This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

51944 

Vol. 73, No. 174 

Monday, September 8, 2008 

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL 

MANAGEMENT 

5 CFR Parts 302, 330, 335, 337, and 410 

RIN 3206–AL04 

Recruitment, Selection, and Placement 

(General) 

AGENCY: Office of Personnel 

Management. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel 

Management (OPM) is proposing to 

revise the rules on Federal vacancy 

announcements, reemployment priority 

list requirements, positions restricted to 

preference eligibles, time after 

competitive appointment, the Career 

Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), and 

the Interagency Career Transition 

Assistance Plan (ICTAP). The proposed 

rules clarify the regulations, incorporate 

longstanding OPM policies, revise 

placement assistance programs for 

consistency and effectiveness, remove 

references to two expired interagency 

placement assistance programs, and 

reorganize information for ease of 

reading. 

DATES: We will consider comments 

received on or before November 7, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Send or deliver comments 

to Angela Bailey, Deputy Associate 

Director, Center for Talent and Capacity 

Policy, Strategic Human Resources 

Policy, U.S. Office of Personnel 

Management, Room 6551, 1900 E Street, 

NW., Washington, DC 20415–9700; 

e-mail to employ@opm.gov; or fax to 

(202) 606–2329. Comments may also be 

sent through the Federal eRulemaking 

Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. All 

submissions received through the Portal 

must include the agency name and 

docket number or the Regulation 

Identifier Number (RIN) for this 

rulemaking. Please specify the subpart 

and section number for each comment. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

subparts A, D, and E, contact Linda 

Watson by telephone at (202) 606–0830; 

TTY at (202) 418–3134; fax at (202) 606– 

0390; or e-mail at 

linda.watson@opm.gov. For all other 

subparts, contact Pam Galemore by 

telephone at (202) 606–0960; TTY at 

(202) 418–3134; fax at (202) 606–2329; 

or e-mail at pamela.galemore@opm.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office 

of Personnel Management (OPM) is 

proposing to revise the regulations in 5 

CFR part 330 governing Federal vacancy 

announcements, the Reemployment 

Priority List (RPL), positions restricted 

to preference eligibles, time after 

competitive appointment, the Career 

Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), and 

the Interagency Career Transition 

Assistance Plan (ICTAP). The proposed 

revisions are described below under 

each subpart heading. 

The proposed regulations also remove 

subparts K and L. Subpart K provided 

a priority consideration program for 

eligible displaced employees of the 

District of Columbia Department of 

Corrections. The statutory authority for 

this program expired on December 31, 

2002. Subpart L provided selection 

priority to eligible displaced employees 

in the Panama Canal Zone. The 

statutory authority for this program 

expired on December 31, 2000. 

Throughout the proposed regulations, 

OPM has replaced the verb ‘‘shall’’ with 

‘‘must’’ for clarity. OPM intends that 

any provisions in this part using the 

verb ‘‘must’’ have the same meaning and 

effect as previous provisions in this part 

using ‘‘shall.’’ 

These proposed regulations also 

include conforming changes in parts 

302—Employment in the Excepted 

Service, 335—Promotion and Internal 

Placement, 337—Examining System, 

and 410—Training of OPM’s 

regulations, specifically to revise 

citations because of the movement of 

the rules governing vacancy 

announcements from subpart G to 

subpart A. 

Subpart A 

We are proposing to retitle Subpart A 

from ‘‘Discretion in Filling Vacancies’’ 

to ‘‘Filling Vacancies in the Competitive 

Service’’ to more accurately reflect the 

content of the subpart. The proposed 

revised subpart A includes a list of 

specific items that must be included in 

all vacancy announcements published 

on OPM’s USAJOBS Web site (which is 

the official job site for the Federal 

Government). Subpart A also adds 

requirements mandated by the Veterans 

Employment Opportunities Act, which 

is codified in part at 5 U.S.C. 3304(f)(4). 

These proposed changes will support 

the requirement for specific information 

in the vacancy announcement and 

establish consistency in the information 

provided to applicants. OPM’s authority 

to require items in a vacancy 

announcement is in 5 U.S.C. 3330. 

We are proposing to add definitions 

in § 330.101 and move the paragraph 

about ‘‘agencies covered’’ currently in 

§ 330.102 to § 330.101. These revisions 

consolidate definitions that are 

applicable throughout part 330, and 

define vacancy solely for the purposes 

of subpart A in accordance with 5 

U.S.C. 3327. 

Under 5 U.S.C. 3330, OPM is required 

to keep a current list of all competitive 

service vacancy announcements for 

which agencies will accept applications 

from outside their respective 

workforces. Currently, subpart G of part 

330, which covers the Interagency 

Career Transition Assistance Plan 

(ICTAP), contains OPM’s regulations 

prescribing information that agencies 

must include in Federal vacancy 

announcements (such as title, location, 

duties, etc.). We are proposing to move 

this information from subpart G, 

§ 330.707, to subpart A, § 330.104, 

because the reporting requirement 

applies to all competitive service 

vacancy announcements. Conforming 

revisions to other CFR parts with the 

reference to § 330.707 are included with 

these proposed regulations. 

OPM receives inquiries on a regular 

basis from agencies concerning how to 

add a vacancy announcement to OPM’s 

USAJOBS Web site. We propose to add 

in § 330.105 that agencies may locate 

these instructions on the Web site at 

www.usajobs.opm.gov. 

Subpart B 

Subpart B governs the Reemployment 

Priority List (RPL), which is the program 

an agency must use to meet its statutory 

reemployment priority obligations 

under sections 3315 and 8151 of title 5, 

United States Code. Agencies establish 

an RPL to provide selection priority to 

their permanent competitive service 

employees who were or will be 

involuntarily separated through 

reduction in force (RIF) procedures 

under part 351, or who have recovered 

from a compensable work-related injury 

after more than 1 year, as required by 5 


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CFR 353.301(b). These employees may 

register for, and receive selection 

priority over, most other candidates 

from outside the agency’s current 

permanent competitive service 

workforce. Agencies must apply 

veterans’ preference when making RPL 

placements. 

Generally, the proposed revisions to 

subpart B clarify who is eligible for the 

RPL, delete references to outdated 

material (e.g., appointment authorities 

that no longer exist), and clarify the 

operation of the RPL through use of 

plain language and improved 

organization of the material. 

We are also proposing to define and 

rename certain terms (e.g., ‘‘priority 

consideration’’ to ‘‘placement priority’’) 

to clearly distinguish the RPL program 

from other internal agency placement 

programs. The proposed regulations also 

clarify longstanding OPM policy 

concerning employees’ rights, agency 

flexibility, and termination of eligibility. 

Other proposed revisions to subpart B 

include the following: 

Section 330.202 adds a ‘‘Definitions’’

section for terms used throughout the 

subpart. This section includes a 

definition of Qualified for RPL 

purposes. The proposed definition 

ensures that placement of the RPL 

registrant will not detract or hinder 

mission accomplishment by requiring 

that, for RPL placement priority, the 

placement of the RPL registrant in the 

position will not cause an undue 

interruption to required work. The 

undue interruption provision is 

currently provided as an exception to 

the RPL selection order in § 330.207. 

Adding this provision as part of the 

Qualified definition makes the 

qualifications required for placement 

through the RPL consistent with those 

required for placement through RIF 

procedures. Also for consistency, the 

term ‘‘selection placement factors’’ is 

revised to ‘‘selective factors’’ to align 

with terminology used in OPM’s 

‘‘Operating Manual: Qualification 

Standards for General Schedule 

Positions.’’

Revised § 330.203 combines the 

conditions for RPL eligibility based on 

recovery from a compensable injury, 

currently in § 330.204, with RPL 

eligibility based on a notice of or actual 

RIF separation. Section 330.203(a)(2) 

clarifies that RPL eligibility ends if the 

employee receives a written notice of 

cancellation, rescission, or modification 

to the official notice which established 

RPL eligibility (for example, the agency 

cancels the employee’s notice of RIF 

separation or the agency offers a 

position with a representative rate at 

least as high as that of the position from 

which the employee will be separated). 

In § 330.203(a)(3), we are proposing to 

raise the minimum performance rating 

of record level required for RIF-based 

RPL eligibility from a rating above 

unacceptable (Level 1) to at least fully 

successful (Level 3) or equivalent. (The 

proposed definition of Rating of record 

in § 330.202 corresponds to the 

definition in part 351 to cover those 

cases where an appraisal system does 

not have a summary rating level of fully 

successful.) The proposed change makes 

the rating of record required for RIFbased RPL eligibility consistent with the 

minimum performance rating of record 

required for selection priority under 

both the Career Transition Assistance 

Plan (CTAP) in subpart F and the 

Interagency Career Transition 

Assistance Plan (ICTAP) in subpart G. A 

minimum rating of record is not 

required for RPL eligibility based on 

recovery from a compensable workrelated injury. 

Section 330.204(b) adds a requirement 

for agencies to provide information 

about the agency’s RPL program to each 

RPL eligible employee when the 

employee accepts a position at a lower 

grade or pay level or separates from the 

agency because of a compensable workrelated injury. This provision is added 

to ensure employees are informed of 

their rights under 5 U.S.C. 8151. 

Section 330.206(a)(3) revises the 

period for an employee with RPL 

eligibility because of a RIF to apply for 

the agency’s RPL. The current regulation 

in § 330.202(a)(1) requires the employee 

to apply within 30 calendar days after 

the RIF separation date. We propose to 

require that RPL eligibles must apply on 

or before the RIF separation date. The 

proposed change is intended to ease the 

administrative burden on agencies 

while allowing a RIF-based RPL eligible 

at least 60 days (the minimum notice 

period under part 351) to apply for 

registration. We are not proposing to 

change the application period for RPL 

eligibles based on recovery from a 

compensable work injury. 

Section 330.207 clarifies and expands 

agency discretion for RPL registration 

areas. Specifically, § 330.207(b) allows 

an agency the discretion to register an 

employee in a local commuting area 

other than the local commuting area 

from which the employee will be, or has 

been, separated if the agency does not, 

or will not, have any competitive 

service positions remaining in the local 

commuting area from which the 

employee will be, or has been, 

separated. This provision addresses 

closure situations that are not currently 

covered in the regulations. 

The proposed § 330.207(d) requires an 

agency to establish a fair and consistent 

policy for expanding the registration 

area for an employee whose RPL 

eligibility is based on recovery from a 

compensable work injury. The current 

regulation in § 330.206(b) requires an 

agency to determine when and how to 

provide for maximum opportunities for 

consideration; however, it does not 

require an agency to establish a policy 

for making such determinations. 

The proposed § 330.207(e) deletes 

Alaska from the current § 330.206(a)(4), 

concerning RPL eligibility for overseas 

positions; Alaska does not meet the 

definition of ‘‘overseas’’ in part 210 of 

this chapter. 

Section 330.208 changes the period 

and expiration date of RPL eligibility 

from the current period in § 330.203(c) 

of 2 years from the date of RPL 

registration for a tenure group I eligible 

and 1 year from the date of RPL 

registration for a tenure group II eligible. 

To ease the administrative burden on 

agencies and to maximize placement 

priority under this program, we propose 

to change the period and expiration date 

for RPL eligibility for both tenure groups 

to 2 years from the date of separation by 

RIF, or from the date of registration if 

eligibility is based on recovery from a 

compensable work injury. We also 

propose to add a provision that OPM 

may extend the eligibility period when 

an RPL eligible is not timely registered, 

for example, due to an administrative or 

procedural error. The current 

regulations do not specifically provide 

OPM with this authority. Adding this 

provision will avoid having to consider 

such an extension through a regulatory 

variation under Civil Service Rule 5.1 (5 

CFR 5.1). 

Section 330.209(a)(2) clarifies that an 

RPL registrant is removed from the RPL 

if the registrant receives a written notice 

of cancellation, rescission, or 

modification to the official notice which 

established RPL eligibility (for example, 

the agency cancels the employee’s 

notice of RIF separation or the agency 

offers a position with a representative 

rate at least as high as that of the 

position from which the employee will 

be separated). 

Sections 330.209(a)(5) and (6) clarify 

that RPL eligibility ends when the RPL 

registrant is actually placed in or 

appointed to a different position rather 

than when the registrant ‘‘receives’’ an 

appointment as currently described in 

§ 330.203(d)(2)(ii). 

Section 330.210(a) clarifies that RPL 

placement priority applies to permanent 

and time-limited positions to be filled 

by competitive service appointment. 


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Section 330.211(a) clarifies that an 

agency may fill vacancies with 

candidates from within its permanent 

competitive service workforce without 

regard to the RPL, after the agency meets 

its CTAP obligations under subpart F of 

part 330. 

Paragraphs (d) and (e) of § 330.213 

add an alternative rating and selection 

procedure (also called category rating) 

and an application-based procedure, 

respectively, to provide agencies with 

additional referral and selection 

methods. The category rating procedure 

is derived from 5 U.S.C. 3319, as 

implemented in 5 CFR part 337 and 

OPM’s ‘‘Delegated Examining 

Operations Handbook.’’ The 

application-based procedure is similar 

to the employee-empowerment model 

established under CTAP and ICTAP 

procedures in subparts F and G of this 

part, respectively. 

