S. 3221Senate118th Congress (2023-2025)In Committee

Wildland Firefighter Fair Pay Act

AI-Generated Summary

Updated January 20, 2026 at 12:43 PM UTC

The Wildland Firefighter Fair Pay Act adds a special pay limitation for federal wildland fire responders, including firefighters, incident meteorologists, and incident‑management staff. It ensures that premium and hazard pay do not push an employee’s total compensation above the pay level for a Level II Executive Schedule position. The bill also requires the Agriculture, Interior, and Commerce secretaries to report hiring and training plans for additional wildland firefighters and meteorologists.

Key Provisions

Defines “covered employees” as Forest Service, Interior, and National Weather Service staff who fight wildfires, serve on incident teams, or act as incident meteorologists.
Treats premium pay earned for covered services as separate when calculating the overall pay cap, so it does not count toward the basic‑pay limit.
Sets a ceiling: total basic, premium, and hazard pay for a covered employee may not exceed the salary of a Level II Executive Schedule position in a calendar year.
Specifies that biweekly premium pay is applied first before other premium pay when the Level II cap is reached.
Prohibits any extra pay from this section from being used to calculate lump‑sum leave payouts.
Requires the secretaries to keep records of the use of this authority and to report hiring/training plans for more wildland firefighters and incident meteorologists by March 30, 2024.
Effective dates: the new pay limits start with the first pay period dated in January 2024; related premium‑pay changes apply from the first pay period on or after October 1, 2023.

Legislative Activity

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1 earlier action

SenateIntro Referral Latest Action

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee

November 2, 2023

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SenateIntro Referral

Introduced in Senate

November 2, 2023

SenateIntro Referral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee

November 2, 2023

Floor Debate

4 members

What members said about S. 3221 on the floor

2 Republicans2 Democrats

Sen. John BarrassoR-WY · Nov 2, 2023

Madam President, today, I have joined Senators Manchin, Risch, Cardin, Boozman, and Hirono in introducing the Compacts of Free Association Amendments Act of 2023. In the House of Representatives,…

Madam President, today, I have joined Senators Manchin, Risch, Cardin, Boozman, and Hirono in introducing the Compacts of Free Association Amendments Act of 2023. In the House of Representatives, Congressmen Westerman, Grijalva, McCaul, and Meeks are introducing identical legislation.

This legislation renews the compact agreements between the United States and the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia, commonly referred to as the Freely Associated States.

This legislation will protect American interests in the Pacific and block

China's efforts to expand its influence. The Compacts of Free Association give the United States exclusive military authority over the Freely Associated States' lands and waters. This authority guarantees that our military can operate bases on the islands and deny access to any potential adversaries in the region. This is critical because Chinese aggression in the region is an ever-present danger.

China is expanding its power in the Indo-Pacific and is threatening the Freely Associated States. China is actively trying to upset the security and power dynamic in the region and threaten Taiwan. In March of this year, the outgoing President of the Federated States of Micronesia outlined Chinese attempts to undermine his country's ties to the United States through bribery and threatening public officials. China has also tried to use aggressive and coercive actions against the economies of the Republic of Palau and the Republic of the Marshall Islands by threatening their tourism and fishing industries.

Today's introduction is a positive step. The House Natural Resources Committee intends to mark, up this legislation in order for it be included in the National Defense Authorization Act, NDAA. The Senate has already included language in the NDAA supporting renewal of the compacts. One important issue that is not addressed in this bill is how the legislation will be paid for. The question of a spending offset needs to be addressed as the bill makes its way through the legislative process.

Sen. Alex PadillaD-CA · Nov 2, 2023

Madam President, I rise to introduce the Wildland Firefighter Fair Pay Act to permanently increase the pay caps of some of the United States' most hard-working employees, who risk their lives to keep…

In every State, we rely on Federal firefighters who spend weeks to months away from their families in dangerous conditions. As fire season turns into a year-round issue, firefighters must be compensated for their overtime work that grows each year.

The Wildland Firefighter Fair Pay Act would increase the overtime pay caps Federal wildland firefighters and adjust for the new proposed pay scale.

This overtime pay cap increase boost the Federal Agencies' ability to recruit Federal wildland firefighters and avoid firefighters walking off the line midincident or leaving for other opportunities.

As it stands, current United States Code limits wildland firefighters' premium pay and hurts Federal Agencies' ability to recruit and retain firefighters.

Building off the bipartisan infrastructure law, a bipartisan group of Senators and the White House are working to ensure that our wildland firefighters are compensated appropriately for their intense line of work. The ``Wlldfand Firefighter Fair Pay Act'' complements these efforts by ensuring that any pay bump would not be limited by a pay cap.

