I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 6195 
To amend title 5, United States Code, to establish a special limitation on 
pay for wildland fire responders, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 2, 2023 
Ms. LOFGREN (for herself, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. 
PETERS, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. NEGUSE, Ms. PORTER, Mr. LIEU, Ms. 
BROWNLEY, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. DESAULNIER, and Mr. SCHIFF) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Over-
sight and Accountability, and in addition to the Committees on Natural 
Resources, Agriculture, and Science, Space, and Technology, for a period 
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To amend title 5, United States Code, to establish a special 
limitation on pay for wildland fire responders, 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 ‘‘Wildland Firefighter 
Fair Pay Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. SPECIAL LIMITATIONS ON PAY FOR WILDLAND FIRE 
RESPONDERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter V of chapter 55 of 
title 5, United States Code, is amended— 
(1) in section 5541(2)(xi), by inserting ‘‘, 
5547a(h),’’ after ‘‘section 5544’’; and 
(2) by inserting after section 5547 the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘§ 5547a. Special limitations on premium pay for em-
ployees engaged in wildland firefighting 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘covered employee’ means an em-
ployee of the Forest Service, the Department of the 
Interior, or the National Weather Service who— 
‘‘(A) is a wildland firefighter; 
‘‘(B) is an incident meteorologist accom-
panying a crew of wildland firefighters; 
‘‘(C) is serving on an incident management 
team or at a wildland fire operations center; or 
‘‘(D) is otherwise certified by the applica-
ble agency to perform wildland fire incident re-
lated duties during the period that employee is 
assigned to a qualifying incident; 
‘‘(2) the term ‘covered services’ means services 
performed by an employee that are determined by 
the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agri-
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culture, or the Secretary of Commerce, as applicable, 
to primarily involve emergency wildfire suppression 
activities; 
‘‘(3) the term ‘emergency wildland fire suppres-
sion activities’— 
‘‘(A) means initial-response and extended- 
response activities that directly relate to sup-
pression of a wildfire; 
‘‘(B) includes activities associated with a 
severity incident; and 
‘‘(C) does not include activities associated 
with a prescribed fire incident; 
‘‘(4) the term ‘firefighter’ means an employee 
who— 
‘‘(A) is a firefighter within the meaning of 
section 8331(21) or section 8401(14); 
‘‘(B) in the case of an employee who holds 
a supervisory or administrative position and is 
subject to subchapter III of chapter 83, but 
who does not qualify to be considered a fire-
fighter within the meaning of section 8331(21), 
would otherwise qualify if the employee had 
transferred directly to that position after serv-
ing as a firefighter within the meaning of that 
section; 
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‘‘(C) in the case of an employee who holds 
a supervisory or administrative position and is 
subject to chapter 84, but who does not qualify 
to be considered a firefighter within the mean-
ing of section 8401(14), would otherwise qualify 
if the employee had transferred directly to that 
position after performing duties described in 
section 8401(14)(A) for at least 3 years; or 
‘‘(D) in the case of an employee who is not 
subject to subchapter III of chapter 83 or chap-
ter 84, holds a position that the Office of Per-
sonnel Management determines would satisfy 
subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) if the employee 
were subject to subchapter III of chapter 83 or 
chapter 84; 
‘‘(5) the term ‘prescribed fire incident’ means a 
wildland fire originating from a planned ignition in 
accordance with applicable laws, policies, and regula-
tions to meet specific objectives; 
‘‘(6) the term ‘premium pay’ means the pre-
mium pay paid under the provisions of law cited in 
section 5547(a), except as otherwise provided in sub-
section (g); 
‘‘(7) the term ‘qualifying incident’— 
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‘‘(A) means a wildfire incident, a pre-
scribed fire incident, or a severity incident; and 
‘‘(B) does not include an initial response 
incident involving a single operational period of 
less than 36 hours (unless a longer period is 
approved by an authorized agency due to excep-
tional circumstances) if the applicable employee 
is in continual work status with no designated 
sleep and rest period established by the agency; 
‘‘(8) the term ‘severity incident’ means an inci-
dent in which a covered employee is pre-positioned 
in an area where conditions indicate there is a high 
risk of wildfires; 
‘‘(9) the term ‘wildfire incident’— 
‘‘(A) means a wildland fire originating 
from an unplanned ignition, such as lightning, 
volcanos, or a human-caused fire; and 
‘‘(B) includes a prescribed fire that is de-
clared to be a wildfire; and 
‘‘(10) the term ‘wildland firefighter’ means a 
firefighter— 
‘‘(A) who is employed by the Forest Serv-
ice or the Department of the Interior; and 
‘‘(B) the duties of the position of whom 
primarily relate to fires occurring in forest 
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lands, range lands, or other wildlands, as op-
posed to structural fires. 