The proposed regulation also deletes 

current paragraph (c) of § 330.208 

concerning agency consideration of sex 

in determining qualifications for the 

RPL; this consideration is part of the 

qualification requirements. 

Subpart C remains reserved. 

Subpart D 

We are proposing to revise §§ 330.401 

through 330.403 to clarify that the 

statutory restriction of certain positions 

to preference eligibles applies to any 

competitive examination, regardless of 

whether OPM or an agency, through 

delegated authority under 5 U.S.C. 

1104(a)(2), performs the examination. 

We also specify exceptions to the 

restriction and include a staffing 

procedure inadvertently omitted during 

OPM’s process of deleting references in 

the Code of Federal Regulations to the 

Federal Personnel Manual (FPM) 

because of its sunset. We propose to 

retitle § 330.401 as ‘‘Restricted 

Positions.’’ This section identifies the 

restricted positions covered in 5 U.S.C. 

3310. Definitions of these positions are 

located in OPM’s Delegated Examining 

Operations Handbook at http:// 

www.opm.gov/deu. 

We are proposing to retitle § 330.402 

as ‘‘Exceptions to Restriction.’’ Section 

330.402 identifies the types of 

appointments an agency may use when 

filling a restricted position with a 

nonpreference eligible. Agencies will be 

required to obtain OPM’s approval prior 

to making a selection if the type of 

appointment is not identified in 

§ 330.402. 

We are proposing to retitle § 330.403 

as ‘‘Positions Brought into the 

Competitive Service.’’ This section 

includes a staffing procedure formerly 

described in the FPM. Under this 

section, agencies will be able to convert 

the appointment of a nonpreference 

eligible whose restricted position was 

brought into the competitive service. 

Subpart E 

We are proposing to revise this 

subpart for readability, to delete a 

reference to a part-time direct hire 

program that no longer exists, and to 

renumber the sections accordingly. 

Subparts F and G 

Since the 1940s, and in addition to 

the statutory RPL, the Federal 

Government has had placement 

assistance programs to help its 

permanent workforce transition to other 

positions when employees have been 

adversely affected by reorganizations, 

reshaping, or contracting-out of work. 

These programs support both the 

Government as a whole and specific 

agency missions by preserving the 

investment in high-quality, well-trained, 

experienced employees. 

In 1994, Congress directed OPM to 

study competitive service placement 

programs to determine a better 

Governmentwide approach than the 

centralized, list-based programs in use 

at the time. OPM developed CTAP and 

ICTAP in 1995 in conjunction with 

agencies, labor organizations, Federal 

Executive Boards, employees, and other 

stakeholders. 

The CTAP (which applies in the 

employee’s current agency) and the 

ICTAP (which applies to agencies other 

than the employee’s current or last 

agency) established under subparts F 

and G, respectively, provide selection 

priority to employees displaced from 

their jobs through no fault of their own. 

Under CTAP and ICTAP, instead of the 

centralized listings that were used in the 

past, eligible employees apply directly 

for agency vacancies and receive 

selection priority only if they are 

determined to be well-qualified for the 

position under the agency’s job-related 

evaluation criteria. 

Throughout subparts F and G, we are 

proposing to delete duplication and 

outdated references, to incorporate 

longstanding OPM policies and 

guidance, to clarify the material by 

using plain language, and to reorganize 

the subparts for ease of use. The 

proposed revisions clarify the difference 

between an employee eligible to apply 

under CTAP and ICTAP versus an 

employee eligible to receive selection 

priority under these plans. The 

proposed revision also clarifies that 

excepted service appointments are 

exempt from CTAP and ICTAP selection 

priority, which is limited to competitive 

service appointments. With this in 

mind, we are proposing to revise the 

definition of agency in § 330.101 to 

include entities with positions in the 

competitive service by statute or 

Executive order, which is not clear 

under the current definitions in 

subparts F and G. 

We are also proposing to replace the 

term ‘‘directed reassignment’’ with 

‘‘directed geographic relocation’’ in both 

subparts. This change clarifies that 

declination of any management-directed 

involuntary movement to a different 

commuting area (e.g., reassignment or 

change in duty station) establishes 

eligibility for CTAP and ICTAP 

selection priority. 

Through these proposed regulations, 

we are also inviting comments 

concerning the exceptions to CTAP and 

ICTAP selection priority. Currently, 

there are numerous exceptions to 

applying CTAP and ICTAP selection 

priority under subparts F and G, 

respectively. We are interested in 

stakeholders’ views on the number and 

types of exceptions as well as additional 

exceptions that may be considered 

necessary for efficient and effective use 

of agency workforces. When replying to 

this invitation, please indicate the 

rationale behind proposing to delete or 

add specific exceptions. 

Subpart F 

The following are specific proposed 

revisions within subpart F: 

Section 330.601(c) is revised to delete 

the specific reference to the Department 

of Defense exemption from certain 

portions of the CTAP regulations. The 

revision also provides the same 

flexibility for agencies to develop their 

own internal placement assistance 

programs as is available under the RPL 

regulations in subpart B. 

Section 330.602 is revised to delete 

definitions that have been consolidated 

in the proposed subpart A and to add 

definitions for CTAP eligible and CTAP 

selection priority candidate to clarify 

the difference between these two terms. 

The definition of Displaced is revised to 

add a provision that the employee must 

not have declined a RIF offer under part 

351, subpart G, to a position with the 

same type of work schedule and a 

representative rate at least as high as 

that of the position from which the 

employee will be separated. Adding this 

provision makes CTAP eligibility 

consistent with RPL eligibility criteria. 

In addition, the proposed regulations 

move the criteria for agency definitions 

of ‘‘well-qualified’’ from the definitions 

section to a separate section, § 330.606. 

Each agency is responsible for defining 

‘‘well-qualified’’ for the purposes of its 

CTAP, and the revised § 330.606 


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prescribes the minimum requirements 

for agency definitions. Because ‘‘wellqualified’’ is an agency-defined term, 

the minimum criteria for the agency 

definition are more appropriate in the 

regulatory text. We have also deleted 

from the well-qualified criteria the 

statement, ‘‘Selective and quality 

ranking factors cannot be so restrictive 

that they run counter to the goal of 

placing displaced employees’’ as 

unnecessary. Selective factors and 

quality ranking factors must be 

developed through job analysis and be 

job-related in accordance with 5 CFR 

part 300. OPM provides guidance on 

developing these factors in the 

‘‘Delegated Examining Operations 

Handbook.’’

Section 330.606(c) adds a provision 

that an agency may include the results 

of a scored structured interview process 

to determine whether a CTAP eligible is 

well-qualified when such a process is 

used to assess the qualified candidates 

being considered for the vacancy. Many 

agencies now use a scored interview as 

an assessment tool in addition to the 

initial evaluation of qualified 

candidates’ applications against jobrelated criteria for rating and ranking 

purposes. Adding this provision 

clarifies that the results of this tool can 

be used in determining whether 

candidates are well-qualified. This 

provision is also proposed for addition 

to § 330.704(c). 

Section 330.607(b) clarifies the 

provision in the current regulations at 

§ 330.606(a) concerning procuring 

temporary help services. The 

clarification states that agencies must 

make a determination under part 300, 

subpart E, that CTAP eligibles are not 

available before procuring temporary 

help services under that subpart. This 

provision is also proposed for addition 

to § 330.706(b). 

Section 330.608(a) adds an option for 

agencies to provide the required CTAP 

orientation session in person or through 

the agency’s automated training system 

or Intranet. 

Section 330.609 moves the list of 

exceptions to CTAP selection priority 

from current § 330.606(d) to a separate 

section for easier reference. 

Section 330.609(y) (current paragraph 

(26) of § 330.606) clarifies an 

unintentional difference between CTAP 

and ICTAP under subpart G which 

allows program exceptions for 

extensions of time-limited promotions 

and appointments, including OPMapproved extensions. We are clarifying 

that OPM-approved exceptions are 

covered under subpart G. 

Section 330.609(dd) adds an 

exception to CTAP selection priority to 

include placements made under 5 CFR 

part 412, Senior Executive Service merit 

staffing procedures for developmental 

programs. This exception is also added 

at § 330.707(v). 

Section 330.611(a) clarifies that, to 

establish selection priority, a CTAP 

eligible must submit all required 

materials and eligibility documentation 

within the timeframe established by the 

agency. The wording of the current 

regulation in § 330.605(a)(5) implies that 

proof of eligibility does not have to be 

submitted within agency-established 

timeframes, which was not the intent. 

This clarification is also proposed for 

addition to § 330.709(a). 

Subpart G 

In addition to the proposed revisions 

discussed under ‘‘Subparts F and G’’

above, the following are specific 

proposed revisions within subpart G. 

Section 330.701 deletes outdated 

material and clarifies that ICTAP 

selection priority applies only in 

agencies other than the employee’s 

current or former agency. The CTAP and 

RPL programs provide selection and 

placement priority, respectively, in the 

employee’s current or former agency. 

Section 330.702 is revised to delete 

definitions that have been consolidated 

in the proposed subpart A and to revise 

the definition of Displaced. Specifically, 

the proposed revision deletes ‘‘A former 

career or career-conditional competitive 

service employee, in tenure group 1 or 

2, at grades GS–15 level or equivalent or 

below, who received a RIF separation 

notice, and who retired on the effective 

date of the RIF or under discontinued 

service retirement option.’’ from the 

current definition in § 330.703(b)(5). 

This provision had the unintentional 

result of providing ICTAP selection 

priority to employees who left the 

employing agency before the agency 

effected the RIF action. We are 

proposing to delete this provision to 

make ICTAP selection priority 

consistent with the other placement 

assistance programs covered under this 

part that provide selection priority to 

employees whose agency has taken an 

action. Also, employees may receive an 

offer of continued employment during a 

RIF notice period. 

The revised definition of Displaced in 

§ 330.702 also adds a provision that the 

employee must not have declined a RIF 

offer under part 351, subpart G, to a 

position with the same type of work 

schedule and a representative rate at 

least as high as that of the position from 

which the employee was, or will be, 

separated. Adding this provision makes 

ICTAP eligibility consistent with RPL 

eligibility criteria. 

We added definitions for ICTAP 

eligible and ICTAP selection priority 

candidate to clarify the difference 

between these two terms. 

As discussed under subpart F, we 

moved the criteria for agency definitions 

of ‘‘well-qualified’’ from the definitions 

section to a separate section, § 330.704, 

because each agency is responsible for 

defining ‘‘well-qualified’’ for the 

purposes of its ICTAP, and the revised 

§ 330.704 prescribes the minimum 

requirements for agency definitions. 

Because ‘‘well-qualified’’ is an agencydefined term, the minimum criteria for 

the agency definition are more 

appropriate in the regulatory text. 

Section 330.704(c) adds a provision 

that an agency may include the results 

of a scored structured interview process 

to determine whether an ICTAP eligible 

is well-qualified when such a process is 

used to assess the qualified candidates 

being considered for the vacancy. As 

discussed under subpart F above, many 

agencies now use a scored interview as 

an assessment tool in addition to the 

initial evaluation of qualified 

candidates’ applications against jobrelated criteria for rating and ranking 

purposes. Adding this provision 

clarifies that the results of this tool can 

be used in determining whether 

candidates are well-qualified. This 

provision is also proposed for addition 

to § 330.606(c). 

Section 330.705(d)(2) adds provisions 

for an agency to make additional 

selections or reissue selection 

certificates without re-determining 

whether potential ICTAP eligibles are 

available within the local commuting 

area. Under the current regulations, an 

agency must determine if ICTAP 

eligibles are available whenever it 

makes a selection that is not an 

authorized exception to ICTAP. The 

proposed § 330.705(d)(2) allows 

agencies to make additional selections 

or reissue a selection certificate from an 

applicant pool previously established by 

a vacancy announcement under which 

ICTAP eligibles had an opportunity to 

apply. 

Section 330.705(f) adds a provision 

that an agency may deny an ICTAP 

eligible future selection priority for a 

position previously obtained through 

ICTAP if the eligible was terminated or 

removed for cause (e.g., for performance 

under 5 CFR part 432 or under adverse 

actions procedures under 5 CFR part 

752) from that position. This could 

occur if the ICTAP eligible was placed 

in a temporary position. 

Section 330.707 moves the list of 

exceptions to ICTAP selection priority 

from current § 330.705(b) to a separate 

section for easier reference. As 


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discussed earlier under subpart A, we 

are also proposing to revise and move 

the information concerning agency 

requirements for reporting vacancies to 

OPM from the current regulation at 

§ 330.707 to subpart A. 

Section 330.707(v) adds an exception 

to ICTAP to include placements made 

under 5 CFR part 412, Senior Executive 

Service merit staffing procedures for 

developmental programs. This 

exception is also added at § 330.609(dd). 

Section 330.708 clarifies when ICTAP 

eligibility expires, depending on the 

basis for the eligibility. This 

clarification addresses inconsistencies 

in the interpretation of exactly when 

ICTAP eligibility expires. For example, 

some agencies provide selection priority 

for the duration of the selection process, 

meaning until a selection is made, even 

though the 1-year period of ICTAP 

eligibility may have expired during that 

process. OPM’s intent was always to 

have a definitive eligibility cut-off date, 

consistent with the other placement 

assistance programs covered by this 

part. Agencies retain the option to select 

a displaced employee whose ICTAP 

eligibility has expired under the 

reinstatement authority provided by 5 

CFR 315.401. 

