Title 42, The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-110
§2201b Commission Workforce
Title 42 › CHAPTER 23 — DEVELOPMENT AND CONTROL OF ATOMIC ENERGY › SUBCHAPTER XIII — GENERAL AUTHORITY OF COMMISSION › § 2201b
Summary
The Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission can hire people directly into special excepted jobs to help the agency work quickly and well. The Chairman can also create time-limited jobs up to 4 years. No more than 210 people can be in these hired positions at once, and no more than 20 new time-limited hires can be made in any fiscal year. Pay for these hires cannot be higher than the annual basic pay for Executive Schedule level III (see 5 U.S.C. 5314) and must match the person’s experience. The Chairman may not fill Senior Executive Service jobs this way. The Chairman can also set pay for current covered employees outside normal General Schedule rules, with the same pay cap and the same ban on SES pay. New hires may get a one-time hiring bonus up to $25,000. Existing staff who the Chairman finds showed exceptional work may get a performance bonus up to $25,000 or the limit in 5 U.S.C. 5307(a)(1), with rules that limit repeat and overlapping bonuses. The Chairman must delegate these authorities to the Executive Director for Operations if needed. Within 180 days after July 9, 2024, the Chairman must make a plan and send a report about it to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and the Office of Personnel Management. The NRC must include hiring, vacancy, and pay information in its budget materials starting with fiscal year 2026. That material must show trends, retention and recruitment efforts, how the new hiring and pay rules are used, counts of covered and term-limited positions, attrition data, and a five-year look at critical workforce needs and skills. A “covered position” is either a highly specialized technical job needed for licensing or oversight, or any job the Executive Director for Operations says is necessary. The special hiring and pay authorities end on September 30, 2034, unless the Commission certifies they are still needed by that date, in which case they end on September 30, 2039. Pay already fixed under these rules stays in effect after termination.
Full Legal Text
Title 42, §2201b
The Public Health and Welfare, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Direct hire authority
(1)In general
Notwithstanding section 2201(d) of this title and any provision of Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1980 (94 Stat. 3585; 5 U.S.C. app.), and without regard to any provision of title 5 (except section 3328) governing appointments in the civil service, the Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (in this section referred to as the “Chairman”) may, in order to carry out the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (in this section referred to as the “Commission”) responsibilities and activities in a timely, efficient, and effective manner and subject to the limitations described in paragraphs (2), (3), and (4)—
(A)recruit and directly appoint exceptionally well-qualified individuals into the excepted service for covered positions; and
(B)establish in the excepted service term-limited covered positions and recruit and directly appoint exceptionally well-qualified individuals into such term-limited covered positions, which may not exceed a term of 4 years.
(2)Limitations
(A)Number
(i)In general
The number of exceptionally well-qualified individuals serving in covered positions pursuant to paragraph (1)(A) may not exceed 210 at any one time.
(ii)Term-limited covered positions
The Chairman may not appoint more than 20 exceptionally well-qualified individuals into term-limited covered positions pursuant to paragraph (1)(B) during any fiscal year.
(B)Compensation
(i)Annual rate
The annual basic rate of pay for any individual appointed under paragraph (1)(A) or paragraph (1)(B) may not exceed the annual basic rate of pay for level III of the Executive Schedule under section 5314 of title 5.
(ii)Experience and qualifications
Any individual recruited and directly appointed into a covered position or a term-limited covered position shall be compensated at a rate of pay that is commensurate with such individual’s experience and qualifications.
(C)Senior executive service position
The Chairman may not, under paragraph (1)(A) or paragraph (1)(B), appoint exceptionally well-qualified individuals to any Senior Executive Service position, as defined in section 3132 of title 5.
(3)Level of positions
To the extent practicable, in carrying out paragraph (1) the Chairman shall recruit and directly appoint exceptionally well-qualified individuals into the excepted service to entry, mid, and senior level covered positions, including term-limited covered positions.
(4)Consideration of future workforce needs
When recruiting and directly appointing exceptionally well-qualified individuals to covered positions pursuant to paragraph (1)(A), to maintain sufficient flexibility under the limitations of paragraph (2)(A)(i), the Chairman shall consider the future workforce needs of the Commission to carry out its responsibilities and activities in a timely, efficient, and effective manner.
(b)Addressing insufficient compensation of employees and other personnel of the Commission
(1)In general
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Chairman may fix the compensation for employees or other personnel serving in a covered position without regard to any provision of title 5 governing General Schedule classification and pay rates.
(2)Applicability
The authority under this subsection to fix the compensation of employees or other personnel shall apply with respect to an employee or other personnel serving in a covered position regardless of when the employee or other personnel was hired.
(3)Limitations on compensation
(A)Annual rate
The Chairman may not use the authority under paragraph (1) to fix the compensation of employees or other personnel—
(i)at an annual rate of basic pay higher than the annual basic rate of pay for level III of the Executive Schedule under section 5314 of title 5; or
(ii)at an annual rate of basic pay that is not commensurate with such an employee or other personnel’s experience and qualifications.
(B)Senior Executive Service positions
The Chairman may not use the authority under paragraph (1) to fix the compensation of an employee serving in a Senior Executive Service position, as defined in section 3132 of title 5.
