I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 477

To reform Customs Service operations, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 6, 1993

Mr. RANGEL introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the

Committees on Ways and Means and Post Office and Civil Service

A BILL

To reform Customs Service operations, and for other

purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Customs Inspector

5 Benefit Reform Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. OVERTIME AND PREMIUM PAY FOR CUSTOMS OFFI7 CERS.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5 of the Act of February

9 13, 1911 (19 U.S.C. 261 and 267) is amended to read

10 as follows:
2

•HR 477 IH

1 ‘‘SEC. 5. OVERTIME AND PREMIUM PAY FOR CUSTOMS OF2 FICERS.

3 ‘‘(a) OVERTIME PAY.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2)

5 and subsection (c), a customs officer who is officially

6 assigned to perform work in excess of 40 hours in

7 the administrative workweek of the officer or in ex8 cess of 8 hours in a day shall be compensated for

9 that work at an hourly rate of pay that is equal to

10 2 times the hourly rate of the basic pay of the offi11 cer. For purposes of this paragraph, the hourly rate

12 of basic pay for a customs officer does not include

13 any premium pay provided for under subsection (b).

14 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO OVER15 TIME WORK ON CALLBACK BASIS.—

16 ‘‘(A) MINIMUM DURATION.—Any work for

17 which compensation is authorized under para18 graph (1) and for which the customs officer is

19 required to return to the officer’s place of work

20 shall be treated as being not less than 2 hours

21 in duration; but only if such work begins at

22 least 1 hour after the end of any previous regu23 larly scheduled work assignment.

24 ‘‘(B) COMPENSATION FOR COMMUTING

25 TIME.—
3

•HR 477 IH

1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro2 vided in clause (ii), in addition to the com3 pensation authorized under paragraph (1)

4 for work to which subparagraph (A) ap5 plies, the customs officer is entitled to be

6 paid, as compensation for commuting time,

7 an amount equal to 3 times the hourly rate

8 of basic pay of the officer.

9 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—Compensation for

10 commuting time is not payable under

11 clause (i) if the work for which compensa12 tion is authorized under paragraph (1)

13 commences within 2 hours of the next reg14 ularly scheduled work assignment of the

15 customs officer.

16 ‘‘(b) PREMIUM PAY FOR CUSTOMS OFFICERS.—

17 ‘‘(1) NIGHT WORK DIFFERENTIAL.—

18 ‘‘(A) 3 P.M. TO MIDNIGHT SHIFTWORK.—If

19 the majority of the hours of regularly scheduled

20 work of a customs officer occur during the pe21 riod beginning at 3 p.m. and ending at 12 a.m.,

22 the officer is entitled to pay for work during

23 such period (except for work to which para24 graph (2) or (3) applies) at the officer’s hourly
4

•HR 477 IH

1 rate of basic pay plus premium pay amounting

2 to 15 percent of that basic rate.

3 ‘‘(B) 11 P.M. TO 8 A.M. SHIFTWORK.—If

4 the majority of the hours of regularly scheduled

5 work of a customs officer occur during the pe6 riod beginning at 11 p.m. and ending at 8 a.m.,

7 the officer is entitled to pay for work during

8 such period (except for work to which para9 graph (2) or (3) applies) at the officer’s hourly

10 rate of basic pay plus premium pay amounting

11 to 20 percent of that basic rate.

12 ‘‘(2) SUNDAY DIFFERENTIAL.—A customs offi13 cer who performs any regularly scheduled work on a

14 Sunday that is not a holiday is entitled to pay for

15 that work at the officer’s hourly rate of basic pay

16 plus premium pay amounting to 100 percent of that

17 basic rate.

18 ‘‘(3) HOLIDAY DIFFERENTIAL.—A customs offi19 cer who performs any regularly scheduled work on a

20 holiday is entitled to pay for that work at the offi21 cer’s hourly rate of basic pay plus premium pay

22 amounting to 100 percent of that basic rate.

23 ‘‘(4) TREATMENT OF PREMIUM PAY.—Premium

24 pay provided for under this subsection may not be
5

•HR 477 IH

1 treated as being overtime pay or compensation for

2 any purpose.