We also propose to add a provision in 

§ 330.708(e) that OPM may extend the 

eligibility period when a displaced 

employee does not receive timely 

information on ICTAP eligibility or 

another administrative or procedural 

error occurs that adversely impacts the 

eligibility period. The current 

regulations do not specifically provide 

OPM with this authority. Adding this 

provision will avoid having to consider 

such an extension through a regulatory 

variation under Civil Service Rule 5.1 (5 

CFR 5.1). 

Section 330.709(a) clarifies that, to 

establish selection priority, an ICTAP 

eligible must submit all required 

materials and eligibility documentation 

within the timeframe established by the 

agency. The wording of the current 

regulation in § 330.704(a)(5) implies that 

proof of eligibility does not have to be 

submitted within agency established 

timeframes, which was not the intent. 

This clarification is also proposed for 

addition to § 330.611(a). 

Subparts H and I remain reserved. 

Subpart J is unchanged. 

Subparts K and L 

We are proposing to remove these 

subparts, which provided special 

selection priority to certain displaced 

employees of the District of Columbia 

Department of Corrections and Panama 

Canal Zone, respectively. As explained 

above, the statutory authority for these 

programs has expired. 

For the convenience of the reader, the 

proposed part 330 is published in its 

entirety. 

E.O. 12866, Regulatory Review 

This rule has been reviewed by the 

Office of Management and Budget in 

accordance with E.O. 12866. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

I certify that these regulations would 

not have a significant economic impact 

on a substantial number of small entities 

because they would apply only to 

Federal agencies and employees. 

List of Subjects 

5 CFR Parts 302, 335, and 337 

Government employees. 

5 CFR Part 330 

Armed forces reserves, District of 

Columbia, Government employees. 

5 CFR Part 410 

Education, Government employees. 

Office of Personnel Management. 

Michael W. Hager, 

Acting Director. 

Accordingly, OPM proposes to amend 

5 CFR parts 302, 330, 335, 337, and 410 

as follows: 

PART 302—EMPLOYMENT IN THE 

EXCEPTED SERVICE 

1. The authority citation for part 302 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 1302, 3301, 3302, 8151, 

E.O. 10577 (3 CFR 1954–1958 Comp., p. 218); 

§ 302.105 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 1104, 

Pub. L. 95–454, sec. 3(5); § 302.501 also 

issued under 5 U.S.C. 7701 et seq. 

§ 302.106 [Amended] 

2. In § 302.106, remove the phrase 

‘‘§ 330.707 of subpart G’’ and add in its 

place the phrase, ‘‘part 330, subpart A’’. 

3. Revise part 330 to read as follows: 

PART 330—RECRUITMENT, 

SELECTION, AND PLACEMENT 

(GENERAL) 

Subpart A—Filling Vacancies in the 

Competitive Service 

Sec. 

330.101 Definitions. 

330.102 Methods of filling vacancies. 

330.103 Requirement to notify OPM. 

330.104 Required items for a vacancy 

announcement. 

330.105 Instructions on how to add a 

vacancy announcement to USAJOBS. 

330.106 Funding. 

Subpart B—Reemployment Priority List 

(RPL) 

330.201 Purpose. 

330.202 Definitions. 

330.203 RPL eligibility. 

330.204 Agency requirements and 

responsibilities. 

330.205 Agency RPL applications. 

330.206 RPL registration timeframe and 

positions. 

330.207 Registration area. 

330.208 Duration of RPL registration. 

330.209 Removal from an RPL. 

330.210 Applying RPL placement priority. 

330.211 Exceptions to RPL placement 

priority. 

330.212 Agency flexibilities. 

330.213 Selection from an RPL. 

330.214 Appeal rights. 

Subpart C—[Reserved] 

Subpart D—Positions Restricted to 

Preference Eligibles 

330.401 Restricted positions. 

330.402 Exceptions to restriction. 

330.403 Positions brought into the 

competitive service. 

330.404 Displacement of preference 

eligibles occupying restricted positions 

in contracting out situations. 

330.405 Agency placement assistance. 

330.406 OPM placement assistance. 

330.407 Eligibility for the Interagency 

Career Transition Assistance Plan. 

Subpart E—Restrictions to Protect 

Competitive Principles 

330.501 Purpose. 

330.502 General restriction on movement 

after competitive appointment. 

330.503 Ensuring agency compliance with 

the principles of open competition. 

330.504 Exception to the general restriction. 

Subpart F—Agency Career Transition 

Assistance Plans (CTAP) for Local Surplus 

and Displaced Employees 

330.601 Purpose. 

330.602 Definitions. 

330.603 Requirements for agency CTAPs. 

330.604 Requirements for agency CTAP 

selection priority. 

330.605 Agency responsibilities for wellqualified decisions. 

330.606 Minimum criteria for agency wellqualified definition. 

330.607 Applying CTAP selection priority. 

330.608 Other agency CTAP 

responsibilities. 

330.609 Exceptions to CTAP selection 

priority. 

330.610 CTAP eligibility period. 

330.611 Establishing CTAP selection 

priority. 

330.612 Proof of eligibility. 

330.613 OPM’s role in CTAP. 

Subpart G—Interagency Career Transition 

Assistance Plan (ICTAP) for Displaced 

Employees 

330.701 Purpose. 

330.702 Definitions. 

330.703 Agency responsibilities for wellqualified decisions. 

330.704 Minimum criteria for agency wellqualified definition. 

330.705 Applying ICTAP selection priority. 

330.706 Other agency ICTAP 

responsibilities. 


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330.707 Exceptions to ICTAP selection 

priority. 

330.708 ICTAP eligibility period. 

330.709 Establishing ICTAP selection 

priority. 

330.710 Proof of eligibility. 

330.711 OPM’s role in ICTAP. 

Subparts H–I—[Reserved] 

Subpart J—Prohibited Practices 

330.1001 Withdrawal from competition. 

Subparts K–L—[Reserved] 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 105, 1104, 1302, 3301, 

3302, 3304, and 3330; E.O. 10577, 3 CFR, 

1954–58 Comp., p. 218. 

Section 330.102 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 

3327. Subpart B also issued under 5 U.S.C. 

3315 and 8151. Section 330.401 also issued 

under 5 U.S.C. 3310. Subpart G also issued 

under 5 U.S.C. 8337(h) and 8456(b). 

Subpart A—Filling Vacancies in the 

Competitive Service 

§ 330.101 Definitions. 

In this part: 

Agency means: 

(1) The executive departments listed 

at 5 U.S.C. 101; 

(2) The military departments listed at 

5 U.S.C. 102; 

(3) Government owned corporations 

in the executive branch as described at 

5 U.S.C. 103; 

(4) Independent establishments in the 

executive branch as described at 5 

U.S.C. 104, including the Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission; and 

(5) Government Printing Office. 

Component means the first major 

subdivision of an agency, separately 

organized, and clearly distinguished in 

work function and operation from other 

agency subdivisions, e.g., the Internal 

Revenue Service under the Department 

of the Treasury or the National Park 

Service under the Department of the 

Interior. 

Local commuting area is defined in 

part 351 of this chapter. 

Permanent competitive service 

workforce and permanent competitive 

service employees mean agency 

employees in career and career 

conditional appointments, tenure 

groups I and II, respectively. 

Position change is defined in part 210 

of this chapter. 

Rating of record is defined in part 351 

of this chapter. 

Representative rate is defined in part 

351 of this chapter. 

Tenure groups are defined in part 351 

of this chapter. 

In this subpart: 

Vacancy means a vacant position in 

the competitive service, regardless of 

whether the position will be filled by 

permanent or time-limited appointment, 

for which an agency is seeking 

applications from outside its current 

permanent competitive service 

workforce. 

§ 330.102 Methods of filling vacancies. 

An agency may fill a vacancy in the 

competitive service by any method 

authorized in this chapter, including 

competitive appointment from a list of 

eligibles, noncompetitive appointment 

under special authority, reinstatement, 

transfer, reassignment, change to lower 

grade, or promotion. The agency must 

exercise discretion in each personnel 

action solely on the basis of merit and 

fitness, without regard to political or 

religious affiliation, marital status, or 

race, and veterans’ preference 

entitlements. 

§ 330.103 Requirement to notify OPM. 

An agency must notify OPM promptly 

when: 

(a) Filling a vacancy for more than 

120 days from outside the agency’s 

current permanent competitive service 

workforce, as required by the 

Interagency Career Transition 

Assistance Plan, subpart G of this part, 

unless the action to be taken is listed in 

subpart G as an exception to that 

subpart; 

(b) Filling any vacancy under the 

agency’s merit promotion procedures 

when the agency will accept 

applications from outside its permanent 

competitive service workforce; and 

(c) Filling a vacancy by open 

competitive examination, including 

direct hire procedures under part 337 of 

this chapter, or in the Senior Executive 

Service, as required by 5 U.S.C. 3327. 

§ 330.104 Required items for a vacancy 

announcement. 

(a) The vacancy announcement must 

contain the following information: 

(1) Name of issuing agency; 

(2) Announcement number; 

(3) Position title, series, pay plan, and 

grade (or pay rate); 

(4) Duty location; 

(5) Number of vacancies; 

(6) Opening date and application 

deadline (closing date), plus any other 

information dealing with how 

application receipt will be controlled, 

such as the use of early cut-off dates, 

received, or postmarked date; 

(7) Qualification requirements, 

including knowledge, skills, and 

abilities or competencies; 

(8) Starting pay; 

(9) Brief description of duties; 

(10) Basis of rating; 

(11) What to file; 

(12) Instructions on how to apply; 

(13) Information on how to claim 

veterans’ preference, if applicable; 

(14) Definition of ‘‘well-qualified,’’ as 

required by subparts F and G of this 

part; 

(15) Information on how candidates 

eligible under subparts F and G of this 

part may apply, including required 

proof of eligibility; 

(16) Contact person or contact point; 

(17) Equal employment opportunity 

statement (OPM recommends using the 

following statement: ‘‘The United States 

Government does not discriminate in 

employment on the basis of race, color, 

religion, sex, national origin, political 

affiliation, sexual orientation, marital 

status, disability, age, membership in an 

employee organization, or other nonmerit factor’’); and 

(18) Reasonable accommodation 

statement. 

(b)(1) An agency may use wording of 

its choice in its statement that conveys 

the availability of reasonable 

accommodation required by 

§ 330.104(a)(18). In its reasonable 

accommodation statement, an agency 

may not list types of medical conditions 

or impairments appropriate for 

accommodation. 

(2) OPM recommends using the 

following statement: 

‘‘This agency provides reasonable 

accommodation to applicants with 

disabilities where appropriate. If you 

need a reasonable accommodation for 

any part of the application and hiring 

process, please notify the agency. 

Determinations on requests for 

reasonable accommodation will be 

made on a case-by-case basis.’’

§ 330.105 Instructions on how to add a 

vacancy announcement to USAJOBS. 

An agency can find the instructions to 

add a vacancy announcement to 

USAJOBS on OPM’s Web site at http:// 

www.usajobs.opm.gov. An electronic 

file of the complete vacancy 

announcement must be included. 

§ 330.106 Funding. 

Each year, OPM will charge a fee for 

the agency’s share of the cost of 

providing employment information to 

the public and to Federal employees as 

authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3330(f). 

Subpart B—Reemployment Priority 

List (RPL) 

§ 330.201 Purpose. 

(a) The Reemployment Priority List 

(RPL) is a required component of agency 

placement programs to assist its current 

and former competitive service 

employees who will be or were 

separated by reduction in force (RIF) 

under part 351 of this chapter, or who 

have recovered from a compensable 

work-related injury after more than 1 


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year, as required by part 353 of this 

chapter. In filling vacancies, an agency 

must give its RPL registrants placement 

priority for most competitive service 

vacancies before hiring someone from 

outside its own permanent competitive 

service workforce. An agency may 

choose to consider RPL placement 

priority candidates before other agency 

permanent competitive service 

employees under its Career Transition 

Assistance Plan (CTAP) established 

under subpart F of this part, after 

fulfilling agency obligations to its CTAP 

selection priority candidates. 

(b) Agencies must use an RPL to give 

placement priority to their: 

(1) Current competitive service 

employees with a specific notice of RIF 

separation or a Certification of Expected 

Separation issued under part 351 of this 

chapter; 

(2) Former competitive service 

employees separated by RIF under part 

351 of this chapter; and 

(3) Former competitive service 

employees fully recovered from a 

compensable injury (as defined in part 

353 of this chapter) after more than 1 

year. 

(c) All agency components within the 

local commuting area use a single RPL 

and are responsible for giving placement 

priority to the agency’s RPL registrants. 

(d) With prior OPM approval, an 

agency may operate an alternate 

placement program which satisfies the 

basic requirements of this subpart, 

including veterans’ preference, as an 

exception to the RPL regulations under 

this subpart. This provision is limited to 

reemployment priority because of RIF 

separation and allows agencies to adopt 

different placement strategies that are 

effective for their programs and satisfy 

employee entitlements to reemployment 

priority. 

§ 330.202 Definitions. 

In this subpart: 

Competitive area is defined in part 

351 of this chapter. 

