The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has proposed changes to federal pay regulations that would expand hazard pay eligibility for wildland firefighters, including authorizing a 25% hazard pay differential for employees conducting prescribed burns, according to GovExec — Pay & Benefits.
- What’s proposed: OPM would allow hazard pay at 25% of basic pay for federal wildland firefighters when performing prescribed burning work, GovExec — Pay & Benefits reported.
- Why it matters: Prescribed burns are a proactive fuel-reduction tool intended to lower the risk and intensity of future wildfires, but they can expose crews to smoke, heat, shifting fire behavior, and other hazards.
- Who could be affected: The proposal targets federal wildland firefighting personnel who conduct prescribed fire operations as part of their official duties.
- How hazard pay works: Hazard pay is paid as a differential—an additional percentage on top of an employee’s rate of basic pay—when duties meet criteria set in federal regulations.
- Regulatory path: As a proposed rule, the change would require completion of the federal rulemaking process before it could take effect, including public input and a final rule.
- Potential pay impact: If finalized, the 25% differential would apply only for qualifying periods when employees are performing the covered hazardous duty (prescribed burns), not as a permanent across-the-board increase.
Brief context: Federal agencies have leaned more heavily on prescribed fire and other fuels treatments as wildfire seasons grow longer and more destructive. At the same time, federal wildland firefighter pay and staffing have been under sustained scrutiny, with agencies facing recruitment and retention challenges. Expanding hazard pay eligibility for prescribed burns would directly tie additional compensation to higher-risk assignments that are central to prevention-focused wildfire strategy.
For employees, the practical question is whether your duties and position are covered and how the differential would be calculated during qualifying work. Hazard pay differentials are generally based on basic pay, which can affect the size of the increase depending on grade, step, and locality pay. Employees tracking potential changes can reference pay tables and locality rates through FedInfo’s pay scales and calculators.
OPM’s proposal, as described by GovExec — Pay & Benefits, would place prescribed burning more explicitly within the scope of duties eligible for hazard pay—potentially increasing take-home pay during those assignments while agencies continue to rely on prescribed fire to reduce wildfire risk.
Source: GovExec — Pay & Benefits