3 ‘‘(c) EXCLUSIVITY OF PAY UNDER THIS SECTION.—

4 A customs officer who receives overtime pay under sub5 section (a) or premium pay under subsection (b) for time

6 worked may not receive pay or other compensation for

7 that work under any other provision of law.

8 ‘‘(d) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treasury

9 shall prescribe such regulations as are necessary or appro10 priate to carry out this section, including regulations—

11 ‘‘(1) to ensure that callback work assignments

12 are commensurate with the overtime pay authorized

13 for such work; and

14 ‘‘(2) to prevent the disproportionate assignment

15 of overtime work to customs officers who are near

16 to retirement.

17 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:

18 ‘‘(1) The term ‘customs officer’ means an indi19 vidual performing those functions specified by regu20 lation by the Secretary of the Treasury for a cus21 toms inspector or canine enforcement officer. Such

22 functions shall be consistent with such applicable

23 standards as may be promulgated by the Office of

24 Personnel Management.
6

•HR 477 IH

1 ‘‘(2) The term ‘holiday’ means any day des2 ignated as a holiday under a Federal statute or Ex3 ecutive order.’’.

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

5 (1) Section 2 of the Act of June 3, 1944 (19

6 U.S.C. 1451a), is repealed.

7 (2) Section 450 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19

8 U.S.C. 1450) is amended—

9 (A) by striking out ‘‘AT NIGHT’’ in the

10 section heading and inserting ‘‘DURING OVER11 TIME HOURS’’;

12 (B) by striking out ‘‘at night’’ and insert13 ing ‘‘during overtime hours’’; and

14 (C) by inserting ‘‘aircraft,’’ immediately

15 before ‘‘vessel’’.

16 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

17 subsections (a) and (b) apply to customs inspectional serv18 ices provided on or after the date occurring 90 days after

19 the date of the enactment of this Act.

20 SEC. 3. FOREIGN LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY AWARDS FOR

21 CUSTOMS OFFICERS.

22 Cash awards for foreign language proficiency may,

23 under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the

24 Treasury, be paid to customs officers (as referred to in

25 section 5(e)(1) of the Act of February 13, 1911) to the
7

•HR 477 IH

1 same extent and in the same manner as would be allowable

2 under subchapter III of chapter 45 of title 5, United

3 States Code, with respect to law enforcement officers (as

4 defined by section 4521 of such title).

5 SEC. 4. APPROPRIATIONS REIMBURSEMENTS FROM THE

6 CUSTOMS USER FEE ACCOUNT.

7 Section 13031(f)(3) of the Consolidated Omnibus

8 Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (19 U.S.C. 58c(f)(3))

9 is amended by amending clause (i) of subparagraph (A)

10 to read as follows:

11 ‘‘(i) in—

12 ‘‘(I) paying overtime compensation and

13 premium pay under section 5(a) and (b) of the

14 Act of February 13, 1911,

15 ‘‘(II) paying necessary expenses for agency

16 contributions to the Civil Service Retirement

17 and Disability Fund or the Federal Employees

18 Retirement System to match deductions from

19 the overtime compensation paid under

20 subclause (I), and

21 ‘‘(III) providing all preclearance services

22 for which the recipients of such services are not

23 required to reimburse the Secretary of the

24 Treasury, and’’.
8

•HR 477 IH

1 SEC. 5. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN PAY OF CUSTOMS OFFI2 CERS FOR RETIREMENT PURPOSES.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8331(3) of title 5, United

4 States Code, is amended—

5 (1) by striking out ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub6 paragraph (C);

7 (2) by striking out the semicolon at the end of

8 subparagraph (D) and inserting ‘‘; and’’;

9 (3) by adding after subparagraph (D) the fol10 lowing:

11 ‘‘(E) with respect to a customs officer (re12 ferred to in subsection (e)(1) of section 5 of the

13 Act of February 13, 1911), compensation for

14 overtime inspectional services provided for

15 under subsection (a) of such section 5, but not

16 to exceed 50 percent of any statutory maximum

17 in overtime pay for customs officers which is in

18 effect for the year involved;’’; and

19 (4) by striking out ‘‘subparagraphs (B), (C),

20 and (D) of this paragraph,’’ and inserting ‘‘subpara21 graphs (B), (C), (D), and (E) of this paragraph’’.

