This bill increases pay protections for wildland firefighters and related personnel employed by the Forest Service, Department of the Interior, and National Weather Service. The legislation allows these workers to earn additional premium pay for emergency wildfire suppression work without being subject to the same strict salary caps that normally apply to federal employees, though their total compensation cannot exceed the salary for a level II Executive Schedule position. The changes take effect in January 2024 and also require the relevant agencies to submit hiring and staffing plans to Congress by March 30, 2024, to ensure they can maintain adequate wildland firefighting personnel throughout the year without pushing workers into excessive overtime compensation.
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