Competitive service appointment 

includes new appointments, 

reinstatements, reemployment, and 

transfers as defined in part 210 of this 

chapter, and conversions as defined in 

OPM’s ‘‘Guide to Processing Personnel 

Actions.’’

Injury, in relation to the RPL, is 

defined in part 353 of this chapter. 

Overseas is defined in part 210 of this 

chapter. 

Qualified refers to an RPL registrant 

who: 

(1) Meets OPM-established or 

-approved qualification standards and 

requirements for the position, including 

minimum educational requirements, 

and agency-established selective factors 

(as this term is used in OPM’s 

‘‘Operating Manual: Qualification 

Standards for General Schedule 

Positions’’); 

(2) Will not cause an undue 

interruption that would prevent the 

completion of required work by the 

registrant 90 days after the registrant is 

placed in the position (This 90-day 

standard should be considered within 

the allowable limits of time and quality, 

taking into account the pressures of 

priorities, deadlines, and other 

demands.); 

(3) Is physically qualified, with or 

without reasonable accommodation, to 

perform the duties of the position; 

(4) Meets any special OPM-approved 

qualifying conditions for the position; 

and 

(5) Meets any other applicable 

requirements for competitive service 

appointment. 

RPL eligible means a current or former 

employee of the agency who meets the 

conditions in either paragraph (a) or (b) 

of § 330.203. As used in this subpart, 

‘‘RPL eligible’’ and ‘‘eligible’’ are 

synonymous. 

RPL placement priority candidate 

means an RPL registrant who is 

qualified and available for a specific 

agency vacancy. 

RPL registrant means an RPL eligible 

who submitted a timely RPL application 

and who is registered on the agency’s 

RPL. As used in this subpart, ‘‘RPL 

registrant’’ and ‘‘registrant’’ are 

synonymous. 

Vacancy means any vacant position to 

be filled by a competitive service 

permanent or time-limited appointment. 

§ 330.203 RPL eligibility. 

An employee must meet the 

conditions in either paragraph (a) or (b) 

of this section to be an RPL eligible. 

(a) For eligibility based on part 351 of 

this chapter, the employee: 

(1) Must be serving in an appointment 

in the competitive service in tenure 

group I or II; 

(2) Must have received either a 

specific notice of separation or a 

Certification of Expected Separation 

under part 351 of this chapter that has 

not been cancelled, rescinded, or 

modified so that the employee is no 

longer under notice of separation; 

(3) Must have received a rating of 

record of at least fully successful (Level 

3) or equivalent as the most recent 

performance rating of record; and 

(4) Must not have declined an offer 

under part 351, subpart G, of this 

chapter of a position with the same type 

of work schedule and with a 

representative rate at least as high as 

that of the position from which the 

employee will be separated. 

(b) For eligibility based on part 353 of 

this chapter, the employee or former 

employee: 

(1) Must be serving in, or separated 

from, an appointment in the competitive 

service in tenure group I or II; 

(2) Must either have accepted a 

position at a lower grade or pay level in 

lieu of separation or have been 

separated because of a compensable 

injury or disability (For the purposes of 

this subpart, any reference to the 

‘‘position from which or will be 

separated’’ includes the position from 

which the RPL eligible accepted the 

lower graded or pay level position 

under this paragraph.); 

(3) Must have fully recovered more 

than 1 year after compensation began; 

and 

(4) Must have received notification 

from the Office of Workers 

Compensation Programs, Department of 

Labor, that injury compensation benefits 

have ceased or will cease. 

§ 330.204 Agency requirements and 

responsibilities. 

(a) An agency must establish policies 

and maintain an RPL for each local 

commuting area in which the agency 

has RPL eligibles. 

(b) An agency must give each RPL 

eligible information about its RPL 

program, including Merit Systems 

Protection Board appeal rights under 

§ 330.214, when: 

(1) The agency issues a RIF separation 

notice or a Certification of Expected 

Separation under part 351 of this 

chapter; or 

(2) The employee accepts a position at 

a lower grade or pay level or is 

separated from the agency because of a 

compensable work-related injury. 

(c) An agency must register an RPL 

eligible on the appropriate RPL no later 

than 10 calendar days after receiving the 

eligible’s written application. 

(d) Agencies must include in their 

RPL policies established under this 

subpart how they will assist RPL 

eligibles who: 

(1) Request an RPL application; 

(2) Request help in completing the 

RPL application; and 

(3) Request help in identifying and 

listing on the RPL application those 

positions within the agency for which 

they are qualified and interested. 

(e) An agency must give RPL 

registrants placement priority for 

personnel actions as described in 

§ 330.210. 

(f) An agency must not remove an 

individual from the RPL under 

§ 330.209(a)(1), (b)(1), or (b)(2) without 


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evidence (such as a Postal Service 

return receipt signed by addressee only) 

showing that the offer, inquiry, or 

scheduled interview was made in 

writing. The written offer, inquiry, or 

scheduled interview must clearly state 

that failure to respond will result in 

removal from the RPL for positions at 

that grade or pay level and for positions 

at lower grades and pay levels for which 

registered. 

§ 330.205 Agency RPL applications. 

Agencies may develop their own 

application format which must, at a 

minimum: 

(a) Allow an RPL eligible to register 

for positions at the same representative 

rate and work schedule (full-time, parttime, seasonal, or intermittent) as the 

position from which the RPL eligible 

was, or will be, separated; and 

(b) Allow an RPL eligible to specify 

the conditions under which he or she 

will accept a position, including grades 

or pay levels, appointment type 

(permanent or time-limited), 

occupations (e.g., position classification 

series or career groups), and minimum 

number of hours of work per week, as 

applicable. 

§ 330.206 RPL registration timeframe and 

positions. 

(a) To register, an RPL eligible must: 

(1) Meet the eligibility conditions 

under § 330.203(a) or (b); 

(2) Complete an RPL application 

prescribed by the current or former 

agency and keep the agency informed of 

any significant changes in the 

information provided; and 

(3) Submit the RPL application on or 

before the RIF separation date or, if an 

RPL eligible under § 330.203(b), within 

30 calendar days after the: 

(i) Date injury compensation benefits 

cease; or 

(ii) Date the Department of Labor 

denies an appeal for continuation of 

injury compensation benefits. 

(b) RPL eligibles may register and 

receive placement priority for positions 

for which they are qualified and that: 

(1) Have a representative rate no 

higher than the position from which 

they were, or will be, separated unless 

the eligible was demoted as a tenure 

group I or II employee in a previous RIF. 

If the eligible was so demoted, the 

eligible can register for positions with a 

representative rate up to the 

representative rate of the position held 

on a permanent appointment 

immediately before the RIF demotion 

was effective; 

(2) Have no greater promotion 

potential than the position from which 

they were, or will be, separated; and 

(3) Have the same type of work 

schedule as the position from which 

they were, or will be, separated. 

§ 330.207 Registration area. 

(a) Except as provided in paragraphs 

(b) through (e) of this section, RPL 

registration is limited to the local 

commuting area in which the eligible 

was, or will be, separated. 

(b) If the agency has, or will have, no 

competitive service positions remaining 

in the local commuting area from which 

the RPL eligible will be separated under 

part 351 of this chapter, the agency may 

designate a different local commuting 

area where there are continuing 

positions for the RPL eligible to exercise 

placement priority. The agency has sole 

discretion to offer this option and over 

which local commuting area to 

designate. 

(c) If the RPL eligible agreed to 

transfer with his or her function under 

part 351 of this chapter but will be 

separated by RIF from the gaining 

competitive area, registration is limited 

to the RPL covering the gaining 

competitive area’s local commuting 

area. 

(d) If eligible under § 330.203(b), 

registration is initially limited to the 

RPL covering the local commuting area 

of the position from which the 

employee was separated. Agencies must 

establish a fair and consistent policy 

which permits RPL eligibles to expand 

their registration to available local 

commuting areas mutually acceptable to 

the RPL eligible and the agency, up to 

agency-wide as required by 5 U.S.C. 

8151. In lieu of expanded registration, 

the agency policy may provide for the 

RPL eligible to elect to receive 

placement priority for the next best 

available position in the former local 

commuting area. 

(e) If the RPL eligible was, or will be, 

separated from an overseas position (see 

part 301 of this chapter), RPL 

registration is limited to the local 

commuting area in which the eligible 

was, or will be, separated, unless: 

(1) The agency approves a written 

request by the RPL eligible for 

registration in the local commuting area 

from which employed for overseas 

service, or in another area within the 

United States that is mutually 

acceptable to the eligible and the 

agency; or 

(2) The agency has a formal program 

for rotating employees between overseas 

areas and the United States, and the RPL 

eligible’s preceding and prospective 

overseas service would exceed the 

maximum duration of an overseas duty 

tour in the rotation program. In this 

case, the eligible may register for a local 

commuting area within the United 

States that is mutually acceptable to the 

eligible and the agency. 

§ 330.208 Duration of RPL registration. 

(a) RPL registration expires 2 years 

from the date of separation under part 

351 of this chapter, or 2 years from the 

date the agency registers the RPL 

eligible under § 330.206(a)(3)(i) or (ii), 

unless the registrant is removed from 

the RPL for a reason specified in 

§ 330.209. 

(b) OPM may extend the registration 

period when an RPL eligible does not 

receive a full 2 years of placement 

priority, for example, because of 

administrative or procedural error. 

§ 330.209 Removal from an RPL. 

(a) An RPL registrant is removed from 

the RPL at all registered grades or pay 

levels if the registrant: 

(1) Declines or fails to reply to the 

agency’s inquiry about an RPL offer of 

a career, career-conditional, or excepted 

appointment without time limit for a 

position having the same type of work 

schedule and a representative rate at 

least as high as the position from which 

the registrant was, or will be, separated; 

(2) Receives a written cancellation, 

rescission, or modification to: 

(i) The RIF separation notice or 

Certification of Expected Separation so 

that the employee no longer meets the 

conditions for RPL eligibility in 

§ 330.203(a); or 

(ii) The notification of cessation of 

injury compensation benefits so that 

injury compensation benefits continue; 

(3) Separates from the agency for any 

other reason (such as retirement, 

resignation, or transfer) before the RIF 

separation effective date. Registration 

continues if the RPL registrant retires on 

or after the RIF separation effective date. 

This paragraph does not apply to an 

RPL registrant under § 330.203(b); 

(4) Requests the agency to remove his 

or her name from the RPL; 

(5) Is placed in a position without 

time limit at any grade or pay level 

within the agency; 

(6) Is placed in a position under a 

career, career-conditional, or excepted 

appointment without time limit at any 

grade or pay level in any agency; or 

(7) Leaves the area covered by an 

overseas RPL (see 5 CFR part 301) or is 

ineligible for continued overseas 

employment because of previous service 

or residence. 

(b) An RPL registrant is removed from 

the RPL at registered grades or pay 

levels with a representative rate at and 

below the representative rate of a 

position offered by the agency if the 

offered position is below the last grade 

or pay level held and the registrant: 


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(1) Declines or fails to reply to the 

agency’s inquiry about an RPL offer of 

a career, career-conditional, or excepted 

appointment without time limit for a 

position meeting the acceptable 

conditions shown on the RPL 

registrant’s application; or 

(2) Declines or fails to appear for a 

scheduled interview. 

(c) An RPL registrant removed from 

the RPL under paragraph (b) of this 

section at lower grade(s) or pay level(s) 

than the last grade or pay level held 

remains on the RPL for positions with 

a representative rate higher than the 

offered position up to the grade or pay 

level last held, unless registration 

expires or otherwise terminates. 

(d) Declination of time-limited 

employment does not affect RPL 

eligibility. 

§ 330.210 Applying RPL placement 

priority. 

(a) RPL placement priority applies to: 

(1) Permanent and time-limited 

positions to be filled by competitive 

service appointment; and 

(2) The grade or pay level at which 

the agency fills the position. If a 

position is available at multiple grades 

or pay levels, placement priority applies 

at the grade or pay level at which the 

position is ultimately filled. 

(b) An agency must not effect a 

permanent or time-limited competitive 

service appointment of another 

individual if there is an RPL placement 

priority candidate registered for the 

vacancy, unless the action is listed as an 

exception in § 330.211. 

(c) An agency must document that 

there are no RPL placement priority 

candidates for the vacancy when 

requesting a competitive certificate of 

eligibles under part 332 of this chapter. 

Similarly, an agency must offer the 

vacancy to any RPL placement priority 

candidate(s) before effecting an 

appointment under a noncompetitive 

appointing authority, such as under part 

315 of this chapter. 

(d) Once an agency has ensured there 

are no RPL placement priority 

candidates for a particular vacancy and 

documents in writing an employment 

offer that is accepted by another 

individual, the agency may fulfill that 

employment offer to that individual. 

§ 330.211 Exceptions to RPL placement 

priority. 

An agency may effect the following 

personnel actions as exceptions to 

§ 330.210: 

(a) Fill a vacancy with an employee of 

the agency’s current permanent 

competitive service workforce through 

detail or position change, subject to the 

requirements of subpart F of this part; 

(b) Appoint a 10-point preference 

eligible through an appropriate 

appointing authority; 

(c) Appoint a current or former 

employee exercising restoration rights 

under part 353 of this chapter based on 

return from military service or recovery 

from a compensable injury or disability 

within 1 year; 

(d) Appoint a current or former 

employee exercising other statutory or 

regulatory reemployment rights; 

(e) Fill a specific position when all 

RPL placement priority candidates 

decline an offer of the position or fail to 

respond to a written agency inquiry 

about their availability; 

(f) Convert an employee serving under 

an appointment that provides 

noncompetitive conversion eligibility to 

a competitive service appointment, 

including from: 

(1) A Veterans Recruitment 

Appointment under part 307 of this 

chapter; 

(2) An appointment under 5 U.S.C. 

