Tim’s Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1505 To reform and enhance the pay and benefits of Federal wildland firefighters, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 9, 2023 Mr. BENNET introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To reform and enhance the pay and benefits of Federal wildland firefighters, 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; DEFINITIONS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Tim Hart Wildland Firefighter Classification and Pay 5 Parity Act’’ or ‘‘Tim’s Act’’. 6 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 7 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 8 the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 May 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1505.IS S1505 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1505 IS (2) FEDERAL WILDLAND FIREFIGHTER.—The 1 term ‘‘Federal wildland firefighter’’ means any tem- 2 porary, seasonal, or permanent position at the De- 3 partment of Agriculture or the Department of the 4 Interior, and Tribal Firefighters, that maintains 5 group, emergency incident management, or fire 6 qualifications, as established annually by the Stand- 7 ards for Wildland Fire Position Qualifications pub- 8 lished by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, 9 and primarily engages in or supports wildland fire 10 management activities, including forestry and range- 11 land technicians and positions concerning aviation, 12 engineering heavy equipment operations, dispatch, or 13 fire and fuels management. 14 (3) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 15 means the Secretary of Agriculture and the Sec- 16 retary of the Interior. 17 SEC. 2. SPECIAL BASE PAY RATES FOR WILDLAND FIRE- 18 FIGHTERS. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title 5, United States Code, is 20 amended by inserting after section 5332 the following: 21 ‘‘§ 5332a. Special base rates of pay for wildland fire- 22 fighters 23 ‘‘(a) In this section— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 May 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1505.IS S1505 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1505 IS ‘‘(1) the term ‘firefighter’ means an employee 1 who— 2 ‘‘(A) is a firefighter within the meaning of 3 section 8331(21) or section 8401(14); 4 ‘‘(B) in the case of an employee who holds 5 a supervisory or administrative position and is 6 subject to subchapter III of chapter 83, but 7 who does not qualify to be considered a fire- 8 fighter within the meaning of section 8331(21), 9 would otherwise qualify if the employee had 10 transferred directly to such position after serv- 11 ing as a firefighter within the meaning of that 12 section; 13 ‘‘(C) in the case of an employee who holds 14 a supervisory or administrative position and is 15 subject to chapter 84, but who does not qualify 16 to be considered a firefighter within the mean- 17 ing of section 8401(14), would otherwise qualify 18 if the employee had transferred directly to such 19 position after performing duties described in 20 section 8401(14)(A) for at least 3 years; and 21 ‘‘(D) in the case of an employee who is not 22 subject to subchapter III of chapter 83 or chap- 23 ter 84, holds a position that the Office of Per- 24 sonnel Management determines would satisfy 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 May 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1505.IS S1505 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1505 IS subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) if the employee 1 were subject to subchapter III of chapter 83 or 2 chapter 84; 3 ‘‘(2) the term ‘General Schedule base rate’ 4 means an annual rate of basic pay established under 5 section 5332, before any additions such as a locality- 6 based comparability payment under section 5304 or 7 5304a or a special rate supplement under section 8 5305; 9 ‘‘(3) the term ‘special base rate’ means an an- 10 nual rate of basic pay payable to a wildland fire- 11 fighter, before any additions or reductions, that re- 12 places the General Schedule base rate otherwise ap- 13 plicable to the wildland firefighter and that is ad- 14 ministered in the same manner as General Schedule 15 base rates; and 16 ‘‘(4) the term ‘wildland firefighter’ means any 17 temporary, seasonal, or permanent position at the 18 Department of Agriculture or the Department of the 19 Interior, or Tribal Firefighters, that maintains 20 group, emergency incident management, or fire 21 qualifications, as established annually by the Stand- 22 ards for Wildland Fire Position Qualifications pub- 23 lished by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, 24 and primarily engages in or supports wildland fire 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 May 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1505.IS S1505 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1505 IS management activities, including forestry and range- 1 land technicians and positions concerning aviation, 2 engineering heavy equipment operations, dispatch, 3 training, development and technology, or fire and 4 fuels management. 