I would like to thank Senators Steve Daines, Martin Heinrich, Ben Ray Lujan, Catherine Cortez Masto, Jacky Rosen, and Jon Tester for joining me in introducing this bill, as well as Representative Zoe Lofgren for championing this bill in the House.

Lastly, we owe these efforts to California's Late Senator Dianne Feinstein, who had written the original bill. We must continue Senator Feinstein's legacy of supporting our firefighters and investing in wildfire mitigation efforts across the country by permanently increasing the premium pay cap.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this necessary legislation to improve pay for Federal firefighters.

Sen. Alex PadillaD-CA · Nov 2, 2023

The Wildland Firefighter Fair Pay Act would increase the overtime pay caps Federal wildland firefighters and adjust for the new proposed pay scale.

This overtime pay cap increase boost the Federal Agencies' ability to recruit Federal wildland firefighters and avoid firefighters walking off the line midincident or leaving for other opportunities.

As it stands, current United States Code limits wildland firefighters' premium pay and hurts Federal Agencies' ability to recruit and retain firefighters.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this necessary legislation to improve pay for Federal firefighters.

Sen. John ThuneR-SD · Nov 2, 2023

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Sen. Richard J. DurbinD-IL · Nov 2, 2023

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Bill Text

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Introduced in SenateIssued November 2, 2023

118th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 3221

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

November 2, 2023

Mr. Padilla (for himself, Mr. Luján, Mr. Daines, Mr. Tester, Ms. Rosen, Ms. Cortez Masto, and Mr. Heinrich) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

A BILL

To amend title 5, United States Code, to establish a special limitation on pay for wildland fire responders, and for other purposes.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Wildland Firefighter Fair Pay Act.

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 following:

5547a.

Special limitations on premium pay for employees engaged in wildland firefighting

(a)

Definitions

In this section—

(1)

the term covered employee means an employee 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 accompanying 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 applicable agency to perform wildland fire incident related 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 Agriculture, or the Secretary of Commerce, as applicable, to primarily involve emergency wildfire suppression activities;

(3)

the term emergency wildland fire suppression activities—

(A)

means initial-response and extended-response activities that directly relate to suppression 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 firefighter within the meaning of section 8331(21), would otherwise qualify if the employee had transferred directly to that position after serving as a firefighter within the meaning of that section;

(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 meaning 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 chapter 84, holds a position that the Office of Personnel 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 regulations to meet specific objectives;

(6)

the term premium pay means the premium pay paid under the provisions of law cited in section 5547(a), except as otherwise provided in subsection (g);

(7)

the term qualifying incident—

(A)

means a wildfire incident, a prescribed 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 exceptional 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 incident 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 declared to be a wildfire; and

(10)

the term wildland firefighter means a firefighter—

(A)

who is employed by the Forest Service or the Department of the Interior; and

(B)

the duties of the position of whom primarily relate to fires occurring in forest lands, range lands, or other wildlands, as opposed 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 subsection (b) shall be disregarded in calculating the aggregate 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 Executive Schedule under section 5313, as in effect at the end of that calendar year.

(2)

Biweekly limitation

For the purposes of paragraph (1), any premium pay that is subject to a biweekly limitation under section 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 authority provided under this section.

(g)

Limitation for prevailing rate employees

(1)

Definitions

In this subsection—

(A)

the term basic pay means wages, environmental differential pay, and night shift differential pay; and

(B)

the term premium pay means overtime pay, Sunday premium pay, and holiday premium pay.

(2)

Limitation

For a prevailing rate employee 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 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 Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act (5 U.S.C. 5547 note) (as amended by section 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 amended.

(d)

Effective dates

(1)

In general

The amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) shall take effect on the first day of the first pay period that has a payment date in January 2024.

(2)

Disregarding of premium pay

Subsection (c) shall take effect on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after October 1, 2023.

(e)

Reports on hiring wildland firefighters and incident meterologists

(1)

Definitions

In this subsection:

(A)

Relevant congressional committees defined

The term relevant congressional committees means—

(i)

the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate;

(ii)

the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House of Representatives;

(iii)

the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and

(iv)

the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.

(B)

Secretary concerned

The term Secretary concerned means—

(i)

the Secretary of Agriculture;

(ii)

the Secretary of the Interior; and

(iii)

the Secretary of Commerce.

(2)

Reports required

Not later than March 30, 2024, 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 congressional 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 or incident meteorologists (as those terms are defined in section 5447a of title 5, United States Code, as added by subsection (a)) such that sufficient personnel resources are available throughout the year without causing those wildland firefighters or incident meteorologists to receive compensation, in a typical calendar year, in excess of the annual rate for level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States Code.