22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

23 subsection (a) take effect on the date of the enactment

24 of this Act and apply only with respect to service per25 formed on or after such date.
9

•HR 477 IH

1 SEC. 6. REPORTS.

2 (a) CUSTOMS USER FEE ACCOUNT REPORTS.—Sub3 paragraph (D) of section 13031(f)(3) of the Consolidated

4 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (19 U.S.C.

5 58c(f)(3)(D)) is amended to read as follows:

6 ‘‘(D) At the close of each fiscal year, the Secretary

7 of the Treasury shall submit a report to the Committee

8 on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and

9 Means of the House of Representatives—

10 ‘‘(i) containing a detailed accounting of all ex11 penditures from the Customs User Fee Account dur12 ing such year, including a summary of the expendi13 tures, on a port-by-port basis, for which reimburse14 ment has been provided under subparagraph (A)(ii);

15 and

16 ‘‘(ii) containing a listing of all callback assign17 ments of customs officers for which overtime com18 pensation was paid under section 5(a) of the Act of

19 February 13, 1911, and that were less than 1 hour

20 in duration.’’.

21 (b) OTHER REPORTS.—

22 (1) GAO REPORT.—The Comptroller General of

23 the United States shall undertake—

24 (A) an evaluation of the appropriateness

25 and efficiency of the customs user fee laws for
10

•HR 477 IH

1 financing the provision of customs inspectional

2 services; and

3 (B) a study to determine whether cost sav4 ings in the provision of overtime inspectional

5 services could be realized by the United States

6 Customs Service through the use of additional

7 inspectors as opposed to continuing the current

8 practice of relying on overtime pay.

9 The Comptroller General shall submit a report on

10 the evaluation and study required under this sub11 section to the Committees by no later than the 1st

12 anniversary of the date of the enactment of this Act.

13 (2) TREASURY RECOMMENDATION.—On the day

14 that the President submits the budget for the

15 United States Government for fiscal year 1994 to

16 the Congress under section 1105(a) of title 31,

17 United States Code, the Secretary of the Treasury

18 shall submit to the Committees recommended legis19 lative proposals for improving the operation of cus20 toms user fee laws in financing the provision of cus21 toms inspectional services.

22 (3) DEFINITION OF COMMITTEES.—For pur23 poses of this subsection, the term ‘‘Committees’’

24 means the Committee of Ways and Means of the
11

•HR 477 IH

1 House of Representatives and the Committee on Fi2 nance of the Senate.

3 SEC. 7. HAZARDOUS DUTY DIFFERENTIAL.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 5545(d)

5 of title 5, United States Code, in the administration of

6 such section, the Commissioner of Customs of the United

7 States Customs Service may designate hazardous duty

8 functions for the purpose of paying hazardous duty dif9 ferentials to customs officers.

10 (b) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section the

11 term ‘‘customs officer’’ means an individual performing

12 those functions specified by regulation by the Secretary

13 of the Treasury for a customs inspector or canine enforce14 ment officer. Such functions shall be consistent with such

15 applicable standards as may be promulgated by the Office

16 of Personnel Management.

17 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect

18 and apply to inspectional services provided on or after Oc19 tober 1, 1993.

20 SEC. 8. SPECIAL PAY ADJUSTMENT FOR CUSTOMS SERVICE

21 EMPLOYEES.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 405 of the Federal Em23 ployees Pay Comparability Act of 1990 (5 U.S.C. 5305

24 note) is amended by adding at the end thereof the follow25 ing new subsection:
12

•HR 477 IH

1 ‘‘(d)(1) The provisions of subsection (a) shall apply

2 to customs officers.

3 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this section the appropriate

4 agency head for prescribing regulations shall be the Sec5 retary of the Treasury.

6 ‘‘(3) For purposes of this section the term ‘customs

7 officer’ means an individual performing those functions

8 specified by regulation by the Secretary of the Treasury

9 for a customs inspector or canine enforcement officer.

10 Such functions shall be consistent with such applicable

11 standards as may be promulgated by the Office of Person12 nel Management.’’.

13 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provisions of

15 paragraph (2), the amendment made by this section

16 shall be effective on and after the first day of the

17 first applicable pay period beginning on or after Oc18 tober 1, 1993.

