Government Accountability Office study

(a) Study Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter for 6 years, the Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a study to evaluate the progress of the Wellbeing Program. (b) Areas of focus The study required under subsection (a) shall— (1) assess, at minimum— (A) the progress of the Wellbeing Program with respect to establishing yearly goals and objectives, and the justification if goals and objectives have not been established; (B) the progress of the Wellbeing Program with respect to meeting its stated goals and objectives, and the justification if goals and objectives have not been met; (C) any challenges or barriers that limit the Wellbeing Program’s ability to meet its goals and objectives, and any recommendations for improvements; (D) the extent to which the Task Force and the Advisory Panel are following leading practices for effective collaboration as identified by the Government Accountability Office, including the practices identified 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; (E) the sustained focus and commitment of the Secretaries and the leadership within the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service with respect to addressing and improving the health of wildland firefighters, by examining— (i) their role in collaborating with key partners through the Task Force and the Advisory Panel; (ii) their role in establishing performance measures, assessing performance information, and making program modifications, as needed, based on performance results; and (iii) any other actions or steps that leadership have taken to demonstrate their sustained focus and commitment to improving wildland firefighter health outcomes; (F) current availability of respiratory equipment in the marketplace to be procured and used by wildland firefighters, including the extent to which respirators that meet National Fire Protection Association standards are available in the commercial marketplace; (G) the extent to which respiratory equipment that is available for procurement meets National Fire Protection Association standards and has been approved by the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; (H) the barriers, if any, that limit the development, approval, procurement, or widespread adoption of respirators that meet National Fire Protection Association standards for wildland firefighting; (I) the availability of decontamination and clean apparatus cab protocol supplies and infrastructure; (J) the barriers, if any, to implementing clean apparatus cab protocols, progress towards addressing challenges, and recommendations for improvements; (K) any progress made in the testing of exposure monitoring technologies, the results of the testing, and to the extent that exposure data are available, a summary of that data, including any relevant summary statistics, and observations on data quality; (L) progress of the promulgation of the standards pursuant to section 6; (M) progress that the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs of the Department of Labor has made in establishing a special claims handling unit to process and adjudicate workers’ compensation claims submitted by employees in fire protection activities, as described in the amendments made by section 7; (N) the extent to which funds or full-time positions allocated to the Wellbeing Program remain dedicated to the Wellbeing Program, including a summary of any diversions or repurposing of funds or full-time positions that were intended for the Wellbeing Program; and (O) to the extent practicable, the degree of hazardous exposure, in toxic exposure type and duration; and (2) summarize— (A) steps the Wellbeing Program has taken to address the cultural barriers associated with the use of respiratory protection among wildland firefighters, and any evidence of any progress that has been made in reducing these barriers; and (B) the status of any changes to National Fire Protection Association standards as they apply to wildland firefighting respiratory protection, as appropriate. (c) Report Not later than 1 year after the conclusion of each study required by subsection (a), the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the Committees on Natural Resources and Education and Workforce of the House of Representatives, and the Committees on Energy and Natural Resources and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, a report on the results of the study, including any recommendations for legislative or administrative actions.