§1599d — Title 10 Armed Forces | U.S. Code

Summary

The Secretary of Defense can set education, certification, and credential rules for financial management jobs in the Department of Defense. Those rules must be written as a Department regulation. The Secretary can waive any rule. The Secretary can make a rule apply right away or give workers a reasonable time to meet it. But a new formal education rule cannot be forced on someone already in the job when the rule is set. The rules must be made through the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and in consultation with the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. Within one year after a new rule or a major change becomes effective, the Secretary and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management must report to Congress on plans to train people to meet the new standards. A "financial management position" means any civilian or military job the Secretary names that does or manages fiscal, accounting, auditing, cost, budget, or related financial work.

Title 10, §1599d

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary of Defense may prescribe professional certification and credential standards for financial management positions within the Department of Defense, including requirements for formal education and requirements for certifications that individuals have met predetermined qualifications set by an agency of Government or by an industry or professional group. Any such professional certification or credential standard shall be prescribed as a Department regulation.

(b)The Secretary may waive any standard prescribed under subsection (a) whenever the Secretary determines such a waiver to be appropriate.

(c)(1)Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Secretary may, in the Secretary’s discretion—

(A)require that a standard prescribed under subsection (a) apply immediately to all personnel holding financial management positions designated by the Secretary; or

(B)delay the imposition of such a standard for a reasonable period to permit persons holding financial management positions so designated time to comply.

(2)A formal education requirement prescribed under subsection (a) shall not apply to any person employed by the Department in a financial management position before the standard is prescribed.

(d)The Secretary shall prescribe any professional certification or credential standards under subsection (a) through the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), in consultation with the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness.

(e)Not later than one year after the effective date of any regulations prescribed under subsection (a), or any significant modification of such regulations, the Secretary shall, in conjunction with the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, submit to Congress a report setting forth the plans of the Secretary to provide training to appropriate Department personnel to meet any new professional certification or credential standard under such regulations or modification.

(f)In this section, the term “financial management position” means a position or group of positions (including civilian and military positions), as designated by the Secretary for purposes of this section, that perform, supervise, or manage work of a fiscal, financial management, accounting, auditing, cost, or budgetary nature, or that require the performance of financial management-related work.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2011—Pub. L. 112–81 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section related to the authority to prescribe certification and credential standards for professional accounting positions. 2008—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 110–417 substituted “0505, 0510, 0511, or equivalent” for “GS–510, GS–511, and GS–505”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Pub. L. 107–314, div. A, title XI, § 1104(b), Dec. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 2661, provided that: “Standards established pursuant to section 1599d of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), may take effect no sooner than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 2, 2002].”

§1599d Financial Management Positions: Authority to Prescribe Professional Certification and Credential Standards