Title 16ConservationRelease 119-73

§832i Employment of personnel

Title 16 › Chapter CHAPTER 12B— - BONNEVILLE PROJECT › § 832i

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of Energy must hire an Assistant Administrator, a chief engineer, and a general counsel without following the usual civil‑service rules, and must set their pay under chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5. The Assistant Administrator will step in if the Administrator is sick, away, or the job is vacant until a successor is named. The Administrator, the Secretary of the Army, and the Secretary of Energy may hire other needed staff (usually under civil‑service rules) and set their pay under the same chapters. The Administrator may hire laborers for construction or electrical work, may hire doctors (outside civil‑service rules) to give physical exams to those workers, and any of the officials may appoint experts without civil‑service rules. The Administrator may accept unpaid help and, with permission, use other government staff or equipment and pay reasonable travel and other expenses.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §832i

Conservation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary of Energy shall appoint, without regard to the civil-service laws, an Assistant Administrator, chief engineer, and general counsel and shall fix the compensation of each in accordance with chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5. The Assistant Administrator shall perform the duties and exercise the powers of the Administrator, in the event of the absence or sickness of the Administrator until such absence or sickness shall cease and in the event of a vacancy in the office of Administrator until a successor is appointed
(b)The Administrator, the Secretary of the Army, and the Secretary of Energy, respectively, are authorized to appoint, subject to the civil-service laws, such officers and employees as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter, the appointment of whom is not otherwise provided for, and to fix their compensation in accordance with chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5. The Administrator may employ laborers, mechanics, and workmen in connection with construction work or the operation and maintenance of electrical facilities (hereinafter called “laborers, mechanics, and workmen”), subject to the civil-service laws. The Administrator is further authorized to employ physicians, under agreement and without regard to civil-service laws or regulations, to make physical examinations of employees or prospective employees who are or may become laborers, mechanics, and workmen. The Administrator, the Secretary of the Army, and the Secretary of Energy, respectively, are also authorized to appoint, without regard to the civil-service laws, such experts as may be necessary for carrying out the functions entrusted to them under this chapter.
(c)The Administrator may accept and utilize such voluntary and uncompensated services and with the consent of the agency concerned may utilize such officers, employees, or equipment of any agency of the Federal, State, or local governments which he finds helpful in carrying out the purposes of this chapter; in connection with the utilization of such services, reasonable payments may be allowed for necessary travel and other expenses.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification In subsecs. (a) and (b), “chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5” substituted for “the Classification Act of 1949, as amended” on authority of Pub. L. 89–554, § 7(b), Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 631, the first section of which enacted Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. Provisions of the second and fourth sentences of subsec. (b) which authorized the Administrator to fix the compensation of laborers, mechanics and workmen without regard to the Classification Act of 1923, and any other laws, rules, or

Regulations

relating to the payment of employees of the United States and which authorized the Administrator, the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of Energy to fix the compensation of experts without regard to the Classification Act of 1923, were omitted as obsolete. section 1202 and 1204 of the Classification Act of 1949, 63 Stat. 972, 973, repealed the 1923 Act and all laws or parts of laws inconsistent with the 1949 Act. While section 1106(a) of the 1949 Act provided that references in other laws to the 1923 Act should be held and considered to mean the 1949 Act, it did not have the effect of continuing the exceptions contained in this subsection because of section 1106(b) which provided that the application of the 1949 Act to any position, officer, or employee shall not be affected by section 1106(a). [But see Abell v. United States, 1975, 518 F.2d 1369, cert. denied 429 U.S. 817, and Columbia Power Trades Council v. United States Department of Energy, 1980, 496 F.Supp. 186.] The Classification Act of 1949 was repealed by Act Sept. 6, 1966, Pub. L. 89–554, § 8(a), 80 Stat. 632 (the first section of which revised and enacted Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, into law). Section 5102 of Title 5 contains the applicability provisions of the 1949 Act, and section 5103 of Title 5 authorizes the Office of Personnel Management to determine the applicability to specific positions and employees.

Amendments

1949—Subsecs. (a), (b). Act Oct. 28, 1949, substituted “Classification Act of 1949” for “Classification Act of 1923”. 1945—Act Oct. 23, 1945, added subsecs. (a) and (c), designated existing provisions as subsec. (b), and amended such provisions generally.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Department of War designated Department of the Army and title of Secretary of War changed to Secretary of the Army by section 205(a) of act
July 26, 1947, ch. 343, title II, 61 Stat. 501. section 205(a) of act
July 26, 1947, was repealed by section 53 of act Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 641. section 1 of act Aug. 10, 1956, enacted “Title 10, Armed Forces” which in sections 3010 to 3013 continued military Department of the Army under administrative supervision of Secretary of the Army.

Repeals

Act Oct. 28, 1949, ch. 782, cited as a credit to this section, was repealed (subject to a savings clause) by Pub. L. 89–554, Sept. 6, 1966, § 8, 80 Stat. 632, 655.

Transfer of Functions

“Secretary of Energy” substituted for “Secretary of the Interior” in subsec. (a) pursuant to Pub. L. 95–91, § 302(a)(1)(D), (2), which is classified to section 7152(a)(1)(D), (2) of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, which transferred functions of Secretary of the Interior with respect to Bonneville Power Administration to Secretary of Energy, with Bonneville Power Administration to be preserved as a distinct organizational entity within Department of Energy and headed by an Administrator. “Secretary of Energy” substituted for “Federal Power Commission” in subsec. (b) pursuant to Pub. L. 95–91, § 301(b), which is classified to section 7151(b) of Title 42. The Federal Power Commission was terminated, and its functions, personnel, property, funds, etc., were transferred to the Secretary of Energy (except for certain functions which were transferred to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) by section 7151(b), 7171(a), 7172(a), 7291, and 7293 of Title 42.

Executive Documents

Transfer of Functions

Executive and administrative functions of Federal Power Commission, with certain reservations, transferred to Chairman of such Commission, with authority vested in him to authorize their performance by any officer, employee, or administrative unit under his jurisdiction, by Reorg. Plan No. 9 of 1950, §§ 1, 2, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3175, 64 Stat. 1265, set out as a note under section 792 of this title. For

Transfer of Functions

of other officers, employees, and agencies of Department of the Interior, with certain exceptions, to Secretary of the Interior, with power to delegate, see Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1950, §§ 1, 2, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat. 1262, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 832i

Title 16Conservation

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73