To amend section 5545 of title 5, United States Code, to provide hazard pay for carrying out prescribed burns, and for other purposes.
Key claim: A House bill would give federal civilian employees extra hazard pay when they carry out prescribed burns, the controlled fires used to reduce wildfire risk.
Abstract
(HR5091 · 119th Congress) Latest action (2025-09-02): Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Why this matters
Prescribed burns are a core wildfire-mitigation task for federal land-management agencies, but pay rules have not consistently treated them as hazardous duty even though they carry fire-line risks. Extending §5545 hazard pay would raise compensation and potentially aid recruitment/retention for a specialized federal workforce, while adding a modest cost line for employing agencies. The bill is narrow and only introduced, so near-term impact is contingent on committee action.