3112 and part 316 of this chapter of a 

veteran with a compensable serviceconnected disability of 30 percent or 

more; and 

(3) An excepted service appointment 

under part 213 of this chapter, such as 

for persons with disabilities or in the 

Presidential Management Fellow 

Program, the Student Career Experience 

Program, or the Federal Career Intern 

Program; 

(g) Reappoint without a break in 

service to the same position currently 

held by an employee serving under a 

temporary appointment of 1 year or less 

(only to another temporary appointment 

not to exceed 1 year or less); 

(h) Extend an employee’s temporary 

or term appointment up to the 

maximum permitted by the 

appointment authority or as authorized 

by OPM; or 

(i) Appoint an individual under an 

excepted service appointing authority. 

§ 330.212 Agency flexibilities. 

An agency may provide the following 

flexibilities within its written RPL 

policies established under this subpart: 

(a) Allow RPL eligibles to register 

only for certain sub-areas of a local 

commuting area when the agency has 

components dispersed throughout a 

large commuting area. However, an 

agency cannot deny registration 

throughout the local commuting area if 

the RPL eligible requests it. 

(b) Suspend an RPL registration for all 

positions, permanent and time-limited, 

if the agency is unable, through 

documented written means, to contact 

the RPL registrant; however, the agency 

must reactivate an RPL registration 

when the registrant submits an updated 

application or otherwise requests 

reactivation in writing. Registration 

suspension and reactivation do not 

change the expiration date of the 

original registration period set in 

§ 330.208. 

(c)(1) Modify the OPM or OPMapproved qualification standard used to 

determine if an RPL eligible is qualified 

for a position, provided the: 

(i) Exception is applied consistently 

and equitably in filling a position; 

(ii) RPL registrant meets any 

minimum educational requirements for 

the position; and 

(iii) RPL registrant has the capacity, 

adaptability, and special skills needed 

to satisfactorily perform the duties and 

responsibilities of the position, as 

determined by the agency. 

(2) Any modification to the 

qualification standard under paragraph 

(c)(1) of this section does not authorize 

a waiver of the selection order required 

under § 330.210. 

(d) Permit RPL eligibles to register for 

positions with work schedules different 

from the work schedule of the position 

from which they were, or will be, 

separated. 

(e) Permit RPL registrants to update 

their qualifications or conditions for 

accepting positions during the RPL 

registration period. If adopted, the 

agency must update the RPL registrant’s 

registration information within 10 

calendar days of receipt of the 

registrant’s written request. The updated 

registration information would apply 

only to those vacancies becoming 

available after the agency updates the 

RPL registrant’s registration. 

§ 330.213 Selection from an RPL. 

(a) Methods. An agency must adopt 

one of the selection methods in 

paragraphs (b), (c), or (d) of this section 

for a single RPL. The agency may adopt 

the same method for each RPL it 

establishes or may vary the method by 

location, but it must adopt a written 

policy for each RPL it establishes and 

maintains. While an agency may not 

vary the method used for an individual 

vacancy, it may at any time change the 

selection method for all positions 

covered by a single RPL. 

(b) Retention standing order. For each 

vacancy to be filled, the agency places 

qualified RPL placement priority 

candidates in tenure group and 

subgroup order in accordance with part 

351 of this chapter. In making a 

selection, an agency may not pass over 

a candidate in tenure group I to select 

from tenure group II and, within a 

tenure group, may not pass over a 

candidate in a higher subgroup to select 


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from a lower subgroup. Within a 

subgroup, an agency may select any 

candidate without regard to order of 

retention standing. 

(c)(1) Numerical scoring. For each 

vacancy to be filled, the agency rates 

RPL placement priority candidates 

according to their job experience and 

education. The agency must use jobrelated evaluation criteria for the 

position to be filled that is capable of 

distinguishing differences in 

qualifications measured and must apply 

the criteria in a fair and consistent 

manner. The agency assigns the 

candidates a numerical score of at least 

70 on a scale of 100, based on the 

evaluation criteria developed under this 

paragraph. The agency must grant 5 

additional points to veterans’ preference 

eligibles under 5 U.S.C. 2108(3)(A) and 

(B), and 10 additional points to 

veterans’ preference eligibles under 5 

U.S.C. 2108(3)(C) through (G). 

(2) RPL placement priority candidates 

with an eligible numerical score are 

ranked in the following order: 

(i) Veterans’ preference eligibles 

having a compensable serviceconnected disability of 10 percent or 

more in the order of their augmented 

ratings, unless the position to be filled 

is a professional or scientific position at 

or above the GS–9 level, or equivalent; 

and 

(ii) All other candidates in the order 

of their augmented ratings. At each 

score, candidates entitled to 10 point 

veterans’ preference will be entered 

ahead of all other candidates, and those 

entitled to 5 point veterans’ preference 

will be entered ahead of those 

candidates not entitled to veterans’

preference. 

(3) The agency must make its 

selection from among the highest three 

candidates available and may not pass 

over a veterans’ preference eligible to 

select a nonpreference eligible. 

(d) Alternative rating and selection. 

(1) For each vacancy to be filled, the 

agency may use alternative rating (also 

called category rating) as described in 5 

U.S.C. 3319 and part 337 of this chapter. 

The agency assesses RPL placement 

priority candidates against job-related 

evaluation criteria and then places them 

into two or more pre-defined quality 

categories. 

(2) To use this method, the agency 

must: 

(i) Establish a system for evaluating 

RPL placement priority candidates that 

provides for two or more quality 

categories; 

(ii) Define each quality category 

through job analysis conducted in 

accordance with the ‘‘Uniform 

Guidelines on Employee Selection 

Procedures’’ at 29 CFR part 1607 and 

part 300 of this chapter. Each quality 

category must have a clear definition 

that distinguishes it from other quality 

categories; and 

(iii) Place candidates into the 

appropriate quality categories based 

upon their job-related competencies, 

knowledge, skills, and abilities. 

(3) Veterans’ preference must be 

applied as prescribed in 5 U.S.C. 

3319(b) and (c)(2). Veterans’ preference 

points as prescribed in paragraph (c)(1) 

of this section are not applied under this 

method. 

(4) The agency must make its 

selection from the highest quality 

category. 

(e) Application-based procedure. (1) 

An agency may adopt an applicationbased procedure which allows RPL 

registrants to apply directly for RPL 

placement priority under an advertised 

vacancy announcement. Before using 

this procedure, the agency must 

establish policies and procedures for: 

(i) Informing RPL registrants of 

available vacancies; 

(ii) Informing RPL registrants of 

acceptable application formats, 

including how to permanently change 

initial registration information and how 

to apply changes only to the specific 

vacancy announcement for which the 

application is made; 

(iii) Determining the method under 

which the RPL registrant will be rated 

and ranked (paragraph (b), (c), or (d) of 

this section); and 

(iv) Informing each RPL registrant 

who applies under this method whether 

he or she was determined to be an RPL 

placement priority candidate and the 

outcome of the selection process, if the 

candidate was referred for selection. 

(2) RPL registrants may not be 

removed from the RPL for failure to 

apply for a vacancy under this 

paragraph. Registration continues until 

it expires or the registrant is removed 

from the RPL under § 330.209. 

§ 330.214 Appeal rights. 

An RPL registrant who believes the 

agency violated his or her 

reemployment rights under this subpart 

by employing another person who 

otherwise could not have been 

appointed properly may appeal to the 

Merit Systems Protection Board under 

the Board’s regulations. 

Subpart C—[Reserved] 

Subpart D—Positions Restricted to 

Preference Eligibles 

§ 330.401 Restricted positions. 

Under 5 U.S.C. 3310, competitive 

examinations for the positions of 

custodian, elevator operator, guard, and 

messenger (referred to in this subpart as 

restricted positions) are restricted to 

preference eligibles as long as a 

preference eligible is available. For more 

information on these restricted 

positions, refer to the OPM Delegated 

Examining Operations Handbook. 

§ 330.402 Exceptions to restriction. 

(a) An agency may fill a restricted 

position with a nonpreference eligible 

under the following circumstances: 

(1) By competitive examination when 

no preference eligible applies; 

(2) By position change (promotion, 

demotion, or reassignment) to a position 

in the organizational entity (i.e., the part 

of an agency from which selections are 

normally made for promotion or 

reassignment to the position in 

question) in which the nonpreference 

eligible is employed; 

(3) By reemployment in the agency 

where the nonpreference eligible was 

formerly employed when he or she is 

being appointed from the 

Reemployment Priority List under 

subpart B of this part; 

(4) By reinstatement in the agency 

where the nonpreference eligible was 

formerly employed when he or she was 

last separated because of disability 

retirement; or 

(5) By reappointment of certain 

temporary employees as provided for in 

part 316 of this chapter. 

(b) Except as indicated in paragraph 

(a) of this section, OPM must authorize 

any other agency noncompetitive action 

(e.g., under an authority specified in 

part 315 of this chapter) to fill a 

restricted position with a nonpreference 

eligible. 

§ 330.403 Positions brought into the 

competitive service. 

An agency may convert the 

appointment of a nonpreference eligible 

whose restricted position was brought 

into the competitive service under part 

316 of this chapter, and who meets the 

requirements for conversion under part 

315 of this chapter, to career or career 

conditional appointment. 

§ 330.404 Displacement of preference 

eligibles occupying restricted positions in 

contracting out situations. 

An individual agency and OPM both 

have additional responsibilities when 

the agency decides, in accordance with 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) Circular A–76, to contract out 

the work of a preference eligible who 

holds a restricted position. These 

additional responsibilities as described 

in §§ 330.405 and 330.406 are 

applicable if a preference eligible holds 

a competitive service position that is: 


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(a) A restricted position as designated 

in 5 U.S.C. 3310 and § 330.401; and 

(b) In tenure group I or II, as defined 

in § 351.501(b)(1) and (2) of this chapter. 

§ 330.405 Agency placement assistance. 

An agency that separates a preference 

eligible from a restricted position by 

reduction in force under part 351 of this 

chapter because of a contracting out 

situation covered in § 330.404 must, 

consistent with § 330.603, advise the 

employee of the opportunity to 

participate in available career transition 

programs. The agency is also 

responsible for: 

(a) Applying OMB’s policy directives 

on the preference eligible’s right of first 

refusal for positions that are contracted 

out to the private sector; and 

(b) Cooperating with State units as 

designated or created under title I of the 

Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to 

retrain displaced preference eligibles for 

other continuing positions. 

§ 330.406 OPM placement assistance. 

OPM’s responsibilities include: 

(a) Assisting agencies in operating 

positive placement programs, such as 

the Career Transition Assistance Plan, 

which is authorized by subpart F of this 

part; 

(b) Providing interagency selection 

priority through the Interagency Career 

Transition Assistance Plan, which is 

authorized by subpart G of this part; and 

(c) Encouraging cooperation between 

local Federal activities to assist these 

displaced preference eligibles in 

applying for other Federal positions, 

including positions with the U.S. Postal 

Service. 

§ 330.407 Eligibility for the Interagency 

Career Transition Assistance Plan. 

(a) A preference eligible who is 

separated from a restricted position by 

reduction in force under part 351 of this 

chapter because of a contracting out 

situation covered in § 330.404 has 

interagency selection priority under the 

Interagency Career Transition 

Assistance Plan, which is authorized by 

subpart G of this part. 

(b) A preference eligible covered by 

this subpart is eligible for the 

Interagency Career Transition 

Assistance Plan for 2 years following 

separation by reduction in force from a 

restricted position. 

Subpart E—Restrictions to Protect 

Competitive Principles 

§ 330.501 Purpose. 

The restrictions in this subpart are 

designed to prevent circumvention of 

the open competitive examination 

system defined in Civil Service Rule 1.3 

(5 CFR 1.3). These restrictions limit an 

appointee’s immediate movement to 

another position after appointment from 

a competitive certificate of eligibles. 

§ 330.502 General restriction on movement 

after competitive appointment. 

(a) An agency must wait at least 90 

days since an employee’s latest 

nontemporary competitive appointment 

before the agency may take the 

following actions: 

(1) Promote an employee; 

(2) Transfer, reinstate, reassign, or 

detail an employee to a different 

position; or 

(3) Transfer, reinstate, reassign, or 

detail an employee to a different 

geographical area. 

(b) Upon written request from an 

agency, OPM may waive the restriction 

against movement to a different 

geographical area when moving such an 

employee is consistent with open 

competition principles. 

§ 330.503 Ensuring agency compliance 

with the principles of open competition. 

OPM will review appointments made 

from competitive examinations and 

subsequent position changes to 

determine if agencies are complying 

with open competition principles. The 

fact that an agency waited 90 days to 

make the changes, as required under 

this subpart, is not an absolute 

protection. If OPM finds that an agency 

has not complied with these principles, 

either in an individual instance or on a 

program-wide basis, OPM will order an 

agency to correct the situation. 

