[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1580 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
S.1580
One Hundred Fourteenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,
the fourth day of January, two thousand and sixteen
An Act
To allow additional appointing authorities to select individuals from
competitive service certificates.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Competitive Service Act of 2015''.
SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL APPOINTING AUTHORITIES FOR COMPETITIVE SERVICE.
(a) In General.--Section 3318 of title 5, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as subsections (c)
and (d), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following:
``(b) Other Appointing Authorities.--
``(1) In general.--During the 240-day period beginning on the
date of issuance of a certificate of eligibles under section
3317(a), an appointing authority other than the appointing
authority requesting the certificate (in this subsection referred
to as the `other appointing authority') may select an individual
from that certificate in accordance with this subsection for an
appointment to a position that is--
``(A) in the same occupational series as the position for
which the certification of eligibles was issued (in this
subsection referred to as the `original position'); and
``(B) at a similar grade level as the original position.
``(2) Applicability.--An appointing authority requesting a
certificate of eligibles may share the certificate with another
appointing authority only if the announcement of the original
position provided notice that the resulting list of eligible
candidates may be used by another appointing authority.
``(3) Requirements.--The selection of an individual under
paragraph (1)--
``(A) shall be made in accordance with subsection (a); and
``(B) subject to paragraph (4), may be made without any
additional posting under section 3327.
``(4) Internal notice.--Before selecting an individual under
paragraph (1), and subject to the requirements of any collective
bargaining obligation of the other appointing authority, the other
appointing authority shall--
``(A) provide notice of the available position to employees
of the other appointing authority;
``(B) provide up to 10 business days for employees of the
other appointing authority to apply for the position; and
``(C) review the qualifications of employees submitting an
application.
``(5) Collective bargaining obligations.--Nothing in this
subsection limits any collective bargaining obligation of an agency
under chapter 71.''.
(b) Alternative Ranking and Selection Procedures.--Section 3319 of
title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking subsection (c) and
inserting the following:
``(c) Selection.--
``(1) In general.--An appointing official may select any
applicant in the highest quality category or, if fewer than 3
candidates have been assigned to the highest quality category, in a
merged category consisting of the highest and the second highest
quality categories.
``(2) Use by other appointing officials.--Under regulations
prescribed by the Office of Personnel Management, appointing
officials other than the appointing official described in paragraph
(1) (in this subsection referred to as the `other appointing
official') may select an applicant for an appointment to a position
that is--
``(A) in the same occupational series as the position for
which the certification of eligibles was issued (in this
subsection referred to as the `original position'); and
``(B) at a similar grade level as the original position.
``(3) Applicability.--An appointing authority requesting a
certificate of eligibles may share the certificate with another
appointing authority only if the announcement of the original
position provided notice that the resulting list of eligible
candidates may be used by another appointing authority.
``(4) Requirements.--The selection of an individual under
paragraph (2)--
``(A) shall be made in accordance with this subsection; and
``(B) subject to paragraph (5), may be made without any
additional posting under section 3327.
``(5) Internal notice.--Before selecting an individual under
paragraph (2), and subject to the requirements of any collective
bargaining obligation of the other appointing authority (within the
meaning given that term in section 3318(b)(1)), the other
appointing official shall--
``(A) provide notice of the available position to employees
of the appointing authority employing the other appointing
official;
``(B) provide up to 10 business days for employees of the
other appointing authority to apply for the position; and
``(C) review the qualifications of employees submitting an
application.
``(6) Collective bargaining obligations.--Nothing in this
subsection limits any collective bargaining obligation of an agency
under chapter 71.
``(7) Preference eligibles.--Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and
(2), an appointing official may not pass over a preference eligible
in the same category from which selection is made, unless the
requirements of section 3317(b) and 3318(c), as applicable, are
satisfied.''.
(c) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--Section 9510(b)(5) of
title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking ``3318(b)'' and
inserting ``3318(c)''.
(d) Regulations.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall
issue an interim final rule with comment to carry out the amendments
made by this section.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.