Federal officials are considering a rule change that would make wildland firefighters conducting prescribed fires eligible for hazardous duty pay.

The Office of Personnel Management recently posted the proposed rule on the Federal Register, which specified that prescribed burns conducted by General Schedule employees would trigger Hazardous Duty Pay, while Federal Wage System employees would get Environmental Differential Pay.

“The proposed new differentials would apply to GS and FWS employees participating as a member of a firefighting crew engaged in activities on the fireline directly involving the implementation and control of prescribed wildland fires,” the proposed rule said. “This rulemaking would authorize a 25 percent differential.”

Hazard pay has historically not been eligible for GS employees when the “hazard” in question has already been taken into account in the position’s description, like firefighters fighting wildfires, according to the Office. That largely changed for firefighters in 2021 when a special exemption was added, allowing wildland firefighters working on a wildfire’s fireline to receive hazard pay. The proposed rule change follows the same logic, allowing a GS or FWS employee working a prescribed fire’s fireline to receive hazard pay despite the classification of the employee’s position.

Previous research has shown that wildland firefighters conducting prescribed burns are often exposed to carbon monoxide, trace metals, and particulate matter at levels that exceeded the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s recommended exposure limit, which may cause both short-term and long-term negative health impacts. Some of the personal protective equipment that wildland firefighters use has been found to increase the risk of cancer, due to the equipment shedding carcinogenic compounds and harmful chemicals when exposed to high temperatures common on firelines.

Firefighter advocacy group Grassroots Wildland Firefighters has been pushing for the rule change since 2022 and said it was another success in the fight to adequately pay and protect the nation’s firefighters.

“We truly appreciate the agency staff and leadership who pushed to acknowledge that ‘good fire’ is still hazardous work,” the organization said in a social media post. “We still have a long way to go, but this is a big win for the boots on the ground.”

Members of the public are encouraged to submit comments on the proposed rule change through June 15. Click here to submit comments and read the full rule.