COVID–19 as a Presumptive Disease in Wildland Firefighters Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3910 To establish a presumption that certain firefighters who are Federal employ- ees and have COVID–19 contracted that disease while in the performance of their official duties, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 8, 2020 Mr. MANCHIN (for himself and Mr. UDALL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Secu- rity and Governmental Affairs A BILL To establish a presumption that certain firefighters who are Federal employees and have COVID–19 contracted that disease while in the performance of their official duties, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘COVID–19 as a Pre- 4 sumptive Disease in Wildland Firefighters Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. COVID–19 AND FEDERAL FIREFIGHTERS. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:55 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3910.IS S3910 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3910 IS (1) FIRE SEASON.—The term ‘‘fire season’’ 1 means the period beginning on May 15, 2020, and 2 ending on November 15, 2020. 3 (2) FIREFIGHTER.—The term ‘‘firefighter’’ 4 means an employee, as that term is defined in sec- 5 tion 8101 of title 5, United States Code, who— 6 (A) possesses a certification that qualifies 7 the individual to work on a wildland fire inci- 8 dent (commonly known as an ‘‘Incident Quali- 9 fication Card’’); and 10 (B)(i) occupies a position that identifies 11 wildland firefighting as a primary job duty; or 12 (ii) has been deployed to a wildland fire in- 13 cident, as documented in— 14 (I) a resource order; or 15 (II) the Interagency Resource Order- 16 ing Capability system administered by the 17 Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary 18 of the Interior. 19 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 20 the Secretary of Labor, acting through the Director 21 of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs of 22 the Department of Labor. 23 (4) WILDLAND FIRE INCIDENT.—The term 24 ‘‘wildland fire incident’’ means a wildfire that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:55 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3910.IS S3910 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3910 IS (A) occurs during the fire season; and 1 (B) is— 2 (i) tracked in the Integrated Report- 3 ing of Wildland-Fire Information service; 4 or 5 (ii) assigned a unique fire code by a 6 geographic area coordination center. 7 (b) PRE-WORK TESTING.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Consistent with paragraph 9 (2), the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 10 of Agriculture shall ensure that each firefighter who 11 is employed by the applicable agency— 12 (A) is tested for— 13 (i) COVID–19; or 14 (ii) symptoms of COVID–19; or 15 (B) self-quarantines for not less than 14 16 days and is determined to not have symptoms 17 of COVID–19 through the use of a COVID–19 18 screening tool developed by the Secretary of the 19 Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture. 20 (2) TIMING OF ACTION.—The Secretary of the 21 Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall take 22 the applicable action required under paragraph 23 (1)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:55 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3910.IS S3910 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3910 IS (A) with respect to a firefighter described 1 in subsection (a)(2)(B)(i)— 2 (i) before the beginning of the fire 3 season; or 4 (ii) before the firefighter performs any 5 work as a firefighter during the fire sea- 6 son; and 7 (B) with respect to a firefighter described 8 in subsection (a)(2)(B)(ii), before the firefighter 9 performs any work as a firefighter during a 10 wildland fire incident. 11 (c) COMPENSATION FOR WORK INJURIES.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of sections 13 8103 and 8124 of title 5, United States Code, a fire- 14 fighter described in paragraph (2) is deemed to have 15 been injured while in the performance of the duty of 16 the firefighter. 17 (2) ELIGIBILITY.— 18 (A) IN GENERAL.—A firefighter is de- 19 scribed in this paragraph if— 20 (i)(I) the firefighter records at a 21 wildland fire incident, duty station, or 22 medical facility— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:55 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3910.IS S3910 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3910 IS (aa) a fever of not less than 1 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit, as meas- 2 ured with a thermometer; and 3 (bb) a blood-oxygen saturation 4 level of less than 94 percent, as meas- 5 ured with a pulse oximeter; 6 (II) a qualified physician issues a 7 written opinion that the firefighter likely 8 has COVID–19; or 9 (III) the firefighter has a positive 10 COVID–19 test result; and 11 (ii) the qualifying event with respect to the 12 firefighter under clause (i) occurs— 13 (I) with respect to a firefighter de- 14 scribed in subsection (a)(2)(B)(i), during 15 the period beginning on the date on which 16 the fire season begins and ending on the 17 date that is 28 days after the date on 18 which the fire season ends; and 19 (II) with respect to a firefighter de- 20 scribed in subsection (a)(2)(B)(ii), during 21 the period beginning on the date on which 22 the firefighter is deployed to the applicable 23 wildland fire incident and ending on the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:55 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3910.IS S3910 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3910 IS date that is 28 days after the date on 1 which that deployment ends. 2 (B) RESEARCH.—The Secretary of the In- 3 terior and the Secretary of Agriculture, in con- 4 sultation with the Secretary, may— 5 (i) research COVID–19 detection 6 methods; and 7 (ii) modify the list of symptoms de- 8 scribed in subparagraph (A)(i)(I) if any 9 findings made while conducting research 10 performed under clause (i) of this subpara- 11 graph warrant such a modification. 12 (3) CLASSIFICATION OF INJURY.—With respect 13 to a firefighter to whom the presumption under 14 paragraph (1) applies, the injury suffered by the 15 firefighter shall be considered to result from 16 COVID–19. 17 (4) PERIOD OF DISABILITY.—The period of dis- 18 ability with respect to a firefighter to whom the pre- 19 sumption under paragraph (1) applies shall be deter- 20 mined in accordance with subchapter I of chapter 81 21 of title 5, United States Code, and the rules issued 22 under that subchapter. 23 (d) CLAIMS.—The Secretary may waive or modify the 24 requirements under any of paragraphs (1) through (6) of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:55 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3910.IS S3910 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3910 IS section 8121 of title 5, United States Code, with respect 1 to a firefighter to whom the presumption under subsection 2 (c)(1) applies if the Secretary determines that such waiver 3 or modification is necessary or appropriate in carrying out 4 this section. 5 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF PROCEDURES.—The Sec- 6 retary shall expedite, to the maximum extent practicable, 7 authorization for the furnishing of medical procedures and 8 for bill processing relating to treatment of COVID–19 for 9 a firefighter to whom the presumption under subsection 10 (c)(1) applies. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:55 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3910.IS S3910 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS