The Wildland Firefighter Fair Pay Act amends federal pay rules to allow wildland firefighters and related personnel working for the Forest Service, Department of the Interior, and National Weather Service to earn additional premium pay without hitting the normal federal pay caps. Currently, these employees face strict limits on how much premium pay they can receive, which has made it difficult to compensate them fairly for dangerous wildfire suppression work. This bill removes those caps for wildfire-related premium pay while setting a new ceiling at the level II Executive Schedule rate, allowing these workers to earn more during peak fire season. The legislation takes effect in January 2024 and requires the relevant federal agencies to submit hiring and training plans by March 30, 2024, to ensure they have enough wildland firefighters and meteorologists available year-round without exceeding level IV Executive Schedule compensation levels in typical years. The bill was introduced by House Democrats in November 2023 and referred to multiple committees.
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