# 119-hr-10492: Wildland Firefighter Health and Safety Act 119-hr-10492, Wildland Firefighter Health and Safety Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Dexter, Maxine [D-OR-3] (D-OR); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-11). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-10492 - As of: 2026-10-11 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: 119-hr-10492 - Congress: 119 - Title: Wildland Firefighter Health and Safety Act - Status: introduced - Introduced: 2026-09-17 - Sponsor: Rep. Dexter, Maxine [D-OR-3] (D-OR) - Cosponsors: 2 - Policy area: Government Operations and Politics - Touches household money: yes - Last recorded action: 2026-10-11 ## Summary **This bill would establish a Federal Wildland Firefighter Health and Wellbeing Program to _protect wildland firefighters' health_ through coordinated research, respirator pilots, OSHA rulemaking, and workers' compensation reforms.** It aims to cut inhalation and dermal exposures and expand mental health and medical surveillance for wildland firefighting crews. - Wildland firefighters: Would get baseline and annual medical exams, enrollment in cancer registries, access to regular pulmonary and cancer screenings, expanded duty time for hygiene and gear decontamination, mental health supports, and field testing of improved respiratory protection. - Firefighting agencies and program leaders: Would be covered by a new interagency Task Force and federal Program that must staff regional and national offices, run pilots and grants, develop a Health Strategy, and receive funding authorizations including $34.0 million per year for the Program and $15.0 million per year for the Task Force (FY2027–2032). - Workers' compensation claimants and adjudicators: Would see a dedicated Special Claims Handling Unit inside the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs plus annual public reporting on firefighter claim counts, outcomes, and decision timelines. *Authorizes roughly $305.5 million in appropriations through FY2027–2032, which would increase federal spending.* ## Cosponsors (2) - Rep. Huffman, Jared [D-CA-2] (D-CA), 2026-09-17T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Gallagher, James [R-CA-1] (R-CA), 2026-09-17T00:00:00.000Z ## Provisions PRIA read - Federal firefighter health program: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would require Interior, with Agriculture, to set up a Federal Wildland Firefighter Health and Wellbeing Program. A Program Director must be named within 90 days. The program would provide baseline and periodic medical exams, cancer and lung screening, hearing protection, mental… - Special firefighter claims unit: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would require Labor to create a Special Claims Handling Unit inside OWCP for employees in fire protection activities. Unit staff would get training on firefighting duties, exposures, and related illnesses. OWCP would be required to process claims more timely and coordinate with… - Paid duty time for decontamination: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would require that covered wildland firefighters be given paid duty time to shower and clean gear after contaminating shifts. That time would count as hours of work for pay, leave, and other benefits. Duty stations must have decontamination equipment, showers, drying, wastewate… - Respirator field pilot program: benefit, low. If enacted, the Program Director, with the Task Force and NIOSH, would run a two-year respiratory protection pilot. The pilot must start within one year after the Task Force is set up. It would collect data on fit, comfort, usability, compliance, and field performance. A final report would be due w… - Firefighter health advisory panel: benefit, low. If enacted, the bill would create an independent Wildland Firefighter Health Advisory Panel within 90 days to advise the Task Force. The panel would include current and former ground-level firefighters, union and Tribal representatives, state and local fire officials, academics, and other stakehold… - Funding for firefighter health programs: benefit, low. If enacted, the bill would authorize funding to run the new programs and pilots. It would authorize $15 million per year for 2027–2032 for the Task Force and $34 million per year for 2027–2032 for the Wellbeing Program. It would authorize $10 million available through 2032 for the NIOSH office and… - NIOSH firefighter health office: benefit, low. If enacted, the bill would create an Office of Firefighter Health and Safety inside NIOSH led by an Associate Director. The office could award grants, support long-term exposure tracking and biomonitoring, fund PPE research, and develop contamination-control guidance. NIOSH would report to Congress… - Wildland firefighter task force: benefit, low. If enacted, the bill would require Interior and Agriculture to set up a Wildland Firefighter Health Task Force within 90 days. The Task Force must identify administrative and engineering controls that can be implemented within 180 days. It must publish a Wildland Firefighter Health Strategy within… - OSHA wildland firefighter standards: benefit, low. If enacted, the bill would require Labor to issue an interim OSHA standard within 180 days after the Pilot Program final report and make it effective within 30 days, subject to equipment availability. Labor would have to propose a final standard within two years and issue a final standard within fi… ## Related bills - 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025 - 119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act - 119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act - 119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025 - 119-hr-10421: Transforming Education for the Future Act - 119-hr-5106: Restore Trust in Congress Act ## Sources - [119-hr-10492 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/10492) ## Related - [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151) - [119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7977) - [119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7973) - [119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4206) - [119-hr-10421: Transforming Education for the Future Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-10421) - [119-hr-5106: Restore Trust in Congress Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5106) - [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-10492 (as of 2026-10-11).