§ 330.504 Exception to the general 

restriction. 

The restrictions in this subpart do not 

apply to a person who is eligible for a 

competitive appointment from a 

certificate of eligibles under part 332 of 

this chapter. 

Subpart F—Agency Career Transition 

Assistance Plan (CTAP) for Local 

Surplus and Displaced Employees 

§ 330.601 Purpose. 

(a) Agency Career Transition 

Assistance Plans (CTAPs) provide intraagency selection priority for its eligible 

surplus and displaced employees. This 

subpart sets forth minimum 

requirements for agency plans and 

establishes requirements for CTAP 

selection priority. 

(b) Consistent with these regulations 

and at their discretion, agencies may 

supplement these requirements to 

expand career transition opportunities 

to their surplus and displaced workers. 

(c) With prior OPM approval, an 

agency may operate an alternate 

placement program which satisfies the 

basic requirements of this subpart as an 

exception to CTAP selection priority 

under this subpart. This provision 

allows agencies to adopt different 

placement strategies that are effective 

for their programs while satisfying 

employee entitlements to selection 

priority. 

§ 330.602 Definitions. 

For purposes of this subpart: 

CTAP eligible means an agency 

surplus or displaced employee who has 

a current performance rating of record of 

at least fully successful (Level 3) or 

equivalent. As used in this subpart, 

‘‘CTAP eligible’’ and ‘‘eligible’’ are 

synonymous. 

CTAP selection priority candidate 

means a CTAP eligible who applied for 

and was determined to be well-qualified 

by the agency and whom the agency 

must select over any other applicant for 

the vacancy, unless the action to be 

taken is listed as an exception under 

§ 330.609. 

Displaced means an agency employee 

in one of the following two categories: 

(1) A current career or careerconditional (tenure group I or II) 

competitive service employee at grade 

GS–15 (or equivalent) or below who: 

(i) Received a reduction in force (RIF) 

separation notice under part 351 of this 

chapter and has not declined an offer 

under part 351, subpart G, of this 

chapter of a position with the same type 

of work schedule and a representative 

rate at least as high as that of the 

position from which the employee will 

be separated; or 

(ii) Received a notice of proposed 

removal under part 752 of this chapter 

for declining a directed geographic 

relocation outside of the local 

commuting area (e.g., a directed 

reassignment or change in duty station). 

(2) A current excepted service 

employee on an appointment without 

time limit at grade level GS–15 (or 

equivalent) or below who: 

(i) Is covered by a law providing both 

noncompetitive appointment eligibility 

to, and selection priority for, 

competitive service positions; and 

(ii) Received a RIF separation notice 

under part 351 of this chapter or a 

notice of proposed removal under part 

752 of this chapter for declining a 

directed geographic relocation outside 

the local commuting area (e.g., a 

directed reassignment or a change in 

duty station). 

Surplus means an agency employee in 

one of the following three categories: 

(1) A current career or careerconditional (tenure group I or II) 

competitive service employee at grade 


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GS–15 (or equivalent) or below who 

received a Certification of Expected 

Separation under part 351 of this 

chapter or other official agency 

certification or notification indicating 

that the employee’s position is surplus 

(for example, a notice of position 

abolishment or a notice of eligibility for 

discontinued service retirement). 

(2) A current excepted service 

employee on an appointment without 

time limit at grade GS–15 (or 

equivalent) or below who: 

(i) Is covered by a law providing both 

noncompetitive appointment eligibility 

to, and selection priority for, 

competitive service positions; and 

(ii) Received a Certification of 

Expected Separation under part 351 of 

this chapter or other official agency 

certification or notification indicating 

that the employee’s position is surplus 

(for example, a notice of position 

abolishment or a notice of eligibility for 

discontinued service retirement). 

(3) A current excepted service 

employee on a Schedule A or B 

appointment without time limit at grade 

level GS–15 (or equivalent) or below 

who is in an agency offering CTAP 

selection priority to its excepted service 

employees and who: 

(i) Received a Certification of 

Expected Separation under part 351 of 

this chapter or other official agency 

certification indicating that the 

employee is surplus (for example, a 

notice of position abolishment, or notice 

of eligibility for discontinued service 

retirement); or 

(ii) Received a RIF notice of 

separation under part 351 of this 

chapter or a notice of proposed removal 

under part 752 of this chapter for 

declining a directed geographic 

relocation outside the local commuting 

area (e.g., a directed reassignment or a 

change in duty station). 

Vacancy means a vacant competitive 

service position at grade GS–15 (or 

equivalent) or below to be filled for a 

total of 121 days or more, including all 

extensions, regardless of whether the 

agency issues a specific vacancy 

announcement. 

§ 330.603 Requirements for agency 

CTAPs. 

(a) Each agency must establish a 

CTAP for their surplus and displaced 

employees. Each agency must send its 

plan, and any modifications, to OPM’s 

Division of Strategic Human Resources 

Policy after approval by an authorized 

agency official. 

(b) Each agency must uniformly and 

consistently apply its CTAP and these 

regulations to all surplus and displaced 

employees. 

(c) In addition to a description of the 

agency’s selection priority policies 

required by § 330.604, a CTAP must 

describe the agency’s policies with 

regard to how it will provide career 

transition services to all its surplus and 

displaced agency employees, including 

excepted service and Senior Executive 

Service employees. The plan must 

describe: 

(1) The types of career transition 

services the agency will provide; 

(2) Policies on employees’ and former 

employees’ use of transition services 

and facilities, including: 

(i) Excused absences for transitionrelated activities; 

(ii) Access to services or facilities after 

separation; 

(iii) Orientation sessions on career 

transition services and information as 

described in § 330.608(a) and (b), 

respectively; 

(iv) Retraining policies; 

(v) Access to agency CTAP services 

and resources by all employees, 

including those with disabilities, those 

in field offices, and those in remote 

sites; 

(vi) Access to other Federal, State, and 

local resources available to support 

career transition for employees with 

disabilities; and 

(vii) Availability of employee 

assistance programs and services. 

(d) An agency’s CTAP must also 

describe the agency’s policies and 

procedures for its Reemployment 

Priority List established under subpart B 

of this part and the Interagency Career 

Transition Placement Plan established 

under subpart G of this part. 

§ 330.604 Requirements for agency CTAP 

selection priority. 

In addition to the overall 

requirements of § 330.603, an agency’s 

CTAP must describe: 

(a) How the agency will provide 

CTAP selection priority to surplus and 

displaced employees for vacancies in 

the local commuting area before 

selecting any other candidate from 

either within or outside the agency; 

(b) Procedures for reviewing CTAP 

eligibles’ qualifications and resolving 

qualification issues or disputes; 

(c) Decisions involving discretionary 

areas under § 330.607 (such as whether 

excepted service employees will receive 

CTAP selection priority, priority of 

surplus versus displaced employees, 

designation of agency components, and 

selection priority beyond the local 

commuting area); and 

(d) When and how the agency will 

inform its surplus and displaced 

employees about CTAP eligibility 

criteria, as required by § 330.608(b), 

how to apply for agency vacancies, and 

how to request CTAP selection priority. 

§ 330.605 Agency responsibilities for wellqualified decisions. 

(a) An agency must define what 

constitutes a well-qualified candidate 

for its specific vacancies, consistent 

with this subpart, and uniformly apply 

that definition to all CTAP eligibles 

being considered for the vacancy. 

(b) An agency must conduct an 

independent second review and 

document the specific job-related 

reasons whenever a CTAP eligible is 

determined to be not well-qualified 

under the agency’s definition. The 

agency must give the CTAP eligible the 

written results of this review as required 

by § 330.608(e). 

§ 330.606 Minimum criteria for agency 

well-qualified definition. 

(a) At a minimum, the agency must 

define ‘‘well-qualified’’ as having 

knowledge, skills, abilities, and/or 

competencies clearly exceeding the 

minimum qualification requirements for 

the vacancy. The agency definition may 

or may not equate to the highly or best 

qualified assessment criteria established 

for the vacancy; however, the agency 

definition of ‘‘well-qualified’’ must 

satisfy the criteria in paragraph (b) of 

this section. 

(b) Under an agency’s definition of 

‘‘well-qualified,’’ the agency must be 

able to determine whether a CTAP 

eligible: 

(1) Meets the basic eligibility 

requirements (including employment 

suitability requirements under part 731 

of this chapter and any medical 

qualifications requirements), 

qualification standards (including 

minimum educational and experience 

requirements), and any applicable 

selective factors; 

(2) Is physically qualified, with or 

without reasonable accommodation, to 

perform the essential duties of the 

position; 

(3) Meets any special qualifying 

conditions of the position; 

(4) Is able to satisfactorily perform the 

duties of the position upon entry; and 

(5) At agency discretion, either: 

(i) Rates at or above specified level(s) 

on all quality ranking factors; or 

(ii) Rates above minimally qualified in 

the agency’s rating and ranking process. 

(c) An agency may include the results 

of a scored structured interview process 

in determining whether a CTAP eligible 

is well-qualified. 

§ 330.607 Applying CTAP selection 

priority. 

(a) An agency must not place any 

other candidate from within or outside 


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the agency into a vacancy if there is an 

available CTAP selection priority 

candidate, unless the personnel action 

to be effected is an exception under 

§ 330.609. 

(b) In accordance with the conditions 

of part 300, subpart E, of this chapter, 

an agency may not procure temporary 

help services under that subpart until a 

determination is made that no CTAP 

eligible is available. 

(c) CTAP selection priority applies to 

a vacancy that: 

(1) Is at a grade or pay level with a 

representative rate no higher than the 

representative rate of the grade or pay 

level of the CTAP eligible’s permanent 

position of record; 

(2) Has no greater promotion potential 

than the CTAP eligible’s permanent 

position of record; 

(3) Is in the same local commuting 

area as the CTAP eligible’s permanent 

position of record; 

(4) Is filled during the CTAP eligible’s 

eligibility period; and, if applicable, 

(5) Is filled under the same excepted 

appointing authority as the CTAP 

eligible’s permanent position of record 

if the CTAP eligible is an excepted 

service employee and the agency CTAP 

provides selection priority in the 

excepted service. 

(d) An agency may take actions under 

§ 335.102 of this chapter to place a 

permanent competitive service 

employee into a vacancy if there are no 

CTAP eligible employees in the local 

commuting area or if no CTAP eligibles 

apply for the vacancy. 

(e) An agency component may place 

a component employee within the local 

commuting area in the vacancy after the 

component applies CTAP selection 

priority to its employees. 

(f) If there are two or more CTAP 

selection priority candidates for a 

vacancy, the agency may place any of 

them. An agency may decide the 

specific order of selection among CTAP 

selection priority candidates. For 

example, an agency may: 

(1) Provide a displaced candidate 

higher priority than a surplus candidate; 

or 

(2) Provide an internal component 

candidate higher priority than another 

component’s candidate. 

(g) After an agency makes the vacancy 

available to its CTAP eligibles and 

meets its obligation to any CTAP 

selection priority candidates, the agency 

may place into the vacancy any other 

permanent competitive service 

candidate from within its workforce, 

under appropriate staffing procedures. 

(h) An agency may provide CTAP 

selection priority to eligible employees 

from another commuting area after 

fulfilling its obligation to CTAP 

selection priority candidates in the local 

commuting area. 

(i) An agency may deny a CTAP 

eligible future selection priority if the 

eligible: 

(1) Declines an offer of a permanent 

appointment at any grade or pay level 

in the competitive or excepted service; 

or 

(2) Fails to respond within a 

reasonable period of time, as defined by 

the agency, to an offer of a permanent 

appointment at any grade or pay level 

in the competitive or excepted service. 

(j) Before appointing an individual 

from outside the agency’s permanent 

competitive service workforce, the 

agency must follow the requirements of 

subparts B and G of this part. 

§ 330.608 Other agency CTAP 

responsibilities. 

(a) An agency must make a career 

transition orientation session available 

to all agency surplus and displaced 

employees with information on 

selection priority under this subpart and 

subparts B and G. Such orientation 

sessions may be in person or web-based 

through an agency automated training 

system or intranet. 

(b) An agency must give each agency 

CTAP eligible written information on 

selection priority under its plan, 

explaining how to locate and apply for 

agency vacancies and request selection 

priority. The agency may meet this 

requirement by providing a copy of its 

CTAP established under § 330.603. 

(c) An agency must take reasonable 

steps to ensure that agency CTAP 

eligibles have access to information on 

all vacancies, including how CTAP 

eligibles can apply, what proof of 

eligibility is required, and the agency 

definition of ‘‘well-qualified’’ for the 

vacancy. 

(d) If the agency can document that 

there are no CTAP eligibles in a local 

commuting area, the agency need not 

post the vacancy for CTAP eligibles. 

(e) An agency must provide a CTAP 

eligible who applied for a specific 

vacancy written notice of the final status 

of his or her application, including 

whether the eligible was determined to 

be well-qualified. The agency notice 

must include the results of the 

independent, second review under 

§ 330.605(b), if applicable; whether 

another CTAP selection priority 

candidate was hired; whether the 

position was filled under an exception 

listed in § 330.609; and whether the 

recruitment was cancelled. 

§ 330.609 Exceptions to CTAP selection 

priority. 

