Federal Register #OPM-2026-0199

Proposed 25% Pay Differential for Federal Employees in Prescribed Wildland Fire Activities

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is proposing a regulatory change to provide a 25% pay differential for federal employees engaged in prescribed wildland fire activities. - Government Buyer: - Office of Personnel Management (OPM) - Rule requested by USDA Forest Service and Department of the Interior (DOI) - Affected Employees: - General Schedule (GS) and Federal Wage System (FWS) employees - Applies to those serving as members of firefighting crews directly involved in implementing and controlling prescribed wildland fires - Products/Services Requested: - No physical products or commercial services are being procured - Regulatory change authorizing 25% Hazardous Duty Pay (HDP) and Environmental Differential Pay (EDP) for eligible employees - Unique/Notable Requirements: - Employees must be directly engaged on the fireline during prescribed fire operations - Addresses pay parity with wildfire firefighters - Recognizes significant hazards such as smoke exposure and injury risks - Impacted Agencies: - USDA Forest Service - Department of the Interior (DOI) - Other federal agencies with wildland fire management responsibilities

Description

The Office of Personnel Management is proposing a rule to add prescribed (planned) wildland fire duties as activities eligible for Hazardous Duty Pay (HDP) for General Schedule employees and Environmental Differential Pay (EDP) for Federal Wage System employees. This pay differential would apply to employees actively engaged on the fireline in implementing and controlling prescribed wildland fires. The proposed rule authorizes a 25 percent pay differential to recognize the hazards associated with prescribed fire operations, aiming to achieve pay parity with wildfire firefighting duties. Comments on the proposal are due by June 15, 2026.

View original listing