1. (a) Program After consultation with the Office of Personnel Management, the Secretary shall establish an excepted service appointment authority, under which any individual who, by reason of having lived or worked in or near public lands, has special knowledge or expertise concerning the natural or cultural resources of public lands and the management thereof (as determined by the Secretary) shall be considered for selection for any position within public lands without regard to—

   1. (1) any provision of the civil service laws or regulations thereunder which require minimum periods of formal training or experience,
   2. (2) any such provision which provides an employment preference to any other class of applicant is such selection, and
   3. (3) any numerical limitation on personnel otherwise applicable.

   Individuals appointed under this subsection shall not be taken into account in applying any personnel limitation described in paragraph (3).

2. (b) Preference eligibles within local hire Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, any individual who is eligible to be selected for a position under the provisions of subsection (a) of this section and is a preference eligible as defined in section 2108(3) of title 5 shall be given an employment preference, consistent with the preference in the excepted service as defined in section 2103 of such title.

3. (c) Payment of expenses after death of an employee

   1. (1) Definition of immediate family member In this subsection, the term “immediate family member” means a person related to a deceased employee that was a member of the household of the deceased employee at the time of death.

   2. (2) Payments If an employee appointed under the program established by subsection (a) of this section dies in the performance of any assigned duties on or after October 1, 2002, the Secretary may—

      1. (A) pay or reimburse reasonable expenses, regardless of when those expenses are incurred, for the preparation and transportation of the remains of the deceased employee to a location in the State of Alaska which is selected by the surviving head of household of the deceased employee;
      2. (B) pay or reimburse reasonable expenses, regardless of when those expenses are incurred, for transporting immediate family members and the baggage and household goods of the deceased employee and immediate family members to a community in the State of Alaska which is selected by the surviving head of household of the deceased employee.
4. (d) Reports The Secretary shall from time to time prepare and submit to the Congress reports indicating the actions taken in carrying out the provisions of subsection (a) of this section together with any recommendations for legislation in furtherance of the purposes of this section.

5. (e) Competitive status

   1. (1) In general Nothing in subsection (a) provides that any person hired pursuant to the program established under that subsection is not eligible for competitive status in the same manner as any other employee hired as part of the competitive service.
   2. (2) Conversion to competitive service Employees who satisfactorily complete two years of continuous service in a permanent appointment made under subsection (a) and who meet satisfactory performance and competitive service qualification requirements shall have their appointment converted to competitive service career-conditional or career employment as appropriate. This paragraph applies to individuals appointed on or after March 30, 2009. An employee who does not meet competitive service qualification requirements after two years of continuous service in an appointment made under subsection (a) shall be converted upon meeting such qualification requirements. Temporary and time-limited appointments will be made in the excepted service. There is no provision for conversion to competitive service when appointments are time-limited.

   3. (3) Redesignation of certain positions

      1. (A) Persons serving in original positions Not later than 60 days after March 30, 2009, with respect to any person hired into a permanent position pursuant to the program established under subsection (a) who is serving in that position as of March 30, 2009, the Secretary shall redesignate that position and the person serving in that position as having been part of the competitive service as of the date that the person was hired into that position.

      2. (B) Persons no longer serving in original positions With respect to any person who was hired pursuant to the program established under subsection (a) that is no longer serving in that position as of March 30, 2009—

         1. (i) the person may provide to the Secretary a request for redesignation of the service as part of the competitive service that includes evidence of the employment; and
         2. (ii) not later than 90 days of the submission of a request under clause (i), the Secretary shall redesignate the service of the person as being part of the competitive service.

(Pub. L. 96–487, title XIII, § 1308, Dec. 2, 1980, 94 Stat. 2480; Pub. L. 100–689, title IV, § 401, Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4177; Pub. L. 102–415, § 16, Oct. 14, 1992, 106 Stat. 2124; Pub. L. 108–199, div. H, § 147, Jan. 23, 2004, 118 Stat. 445; Pub. L. 111–11, title VI, § 6101, Mar. 30, 2009, 123 Stat. 1170; Pub. L. 112–74, div. E, title I, § 121(b), Dec. 23, 2011, 125 Stat. 1012.)

Amendments 2011—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 112–74, § 121(b)(1), substituted “establish an excepted service appointment authority,” for “establish a program” in introductory provisions.

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 112–74, § 121(b)(2), substituted “excepted service as defined in section 2103 of such title” for “competitive service as defined in section 2102 of such title for which such person is eligible under subchapter I of chapter 33 of such title, in selection to such position”.

Subsec. (e)(2), (3). Pub. L. 112–74, § 121(b)(3), added par. (2) and redesignated former par. (2) as (3).

2009—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 111–11 added subsec. (e).

2004—Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 108–199 added subsec. (c) and redesignated former subsec. (c) as (d).

1992—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 102–415 substituted “public lands” for “a conservation system unit” and substituted “public lands” for “such unit” in two places.

1988—Subsecs. (b), (c). Pub. L. 100–689 added subsec. (b) and redesignated former subsec. (b) as (c).

Pilot Program Pub. L. 106–488, § 2, Nov. 9, 2000, 114 Stat. 2205, provided that:

1. “(a) In furtherance of the goals of sections 1307 and 1308 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act [16 U.S.C. 3197, 3198] and the provisions of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act [25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.], the Secretary [of the Interior] shall—

   1. “(1) implement pilot programs to employ residents of local communities at the following units of the National Park System located in northwest Alaska—

      1. “(A) Bering Land Bridge National Preserve,
      2. “(B) Cape Krusenstern National Monument,
      3. “(C) Kobuk Valley National Park, and
      4. “(D) Noatak National Preserve; and
   2. “(2) report on the results of the programs within one year to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United States [Senate] and the Committee on Resources [now Committee on Natural Resources] of the House of Representatives.
2. “(b) In implementing the programs, the Secretary shall consult with the Native Corporations, nonprofit organizations, and Tribal entities in the immediate vicinity of such units and shall also, to the extent practicable, involve such groups in the development of interpretive materials and the pilot programs relating to such units.”

Local Hire Report Pub. L. 105–333, § 11, Oct. 31, 1998, 112 Stat. 3135, provided that:

1. “(a) In General.— Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 31, 1998], the Secretary of the Interior shall transmit to Congress a report.

2. “(b) Local Hire.— The report required by subsection (a) shall—

   1. “(1) indicate the actions taken in carrying out subsection (b) of section 1308 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3198);
   2. “(2) address the recruitment processes that may restrict employees hired under subsection (a) of such section from successfully obtaining positions in the competitive service; and
   3. “(3) describe the actions of the Secretary of the Interior in contracting with Alaska Native Corporations to provide services with respect to public lands in Alaska.
3. “(c) Cooperation.— The Secretary of Agriculture shall cooperate with the Secretary of the Interior in carrying out this section with respect to the Forest Service.”