US HB4671

Secretary of the Interior must develop a Wildland Fire Management Casualty Assistance Program within 6 months of enactment to support next-of-kin of firefighters and wildland fire support personnel who suffer illness, critical injury, or death in the line of duty

Program must establish notification procedures for next-of-kin, travel expense reimbursement for family visits to hospitalized or deceased personnel, and training and accountability standards for casualty assistance officers

Requires centralized case management with access to expert counselors, a free website providing integrated information on federal benefits and financial assistance, and a complaint/assistance request mechanism for survivors

Mandates data collection on casualty assistance quality in consultation with U.S. Fire Administration and NIOSH, plus coordination with Departments of Interior and Justice and Social Security Administration on benefits resolution

Next-of-kin priority order defined as: surviving spouse, adult children by age, parents, adult siblings by age, grandparents, then other relatives per state law; existing Line of Duty Death benefits remain unaffected