5 ‘‘(b)(1) Notwithstanding section 5332, a wildland 6 firefighter is entitled to a special base rate of pay at 7 grades 1 through 15 of the General Schedule, as pre- 8 scribed by this subsection. This special base rate shall re- 9 place the otherwise applicable General Schedule base rate 10 and shall be basic pay for all purposes, including the pur- 11 pose of computing a locality-based comparability payment 12 under section 5304 or 5304a. Such special base rates shall 13 be computed as described in paragraphs (2) and (3) and 14 adjusted at the time of adjustments in the General Sched- 15 ule. 16 ‘‘(2) The minimum rate of basic pay for any wildland 17 firefighter in levels 1 through 5 of the General Schedule 18 shall— 19 ‘‘(A) be not less than the rate of pay for step 20 3 of GS–6, as adjusted by the pay locality des- 21 ignated as ‘Rest of U.S.’ under section 5304; and 22 ‘‘(B) not be greater than the minimum rate of 23 basic pay provided to GS–6 under paragraph (3). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 May 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1505.IS S1505 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1505 IS ‘‘(3) The special base rates for a wildland firefighter 1 in levels 6 through 15 of the General Schedule shall be 2 derived by increasing the otherwise applicable General 3 Schedule base rate on the date of enactment of this Act 4 by the applicable percentage for the wildland firefighter’s 5 grade as shown below and rounding the result to the near- 6 est whole dollar: 7 ‘‘GS–6, 27 percent. 8 ‘‘GS–7, 24 percent. 9 ‘‘GS–8, 21 percent. 10 ‘‘GS–9, 18 percent. 11 ‘‘GS–10, 15 percent. 12 ‘‘GS–11, 12 percent. 13 ‘‘GS–12, 9 percent. 14 ‘‘GS–13, 6 percent. 15 ‘‘GS–14, 3 percent. 16 ‘‘GS–15, 1.5 percent. 17 ‘‘(4) When the special base rate is expressed as an 18 hourly, daily, weekly, or biweekly rate, the rate is com- 19 puted from the appropriate annual rate of basic pay de- 20 rived under paragraph (2) or (3) in accordance with the 21 rules prescribed by section 5504(b).’’. 22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 23 subsections (a) and (d) shall be effective on the first day 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 May 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1505.IS S1505 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1505 IS of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after 1 October 1, 2023. 2 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 3 for chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 4 by inserting after the item relating to section 5332 the 5 following: 6 ‘‘5332a. Special base rates of pay for wildland firefighters.’’. (d) PREVAILING RATE EMPLOYEES.—Section 5343 7 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at 8 the end the following: 9 ‘‘(g) For prevailing rate employees described in sec- 10 tion 5342(a)(2)(A) who qualify as a ‘wildland firefighter’ 11 based on the definitions of ‘firefighter’ and ‘wildland fire- 12 fighter’ in section 5332a(a), the Secretary of Agriculture 13 or the Secretary of the Interior (as applicable) shall in- 14 crease the wage rates of such employees by amounts (de- 15 termined at the sole and exclusive discretion of the appli- 16 cable Secretary after consultation with the other Sec- 17 retary) that are generally consistent with the percentage 18 increases given to wildland firefighters in the General 19 Schedule under section 5332a. Such an increased wage 20 rate shall be basic pay for the same purposes as the wage 21 rate otherwise established under this section. An increase 22 under this subsection may not cause an employee’s wage 23 rate to increase beyond a rate that would produce an 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 May 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1505.IS S1505 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 1505 IS annualized rate in excess of the annual rate for level IV 1 of the Executive Schedule.’’. 2 SEC. 3. WILDLAND FIRE INCIDENT STANDBY PREMIUM PAY. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title 5, United States Code, is 4 amended by inserting after section 5545b the following: 5 ‘‘§ 5545c. Incident standby premium pay for employ- 6 ees engaged in wildland firefighting 7 ‘‘(a) In this section— 8 ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered employee’ means an em- 9 ployee of the Forest Service or the Department of 10 the Interior who— 11 ‘‘(A) qualifies as a wildland firefighter 12 based on the definitions of ‘firefighter’ and 13 ‘wildland firefighter’ in section 5332a(a); or 14 ‘‘(B) is certified by the applicable agency 15 to perform wildland fire incident related duties 16 during the period such employee is assigned to 17 a qualifying incident; 18 ‘‘(2) the term ‘designated sleep and rest period’ 