An agency may effect the following 

personnel actions as exceptions to 

§ 330.607: 

(a) Reemploy a former agency 

employee with regulatory or statutory 

reemployment rights, including the 

reemployment of an injured worker who 

either has been restored to earning 

capacity by the Office of Workers’

Compensation Programs, Department of 

Labor, or has received a notice that his 

or her compensation benefits will cease 

because of full recovery from the 

disabling injury or illness; 

(b) Reassign or demote an employee 

under part 432 or 752 of this chapter; 

(c) Appoint an individual for a period 

limited to 120 or fewer days, including 

all extensions; 

(d) Reassign agency employees 

between or among positions in the local 

commuting area (sometimes called job 

swaps) when there is no change in grade 

or promotion potential and no actual 

vacancy results; 

(e) Convert an employee currently 

serving under an appointment providing 

noncompetitive conversion eligibility to 

a competitive service appointment, 

including from: 

(1) A Veterans Recruitment 

Appointment under part 307 of this 

chapter; 

(2) An appointment under 5 U.S.C. 

3112 and part 316 of this chapter of a 

veteran with a compensable serviceconnected disability of 30 percent or 

more; and 

(3) An excepted service appointment 

under part 213 of this chapter, such as 

for persons with disabilities or in the 

Presidential Management Fellow 

Program, the Student Career Experience 

Program, or the Federal Career Intern 

Program; 

(f) A personnel action taken under, or 

specifically in lieu of, part 351 of this 

chapter; 

(g) A position change of an employee 

into a different position as a result of a 

formal reorganization, as long as the 

former position ceases to exist and no 

actual vacancy results; 

(h) Assign or exchange an employee 

under a statutory program, such as 

subchapter VI of chapter 33 of title 5, 

United States Code (also called the 

Intergovernmental Personnel Act), or 

the Information Technology Exchange 

Program under chapter 37 of title 5, 

United States Code; 

(i) Appoint an individual under an 

excepted service appointing authority; 

(j) A position change of an employee 

within the excepted service; 

(k) Detail an employee within the 

agency; 


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(l) Promote an employee for a period 

limited to 120 or fewer days, including 

all extensions; 

(m) A position change of a surplus or 

displaced employee in the local 

commuting area; 

(n) A position change of an employee 

under 5 U.S.C. 8337 or 8451 to allow 

continued employment of an employee 

who is unable to provide useful and 

efficient service in his or her current 

position because of a medical condition; 

(o) A position change of an employee 

to a position that constitutes a 

reasonable offer as defined in 5 U.S.C. 

8336(d) and 8414(b); 

(p) A position change of an employee 

resulting from a reclassification action 

(such as accretion of duties or an action 

resulting from application of new 

position classification standards); 

(q) Promote an employee to the next 

higher grade or pay level of a designated 

career ladder position; 

(r) Recall a seasonal or intermittent 

employee from nonpay status; 

(s) A position change of an injured or 

disabled employee to a position in 

which he or she can be reasonably 

accommodated; 

(t) A personnel action for an employee 

pursuant to the settlement of a formal 

complaint, grievance, appeal, or other 

litigation; 

(u) Reassign or demote an employee 

under § 315.907 of this chapter for 

failure to complete a supervisory or 

managerial probationary period; 

(v) Retain an individual whose 

position is brought into the competitive 

service under part 316 of this chapter 

and convert that individual, when 

applicable, under part 315 of this 

chapter; 

(w) Retain an employee covered by an 

OPM-approved variation under Civil 

Service Rule 5.1 (5 CFR 5.1); 

(x) Reemploy a former agency 

employee who retired under a formal 

trial retirement and reemployment 

program and who requests 

reemployment under the program’s 

provisions and applicable time limits; 

(y) Extend a time-limited promotion 

or appointment up to the maximum 

period allowed (including any OPMapproved extensions beyond the 

regulatory limit on the time-limited 

promotion or appointment), if the 

original action was made subject to 

CTAP selection priority and the original 

announcement or notice stated that the 

promotion or appointment could be 

extended without further 

announcement; 

(z) Transfer an employee between 

agencies under appropriate authority 

during an interagency reorganization, 

interagency transfer of function, or 

interagency mass transfer; 

(aa) Appoint a member from the 

Senior Executive Service into the 

competitive service under 5 U.S.C. 

3594; 

(bb) Transfer an employee voluntarily 

from one agency to another under a 

Memorandum of Understanding or 

similar agreement under appropriate 

authority resulting from an interagency 

reorganization, interagency transfer of 

function, or interagency mass transfer, 

when both the agencies and the affected 

employee agree to the transfer; 

(cc) Reassign an employee whose 

position description or other written 

mobility agreement provides for 

reassignment outside the commuting 

area as part of a planned agency 

rotational program; or 

(dd) Transfer or a position change of 

an employee under part 412 of this 

chapter. 

§ 330.610 CTAP eligibility period. 

(a) CTAP eligibility begins on the date 

the employee meets the definition of 

surplus or displaced in § 330.602. 

(b) CTAP eligibility ends on the date 

that the employee: 

(1) Separates from the agency either 

voluntarily or involuntarily; 

(2) Receives a notice rescinding, 

canceling, or modifying the notice 

which established CTAP eligibility so 

that the employee no longer meets the 

definition of surplus or displaced. 

(3) Is placed in another position 

within the agency at any grade or pay 

level, either permanent or time-limited, 

before the agency separates the 

employee; or 

(4) Is appointed to a career, careerconditional, or excepted appointment 

without time limit in any agency at any 

grade or pay level. 

§ 330.611 Establishing CTAP selection 

priority. 

(a) CTAP selection priority for a 

specific agency vacancy begins when a 

CTAP eligible: 

(1) Submits all required application 

materials, including proof of eligibility, 

within agency-established timeframes; 

and, 

(2) The agency determines the eligible 

is well-qualified for the vacancy. 

(b) An agency may allow CTAP 

eligible employees to become CTAP 

selection priority candidates for 

positions in other local commuting 

areas only if there are no CTAP 

selection priority candidates within the 

local commuting area of the vacancy. 

(c) An agency may deny future CTAP 

selection priority for agency positions if 

the CTAP eligible declines an offer of 

permanent appointment at any grade 

level (whether it is a competitive or 

excepted appointment). 

§ 330.612 Proof of eligibility. 

(a) The CTAP eligible must submit a 

copy of one of the documents listed 

under the definition of displaced or 

surplus in § 330.602 to establish 

selection priority under § 330.611. 

(b) The CTAP eligible may also 

submit a copy of a RIF notice with an 

offer of another position, accompanied 

by the signed declination of the offer. 

The RIF notice must state that 

declination of the offer will result in 

separation under RIF procedures. 

§ 330.613 OPM’s role in CTAP. 

OPM has oversight of CTAP and may 

conduct reviews of agency compliance 

and require corrective action at any 

time. 

Subpart G—Interagency Career 

Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) for 

Displaced Employees 

§ 330.701 Purpose. 

The Interagency Career Transition 

Assistance Program (ICTAP) provides 

eligible displaced Federal employees 

with interagency selection priority for 

vacancies in agencies that are filling 

positions from outside their respective 

permanent competitive service 

workforces. The ICTAP selection 

priority does not apply in the ICTAP 

eligible’s current or former agency and 

it does not prohibit movement of 

permanent competitive service 

employees within an agency, as 

permitted by subpart F of this part. This 

subpart establishes requirements for 

ICTAP selection priority. 

§ 330.702 Definitions. 

In this subpart: 

Displaced means an individual in one 

of the following categories: 

(1) A current career or careerconditional (tenure group I or II) 

competitive service employee of any 

agency at grade GS–15 (or equivalent) or 

below whose current performance rating 

of record is at least fully successful 

(Level 3) or equivalent and who: 

(i) Received a reduction in force (RIF) 

separation notice under part 351 of this 

chapter and has not declined an offer 

under part 351, subpart G, of this 

chapter of a position with the same type 

of work schedule and a representative 

rate at least as high as that of the 

position from which the employee will 

be separated; or 

(ii) Received a notice of proposed 

removal under part 752 of this chapter 

for declining a directed geographic 

relocation outside the local commuting 


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area (e.g., a directed reassignment or a 

change in duty station). 

(2) A former career or careerconditional (tenure group I or II) 

competitive service employee of any 

agency at grade GS–15 (or equivalent) or 

below whose last performance rating of 

record was at least fully successful 

(Level 3) or equivalent who was either: 

(i) Separated by RIF under part 351 of 

this chapter and did not decline an offer 

under part 351, subpart G, of this 

chapter of a position with the same type 

of work schedule and a representative 

rate at least as high as that of the 

position from which the employee was 

separated; or 

(ii) Removed under part 752 of this 

chapter for declining a directed 

geographic relocation outside the local 

commuting area (e.g., a directed 

reassignment or a change in duty 

station). 

(3) A former career or careerconditional employee of any agency 

who was separated because of a 

compensable work-related injury or 

illness as provided under 5 U.S.C. 

chapter 81, subchapter I, whose 

compensation was terminated and who 

has received certification from the 

former employing agency that it is 

unable to place the employee as 

required by part 353 of this chapter. 

(4) A former career or careerconditional (tenure group I or II) 

competitive service employee of any 

agency who retired with a disability 

annuity under 5 U.S.C. 8337 or 8451 

and who has received notification from 

OPM that the disability annuity has 

been or will be terminated. 

(5) A former Military Reserve 

Technician or National Guard 

Technician receiving a special disability 

retirement annuity under 5 U.S.C. 

8337(h) or 8456 and who has 

certification of such annuity from the 

military department or National Guard 

Bureau. 

(6) A current or former excepted 

service employee on an appointment 

without time limit at grade GS–15 (or 

equivalent) or below whose current or 

last performance rating of record is or 

was at least fully successful (Level 3) or 

equivalent and who: 

(i) Has been provided by law with 

both noncompetitive appointment 

eligibility and selection priority for 

competitive service positions; and 

(ii) Has received a RIF separation 

notice under part 351 of this chapter or 

notice of proposed removal under part 

752 of this chapter for declining a 

directed geographic relocation outside 

the local commuting area (e.g., a 

directed reassignment or a change in 

duty station) or has been separated by 

RIF procedures or removed for declining 

a geographic relocation outside the local 

commuting area. 

ICTAP eligible means an individual 

who meets the definition of displaced. 

As used in this subpart, ‘‘ICTAP 

eligible’’ and ‘‘eligible’’ are 

synonymous. 

ICTAP selection priority candidate 

means an ICTAP eligible who applied 

for a vacancy, was determined by the 

agency to be well-qualified for that 

vacancy, and who the agency must 

select over any other candidate from 

outside the agency’s current competitive 

service workforce for the vacancy, 

unless the action to be taken is listed as 

an exception under § 330.707. 

Vacancy means a vacant competitive 

service position at grade GS–15 (or 

equivalent) or below to be filled for 121 

days or more, including extensions. 

§ 330.703 Agency responsibilities for wellqualified decisions. 

(a) Agencies must define ‘‘wellqualified’’ for their specific vacancies, 

consistent with this subpart, and 

uniformly apply that definition to all 

ICTAP eligibles being considered for the 

vacancy. 

(b) Agencies must conduct an 

independent second review and 

document the specific job-related 

reasons whenever an ICTAP eligible is 

determined to be not well-qualified for 

the vacancy under the agency’s 

definition. An agency must give the 

ICTAP eligible the written results of this 

review as required by § 330.706(d). 

§ 330.704 Minimum criteria for agency 

well-qualified definition. 

(a) At a minimum, agencies must 

define ‘‘well-qualified’’ as having 

knowledge, skills, abilities, and/or 

competencies clearly exceeding the 

minimum qualification requirements for 

the vacancy. The agency definition may 

or may not equate to the highly or best 

qualified assessment criteria established 

for the vacancy; however, the agency 

definition of ‘‘well-qualified’’ must 

satisfy the criteria in paragraph (b) of 

this section. 

(b) Under an agency’s definition of 

‘‘well-qualified,’’ the agency must be 

able to determine whether an ICTAP 

eligible: 

(1) Meets the basic eligibility 

requirements (including employment 

suitability requirements under part 731 

of this chapter and any medical 

qualification requirements), 

qualification standards (including 

minimum educational and experience 

requirements), and any applicable 

selective factors; 

(2) Is physically qualified, with or 

without reasonable accommodation, to 

perform the essential duties of the 

position; 

(3) Meets any special qualifying 

conditions of the position; 

(4) Is able to satisfactorily perform the 

duties of the position upon entry; and 

(5) At agency discretion, either: 

(i) Rates at or above specified level(s) 

on all quality ranking factors; or 

(ii) Rates above minimally qualified in 

the agency’s rating and ranking process. 

(c) An agency may include the results 

of a scored structured interview process 

in determining whether an ICTAP 

eligible is well-qualified. 

§ 330.705 Applying ICTAP selection 

priority. 

(a) An agency must not appoint any 

candidate from outside its permanent 

competitive service workforce if there is 

an ICTAP selection priority candidate 

available for the vacancy, unless the 

personnel action to be effected is an 

exception under § 330.707. 