‘‘(b) TREATMENT OF PREMIUM PAY.—Any premium 
pay earned by a covered employee for covered services 
shall be disregarded in calculating the aggregate of the 
basic pay and premium pay of the covered employee for 
purposes of applying a limitation under section 5547. 
‘‘(c) TREATMENT
OF
DISREGARDED
PREMIUM 
PAY.—Any premium pay that is disregarded under sub-
section (b) shall be disregarded in calculating the aggre-
gate pay of the applicable covered employee for purposes 
of applying the limitation in section 5307. 
‘‘(d) LIMITATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Pay that is disregarded 
under subsection (b) may not be paid to the extent 
that such pay would cause the aggregate of the basic 
pay, premium pay, and hazard pay of the applicable 
covered employee under section 5545(d) payable in 
the applicable calendar year to exceed the rate of 
basic pay payable for a position at level II of the Ex-
ecutive Schedule under section 5313, as in effect at 
the end of that calendar year. 
‘‘(2) BIWEEKLY
LIMITATION.—For the pur-
poses of paragraph (1), any premium pay that is 
subject to a biweekly limitation under section 
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5547(c) shall be paid first before other premium pay 
in applying the level II limitation. 
‘‘(e) RELATIONSHIP TO LUMP-SUM PAYMENT.—Any 
additional pay resulting from application of this section 
may not be used in computing a lump-sum payment for 
accumulated and accrued annual leave under section 5551 
or 5552. 
‘‘(f) RECORDS.—The Secretary of the Interior, the 
Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Commerce 
shall each maintain records that document uses of the au-
thority provided under this section. 
‘‘(g) LIMITATION FOR PREVAILING RATE EMPLOY-
EES.— 
‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 
‘‘(A) the term ‘basic pay’ means wages, en-
vironmental differential pay, and night shift dif-
ferential pay; and 
‘‘(B) the term ‘premium pay’ means over-
time pay, Sunday premium pay, and holiday 
premium pay. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—For a prevailing rate em-
ployee described in section 5342(a)(2)(A) who is a 
covered employee, premium pay may not be paid to 
the extent that payment would cause the aggregate 
of the basic pay and premium pay of the covered 
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employee in the applicable calendar year to exceed 
the rate of basic pay payable for a position at level 
II of the Executive Schedule under section 5313, as 
in effect at the end of that calendar year.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
for chapter 55 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 
by inserting after the item for section 5547 the following: 
‘‘5547a. Special limitations on premium pay for employees engaged in wildland 
firefighting.’’. 
(c) DISREGARDING OF PREMIUM PAY FOR CERTAIN 
PURPOSES.—For the purpose of applying section 5547 of 
title 5, United States Code, as carried out pursuant to 
the requirements of section 1701 of division B of the Ex-
tending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency 
Assistance Act (5 U.S.C. 5547 note) (as amended by sec-
tion 601 of title VI of division HH of the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2022 and section 440 of title IV of 
division G of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023), 
in calendar year 2023, incident standby premium pay shall 
be included in premium pay that is subject to the limits 
established pursuant to those requirements, as so amend-
ed. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 
subsections (a) and (b) shall take effect on the first 
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