stat. 1524), and the Further Continuing Appro-
priations Act, 2025 (division A of Public Law 118–158). 
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SEC. 4. REST AND RECUPERATION LEAVE FOR EMPLOYEES 
ENGAGED IN WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 63 of 
title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘§ 6329e. Rest and recuperation leave for employees 
engaged in wildland firefighting 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘applicable Secretary’ means the 
Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the In-
terior, as applicable to a covered employee; 
‘‘(2) the term ‘covered employee’ means an em-
ployee of the Forest Service or the Department of 
the Interior who— 
‘‘(A) qualifies as a wildland firefighter 
based on the definitions of the terms ‘fire-
fighter’ and ‘wildland firefighter’ in section 
5332a(a) (applying the definition of ‘employee’ 
in section 6301(2) in lieu of the definition of 
‘employee’ in section 5331(a)); or 
‘‘(B) is certified by the applicable Sec-
retary to perform wildland fire incident-related 
duties during the period the employee is de-
ployed to respond to a qualifying incident; and 
‘‘(3) the term ‘qualifying incident’ has the 
meaning given the term in section 5545c(a). 
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‘‘(b) REST AND RECUPERATION LEAVE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered employee may 
receive paid rest and recuperation leave following the 
completion of service in which the covered employee 
is deployed to respond to a qualifying incident, sub-
ject to the policies prescribed under this subsection. 
‘‘(2) PRESCRIPTION
OF
POLICIES.—The Sec-
retary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Inte-
rior shall, in the sole and exclusive discretion of the 
Secretaries acting jointly, prescribe uniform policies 
described in paragraph (1) after consulting with the 
other applicable Secretary. 
‘‘(3) CONTENT OF POLICIES.—The policies pre-
scribed under paragraph (2) may include— 
‘‘(A) a maximum period of days in which 
a covered employee is deployed to respond to a 
qualifying incident, which shall— 
‘‘(i) begin on the date on which the 
covered employee departs from the official 
duty station of the covered employee and 
end on the date on which the covered em-
ployee returns to the official duty station 
of the covered employee; and 
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‘‘(ii) be followed by a minimum num-
ber of days of rest and recuperation for the 
covered employee; or 
‘‘(B) a requirement that prohibits a cov-
ered employee from working more than 16 
hours per day on average over a 14-day period 
during which the covered employee is deployed 
to respond to a qualifying incident. 
‘‘(c) USE OF LEAVE.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Rest and recuperation 
leave granted under this section— 
‘‘(A) shall be used during scheduled hours 
within the tour of duty of the applicable covered 
employee established for leave-charging pur-
poses; 
‘‘(B) shall be paid in the same manner as 
annual leave; 
‘‘(C) shall be used immediately after a 
qualifying incident; and 
‘‘(D) may not be set aside for later use. 
‘‘(2) NO PAYMENT.—A covered employee may 
not receive any payment for unused rest and recu-
peration leave granted under this section. 
‘‘(d) INTERMITTENT WORK SCHEDULE.—A covered 
employee with an intermittent work schedule— 
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‘‘(1) shall be excused from duty during the 
same period of time that other covered employees in 
the same circumstances are entitled to rest and re-
cuperation leave; and 
‘‘(2) shall receive a payment as if the covered 
employee were entitled to rest and recuperation leave 
under subsection (b).’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 
The table of sections for subchapter II of chapter 63 of 
title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 
the item relating to section 6329d the following: 
‘‘6329e. Rest and recuperation leave for employees engaged in wildland fire-
fighting.’’. 
SECTION 5. TRANSFER AUTHORITY. 
Notwithstanding section 40803(c)(2) of the Infra-
structure 
Investment 
and 
Jobs 
Act 
(16 
U.S.C. 
6592(c)(2)), not more than $5,000,000 of the unobligated 
balances of amounts made available under the heading 
‘‘WILDLAND
FIRE
MANAGEMENT’’ under the heading 
‘‘FOREST SERVICE’’ under the heading ‘‘DEPARTMENT 
OF AGRICULTURE’’ in title VI of division J of that Act 
(Public Law 117–58; 135 Stat. 1410) pursuant to section 
40803(c)(2)(B) of that Act (16 U.S.C. 6592(c)(2)(B)) 
may, as necessary to continue uninterrupted the Federal 
wildland firefighter base salary increase described in sec-
tion 
40803(d)(4)(B) 
of 
that 
Act 
(16 
U.S.C. 
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6592(d)(4)(B)), be transferred to and merged with the 
amounts made available under the heading ‘‘WILDLAND 
FIRE MANAGEMENT’’ under the heading ‘‘DEPARTMENT- 
WIDE PROGRAMS’’ under the heading ‘‘DEPARTMENT 
OF THE INTERIOR’’ in title VI of division J of that 
Act (Public Law 117–58; 135 Stat. 1393). 
Æ 
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