Description:
S. 138 would exempt wildland firefighters, meteorologists, and incident management teams working in the Forest Service, the Department of the Interior, and the National Weather Service from premium pay limitations for work related to wildfire emergencies conducted in calendar year 2022. That is, the bill would increase the pay those federal employees could receive. S. 138 also would direct the affected agencies to submit a plan to the Congress that addresses the hiring and training of wildland firefighters. For this estimate, CBO assumes that the legislation will be enacted near the end of fiscal year 2022. As a result, any additional pay under this bill would be disbursed in fiscal year 2023. Public Law 117-103, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, increased the pay cap for firefighters within the Forest Service and Department of the Interior for calendar year 2022. Because of the small number of employees that would be affected, CBO estimates that extending the waiver to eligible National Weather Service employees and completing the required plan would have insignificant costs; any spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
