Wildland Firefighter Health Task Force

(a) Establishment Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Interior, in coordination with the Secretary of Agriculture, shall establish within the Department of the Interior an interagency Task Force, to be known as the Wildland Firefighter Health Task Force. (b) Composition (1) In general The Task Force shall be composed of representatives of Federal agencies, to be chosen by the Secretaries, including not fewer than 1 representative from each of the following agencies: (A) The Bureau of Land Management. (B) The National Park Service. (C) The Bureau of Indian Affairs. (D) The United States Fish and Wildlife Service. (E) The Forest Service. (F) Wildland firefighting agencies under the Department of Interior or the Department of Agriculture. (G) The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. (H) The Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (I) The Environmental Protection Agency. (2) DOD participation The Secretaries may extend invitations to relevant Department of Defense representatives to participate as Task Force members. (c) Chairperson The Program Director shall be the chair of the Task Force. (d) Responsibilities of the task force The Task Force shall— (1) provide for interagency coordination to identify administrative and engineering controls— (A) to be used during arduous wildland fire operations to prevent or significantly reduce inhalation and dermal exposures to toxic and hazardous substances and conditions; and (B) to the maximum extent practicable, that can be implemented within 180 days of the establishment of the Task Force; (2) develop pilot testing protocols and procedures for the evaluation of respiratory protection technologies during any temporary compliance adjustment period authorized under this Act; (3) provide recommendations to inform the promulgation of any occupational safety and health standards described under section 6; and (4) not later than 1 year after the establishment of the Task Force, develop and make publicly available the Health Strategy in accordance with subsection (f), to be implemented through the Wellbeing Program. (e) Wildland firefighter health advisory panel (1) In general Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Interior, in coordination with the Secretary of Agriculture, shall establish an Advisory Panel, to be known as the Wildland Firefighter Health Advisory Panel, to provide recommendations to the Task Force with respect to— (A) the Health Strategy; and (B) the responsibilities of the Task Force under subsection (d). (2) Scope The Advisory Panel shall participate in all aspects of the development and implementation of the Health Strategy, and recommendations and input made by the Advisory Panel shall be considered to be advisory in nature. (3) Advisory panel composition The Advisory Panel shall be composed of members with expertise in wildland firefighting, who collectively have a combination of backgrounds, experiences, expertise, and viewpoints, to be appointed by the Secretaries, including— (A) not fewer than 2 current wildland firefighters at ground operation level; (B) not fewer than 2 former wildland firefighters; (C) representatives of— (i) unions representing current and former wildland firefighters; (ii) unions representing current and former State and local government firefighters who respond to Federal wildfire incidents; (iii) employee groups representing wildland firefighter interests; (iv) professional organizations; (v) nonprofit research foundations; (vi) State and local fire agencies with established or planned respiratory protection programs; and (vii) Tribal Governments or Tribal fire agencies; (D) academics or researchers with expertise in— (i) cancer and occupational medicine; (ii) industrial hygiene; (iii) occupational epidemiology; (iv) occupational toxicology; (v) dermatology; and (vi) behavioral health; (E) any other non-Federal stakeholder or expert in wildland firefighting or in wildland firefighter health and wellbeing, as identified by the Task Force; and (F) at the discretion of the Secretaries, representatives of international fire companies with established or planned respiratory protection programs. (4) Term of appointment Each Advisory Panel member appointed shall serve a term of 6 years. (5) Vacancies Any vacancies on the Advisory Panel— (A) shall be filled in the same manner in which the original appointment was made; and (B) to the extent practicable, shall be filled within 3 months of a vacancy to ensure continuous balance of expertise. (6) Compensation A member of the Advisory Panel shall serve without compensation. (7) Travel expenses The Secretary may provide to any member of the Advisory Panel travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for an employee of an agency under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away from the home or regular place of business of the member in the performance of the duties of the Advisory Panel. (8) Collaboration The Task Force and the Advisory Panel shall follow leading practices for effective collaboration, as identified by the Government Accountability Office, including in the document entitled Government Performance Management: Leading Practices to Enhance Interagency Collaboration and Address Crosscutting Challenges (GAO–23–105520) and published in May 2023. (f) Wildland firefighter health strategy The Task Force shall develop, and update not less frequently than once every 3 years, a coordinated Wildland Firefighter Health Strategy to address health concerns for wildland firefighters, to be implemented through the Wellbeing Program, including consideration of— (1) the availability and use of the best available respiratory protection technologies for wildland firefighting, and any identified needs for improved technologies; (2) opportunities to reduce dermal exposure to hazardous substances encountered during wildland firefighting, including— (A) implementation of clean apparatus cab protocols; (B) transitioning to protective equipment that does not contain perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances or other hazardous chemicals; (C) decontamination of gear, clothing, and skin; and (D) recommendations for near-term and long-term implementation options; (3) opportunities to reduce inhalation exposure to hazardous substances encountered during wildland firefighting; (4) strategies to recognize and address mental health needs of wildland firefighters; (5) strategies for long-term exposure tracking and medical surveillance, including— (A) promoting enrollment in the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer and the national Fire Fighter Cancer Cohort Study; (B) systems to enable wildland firefighters to track individual exposure events over time; (C) the key components of a medical surveillance program, including data integration with existing health and compensation data systems; (D) requirements for a comprehensive baseline medical assessment upon entry into service for all wildland firefighters; and (E) health markers to be tracked consistently with periodic updates, considering lung function and other necessary markers; (6) strategies to increase research and development opportunities to address any critical knowledge gaps, including— (A) short- and long-term impacts of inhalation and dermal exposures on reproductive health for male and female firefighters, including adverse health outcomes for pregnant firefighters; (B) exposure, lung function, and malignancy tracking necessary to optimize early identification of exposure risks; (C) specific exposure limits and types of monitoring equipment or practices to guide decision-making on the use of respiratory protection; and (D) any other knowledge gaps identified by the Task Force that impede efforts to meet program goals; (7) the amount of time spent by wildland firefighters working in the wildland-urban interface and specific health concerns associated with working in that environment; (8) scientific, technological, cultural, or other challenges necessary to be addressed to understand and to significantly reduce health risks faced by wildland firefighters; and (9) priorities for the grant program described in section 4(g) to support research, pilot testing, and evaluation of exposure reduction technologies and practices. (g) Meetings The Task Force and the Advisory Panel shall meet at the call of the Chair but not less frequently than twice per calendar year. (h) Administrative support The Secretary of the Interior shall provide such clerical and technical support as may be necessary to enable the Task Force and the Advisory Panel to carry out the functions and meetings of the Task Force and the Advisory Panel. (i) Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2032 to carry out this section.