19 means the hours during an incident deployment that 20 a covered employee is deemed to be in sleep or rest 21 status for pay computation purposes, regardless of 22 actual hours spent in that status; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 May 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1505.IS S1505 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 1505 IS ‘‘(3) the term ‘incident standby premium pay’ 1 means pay to which a covered employee is entitled 2 under subsection (c); 3 ‘‘(4) the term ‘prescribed fire incident’ means a 4 wildland fire originating from a planned ignition in 5 accordance with applicable laws, policies, and regula- 6 tions to meet specific objectives; 7 ‘‘(5) the term ‘qualifying incident’ means a 8 wildfire incident, a prescribed fire incident, or a se- 9 verity incident, but excludes an initial response inci- 10 dent involving a single operational period of less 11 than 36 hours (unless a longer period is approved by 12 an authorized agency official due to exceptional cir- 13 cumstances) if the employee is in continual work 14 status with no designated sleep and rest period es- 15 tablished by the agency; 16 ‘‘(6) the term ‘severity incident’ means an inci- 17 dent in which a covered employee is pre-positioned 18 in an area where conditions indicate there is a high 19 risk of wildfires; and 20 ‘‘(7) the term ‘wildfire incident’ means a 21 wildland fire originating from an unplanned ignition, 22 such as lightning, volcanos, unauthorized and acci- 23 dental human-caused fires, and prescribed fires that 24 are declared wildfires. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 May 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1505.IS S1505 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 1505 IS ‘‘(b) A covered employee is eligible for incident stand- 1 by premium pay under this section when meeting all of 2 the following conditions: 3 ‘‘(1) The employee is deployed to the field by 4 the employing agency to respond to a qualifying inci- 5 dent. 6 ‘‘(2) The employee is placed by the employing 7 agency in continuous duty status during the incident 8 deployment. 9 ‘‘(3) Any periods of sleeping and resting occur 10 in a field location associated with the duty assign- 11 ment. 12 ‘‘(c) A covered employee who meets the conditions in 13 subsection (b) is entitled to incident standby premium pay 14 for designated sleep and rest periods, and such pay shall 15 be the only compensation payable to the employee for 16 those periods, notwithstanding any other law. Such pre- 17 mium pay shall be paid at an hourly rate equal to 50 per- 18 cent of the employee’s hourly rate of basic pay, rounded 19 to the nearest whole cent. In determining an employee’s 20 minimum wage and overtime pay entitlements under the 21 Fair Labor Standards Act, incident standby premium pay 22 and associated hours shall be disregarded. 23 ‘‘(d) A covered employee’s designated sleep and rest 24 periods shall be fixed at 9 hours for every 24-hour duty 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 May 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1505.IS S1505 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 1505 IS period associated with a qualifying incident, including nec- 1 essary travel time. If the hours of an incident deployment 2 are not an exact multiple of 24-hour periods, the ratio of 3 9/24 shall be multiplied by hours for the less-than-24- 4 hours period of duty to derive the designated sleep and 5 rest period for that duty period, with the result rounded 6 to the nearest fractional increment established by the 7 agency in tracking hours of work. 8 ‘‘(e) Incident standby premium pay under this sec- 9 tion— 10 ‘‘(1) is not considered part of the basic pay of 11 an employee for any purpose; 12 ‘‘(2) may not be considered in determining an 13 employee’s lump-sum payment for accumulated and 14 accrued annual leave under section 5551 or section 15 5552; 16 ‘‘(3) may not be used in determining pay under 17 section 8114 (related to workers’ compensation); and 18 ‘‘(4) may not be considered in determining pay 19 for hours of paid leave or other paid time off during 20 which the premium pay is not payable.’’. 21 (b) OTHER EMPLOYEES.—Title 5, United States 22 Code, is further amended— 23 (1) in section 5544, by— 24 (A) adding the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 May 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1505.IS S1505 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •S 1505 IS ‘‘(d) A prevailing rate employee described in section 1 5342(a)(2)(a) shall receive incident standby premium pay 2 under the same terms and conditions that apply to a cov- 3 ered employee under section 5545c if such employee is em- 4 ployed by the Forest Service or the Department of the 5 Interior and— 6 ‘‘(1) qualifies as a wildland firefighter based on 7 the definitions of ‘firefighter’ and ‘wildland fire- 8 f [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]