(c)Additional compensation authority
(1)For new employees
The Chairman may pay an individual 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 subparagraphs (B) and (C), an employee or other personnel 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)
(ii)the amount of the limitation that is applicable for a calendar year under section 5307(a)(1) of title 5.
(B)Exceptional performance
Exceptional performance under subparagraph (A) includes—
(i)leading a project team in a timely and efficient licensing review to enable the safe use of nuclear technology;
(ii)making significant contributions to a timely and efficient licensing review to enable the safe use of nuclear technology;
(iii)the resolution of novel or first-of-a-kind regulatory issues;
(iv)developing or implementing licensing or regulatory oversight processes to improve the effectiveness of the Commission; and
(v)other performance, as determined by the Chairman.
(C)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.
(iii)No bonus for Senior Executive Service positions
No person serving in a Senior Executive Service position, as defined in section 3132 of title 5, may receive a performance bonus under subparagraph (A).
(d)Implementation plan and report
(1)In general
Not later than 180 days after July 9, 2024, the Chairman shall develop and implement a plan to carry out this section. Before implementing such plan, the Chairman shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate, and the Office of Personnel Management a report on the details of the plan.
(2)Report content
The report submitted under paragraph (1) shall include—
(A)evidence and supporting documentation justifying the plan; and
(B)budgeting projections on costs and benefits resulting from the plan.
(3)Consultation
The Chairman may consult with the Office of Personnel Management, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Comptroller General of the United States in developing the plan under paragraph (1).
(e)Delegation
The Chairman shall delegate, subject to the direction and supervision of the Chairman, the authority provided by subsections (a), (b), and (c) to the Executive Director for Operations of the Commission.
(f)Information on hiring, vacancies, and compensation
(1)In general
The Commission shall include in its budget materials submitted in support of the budget of the President (submitted to Congress pursuant to section 1105 of title 31), for fiscal year 2026 and each fiscal year thereafter, information relating to hiring, vacancies, and compensation at the Commission.
(2)Inclusions
The information described in paragraph (1) shall include—
(A)an analysis of any trends with respect to hiring, vacancies, and compensation at the Commission;
(B)a description of the efforts to retain and attract employees or other personnel to serve in covered positions at the Commission;
(C)information that describes—
(i)how the authority provided by subsection (a) is being used to address the hiring needs of the Commission;
(ii)the total number of exceptionally well-qualified individuals serving in—
(I)covered positions described in subsection (g)(1) pursuant to subsection (a)(1)(A);
(II)covered positions described in subsection (g)(2) pursuant to subsection (a)(1)(A);
(III)term-limited covered positions described in subsection (g)(1) pursuant to subsection (a)(1)(B); and
(IV)term-limited covered positions described in subsection (g)(2) pursuant to subsection (a)(1)(B);
(iii)how the authority provided by subsection (b) is being used to address the hiring or retention needs of the Commission;
(iv)the total number of employees or other personnel serving in a covered position that have their compensation fixed pursuant to subsection (b); and
(v)the attrition levels with respect to term-limited covered positions appointed under subsection (a)(1)(B), including the number of individuals leaving a term-limited covered position before completion of the applicable term of service and the average length of service for such individuals as a percentage of the applicable term of service; and
(D)an assessment of—
(i)the current critical workforce needs of the Commission and any critical workforce needs that the Commission anticipates in the next five years; and
(ii)additional skillsets that are or likely will be needed for the Commission to fulfill the licensing and oversight responsibilities of the Commission.
(g)Covered position
In this section, the term “covered position” means—
(1)a position in which an employee or other personnel is responsible for conducting work of a highly-specialized scientific, technical, engineering, mathematical, or otherwise skilled nature to address a critical licensing or regulatory oversight need for the Commission; or
(2)a position that the Executive Director for Operations of the Commission determines is necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of the Commission in a timely, efficient, and effective manner.
(h)Sunset
(1)In general
Except as provided in paragraph (2), the authorities provided by subsections (a) and (b) shall terminate on September 30, 2034.
(2)Certification
If, no later than the date referenced in paragraph (1), the Commission issues a certification that the authorities provided by subsection (a), subsection (b), or both subsections are necessary for the Commission to carry out its responsibilities and activities in a timely, efficient, and effective manner, the authorities provided by the applicable subsection shall terminate on September 30, 2039.
(3)Compensation
The termination of the authorities provided by subsections (a) and (b) shall not affect the compensation of an employee or other personnel serving in a covered position whose compensation was fixed by the Chairman in accordance with subsection (a) or (b).
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
References in Text
Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1980, referred to in subsec. (a)(1), is set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, and as a note under section 5841 of this title.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Annual Solicitation for Nuclear Regulator Apprenticeship Network Applications Pub. L. 118–67, div. B, title V, § 502(c), July 9, 2024, 138 Stat. 1476, provided that: “The [Nuclear Regulatory] Commission, on an annual basis, shall solicit applications for the Nuclear Regulator Apprenticeship Network.”
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
42 U.S.C. § 2201b
Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare
Last Updated
Sep 23, 2026
Release point: 119-110