Federal Wildland Firefighter Health and Wellbeing Program

(a) Establishment The Secretary of Interior, in coordination with the Secretary of Agriculture, shall establish and maintain a Federal Wildland Firefighter Health and Wellbeing Program. (b) Purpose The purpose of the Wellbeing Program is to improve the long-term health outcomes of wildland firefighters and support personnel by— (1) addressing occupational exposures to hazardous materials, respiratory hazards, and other risks associated with wildland fire occupations; and (2) focusing on cancer prevention and early detection. (c) Program Director (1) In general The Wellbeing Program shall be headed by a Federal Wildland Firefighter Health and Wellbeing Program Director, who shall be appointed by the Secretary of the Interior, in coordination with the Secretary of Agriculture. (2) Initial appointment Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the initial Program Director shall be appointed. (d) Program scope In carrying out the Wellbeing Program, the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Program Director and in coordination with the Secretary of Agriculture, shall— (1) assess occupational health risks faced by wildland firefighters, including risks associated with wildfire smoke, hazardous substances, heat, and other environmental and operational exposures; (2) expand prevention, education, and support services to address trauma and cumulative stress, build coping skills, bolster resiliency, and improve mental preparedness; (3) identify and implement administrative and engineering controls to reduce inhalation hazards and exposure risk; (4) carry out and support demonstrations, experiments, and pilot programs for technology or safety practices; (5) coordinate with manufacturers in the development of respiratory protection technologies and evaluate the efficacy and field use of those technologies through data collection and firefighter feedback, including surveys and interviews; (6) support efforts by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to coordinate with State, Tribal, and local fire services to promote consistency of respirator technology use; (7) develop and administer comprehensive training and education for wildland firefighters on smoke exposure health risks and benefits of respiratory protection; (8) promote a culture among wildland firefighters and support crews to prevent exposure to wildfire smoke; (9) support crew leadership in promoting decontamination and cleanliness practices; (10) implement dermal exposure reduction strategies and clean apparatus cab protocols; (11) support the testing and use of exposure monitoring technologies, including sensors and devices providing real-time air quality or dermal exposure feedback; (12) develop and implement a system for wildland firefighters and support staff to track their own exposure and document their risk over time; (13) develop a medical surveillance protocol, including data integration with existing health and compensation data systems, and share data with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; (14) conduct baseline medical exams, including early indicators of cancer and chronic cardiopulmonary disease, on the hiring of an employee and conduct medical exams annually to track health outcomes; (15) provide access to regular medical screenings for early detection of disease or illness, including cancer screenings and periodic pulmonary function testing; (16) implement hearing protective protocols in accordance with section 1910.95 of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation); (17) ensure that the results of any monitoring or medical surveillance are made available to the affected firefighter in a timely manner; and (18) develop a mechanism for wildland firefighters to provide comments or suggestions or ask questions, via a website or another mechanism, which shall allow for anonymous and non-anonymous feedback. (e) Requirement for Wellbeing Program staffing (1) Full-time staffing The Secretaries shall ensure the Wellbeing Program is staffed with a sufficient number of full-time employees necessary to carry out the Program duties, including at least 1 full-time staff at each regional office and at least 4 full-time employees at the national level, with appropriate expertise in— (A) occupational health; (B) industrial hygiene; (C) epidemiology; (D) toxicology; (E) respiratory protection; (F) wildfire operations; (G) data management; (H) behavioral health; or (I) other related disciplines. (2) Support personnel The Secretaries shall provide adequate administrative, technical, analytical, and field support— (A) to implement the Health Strategy; (B) to oversee pilots and grants; (C) to coordinate with the Task Force and the Advisory Panel; and (D) to meet reporting requirements. (3) Annual certification The Program Director shall annually assess and report to Congress whether staffing and funding are sufficient to carry out the Wellbeing Program and identify additional resource needs. (f) Pilot testing authority The Program Director, in consultation with the Task Force, may implement any pilot programs, demonstration projects, or field testing in coordination with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to assess the feasibility, effectiveness, and operational suitability of protective technologies. (g) Grantmaking authority (1) In general The Program Director, in consultation with the Task Force, may establish and carry out additional grant programs to support— (A) research, pilot testing, and evaluation of exposure reduction technologies and practices; (B) the acquisition and distribution of respiratory protective equipment; and (C) research and development efforts to address knowledge gaps identified in the Health Strategy. (2) Advisory role for Wellbeing Program The Task Force shall advise the Wellbeing Program with respect to the grant program described in paragraph (1) on— (A) standards and criteria for grant award determinations; (B) selection of grant applications; and (C) final funding decisions. (h) Coordination The Program Director shall consult with the Task Force and the Advisory Panel in carrying out this section at the frequency specified in section 3(g). (i) Worker compensation information sharing (1) In general Not later than 90 days after the date of appointment under subsection (c)(2), the Program Director shall set and coordinate bi-annual meetings with the Director of the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs of the Department of Labor to facilitate information-sharing between the workers' compensation programs of the Department of Labor and the Wellbeing Program on issues impacting wildland firefighters’ health, benefits, compensation, or any other matters relating to those programs or the Wellbeing Program. (2) Task Force and Advisory Panel The information gathered during a meeting described in paragraph (1) shall be shared with the Task Force and the Advisory Panel. (j) Program performance plans assessment Not later than 45 days before the end of the first full fiscal year after the date of enactment of this Act, and not later than 45 days before the end of each fiscal year thereafter, following Federal performance management best practices outlined by the Government Accountability Office (including in the document entitled Evidence-Based Policymaking: Practices to Help Manage and Assess the Results of Federal Efforts (GAO–23–105460)), the Program Director shall complete a plan that— (1) establishes goals to define Wellbeing Program performance, including— (A) long-term strategic goals; and (B) near-term performance goals to be achieved over the following 1-year period; (2) expresses those performance goals in an objective, quantifiable, achievable, and measurable form; (3) establishes a balanced set of performance indicators to be used in measuring or assessing progress toward each performance goal, including outcome indicators, as appropriate; (4) establishes data collection protocols for the performance indicators established under paragraph (3) to collect the information and data needed to assess progress toward performance goals; and (5) carries out the tasks described in paragraphs (1) through (4) in consultation with— (A) the Task Force; and (B) the Advisory Panel and other relevant stakeholders, as the Program Director determines to be appropriate. (k) Assessment and report (1) In general Not later than 60 days after the end of the first full fiscal year after the date of enactment of this Act, and not later than 60 days after the end of each fiscal year thereafter, the Program Director shall submit to Congress a report describing the progress the Wellbeing Program has made toward meeting its performance goals during the prior year, along with— (A) detailed action plans to improve results for any performance goals that were not met; (B) any challenges or lessons learned identified; and (C) any other findings relevant to Wellbeing Program performance. (2) Task Force input The Program Director shall develop each report under paragraph (1) with input from the Task Force. (3) Task Force meetings At the end of each fiscal year, the Program Director shall set a meeting with the Task Force to review Wellbeing Program progress and— (A) determine the extent to which the Wellbeing Program met its established goals during the prior year; (B) identify and document any challenges the Wellbeing Program faces in meeting its established goals and detailed plans to address them, including an assessment of challenges related to staffing, training, or funding levels; and (C) assess and document lessons learned to be applied in the years going forward. (l) Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated $34,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2032 to carry out this section.