PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

Pays extra money to Forest Service and Interior employees who fight wildland fires or who are certified to do incident work when sent to respond to certain fire events. Qualifying events include wildfires, planned prescribed fires, “severity incidents” where staff are pre-positioned because risk is high, or similar incidents the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior says count. It does not cover an initial response that is contained within 36 hours. An employee gets the extra pay while deployed outside their official duty station, or while at an incident-adjacent fire camp or other designated field spot at their duty station. The extra pay is a daily amount equal to 450 percent of the employee’s hourly basic pay, rounded to the nearest cent. It cannot be paid above the daily amount calculated for step 10 of GS–10 for employees who earn more than GS–10 step 10, and no one can receive more than $9,000 in a calendar year. The Agriculture and Interior Secretaries must compare average pay by grade for fiscal years 2023 and 2024, publish a report no later than 180 days after the date that is 1 year after the law’s effective date, and may then adjust the premium pay to better match 2023 averages; they must notify the appropriate congressional committees within 3 days after any final adjustment. This extra pay is not basic pay and cannot be used to figure leave lump-sums, workers’ compensation, other paid time off pay when the premium is not payable, or minimum wage and overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Title 5, §5545c

Government Organization and Employees, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Definitions.—

In this section

(1)

(2)the term “covered employee” means an employee of the Forest Service or the Department of the Interior who is—

(A)a wildland firefighter, as defined in section 5332a(a); or

(B)certified by the applicable agency to perform wildland fire incident-related duties during the period that employee is deployed to respond to a qualifying incident;

(3)the term “incident response premium pay” means pay to which a covered employee is entitled under subsection (c);

(4)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;

(5)the term “qualifying incident”—

(A)means—

(i)a wildfire incident, a prescribed fire incident, or a severity incident; or

(ii)an incident that the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior determines is similar in nature to an incident described in clause (i); and

(B)does not include an initial response incident that is contained within 36 hours; and

(6)the term “severity incident” means an incident in which a covered employee is pre-positioned in an area in which conditions indicate there is a high risk of wildfires.

(b)Eligibility.—

A covered employee is eligible for incident response premium pay under this section if—

(1)the covered employee is deployed to respond to a qualifying incident; and

(2)the deployment described in paragraph (1) is—

(A)outside of the official duty station of the covered employee; or

(B)within the official duty station of the covered employee and the covered employee is assigned to an incident-adjacent fire camp or other designated field location.

(c)Entitlement to Incident Response Premium Pay.—

(1)In general.—

A covered employee who satisfies the conditions under subsection (b) is entitled to premium pay for the period in which the covered employee is deployed to respond to the applicable qualifying incident.

(2)Computation.—

(A)Formula.—

Subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), premium pay under paragraph (1) shall be paid to a covered employee at a daily rate of 450 percent of the hourly rate of basic pay of the covered employee for each day that the covered employee satisfies the requirements under subsection (b), rounded to the nearest whole cent.

(B)Limitation.—

Premium pay under this subsection may not be paid—

(i)with respect to a covered employee for whom the annual rate of basic pay is greater than that for step 10 of GS–10, at a daily rate that exceeds the daily rate established under subparagraph (A) for step 10 of GS–10; or

(ii)to a covered employee in a total amount that exceeds $9,000 in any calendar year.

(C)Adjustments.—

(i)Assessment.—

The Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior shall assess the difference between the average total amount of compensation that was paid to covered employees, by grade, in fiscal years 2023 and 2024.

(ii)Report.—

Not later than 180 days after the date that is 1 year after the effective date of this section, the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior shall jointly publish a report on the results of the assessment conducted under clause (i).

(iii)Administrative actions.—

After publishing the report required under clause (ii), the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, may, in the sole and exclusive discretion of the Secretaries acting jointly, administratively adjust the amount of premium pay paid under this subsection (or take other administrative action) to ensure that the average annual amount of total compensation paid to covered employees, by grade, is more consistent with such amount that was paid to those employees in fiscal year 2023.

(iv)Congressional notification.—

Not later than 3 days after an adjustment made, or other administrative action taken, under clause (iii) becomes final, the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior shall jointly submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a notification regarding that adjustment or other administrative action, as applicable.

(d)Treatment of Incident Response Premium Pay.—

Incident response premium pay under this section— (1)

(2)may not be considered in determining a covered employee’s lump-sum payment for accumulated and accrued annual leave under section 5551 or section 5552;

(3)may not be used in determining pay under section 8114 (relating to compensation for work injuries);

(4)may not be considered in determining pay for hours of paid leave or other paid time off during which the premium pay is not payable; and

(5)shall be disregarded in determining the minimum wage and overtime pay to which a covered employee is entitled under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.).

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

For the

Effective Date

of this section, referred to in subsec. (c)(2)(C)(ii), see

Effective Date

note below. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, referred to in subsec. (d)(5), is act

June 25, 1938, ch. 676, 52 Stat. 1060, which is classified generally to chapter 8 (§ 201 et seq.) of Title 29, Labor. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see section 201 of Title 29 and Tables. Codification Section is based on section 457(a) of H.R. 8998 from the 118th Congress (Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Congress, Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025), as passed by the House of Representatives on

July 24, 2024, which was enacted into law by section 1807 of div. A of Pub. L. 119–4.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Committee on Oversight and Accountability of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 5, One Hundred Nineteenth Congress, Jan. 3, 2025.

Effective Date

Section effective on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after Mar. 15, 2025, see section 457(d) of H.R. 8998 from the 118th Congress, as passed by the House of Representatives on July 24, 2024, set out as an

Effective Date

of 2025 Amendment note under section 5544 of this title.

§5545c Incident Response Premium Pay for Employees Engaged in Wildland Firefighting

Summary

Title 5, §5545c

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Effective Date

Effective Date

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Effective Date

Effective Date

Citations & Metadata