(b) ICTAP selection priority applies to 

a vacancy that: 

(1) Is at a grade or pay level with a 

representative rate no higher than the 

representative rate of the grade or pay 

level of the ICTAP eligible’s current or 

last permanent position of record; 

(2) Has no greater promotion potential 

than the ICTAP eligible’s current or last 

permanent position of record; 

(3) Is in the same local commuting 

area as the ICTAP eligible’s current or 

last permanent position of record; and 

(4) Is filled during the ICTAP 

eligible’s eligibility period. 

(c) An agency may appoint any ICTAP 

selection priority candidate for a 

vacancy. 

(d)(1) After an agency announces the 

vacancy and meets its obligation to any 

ICTAP selection priority candidates, the 

agency may appoint any other candidate 

from outside its current permanent 

competitive service workforce, under 

appropriate staffing procedures. 

(2) An agency may make additional 

selections or reissue selection 

certificates in accordance with its merit 

promotion program without 

readvertising for ICTAP eligibles only if 

the additional selections are made from 

the applicant pool established by the 

original vacancy announcement, 

including readvertisements for the same 

vacancy. 

(e) An agency may deny an ICTAP 

eligible future selection priority for 

vacancies in that agency if the ICTAP 

eligible: 

(1) Declines an offer of a permanent 

appointment at any grade or pay level 

in the competitive or excepted service; 

or 

(2) Fails to respond within a 

reasonable period of time, as defined by 


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the agency, to an offer or official inquiry 

of availability for a permanent 

appointment at any grade or pay level 

in the competitive or excepted service. 

(f) An agency may deny an ICTAP 

eligible future selection priority for a 

position previously obtained through 

ICTAP if the eligible was terminated or 

removed from that position under part 

432 or 752 of this chapter. 

§ 330.706 Other agency ICTAP 

responsibilities. 

(a) Before appointing any other 

candidate from outside the agency’s 

permanent competitive service 

workforce, the agency must first fulfill 

its obligation to any employees entitled 

to selection priority under subparts B 

and F of this part. 

(b) In accordance with the conditions 

of part 300, subpart E, of this chapter, 

an agency may not procure temporary 

help services under that subpart until a 

determination is made that no ICTAP 

eligible is available. 

(c) An agency must announce all 

vacancies it intends to fill from outside 

its permanent competitive service 

workforce. Vacancy announcements 

must meet the requirements of subpart 

A of this part. 

(d) An agency must provide an ICTAP 

eligible who applied for a specific 

vacancy written notice of the final status 

of his or her application, including 

whether the eligible was determined to 

be well-qualified. The agency notice 

must include the results of the 

independent second review under 

§ 330.703(b), if applicable; whether 

another ICTAP selection priority 

candidate was hired; whether the 

position was filled under an exception 

listed in § 330.707; and whether the 

recruitment was cancelled. 

§ 330.707 Exceptions to ICTAP selection 

priority. 

An agency may effect the following 

personnel actions as exceptions to 

§ 330.705: 

(a) Place a current or reinstate a 

former agency employee with RPL 

selection priority under subpart B of 

this part; 

(b) A position change of a current 

permanent competitive service agency 

employee; 

(c) Appoint a 10-point veteran 

preference eligible through an 

appropriate appointing authority; 

(d) Reemploy a former agency 

employee with regulatory or statutory 

reemployment rights, including the 

reemployment of an injured worker who 

either has been restored to earning 

capacity by the Office of Workers’

Compensation Programs, Department of 

Labor, or has received a notice that his 

or her compensation benefits will cease 

because of recovery from disabling 

injury or illness; 

(e) Appoint an individual for a period 

limited to 120 or fewer days, including 

all extensions; 

(f) A personnel action effected under, 

or specifically in lieu of, part 351 of this 

chapter; 

(g) Appoint an individual under an 

excepted service appointing authority; 

(h) Convert an employee serving 

under an appointment that provides 

noncompetitive conversion eligibility to 

a competitive service appointment, 

including from: 

(1) A Veterans Recruitment 

Appointment under part 307 of this 

chapter; 

(2) An appointment under 5 U.S.C. 

3112 and part 316 of this chapter of a 

veteran with a compensable serviceconnected disability of 30 percent or 

more; 

(3) An excepted service appointment 

under part 213 of this chapter, such as 

for persons with disabilities or in the 

Presidential Management Fellow 

Program, the Student Career Experience 

Program, or the Federal Career Intern 

Program; 

(i) Transfer an employee between 

agencies under appropriate authority 

during an interagency reorganization, 

interagency transfer of function, or 

interagency mass transfer; 

(j) Reemploy a former agency 

employee who retired under a formal 

trial retirement and reemployment 

program and who requests 

reemployment under the program’s 

provisions and applicable time limits; 

(k) A personnel action for an 

employee pursuant to the settlement of 

a formal complaint, grievance, appeal, 

or other litigation; 

(l) Extend a time-limited appointment 

up to the maximum period allowed 

(including any OPM-approved 

extension past the regulatory limit on 

the time-limited appointment), if the 

original action was made subject to 

ICTAP selection priority and the 

original vacancy announcement stated 

that the appointment could be extended 

without further announcement; 

(m) Reappoint a former agency 

employee into a hard-to-fill position 

requiring unique skills and experience 

to conduct a formal skills-based agency 

training program; 

(n) Retain an individual whose 

position is brought into the competitive 

service under part 316 of this chapter 

and convert that individual, when 

applicable, under part 315 of this 

chapter; 

(o) Retain an employee covered by an 

OPM-approved variation under Civil 

Service Rule 5.1 (5 CFR 5.1); 

(p) Appoint a member from the Senior 

Executive Service into the competitive 

service under 5 U.S.C. 3594; 

(q) Assign or exchange an employee 

under a statutory program, such as 

subchapter VI of chapter 33 of title 5, 

United States Code (also called the 

Intergovernmental Personnel Act), or 

the Information Technology Exchange 

Program under chapter 37 of title 5, 

United States Code; 

(r) Detail an employee to another 

agency; 

(s) Transfer employees under an 

OPM-approved interagency job swap 

plan designed to facilitate the exchange 

of employees between agencies to avoid 

or minimize involuntary separations; 

(t) Transfer or reinstate an ICTAP 

eligible who meets the agency’s 

definition of ‘‘well-qualified’’; 

(u) Transfer an employee voluntarily 

from one agency to another under a 

Memorandum of Understanding or 

similar agreement under appropriate 

authority resulting from an interagency 

reorganization, interagency transfer of 

function, or interagency realignment, 

when both the agencies and the affected 

employee agree to the transfer; or 

(v) Transfer or a position change of an 

employee under part 412 of this chapter. 

§ 330.708 ICTAP eligibility period. 

(a) ICTAP eligibility begins on the 

date the employee or former employee 

meets the definition of displaced in 

§ 330.702. 

(b) ICTAP eligibility ends 1 year from 

the date of: 

(1) Separation by RIF under part 351 

of this chapter; 

(2) Removal by the agency under part 

752 of this chapter for declining a 

directed geographic relocation outside 

the local commuting area (e.g., a 

directed reassignment or a change in 

duty station); 

(3) Agency certification that it cannot 

place the employee under part 353 of 

this chapter; or 

(4) OPM notification that an 

employee’s disability annuity has been, 

or will be, terminated. 

(c) ICTAP eligibility ends 2 years after 

RIF separation if eligible under subpart 

D of this part. 

(d) ICTAP eligibility also ends on the 

date the eligible: 

(1) Receives a notice rescinding, 

canceling, or modifying the notice 

which established ICTAP eligibility so 

that the employee no longer meets the 

definition of displaced in § 330.702; 

(2) Separates from the agency for any 

reason before the RIF or removal 

effective date; or 


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(3) Is appointed to a career, careerconditional, or excepted appointment 

without time limit in any agency at any 

grade or pay level. 

(e) OPM may extend the eligibility 

period when an ICTAP eligible does not 

receive a full 1 year (or 2 years under 

subpart D of this part) of eligibility, for 

example, because of administrative or 

procedural error. 

§ 330.709 Establishing ICTAP selection 

priority. 

ICTAP selection priority for a specific 

vacancy begins when an ICTAP eligible: 

(a) Submits all required application 

materials, including proof of eligibility, 

within agency-established timeframes; 

and 

(b) The agency determines the eligible 

is well-qualified for the vacancy. 

§ 330.710 Proof of eligibility. 

(a) The ICTAP eligible must submit a 

copy of one of the documents listed 

under the definition of displaced in 

§ 330.702 to establish selection priority 

under § 330.709. 

(b) The ICTAP eligible may also 

submit a copy of the RIF notice with an 

offer of another position accompanied 

by the signed declination of that offer. 

The RIF notice must state that 

declination of the offer will result in 

separation under RIF procedures. 

§ 330.711 OPM’s role in ICTAP. 

OPM has oversight of ICTAP and may 

conduct reviews of agency compliance 

and require corrective action at any 

time. 

Subparts H–I—[Reserved] 

Subpart J—Prohibited Practices 

§ 330.1001 Withdrawal from competition. 

An applicant for competitive 

examination, an eligible on a register, 

and an officer or employee in the 

Executive branch of the Government 

may not persuade, induce, or coerce, or 

attempt to persuade, induce, or coerce, 

directly or indirectly, a prospective 

applicant to withhold filing an 

application, or an applicant or eligible 

to withdraw from competition or 

eligibility, for a position in the 

competitive service, for the purpose of 

improving or injuring the prospects of 

an applicant or eligible for appointment. 

OPM will cancel the application or 

eligibility of an applicant or eligible 

who violates this section, and will 

impose such other penalty as it 

considers appropriate. 

Subpart K–L—[Reserved] 

PART 335—PROMOTION AND 

INTERNAL PLACEMENT 

4. The authority citation for part 335 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 3301, 3302, 3330; E.O. 

10577, 3 CFR 1954–1958 Comp., p. 218; 5 

U.S.C. 3304(f), and Pub. L. 106–117. 

§ 335.105 [Amended] 

5. In § 335.105, remove the phrase 

‘‘§ 330.707 of subpart G’’ and add in its 

place the phrase, ‘‘part 330, subpart A’’. 

PART 337—EXAMINING SYSTEM 

6. The authority citation for part 337 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 1104(a), 1302, 2302, 

3301, 3302, 3304, 3319, 5364; E.O. 10577, 3 

CFR 1954–1958 Comp., p. 218; 33 FR 12423, 

Sept. 4, 1968; and 45 FR 18365, Mar. 21, 

1980; 116 Stat. 2135, 2290; and 117 Stat 

1392, 1665. 

§ 337.203 [Amended] 

7. In § 337.203, remove the phrase 

‘‘subpart G’’ and add in its place the 

phrase, ‘‘subpart A’’. 

PART 410—TRAINING 

8. The authority citation for part 410 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 4101, et seq.; E.O. 

11348, 3 CFR, 1967 Comp., p. 275. 

§ 410.307 [Amended] 

9. In § 410.307: 

a. In paragraph (c)(3), remove the 

phrase ‘‘5 CFR 330.604(b) and (f)’’ and 

add in its place the phrase, ‘‘5 CFR 

330.602’’. 

b. In paragraph (c)(4), remove the 

phrase ‘‘5 CFR 330.602’’ and add in its 

place the phrase, ‘‘5 CFR part 330, 

subpart F’’. 

[FR Doc. E8–20657 Filed 9–5–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6325–39–P 

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION 

11 CFR Parts 100 and 104 

[Notice 2008–09] 

Reporting Contributions Bundled by 

Lobbyists, Registrants and the PACs 

of Lobbyists and Registrants 

AGENCY: Federal Election Commission. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of public 

hearing. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Election 

Commission is announcing a public 

hearing on the proposed rules governing 

the disclosure of information about 

bundled contributions provided by 

certain lobbyists, registrants and their 

PACs. 

DATES: The hearing will be held on 

Wednesday, September 17, 2008 and 

will begin at 9:30 a.m. 

ADDRESSES: Commission hearings are 

held in the Commission’s ninth floor 

meeting room, 999 E Street, NW., 

Washington, DC. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Amy L. Rothstein, Assistant General 

Counsel, or Ms. Cheryl A.F. Hemsley, 

Attorney, 999 E Street, NW., 

Washington, DC 20463, (202) 694–1650 

or (800) 424–9530. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

November 6, 2007, the Commission 

published a Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking (‘‘NPRM’’) proposing rules 

governing the disclosure of information 

about bundled contributions provided 

by certain lobbyists, registrants and 

their PACs. Reporting Contributions 

Bundled by Lobbyists, Registrants and 

the PACs of Lobbyists and Registrants, 

72 FR 62,600 (Nov. 6, 2007). The 

deadline for comments on the NPRM 

was Nov. 30, 2007. In the NPRM, the 

Commission stated that it would 

announce the date of a hearing at a later 

date. 

Accordingly, the hearing will be held 

on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 (see 

DATES and ADDRESSES, above). 

Witnesses will be limited to those 

individuals who indicated in their 

timely comments on the NPRM that 

they wished to testify at the hearing. 

Individuals who plan to attend and 

require special assistance, such as sign 

language interpretation or other 

reasonable accommodations, should 

contact Mary Dove, Commission 

Secretary, at (202) 694–1040, at least 72 

hours prior to the hearing date. 

Dated: September 2, 2008. 

On behalf of the Commission. 

Ellen Weintraub, 

Commissioner, Federal Election Commission. 

[FR Doc. E8–20810 Filed 9–5–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6715–01–P 


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