19 (2) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of the

20 Treasury may prescribe regulations after the date of

21 the enactment of this section to provide for the im22 plementation of the amendment made by this section

23 on or after the effective date under paragraph (1).
13

•HR 477 IH

1 SEC. 9. CUSTOMS INSPECTOR AND CANINE ENFORCEMENT

2 OFFICER CREDITABLE SERVICE FOR RETIRE3 MENT.

4 (a) DESIGNATION OF ARDUOUS ENFORCEMENT PO5 SITIONS.—The Commissioner of Customs (hereafter in

6 this section referred to as the ‘‘Commissioner’’) may des7 ignate positions in the Customs Service as arduous en8 forcement positions. An arduous enforcement position may

9 only be filled by an employee who—

10 (1) is a customs inspector or canine enforce11 ment officer;

12 (2) is capable of performing duties which are

13 sufficiently rigorous that employment opportunities

14 should be limited to young and physically vigorous

15 individuals, as determined by the Commissioner;

16 (3) is less than 57 years of age;

17 (4) qualifies in firearms tests conducted on a

18 quarterly basis under regulations promulgated by

19 the Commissioner; and

20 (5) qualifies in all physical fitness standards

21 under regulations promulgated by the Commissioner

22 that are generally applicable to all Federal law en23 forcement officers.

24 (b) REMOVAL FROM ARDUOUS ENFORCEMENT POSI25 TION.—A customs inspector or canine enforcement officer

26 who fails to qualify on any quarterly firearms test as re-
14

•HR 477 IH

1 quired under subsection (a)(4) or fails to maintain the

2 physical fitness standards under subsection (a)(5) shall be

3 removed from an arduous enforcement position. Such in4 spector or officer may not be assigned to an arduous en5 forcement position for a period of no less than 6 months.

6 (c) CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT SYSTEM.—

7 (1) DEFINITIONS.—Section 8331 of title 5,

8 United States Code, is amended—

9 (A) in paragraph (25) by striking out

10 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon;

11 (B) in paragraph (26) by striking out the

12 period and inserting in lieu thereof a semicolon

13 and ‘‘and’’; and

14 (C) by adding at the end thereof the fol15 lowing new paragraph:

16 ‘‘(27) ‘designated customs inspector’ means a

17 customs inspector or canine enforcement officer who

18 is serving in an arduous enforcement position as

19 designated by the Commissioner of Customs under

20 section 9 of the Customs Inspector Benefit Reform

21 Act of 1993.’’.

22 (2) CREDITABLE SERVICE.—Section 8332 of

23 title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding

24 at the end thereof the following new subsection:
15

•HR 477 IH

1 ‘‘(o)(1) For purposes of this chapter, and subject to

2 the provisions of this subsection, a designated customs inspector shall receive 11 3 ⁄2 years of creditable service for

4 each year of actual service as a designated customs inspec5 tor. Such service shall be based on full years and twelfth

6 parts thereof, excluding from the aggregate the fractional

7 part of a month, if any.

8 ‘‘(2) The provisions of paragraph (1) shall not apply

9 to any customs inspector or canine enforcement officer un10 less such inspector or officer has no less than 5 years of

11 actual service as an employee (which is otherwise cred12 itable service under this section).

13 ‘‘(3) No customs inspector or canine enforcement of14 ficer may be credited with more than 20 years of cred15 itable service under the provisions of paragraph (1).

16 ‘‘(4) This subsection shall not be construed to give

17 any customs inspector or canine enforcement officer credit

18 for both service as such inspector or officer and service

19 as a designated customs inspector during any specified

20 time period.’’.

21 (3) DEDUCTIONS, CONTRIBUTIONS, AND DEPOS22 ITS.—Section 8334 of title 5, United States Code, is

23 amended—
16

•HR 477 IH

1 (A) in the first sentence of subsection

2 (a)(1) by inserting ‘‘designated customs inspec3 tor,’’ after ‘‘law enforcement officer,’’; and

4 (B) in the table under subsection (c) by in5 serting after the item relating to law enforce6 ment officers and firefighters the following new

7 item:

‘‘Designated customs inspector for

designated customs inspector

service .......................................... 71⁄2...... After September 31, 1993.’’.

