### §832i. Employment of personnel

#### (a) Appointment of Assistant Administrator, chief engineer, and general counsel; compensation; duties

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) Officers and employees; compensation

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) Voluntary and uncompensated services; utilization of personnel and equipment of other governmental agencies

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.

(Aug. 20, 1937, ch. 720, §10, 50 Stat. 736; Oct. 23, 1945, ch. 433, §5, 59 Stat. 547; July 26, 1947, ch. 343, title II, §205(a), 61 Stat. 501; Oct. 28, 1949, ch. 782, title XI, §1106(a), 63 Stat. 972; Pub. L. 95–91, title III, §§301(b), 302(a)(1)(D), (2), Aug. 4, 1977, 91 Stat. 578.)

#### **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. Sections 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 sections 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.