The Tim Hart Wildland Firefighter Classification and Pay Parity Act would significantly increase compensation and benefits for federal wildland firefighters employed by the U.S. Forest Service and Department of the Interior. The bill establishes special base pay rates for wildland firefighters at grades 1 through 15, with increases ranging from 1.5 percent to 27 percent depending on grade level, effective October 1, 2023. It also creates a new incident standby premium pay system that compensates firefighters at 50 percent of their hourly rate for designated sleep and rest periods during wildfire deployments, along with up to nine days of rest and recuperation leave following major incidents.
The legislation addresses workforce retention and wellbeing through several additional provisions: a minimum $1,000 annual recruitment and retention bonus, a new seven-day mental health leave entitlement, housing allowances for firefighters deployed more than 50 miles from home, and a tuition assistance program providing at least $4,000 annually for career development. The bill also establishes a federal database to track cancer and cardiovascular disease among wildland firefighters, creates an expanded mental health support program, and reforms retirement rules to include overtime pay as basic compensation for benefits calculations. Additionally, the bill requires federal structural firefighters to receive comparable pay to wildland firefighters within one year and mandates annual pay adjustments tied to inflation.
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