[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4528 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4528
To amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to address the insufficient
compensation and recruitment of employees and other personnel of the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 11, 2023
Ms. DeGette introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to address the insufficient
compensation and recruitment of employees and other personnel of the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and for other purposes.
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 ``Strengthening the NRC Workforce Act
of 2023''.
SEC. 2. COMMISSION WORKFORCE.
(a) General Authority.--The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C.
2201 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 161A the following:
``SEC. 161B. COMMISSION WORKFORCE.
``(a) Direct Hire Authority.--
``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding section 161 d. of this
Act and section 3304 of title 5, United States Code, and
without regard to the provisions of sections 3309 through 3318
of title 5, United States Code, if the Chairman of the
Commission issues a certification that there is a severe
shortage of candidates or a critical hiring need for covered
positions to carry out the Commission's responsibilities and
activities, the Chairman may, subject to paragraphs (2) and
(3), recruit and directly appoint highly qualified individuals
into the competitive service.
``(2) Limitations.--Any action authorized pursuant to
paragraph (1) shall be consistent with the merit principles of
section 2301 of title 5, United States Code, and the Chairman
shall comply with the public notice requirements of section
3327 of such title 5.
``(3) Termination.--
``(A) In general.--A certification issued or
renewed under this subsection shall terminate on the
earlier of--
``(i) the date that is 5 years after the
certification is renewed or issued; or
``(ii) the date on which the Chairman
determines there is no longer a severe shortage
of candidates or a critical hiring need for
covered positions to carry out the Commission's
responsibilities and activities.
``(B) Renewal.--The Chairman may renew a
certification issued or renewed under this subsection
for an additional 5-year period if the Chairman
determines there is still a severe shortage of
candidates or a critical hiring need for covered
positions to carry out the Commission's
responsibilities and activities.
``(4) Covered position.--In this subsection, the term
`covered position' means a position in which an employee is
responsible for conducting work of a scientific, technical,
engineering, mathematical, legal, or otherwise highly
specialized or skilled nature.
``(b) Addressing Insufficient Compensation of Employees and Other
Personnel of the Commission.--
``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, if the Chairman of the Commission publicly certifies that
compensation for a category of employees or other personnel of
the Commission is insufficient to retain or attract employees
and other personnel to allow the Commission to carry out the
functions of the Commission in a timely, efficient, and
effective manner, the Chairman may fix the compensation for the
category of employees or other personnel without regard to
chapter 51 and chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, or
any other civil service law.
``(2) Certification requirements.--A certification issued
under paragraph (1) shall--
``(A) apply with respect to a category of employees
who serve in covered positions, as defined in
subsection (a)(4);
``(B) specify a maximum amount of reasonable
compensation for the category of employees or other
personnel;
``(C) be valid for a 5-year period beginning on the
date on which the certification is issued; and
``(D) be no broader than necessary to achieve the
objective of retaining or attracting employees and
other personnel to allow the Commission to carry out
the functions of the Commission in a timely, efficient,
and effective manner.
``(3) Renewal.--
``(A) In general.--Not later than 90 days before
the date of expiration of a certification issued under
paragraph (1), the Chairman shall determine whether the
certification should be renewed for a subsequent 5-year
period.
``(B) Requirement.--If the Chairman determines that
a certification should be renewed under subparagraph
(A), the Chairman may renew the certification, subject
to the certification requirements under paragraph (2)
that were applicable to the initial certification.
``(4) New hires.--
``(A) In general.--An employee or other personnel
that is a member of a category of employees or other
personnel that would have been covered by a
certification issued under paragraph (1), but was hired
during a period in which the certification has expired
and has not been renewed under paragraph (3) shall not
be eligible for compensation at the level that would
have applied to the employee or other personnel if the
certification had been in effect on the date on which
the employee or other personnel was hired.
``(B) Compensation of new hires on renewal.--On
renewal of a certification under paragraph (3), the
Chairman may fix the compensation of the employees or
other personnel described in subparagraph (A) at the
level established for the category of employees or
other personnel in the certification.
``(5) Retention of level of fixed compensation.--A category
of employees or other personnel, the compensation of which was
fixed by the Chairman in accordance with paragraph (1), may, at
the discretion of the Chairman, have the level of fixed
compensation for the category of employees or other personnel
retained, regardless of whether a certification described under
that paragraph is in effect with respect to the compensation of
the category of employees or other personnel.
``(6) Consultation required.--The Chairman shall consult
with the Director of the Office of Personnel Management in
implementing this subsection, including in the determination of
the amount of compensation with respect to each category of
employees or other personnel. Not later than 60 days after the
Chairman's request for consultation under this paragraph, the
Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall respond to
and consult with the Chairman for purposes of this paragraph.
``(7) Experts and consultants.--
``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), the
Chairman may--
``(i) obtain the services of experts and
consultants in accordance with section 3109 of
title 5, United States Code;
``(ii) compensate those experts and
consultants for each day (including travel
time) at rates not in excess of the rate of pay
for level IV of the Executive Schedule under
section 5315 of that title; and
``(iii) pay to the experts and consultants
serving away from the homes or regular places
of business of the experts and consultants
travel expenses and per diem in lieu of
subsistence at rates authorized by sections
5702 and 5703 of that title for persons in
Government service employed intermittently.
``(B) Limitations.--The Chairman shall--
``(i) to the maximum extent practicable,
limit the use of experts and consultants
pursuant to subparagraph (A); and
``(ii) ensure that the employment contract
of each expert and consultant employed pursuant
to subparagraph (A) is subject to renewal not
less frequently than annually.
``(c) Additional Compensation Authority.--
``(1) For new employees.--The Commission may pay a person
recruited and directly appointed under subsection (a) a 1-time
hiring bonus in an amount not to exceed $25,000.
``(2) For existing employees.--
``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), an
employee who the Chairman determines exhibited
exceptional performance in a fiscal year may be paid a
performance bonus in an amount not to exceed the least
of--
``(i) $25,000; and
``(ii) the amount of the limitation that is
applicable for a calendar year under section
5307(a)(1) of title 5, United States Code.
``(B) Limitations.--
``(i) Subsequent bonuses.--Any person who
receives a performance bonus under subparagraph
(A) may not receive another performance bonus
under that subparagraph for a period of 5 years
thereafter.
``(ii) Hiring bonuses.--Any person who
receives a 1-time hiring bonus under paragraph
(1) may not receive a performance bonus under
subparagraph (A) unless more than one year has
elapsed since the payment of such 1-time hiring
bonus.''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of the Atomic Energy
Act of 1954 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section
161A the following:
``Sec. 161B. Commission workforce.''.
SEC. 3. REPORTS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment
of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter, the Chairman of the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission shall submit to the Committee on Energy and
Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Environment and Public Works of the Senate a report on information
relating to hiring, vacancies, and compensation at the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission.
(b) Inclusions.--Each report under subsection (a) shall include--
(1) an analysis of any trends with respect to hiring,
vacancies, and compensation at the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission; and
(2) a description of the efforts to retain and attract
employees or other personnel responsible for conducting work of
a scientific, technical, engineering, mathematical, legal, or
otherwise highly specialized or skilled nature at the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission.
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