Fair Pay for Federal Firefighters Act

HR 4831, the Fair Pay for Federal Firefighters Act, increases pay for wildland firefighters employed by the Forest Service or Department of the Interior during fiscal years 2024-2025. It establishes special pay rates (ranging from 1.5% to 42% above standard General Schedule rates, depending on grade) that replace regular pay for these workers. The bill also creates a new "incident response premium pay" provision, entitling eligible firefighters to 450% of their hourly rate for each day deployed on qualifying wildfires or fire-related incidents, capped at $9,000 annually per employee. This premium pay is excluded from calculations for benefits like leave accruals, overtime, or retirement. The bill directly affects federal wildland firefighters whose duties focus on forest, range, or wildland fires (not structural fires).