Special limitations on pay for wildland firefighters

(a) In general Subchapter V of chapter 55 of title 5, United States Code, is amended— (1) by inserting after section 5547 the following: 5547a. Special limitations on premium pay for employees engaged in wildland firefighting (a) Definitions In this section— (1) the term covered employee means an employee of the Forest Service or the Department of the Interior who— (A) qualifies as a wildland firefighter based on the definitions of firefighter and wildland firefighter in section 5332a(a); or (B) is certified by the applicable agency to perform wildland fire incident related duties during the period the employee is assigned to a qualifying incident; (2) the term covered services means services performed by an employee that are determined by the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture, as applicable, to primarily involve emergency wildfire suppression activities, including any period of duty when the employee is sleeping or resting during an extended period of deployment to engage in those activities; (3) the term emergency wildland fire suppression activities — (A) means initial-response and extended-response activities that directly relate to suppression of a wildfire; (B) includes activities associated with a severity incident, as defined in section 5545c(a); and (C) does not include activities associated with a prescribed fire incident, as defined in section 5545c(a); and (4) the term premium pay means the premium pay paid under the provisions of law cited in section 5547(a), except as otherwise provided in subsection (h). (b) Relationship to limitation on premium pay Any premium pay earned by a covered employee for covered services shall be disregarded in calculating the aggregate of the basic pay and premium pay of that covered employee for purposes of applying a limitation under section 5547. (c) Relationship to limitation on certain payments Any premium pay of a covered employee that is disregarded under subsection (b) shall be disregarded in calculating the aggregate pay of that covered employee for purposes of applying the limitation under section 5307. (d) Limitation (1) In general Pay that is disregarded under subsection (b) may not be paid to the extent that the pay would cause the aggregate of the basic pay, premium pay, and hazard pay under section 5545(d) payable in the applicable calendar year to the applicable covered employee to exceed the rate of basic pay payable for a position at level II of the Executive Schedule under section 5313, as in effect at the end of that calendar year. (2) Biweekly limitation Any premium pay that is subject to a biweekly limitation under section 5547(c) shall be paid first before other premium pay in applying the limitation under paragraph (1). (e) Waiver (1) In general Application of the limit in subsection (d) or subsection (h) to a covered employee may be waived at the sole and exclusive discretion of the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture, as applicable. (2) Prescription of criteria Before authorizing a waiver under paragraph (1) for a covered employee, the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture, as applicable, after consulting with the other Secretary, shall prescribe criteria that will be applied in making a determination to grant a waiver. (f) Lump-Sum payments Any additional pay resulting from application of this section may not be used in computing a lump-sum payment for accumulated and accrued annual leave under section 5551 or 5552. (g) Maintenance of records The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall maintain records that document uses of the authority provided by this section. (h) Certain rate employees (1) In general For a prevailing rate employee described in section 5342(a)(2)(A) who is a covered employee, premium pay may not be paid to the extent the premium pay would cause the aggregate of the basic pay and premium pay of the employee in the applicable calendar year to exceed the rate of basic pay payable for a position at level II of the Executive Schedule under section 5313, as in effect at the end of that calendar year. (2) Definitions For the purposes of this subsection— (A) the term basic pay means wages, environmental differential pay, and night shift differential pay; and (B) the term premium pay means overtime pay, Sunday premium pay, and holiday premium pay.; and (2) in section 5541(2)(xi), by inserting, 5547a(h), after section 5544. (b) Calendar year 2025 For the purpose of applying section 5547 of title 5, United States Code, and section 1701 of division B of the Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act (5 U.S.C. 5547 note) in calendar year 2025, incident standby premium pay shall be included in premium pay that is subject to the limits established in those sections. (c) Effective dates (1) Amendments The amendments made by subsection (a) shall take effect on the first day of the first pay period that has a payment date in January 2026. (2) Calendar year 2025 application Subsection (b) shall take effect on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after October 1, 2025. (d) Clerical amendment The table of sections for subchapter V of chapter 55 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 5547 the following: 5547a. Special limitations on premium pay for employees engaged in wildland firefighting..