8 (4) COMPUTATION OF ANNUITY.—Section 8339

9 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding

10 at the end thereof the following new subsection:

11 ‘‘(r) The annuity of an employee with creditable serv12 ice under section 8332(o) retiring under this subchapter

13 is computed under subsection (a) of this section, except

14 the annuity of such employee is computed with respect to

15 the service credited under section 8322(o)(1) as a designated customs inspector by multiplying 21 16 ⁄2 percent of

17 his average pay by the years of that service.’’.

18 (5) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by

19 this subsection shall be effective on and after Octo20 ber 1, 1993, and shall apply with regard to service

21 performed by a customs inspector or canine enforce22 ment officer in an arduous enforcement position on

23 and after such date.

24 (d) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM.—
17

•HR 477 IH

1 (1) DEFINITIONS.—Section 8401 of title 5,

2 United States Code, is amended—

3 (A) in paragraph (31) by striking out

4 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon;

5 (B) in paragraph (32) by striking out the

6 period and inserting in lieu thereof a semicolon

7 and ‘‘and’’; and

8 (C) by adding at the end thereof the fol9 lowing new paragraph:

10 ‘‘(33) ‘designated customs inspector’ means a

11 customs inspector or canine enforcement officer who

12 is serving in an arduous enforcement position as

13 designated by the Commissioner of Customs under

14 section 9 of the Customs Inspector Benefit Reform

15 Act of 1993.’’.

16 (2) CREDITABLE SERVICE.—Section 8411 of

17 title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding

18 at the end thereof the following new subsection:

19 ‘‘(h)(1) For purposes of this chapter, and subject to

20 the provisions of this subsection, a designated customs inspector shall receive 11 21 ⁄2 years of creditable service for

22 each year of actual service as a designated customs inspec23 tor. Such service shall be based on full years and twelfth

24 parts thereof, excluding from the aggregate the fractional

25 part of a month, if any.
18

•HR 477 IH

1 ‘‘(2) The provisions of paragraph (1) shall not apply

2 to any customs inspector or canine enforcement officer un3 less such inspector or officer has no less than 5 years of

4 actual service as an employee (which is otherwise cred5 itable service under this section).

6 ‘‘(3) No customs inspector or canine enforcement of7 ficer may be credited with more than 20 years of cred8 itable service under the provisions of paragraph (1).

9 ‘‘(4) This subsection shall not be construed to give

10 any customs inspector or canine enforcement officer credit

11 for both service as such inspector or officer and service

12 as a designated customs inspector during any specified

13 time period.’’.

14 (3) DEDUCTIONS FROM PAY.—Section

15 8422(a)(2)(B) of title 5, United States Code, is

16 amended by inserting ‘‘designated customs inspec17 tor,’’ after ‘‘law enforcement officer,’’.

18 (4) GOVERNMENT CONTRIBUTIONS.—Section

19 8423(a) is amended—

20 (A) in paragraph (1)(B) by inserting ‘‘des21 ignated customs inspector,’’ after ‘‘law enforce22 ment officer,’’; and

23 (B) in paragraph (3)(A) by inserting ‘‘des24 ignated customs inspector,’’ after ‘‘law enforce25 ment officer,’’.
19

•HR 477 IH

1 (5) COMPUTATION OF ANNUITY.—Section 8415

2 of title 5, United States Code, is amended—

3 (A) in subsection (g)(2) by inserting ‘‘des4 ignated customs inspector,’’ after ‘‘law enforce5 ment officer,’’; and

6 (B) by adding at the end thereof the fol7 lowing new subsection:

8 ‘‘(h) The annuity of an employee with creditable serv9 ice under section 8411(h) retiring under this subchapter

10 is computed under subsection (a) of this section, except

11 the annuity of such employee is computed with respect to

12 the service credited under section 8411(h)(1) as a designated customs inspector by multiplying 17 13 ⁄10 percent of

14 his average pay by the years of that service.’’.

15 (6) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by

16 this subsection shall be effective on and after Octo17 ber 1, 1993, and shall apply with regard to service

18 performed by a customs inspector or canine enforce19 ment officer in an arduous enforcement position on

20 and after such date.

Æ

HR 477 IH——2