S.Amdt. 4562

SA 4562. Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Daines, and
Ms. Rosen) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment
SA 3867 submitted by Mr. Reed and intended to be proposed to the bill
H.R. 4350, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2022 for
military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle G of title X, add the following:

SEC. 10__. WAIVER OF PREMIUM PAY LIMITATIONS FOR DEPARTMENT
OF AGRICULTURE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, AND
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EMPLOYEES ENGAGED IN
EMERGENCY WILDLAND FIRE SUPPRESSION ACTIVITIES.

(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Basic pay.--The term ``basic pay'' includes any
applicable locality-based comparability payment under section
5304 of title 5, United States Code, any applicable special
rate supplement under section 5305 of that title, and any
equivalent payment under a similar provision of law.
(2) Covered employee.--The term ``covered employee'' means
an employee of the Department of Agriculture, the Department
of the Interior, or the National Weather Service.
(3) Covered services.--The term ``covered services'' means
services performed by a covered employee--
(A) serving as a wildland firefighter or a fire management
response official, including a regional fire director, a
deputy regional fire director, an agency official who
directly oversees fire operations, and a fire management
officer;
(B) serving as an incident meteorologist accompanying a
wildland firefighter crew; or
(C) serving on an incident management team, at the National
Interagency Fire Center, at a Geographic Area Coordinating
Center, or at an operations center.
(4) Premium pay.--The term ``premium pay'' means the
premium pay paid under the provisions of law described in
section 5547(a) of title 5, United States Code.
(5) Relevant committees.--The term ``relevant committees''
means--
(A) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs of the Senate;
(B) the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the House of
Representatives;
(C) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
(D) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives.
(6) Secretary concerned.--The term ``Secretary concerned''
means--
(A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to an
employee of the Department of Agriculture;
(B) the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to an
employee of the Department of the Interior; and
(C) the Secretary of Commerce, with respect to an employee
of the National Weather Service.
(b) Waivers of Premium Pay Limitation.--
(1) Waiver of premium pay period limitation.--Any premium
pay for covered services shall be disregarded in calculating
the aggregate of the basic pay and premium pay for the
applicable covered employee for purposes of a limitation
under section 5547 of title 5, United States Code, or under
any other provision of law.
(2) Calculation of aggregate pay.--Any pay that is
disregarded under paragraph (1) shall be disregarded in
calculating the aggregate pay of the applicable covered
employee for purposes of applying the limitation under
section 5307 of title 5, United States Code, during calendar
year 2022.
(3) Pay limitation.--A covered employee may not be paid
premium pay under this subsection if, or to the extent that,
the aggregate amount of the basic pay and premium pay
(including premium pay for covered services) of the covered
employee for a calendar year would exceed the rate of basic
pay payable for a position at level II of the Executive
Schedule under section 5313 of title 5, United States Code,
as in effect at the end of that calendar year.
(4) Treatment of additional premium pay.--If the
application of this subsection results in the payment of
additional premium pay to a covered employee of a type that
is normally creditable as basic pay for retirement or any
other purpose, that additional premium pay shall not be--
(A) considered to be basic pay of the covered employee for
any purpose; or
(B) used in computing a lump-sum payment to the covered
employee for accumulated and accrued annual leave under
section 5551 or 5552 of title 5, United States Code.
(5) Effective period.--This subsection shall be in effect
during calendar year 2022 and apply to premium pay payable
during that year.
(c) Submission of Plan.--Not later than March 30, 2022,
each Secretary concerned, in consultation with the Director
of the Office of Management and Budget and the Director of
the Office of Personnel Management, shall submit to the
relevant committees a plan that addresses the needs of the
Department of Agriculture, the Department of the Interior, or
the National Weather Service, as applicable, to hire and
train additional wildland firefighters and incident
meteorologists and modernize compensation for wildland
firefighters and incident meteorologists such that sufficient
firefighting resources are available throughout each year
without the need for waivers of premium pay limitations.
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